Deuteronomy 2

1Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, just as Yahweh had spoken to me, and we went around Mount Seir for many days.

2Then Yahweh said to me, saying,

3You have gone around this hill country long enough; turn northward.

4And command the people, saying, ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful.’

5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to set the sole of a foot on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

6You shall buy food from them with silver, so that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with silver, so that you may drink.

7For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.

8So we passed on from our brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the way of the Arabah, from Elath and from Ezion-geber; and we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

9And Yahweh said to me, “Do not harass Moab or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of its land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.”

10The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and numerous and tall as the Anakim.

11They too were considered Rephaim, like the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.

12And in Seir the Horites formerly lived, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.

13Now rise up and cross over the Wadi Zered. So we crossed over the Wadi Zered.

14And the days that we traveled from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi Zered were thirty-eight years, until the entire generation of the men of war had come to an end from the midst of the camp, just as Yahweh had sworn to them.

15Moreover, the hand of Yahweh was against them, to throw them into confusion from the midst of the camp until they were finished off.

16And when all the men of war had finished dying from among the people,

17Then Yahweh spoke to me, saying,

18You are crossing today the border of Moab at Ar.

19When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them or 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 as a possession to the sons of Lot.

20That also is considered a land of the Rephaim; Rephaim lived in it formerly, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim.

21a people great, numerous, and tall like the Anakim. Yahweh destroyed them from before them, and they dispossessed them and lived in their place.

22just as he did for the sons of Esau who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place to this day.

23As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came out from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.

24Rise up, set out, and cross over the Arnon Valley. See, I have given into your hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land. Begin to take possession of it, and engage him in battle.

25Today I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the face of the peoples under all the heavens, who will hear the report about you and will tremble and writhe because of you.

26So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

27Let me pass through your land; I will go only by the road. I will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

28You may sell me food for silver, so that I may eat, and give me water for silver, so that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet—

29just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.

30But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through his land, because Yahweh your God had hardened his spirit and made his heart stubborn, in order to give him into your hand, as it is this day.

31And Yahweh said to me, “See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession of his land.”

32Then Sihon came out to meet us, he and all his people, for battle at Jahaz.

33And Yahweh our God gave him over to us, and we struck him down, along with his sons and all his people.

34At that time we captured all his cities, and we devoted to destruction every inhabited city, with the women and the little children. We left no survivor.

35Only the livestock we took as plunder for ourselves, along with the spoil of the cities that we captured.

36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was no town too high for us; Yahweh our God gave all of it before us.

37Only you did not come near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the bank of the Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and all that Yahweh our God had commanded.