Deuteronomy 2

Revised Geneva Translation

2 “Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness, by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me. And we encircled Mount Seir a long time.

² “And the LORD spoke to me, saying,

³ ‘You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward

⁴ ‘and warn the people, saying, “You shall go through the coast of your brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir.” And they shall be afraid of you. Be very careful, therefore.

⁵ ‘You shall not provoke them. For I will not give you so much as a footstep of their land, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.

⁶ ‘You shall buy meat from them, for money to eat. And you shall also procure water from them, for money to drink.

⁷ ‘For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the works of your hand. He knows your comings and goings through this great wilderness. And the LORD your God has been with you these forty years. You have lacked nothing.’

⁸ “And when we had departed from our brothers, the children of Esau (who dwelt in Seir, by way of the plain, from Elath and from Ezion Geber) we turned and went by way of the wilderness of Moab.

⁹ “Then the LORD said to me, ‘You shall not besiege Moab or provoke them to battle. For I will not give you their land for a possession because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.

¹⁰ ‘The Emims — a people great and many, and tall — dwelt there in times past, as the Anakims did.

¹¹ ‘Those whom the Moabites call Emims were also called “giants”, as the Anakims were.

¹² ‘The Horites also dwelt in Seir before time. The children of Esau chased them out and destroyed them from before them and dwelt in their place, as Israel shall do to the land of its possession (which the LORD has given them).

¹³ ‘Now rise up and get over the river Zered.’ And we went over the river Zered.

¹⁴ “And the time it took to go from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the river Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from among the army, as the LORD swore to them.

¹⁵ “For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the army, until they were consumed.

¹⁶ “So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,

¹⁷ “then the LORD spoke to me, saying,

¹⁸ ‘You shall go through Ar (the coast of Moab) this day.

¹⁹ ‘And you shall come near the children of Ammon, but shall not lay siege to them, nor move war against them. For I will not give you possession of the land of the children of Ammon. For I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession,

²⁰ ‘that also was taken for a land of giants. Giants dwelt there previously, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummims,

²¹ ‘a great people, and many, and tall as the Anakims.’ But the LORD destroyed them before them. And they succeeded them in their inheritance and dwelt in their place.

²² ‘He also did so to the children of Esau (who dwell in Seir) when he destroyed the Horites before them. And they dispossessed them and have dwelt in their place until this day,

²³ ‘And the Avim (who dwelt from Hazarim to Azzah) and the Caphtorims (who came out of Caphtor) destroyed them and dwelt in their place.

²⁴ ‘Rise up! Take your journey and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it and provoke him to battle.

²⁵ ‘This day I will begin to send your fear and your dread upon all people under the whole heaven, who shall hear your fame and shall tremble and quake before you.

²⁶ ‘Then I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,

²⁷ “Let me pass through your land. I will go by the highway. I will not turn to the right or to the left.

²⁸ “You shall sell me meat for money (so that I may eat) and shall give me water for money (so that I may drink). Only, I will go through on foot,

²⁹ “as the children of Esau (who dwell in Seir) and the Moabites (who dwell in Ar) did to me until I had come over Jordan, into the land which the LORD our God gave us.”’

³⁰ “But Sihon, the King of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him. For the LORD your God had hardened His Spirit, and made his heart obstinate, because he would deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.

³¹ “And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess and inherit his land.’

³² “Then Sihon came out to meet us (himself with all his people) to fight at Jahaz.

³³ “But the LORD our God delivered him into our power. And we struck him and his sons and all his people.

³⁴ “And we took all his cities at the same time and destroyed every city—men and women and children. We let nothing remain.

³⁵ “We only took the cattle for ourselves, plus the spoil of the cities which we took,

³⁶ “from Aroer (which is by the bank of the river of Arnon) to the city that is upon the river, all the way to Gilead. There was not one city that escaped us. The LORD our God delivered them all up before us.

³⁷ “Only to the land of the children of Ammon did you not come, nor to any place on the river Jabbok, nor to the cities in the mountains, nor to whatever the LORD our God forbade us.”