1Then we turned and set out toward the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Reeds, as Yahweh had spoken to me, and we circled Mount Seir for many days.
2And Yahweh said to me, saying,
3“You have circled this mountain long enough; turn yourselves northward.
4And command the people, saying, ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who dwell 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 so much as a footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
6Food you shall buy from them with silver, that you may eat, and also water you shall obtain from them with silver, that you may drink.
7For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; he has known your going through this great wilderness. These forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.’”
8So we passed on, away from our brothers, the sons of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the way of the Arabah, from Elath and from Ezion-geber. Then we turned and passed on by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
9And Yahweh said to me, “Do not harass Moab, and do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of his land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.
10(The Emim formerly dwelt in it, a people great and numerous and tall as the Anakim.
11The Rephaim also were reckoned as Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
12And in Seir the Horites formerly dwelt, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of its possession that Yahweh gave to them.)
13“Now rise up and cross over the Wadi Zered.” So we crossed over the Wadi Zered.
14And the days that we walked from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Wadi Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation, the men of war, had perished from within the camp, as Yahweh had sworn to them.
15Indeed, the hand of Yahweh was against them, to rout them from within the camp until they were finished.
16And it came about, when all the men of war had finished dying from among the people,
17that Yahweh spoke to me, saying,
18“You are to pass today through the territory of Moab, through Ar.
19And when you draw near opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them and do not 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.
20(It too is reckoned a land of Rephaim; Rephaim formerly dwelt in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,
21a people great and numerous and tall as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them from before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place.
22He did the same for the sons of Esau who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place to this day.
23And the Avvim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came out from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
24“Rise up, set out, and cross over the Wadi Arnon. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and provoke him to war.
25This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the faces of the peoples under all the heavens, who will hear the report of you and tremble and writhe in anguish before you.”
26So 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 go only by the road, by the road; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left.
28You shall sell me food for silver, that I may eat, and give me water for silver, that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet—
29just as the sons of Esau who dwell in Seir did for me, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar—until I cross over the Jordan to the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.”
30But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through by him, for Yahweh your God had hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, so as 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, so as to possess 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 before us, and we struck him down, and his sons, and all his people.
34And we captured all his cities at that time, and we devoted to destruction every city — the men, the women, and the little ones; we left no survivor.
35Only the livestock we plundered for ourselves, along with the spoil of the cities that we had captured.
36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and the city that is in the wadi, as far as Gilead, there was no town too high for us; Yahweh our God gave all of it over before us.
37Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near — all the region of the Wadi Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, wherever Yahweh our God had commanded.
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