Wanderings in the Wilderness

2 “^(A)Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the ^[a]Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we circled ^(B)Mount Seir for many days. ² And the Lord spoke to me, saying, ³ ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, ^4 (C)and command the people, saying, “You are going to pass through the ^(D)territory of your brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and ^(E)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; ⁵ do not ^[b]provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a ^[c]footprint, ^(F)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ You are to buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. ⁷ For the Lord your God has blessed you in all ^[d]that you have done; He has known your ^[e]wandering through this ^(G)great wilderness. These ^(H)forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked anything.”’

⁸ “So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the ^(I)Arabah road, away from Elath and ^(J)Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of ^[f]their land as a possession, because I have given ^(K)Ar to ^(L)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ ¹⁰ (The ^(M)Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as ^(N)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (O)The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before ^[g]them, and settled in their place; ^(P)just as Israel did to the land of ^[h]their possession which the Lord gave them.) ¹³ ‘Now arise and cross over the ^[i]Wadi Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the ^[j]Wadi Zered. ¹⁴ Now the ^[k]time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the ^[l]Wadi Zered was ^(Q)thirty-eight years, until ^(R)all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, just as ^(S)the Lord had sworn to them. ^15 (T)Indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.

¹⁶ “So it came about, when ^(U)all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, ¹⁷ that the Lord spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸ ‘Today you shall cross over ^(V)Ar, the border of Moab. ¹⁹ When you come opposite the ^(W)sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^(X)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also regarded as the land of the ^(Y)Rephaim, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, ²¹ a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before ^[m]them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² just as He did for the sons of Esau, who ^(Z)live in Seir, when He destroyed ^(AA)the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, where they remain even to this day. ²³ And as for the ^(AB)Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the ^[n](AC)Caphtorim, who came from ^[o](AD)Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the ^[p](AE)Valley of Arnon. Look! I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; start taking possession and plunge into battle with him. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put ^(AF)the dread and fear of you upon the faces of ^[q]people everywhere, ^[r]who, when they hear the news of you, ^(AG)will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

²⁶ “^(AH)So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ ‘Let me pass through your land; I will ^[s]travel only on the road. I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. ²⁸ You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, ^(AI)only let me pass through on ^[t]foot, ²⁹ just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in ^(AJ)Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us.’ ³⁰ But ^(AK)Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass ^[u]through his land; for the ^(AL)Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to hand him over to you, as he is today. ³¹ And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to turn Sihon and his land over ^[v]to you. Begin taking possession, so that you may possess his land.’

³² “Then Sihon came out ^[w]with all his people to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ³³ And ^(AM)the Lord our God turned him over ^[x]to us, and we ^[y](AN)defeated him with his sons and all his people. ³⁴ So we captured all his cities at that time and ^[z](AO)utterly destroyed ^[aa]the men, women, and children of every city. We left no survivor. ³⁵ We took ^(AP)only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured. ³⁶ From ^(AQ)Aroer which is on the edge of the ^[ab]Valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the ^[ac]valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too ^[ad]high for us; the Lord our God turned it all over ^[ae]to us. ^37 (AR)Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the ^[af]river ^(AS)Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had commanded us to avoid.