Deuteronomy 2

Modern

Literal

Wanderings in the Wilderness

¹Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea,^a as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

¹And we turned and set out into the wilderness, the Way of the Red Sea, as YHWH had spoken to me. And we went around Mount Seir for many days.

²At this time the LORD said to me,

²And YHWH spoke to me, saying,

³“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north

³“You have been going around this mountain long enough; turn for yourselves northward.

⁴and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

⁴And command the people, saying, ‘You are passing over into the border of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. And you shall be on guard exceedingly.

⁵Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.

⁵Do not meddle with them, for I will not give to you of their land even the treading of the sole of a foot. For as a possession to Esau I have given Mount Seir.

⁶You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

⁶You shall buy food from them with silver, and you will eat; and you shall buy water from them with silver, and you will drink.’”

⁷Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

⁷For YHWH your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He knows your walking this vast wilderness these forty years. YHWH your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.

⁸So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab.

⁸And we passed beyond our brothers, the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, by the way of the plain, by Elath and Ezion-geber, and we turned and passed by the way of the Wilderness of Moab.

⁹Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

⁹And YHWH said to me, “Do not harass Moab and do not contend with them in battle, for I will not give to you of their land as a possession, because to the sons of Lot I have given Ar as a possession.”

¹⁰(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

¹⁰(The Emites in times past had dwelt there, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim.

¹¹Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.

¹¹They also were regarded as Rephaim like the Anakites; and the Moabites call them Emites.

¹²The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)

¹²And in Seir the Horites dwelt formerly; and the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before their faces and dwelt in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which YHWH gave to them.)

¹³“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.”

So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.

¹³“Now rise and pass over to the Brook of Zered.” And we passed over the Brook of Zered.

¹⁴The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

¹⁴And the time that we walked from Kadesh-barnea until that we passed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until were finished all the generation of the men of war from the midst of the camp, as YHWH had sworn to them.

¹⁵Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.

¹⁵For indeed, the hand of YHWH was against them to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they came to an end.

¹⁶Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,

¹⁶And it came to pass, when all the men of war had finally perished, dying from among the people,

¹⁷the LORD said to me,

¹⁷that YHWH spoke to me, saying,

¹⁸“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

¹⁸“You are to pass over this day the boundary of Moab at Ar.

¹⁹But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

¹⁹And when you come near the sons of Ammon, do not harass them and you shall not fight with them, for I will not give of the land of the sons of Ammon to you as a possession, because I have given it as a possession to the sons of Lot.”

²⁰(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

²⁰(It was also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, even it; the Rephaim dwelt there formerly, and the Ammonites call them Zamzumim—

²¹They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

²¹a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim—and YHWH destroyed them from before them and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place—

²²just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

²²as He had done for the sons of Esau who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horite from before them and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day.

²³And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor^a and settled in their place.)

²³And the Avites who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites who came from Caphtor destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)

The Defeat of Sihon

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

²⁴“Rise, set out, and pass over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land. Begin to possess it and engage him in battle.

²⁵This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

²⁵This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under all the heavens, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,

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

²⁷“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.

²⁷“Let me pass through your land; in the way—in the way I will go along, I will not turn to the right or left.

²⁸You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,

²⁸Food for silver you shall sell me that I may eat, and water for silver give to me that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot,

²⁹just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

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

³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

³⁰Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for YHWH your God hardened his spirit and made obstinate his heart, that He might deliver him into your hand in this day.

³¹Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

³¹And YHWH said to me, “See, I have begun to give over to you Sihon and his land. Begin to possess—to possess his land.”

³²So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.

³²And Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

³³And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.

³³And YHWH our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people.

³⁴At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction^a the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.

³⁴And we took all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones. We left no survivor.

³⁵We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.

³⁵Only the livestock we plundered for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities that we had captured.

³⁶From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

³⁶From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the ravine, and as far as Gilead, there was not one city that was too high for us. YHWH our God gave all before our faces.

³⁷But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.

³⁷Only near the land of the sons of Ammon you did not go near, anywhere along the River Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or wherever YHWH our God had forbidden us.