Deuteronomy 2

Remembering Israel’s Wanderings

2"Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea

, just as the LORD had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.H6437H5265H4057H1870H5488H3220H3068H1696H5437H2022H8165H7227H31172"Then at last the LORD said to me,H3068H559H5593'You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north.H5437H2022H7227H6437H68284Give these orders to the people: "You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful.H6680H5971H559H5674H1366H251H1121H6215H3427H8165H3372H3966H81045Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land.H1624H5414H776H7272H4096H3709H5414H2022H8165H6215H34256If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it.H7666H400H3701H398H3739H4325H3701H83547For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing."'H3068H430H1288H4639H3027H3045H3212H1419H4057H705H8141H3068H430H2637H16978"So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber. "Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab,H5674H251H1121H6215H3427H8165H1870H6160H359H6100H6437H5674H1870H4057H41249the LORD warned us, 'Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.'"H3068H559H6696H4124H1624H4421H5414H776H3425H5414H6144H1121H3876H342510(A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants.H368H3427H6440H5971H1419H7227H7311H606211Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites.H1992H2803H7497H6062H4125H7121H36812In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the LORD gave Israel their land.)H2752H3427H8165H6440H1121H6215H3423H8045H6440H3427H3478H6213H776H3425H3068H541413Moses continued, "Then the LORD said to us, 'Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.' So we crossed the brook.H6965H5674H5158H2218H5674H5158H221814"Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the LORD had vowed would happen.H3117H1980H6947H5674H5158H2218H7970H8083H8141H1755H582H4421H8552H7130H4264H3068H765015The LORD struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.H3027H3068H2000H7130H4264H855216"When all the men of fighting age had died,H582H4421H8552H4191H7130H597117the LORD said to me,H3068H1696H55918'Today you will cross the border of Moab at ArH5674H6144H1366H4124H311719and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.'"H7126H4136H1121H5983H6696H1624H5414H776H1121H5983H3425H5414H1121H3876H342520(That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites.H2803H776H7497H7497H3427H6440H5984H7121H215721They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land.H5971H1419H7227H7311H6062H3068H8045H6440H3423H342722He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day.H6213H1121H6215H3427H8165H8045H2752H6440H3423H3427H311723A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete

invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)H5761H3427H2699H5804H3732H3318H3731H8045H342724Moses continued, "Then the LORD said, 'Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land.H6965H5265H5674H5158H769H7200H5414H3027H5511H567H4428H2809H776H2490H3423H1624H442125Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.'"H3117H2490H5414H6343H3374H6440H5971H8064H8085H8088H7264H2342H6440

Victory over Sihon of Heshbon

26Moses continued, "From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace.H7971H4397H4057H6932H5511H4428H2809H1697H7965H55927'Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won't turn off into the fields on either side.H5674H776H3212H1870H1870H5493H3225H804028Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land.H7666H400H3701H398H5414H4325H3701H8354H5674H727229The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.'H1121H6215H3427H8165H4125H3427H6144H6213H5674H3383H776H3068H430H541430"But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.H5511H4428H2809H14H5674H3068H430H7185H7307H3824H553H5414H3027H311731"Then the LORD said to me, 'Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.'H3068H559H7200H2490H5414H5511H776H6440H2490H3423H3423H77632"Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz.H5511H3318H7125H5971H4421H309633But the LORD our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people.H3068H430H5414H6440H5221H1121H597134We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed

everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared.H3920H5892H6256H2763H4962H802H2945H5892H7604H830035We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.H929H962H7998H5892H392036"The LORD our God also helped us conquer Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and the town in the gorge, and the whole area as far as Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us.H6177H8193H5158H769H5892H5158H1568H7151H7682H3068H430H5414H644037However, we avoided the land of the Ammonites all along the Jabbok River and the towns in the hill country—all the places the LORD our God had commanded us to leave alone.H776H1121H5983H7126H3027H5158H2999H5892H2022H3068H430H6680