Deuteronomy 2
1 And we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as Jehovah had said unto me; and we went round mount Seir many days.
Then we turned around and headed back into the desert on the road that leads to the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we wandered around Mount Seir for a long time.
2 And Jehovah spoke to me, saying,
This is when the Lord told me,
3 Ye have gone round this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
“You have been wandering around this mountain long enough. Go back north,
4 And command the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you; and ye shall be very guarded:
and give these orders to the people: ‘You are going to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be frightened of you, so you need to be very careful.
5 attack them not; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot-breadth; for I have given mount Seir as a possession unto Esau.
Don't fight them, for I'm not going to give you any of their land, not even the size of a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau and it belongs to him.
6 Ye shall buy of them food for money, that ye may eat; and water shall ye also buy of them for money, that ye may drink;
Pay them with money for the food you eat and the water you drink.’
7 for Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand. He hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years hath Jehovah thy God been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
Remember that the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you've done. He has looked after you during your journey through this large desert. The Lord your God has been with you for these forty years, and you haven't lacked anything.”
8 And we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, by the plain, by Elath, and by Ezion-geber, and we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
So we passed by our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We didn't take the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. Instead we used the road that goes through the desert of Moab.
9 And Jehovah said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither engage with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land a possession; for unto the children of Lot have I given Ar as a possession.
Then the Lord told me, “Don't cause the Moabites any trouble or fight them, for I'm not going to give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot and it belongs to them.”
10 (The Emim dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim.
(A strong and numerous people called the Emim once lived there. They were as tall as the Anakim,
11 They also are reckoned as giants like the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
and just like the Anakim, they were also considered as Rephaim, but the Moabites called them Emim.
12 And in Seir dwelt the Horites in times past; and the children of Esau dispossessed them, and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did to the land of their possession, which Jehovah gave to them.)
Previously the Horites lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau took over their land. They killed the Horites and settled there, just like Israel did when they occupied the land that the Lord had given them.)
13 Now rise up, and pass over the torrent Zered. And we passed over the torrent Zered.
Then the Lord told us, “Go and cross over Zered Brook.” So we crossed over Zered Brook.
14 Now the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we had come over the torrent Zered, were thirty-eight years; until the whole generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah had sworn unto them.
The time it took for us to travel from Kadesh-barnea to when we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years. By this time the entire generation of warriors had died and were no longer part of the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them would happen.
15 Moreover the hand of Jehovah was against them to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.
In fact the Lord worked against them to remove them from the camp, until they were all dead.
16 And it came to pass when all the men of war were consumed, having died off from among the people,
Once the people's warriors had died,
17 that Jehovah spoke to me, saying,
the Lord told me,
18 Thou art to pass this day over the border of Moab, [which is] Ar,
“Today you will cross out of Moab at the border near Ar.
19 and come near over against the children of Ammon; thou shalt not distress them nor attack them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon a possession; for unto the children of Lot have I given it as a possession.
However, when you get enter Ammonite territory, don't cause them any trouble or fight them for I'm not going to give you any Ammonite land, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot and it belongs to them.”
20 (That also is reckoned a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in time past, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim;
(This land was previously considered as the country of the Rephaim who used to live there. However, the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21 a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim; and Jehovah destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them, and dwelt in their stead;
They were a strong and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them when the Ammonites invaded and drove them out and settled there,
22 as he did to the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, from before whom he destroyed the Horites; and they dispossessed them, and dwelt in their stead, even to this day.
just as he'd done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites. They drove them out and settled where they used to live, and are still there to this day.
23 And the Avvites who dwelt in the hamlets as far as Gazah — the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
The Avvim, living in villages as far away as Gaza, were destroyed by the Philistines, who came from Crete, and settled where they used to live.)
24 Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land: begin, take possession, and engage with him in battle.
Then the Lord told us, “Get up, go and cross the Arnon Valley. Look, I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, as well as his land. Go and start taking it over, and fight him in battle.
25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples under the whole heaven; who will hear report of thee, and will tremble, and quake because of thee.
From this day on, I'm going to make all nations on earth dread you—they will be terrified of you. Because of the news they hear about you they will tremble in terror when you appear.”
26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon the king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
Moses told the Israelites, “From the Kedemoth Desert I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon, king of Heshbon, telling him,
27 Let me pass through thy land: by the highway alone will I go; I will neither turn to the right hand nor to the left.
‘Let us pass through your land. We'll stay on the main road and won't turn off either to the right or to the left.
28 Thou shalt sell me food for money that I may eat; and thou shalt give me water for money that I may drink; I will only pass through on my feet,
Sell us food to eat and water to drink for money. Just let us pass 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 shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God giveth us.
just like the descendants of Esau living in Seir and the Moabites living in Ar allowed us, until we cross over the Jordan into the country that the Lord our God is giving to us.”
30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obdurate, that he might give him into thy hand, as it is this day.
But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through, for the Lord your God gave him a stubborn spirit and an obstinate attitude, so the Lord could hand him over to you, as he has now done.
31 And Jehovah said to me, Behold, I begin to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin, take possession, that thou mayest possess his land.
Then the Lord told me, “Look, I have started handing Sihon and his land over to you. Now you can begin to conquer and take over his land.”
32 And Sihon came out against us for battle, he and all his people, to Jahaz.
Sihon and his whole army came out to fight us at Jahaz.
33 But Jehovah our God gave him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and his whole people.
The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we killed him, his sons, and all his army.
34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, men, and women, and little ones: we let none escape.
We also captured all his towns, and set apart for destruction the people of every town: men, women, and children. We didn't leave any survivors.
35 Only the cattle we took as booty for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
All we took for ourselves was the livestock and plunder from the towns we'd captured.
36 From Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the ravine even to Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: Jehovah our God delivered all before us.
No town had walls too high for us to conquer—from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the town in the valley, all the way to Gilead. The Lord our God handed them all over to us.
37 Only thou didst not approach the land of the children of Ammon, the whole border of the river Jabbok, nor the cities of the mountain, nor to whatsoever Jehovah our God had forbidden us.
But you didn't go anywhere near the country of the Ammonites—the area that borders the Jabbok River or the towns of the hill country, or any other place that the Lord our God had placed off limits.
