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Years in the Desert

¹ "Then we turned and went into the desert by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord said to me. We went around Mount Seir for many days. ² And the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have traveled around this mountain long enough. Now turn north. ⁴ Tell the people, "You will pass through the land of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. ⁵ Do not make them angry. For I will not give you any of their land, not even enough for a foot to step on. I have given Mount Seir to Esau for his own. ⁶ You will pay them with money for the food you eat. And you will pay them with money for the water you drink. ⁷ For the Lord your God has brought good to you in all you have done. He knows about your traveling through this big desert. The Lord your God has been with you these forty years. You have not been without a thing."'

⁸ "So we moved on from our brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and Ezion-geber. We turned and went by the way of the desert of Moab. ⁹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not bring trouble to Moab or fight them in war. For I will not give you any of their land for your own. I have given Ar to the children of Lot for their own.' ¹⁰ (The Emim had lived there before. These people were many and powerful, and as tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ They are known as Rephaim also, like the Anakim. But the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² The Horites once lived in Seir also. But the sons of Esau took their place. They destroyed them and took the land for themselves, as Israel did to the land which the Lord gave them for their own.) ¹³ ‘Now get up and go over the river Zered.' So we went over the river Zered. ¹⁴ It was thirty-eight years from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the river Zered. By that time all the men of war among us had died, as the Lord had said they would. ¹⁵ The hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them within their tents until they were all dead.

¹⁶ "When all the men of war had died from among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you will cross over Ar and into Moab. ¹⁹ But when you come near the land of the sons of Ammon, do not bring them trouble or make them angry. For I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon for your own. Because I have given it to the sons of Lot for their own.' ²⁰ (It is known as the land of the Rephaim also. For Rephaim once lived in it. But the Amorites call them Zamzummin, ²¹ a people as great, as many and as tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them, and the sons of Ammon took their place and lived in their land. ²² It was as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir. He destroyed the Horites, and the sons of Esau took their place and live in their land even to this day. ²³ And the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor destroyed the Avvim who lived in towns as far as Gaza. Then they lived in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Now rise up and go on your way. Pass through the valley of Arnon. See, I have given you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take it for your own, and fight with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put much fear of you upon the nations everywhere under the heavens. When they hear about you, they will shake with fear and be filled with trouble because of you.'

Battle with King Sihon

²⁶ "So I sent men carrying news from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace. They said, ²⁷ ‘Let me pass through your land. I will travel only on the road. I will not turn to the right or to the left. ²⁸ You will sell me food for money so I may eat, and give me water for money so I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot ²⁹ as the sons of Esau did for us in Seir and the Moabites in Ar. Do this until I cross over the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.' ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through his land. For the Lord your God made his spirit and heart hard, so He might give him into your hand, as he is today. ³¹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take it for your own, so you may live in it.'

³² "Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ³³ The Lord our God gave him to us. We won the fight against him, his sons and all his people. ³⁴ So we took all his cities at that time, and destroyed every man, woman and child in them. We left no one alive. ³⁵ We took only the animals for our own, and the things that were left behind in the cities. ³⁶ There was no city too strong for us, from Aroer by the valley of Arnon, and from the city which is in the valley, as far as Gilead. The Lord our God gave all to us. ³⁷ Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country. You did not go where the Lord our God told us not to go.