2:1 “Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the ①Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we circled Mount Seir for many days.
▷ ①Lit Sea of Reeds
2:2 And the LORD spoke to me, saying,
2:3 ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north,
2:4 and command the people, saying, “You are going 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;
2:5 do not ①provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a ②footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
▷ ①Or engage in strife with ②Lit treading of a sole of a foot
2:6 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.
2:7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all ①that you have done; He has known your ②wandering through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked anything.” ’
▷ ①Lit the work of your hand ②Lit going
2:8 “So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
2:9 Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of ①their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.’
▷ ①Lit his
2:10 (The Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim.
2:11 Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
2:12 The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before ①them, and settled in their place; just as Israel did to the land of ②their possession which the LORD gave them.)
▷ ①I.e., the sons of Esau ②Lit his
2:13 ‘Now arise and cross over the ①Wadi Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the ②Wadi Zered.
▷ ①I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season ②I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
2:14 Now the ①time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the ②Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them.
▷ ①Lit days in which we went ②See note v 13
2:15 Indeed, the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.
2:16 “So it came about, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,
2:17 that the LORD spoke to me, saying,
2:18 ‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab.
2:19 When you come opposite the 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 the sons of Lot as a possession.’
2:20 (It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin,
2:21 a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before ①them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
▷ ①I.e., the Ammonites
2:22 just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, where they remain even to this day.
2:23 And as for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the ①Caphtorim, who came from ②Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.)
▷ ①I.e., Philistines ②I.e., Crete
2:24 ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the ①Valley 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.
▷ ①Or wadi
2:25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the faces of ①people everywhere, ②who, when they hear the news of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
▷ ①Lit peoples under all the heavens ②Lit who will hear...and tremble
2:26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
2:27 ‘Let me pass through your land; I will ①travel only on the road. I will not turn aside to the right or to the left.
▷ ①Lit go on the road, on the road
2:28 You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, only let me pass through on ①foot,
▷ ①Lit my feet
2:29 just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.’
2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass ①through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to hand him over to you, as he is today.
▷ ①Lit by him
2:31 And the LORD said to me, ‘See, I have begun to turn Sihon and his land over ①to you. Begin taking possession, so that you may possess his land.’
▷ ①Lit before you
2:32 “Then Sihon came out ①with all his people to meet us in battle at Jahaz.
▷ ①Lit he and
2:33 And the LORD our God turned him over ①to us, and we ②defeated him with his sons and all his people.
▷ ①Lit before us ②Lit struck
2:34 So we captured all his cities at that time and ①utterly destroyed ②the men, women, and children of every city. We left no survivor.
▷ ①Or put under the ban ②Lit every city of men...
2:35 We took only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured.
2:36 From Aroer which is on the edge of the ①Valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the ②valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too ③high for us; the LORD our God turned it all over ④to us.
▷ ①Or wadi ②Or wadi ③Or strong ④Lit before us
2:37 Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the ①river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the LORD our God had commanded us to avoid.
▷ ①Or wadi