Deuteronomy 2

2 ¹ Then we turned and traveled toward the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as our Father told me, and circled Mount Seir for many days.

² Then our Father said to me,

³ "You have gone around this hill country long enough. Turn northward, ⁴ Command the people: You are crossing the territory of your brothers, Esau's descendants, who live in Seir. They will fear you—be very careful. ⁵ Do not provoke them; I will not give you any of their land, not even a footstep's width, since I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession. ⁶ Buy food from them for silver to eat, and also buy water from them for silver to drink.

⁷ For your Father has blessed all the work of your hands. He has known your journey through this great wilderness. These forty years your Father has been with you; you have lacked nothing.

⁸ So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber. Then we turned and went on toward the wilderness of Moab.

⁹ And our Father said to me, "Do not harass Moab or provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar to Lot's descendants as a possession."

¹⁰ (The Emim formerly lived there, a large and powerful people, as tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim, they too are counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² Horites once lived in Seir, but Esau's descendants drove out and destroyed them, settling in their place—just as Israel did in the land our Father gave them.)

¹³ "Now get moving and cross the Wadi Zered." So we crossed the Wadi Zered.

¹⁴ From Kadesh-barnea to crossing the Wadi Zered took thirty-eight years, until the whole generation of fighting men had died out of the camp, as our Father had sworn to them. ¹⁵ Indeed, the hand of our Father was against them, rooting them out from the camp until they perished. ¹⁶ So when all the fighting men had finally perished and died from among the people, ¹⁷ our Father said to me,

¹⁸ "Today you are to cross the boundary of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ When you come near the Ammonites, do not attack or provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession — I gave it to Lot's descendants as their possession.

²⁰ (That too counts as Rephaim land—Rephaim lived there before, though Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ²¹ a great, populous people, tall as the Anakim. But our Father destroyed them before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place, ²² as he did for Esau's descendants living in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and settled in their place, remaining to this day. ²³ The Avvim lived in villages as far as Gaza; Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ^a a v23 Caphtor is the ancient name for Crete and the surrounding Aegean region; the Caphtorim were a seafaring people who settled along the coast near Gaza.

²⁴ Set out and cross the Wadi Arnon. Look, I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand. Begin to take possession—engage him in battle. ²⁵ Today I will begin putting dread and fear of you on every people under heaven. They will hear the report of you, tremble, and writhe in anguish because of you.

Moses Offers Peace to Sihon

²⁶ I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ Let me pass through your land. I will stay only on the road, turning aside neither right nor left. ²⁸ Sell me food for money to eat, give me water for money to drink — only let me pass through on foot. ²⁹ as Esau's descendants who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan into the land our Father is giving us. ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass, for our Father hardened his spirit and stiffened his heart, to hand him over to you, as he has done this day.

³¹ And our Father said to me, 'Look, I've begun giving you Sihon and his land. Begin now taking possession—possess his land.'

³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. ³³ And our Father gave him to us, and we struck him down, his sons, and all his people. ³⁴ At that time we captured all his cities and destroyed every city—men, women, children—leaving no survivor. ³⁵ We plundered only the livestock for ourselves, plus the spoil of the cities we captured. ³⁶ From Aroer on the Wadi Arnon's edge, and from the town in the valley, to Gilead, no town was too strong for us; Our Father gave them all to us. ³⁷ But you did not go near the Ammonites' land, all along the Wadi Jabbok and the hill country's towns, just as our Father commanded us.