| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea just as the LORD told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time. | 1“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. |
| 2At this point the LORD said to me, | 2“Then at last the LORD said to me, |
| 3"You have circled around this mountain long enough; now turn north. | 3‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north. |
| 4Instruct these people as follows: 'You are about to cross the border of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. | 4Give 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. |
| 5Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir as an inheritance for Esau. | 5Do 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. |
| 6You may purchase food to eat and water to drink from them. | 6If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it. |
| 7All along the way I, the LORD your God, have blessed your every effort. I have been attentive to your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have been with you; you have lacked for nothing.'" | 7For 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.”’ |
| 8So we turned away from our relatives the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, from Elat and Ezion Geber, and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands. | 8“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, |
| 9Then the LORD said to me, "Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession. | 9the 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.’” |
| 10(The Emites used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. | 10(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. |
| 11These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; the Moabites call them Emites. | 11Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites. |
| 12Previously the Horites lived in Seir but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the LORD gave them.) | 12In 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.) |
| 13Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered." So we did so. | 13Moses continued, “Then the LORD said to us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.’ So we crossed the brook. |
| 14Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the LORD had vowed to them. | 14“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. |
| 15Indeed, it was the very hand of the LORD that eliminated them from within the camp until they were all gone. | 15The LORD struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community. |
| 16So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, | 16“When all the men of fighting age had died, |
| 17the LORD said to me, | 17the LORD said to me, |
| 18"Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. | 18‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar |
| 19But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites' land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot's descendants as their possession. | 19and 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.’” |
| 20(That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites. The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. | 20(That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. |
| 21They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed the Rephaites in advance of the Ammonites, so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. | 21They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. |
| 22This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day. | 22He 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. |
| 23As for the Avvites who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites who came from Crete destroyed them and settled down in their place.) | 23A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.) |
| 24Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! | 24Moses 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. |
| 25This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach." | 25Beginning 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.’” Victory over Sihon of Heshbon |
| 26Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: | 26Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace: |
| 27"Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. I will not turn aside to the right or the left. | 27‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side. |
| 28Sell me food for cash so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. Just allow me to go through on foot, | 28Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land. |
| 29just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the LORD our God is giving us." | 29The 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.’ |
| 30But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the LORD our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day. | 30“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. |
| 31The LORD said to me, "Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession." | 31“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.’ |
| 32When Sihon and all his troops emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, | 32“Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. |
| 33the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons and everyone else. | 33But the LORD our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people. |
| 34At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and children; we left no survivors. | 34We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. |
| 35We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. | 35We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked. |
| 36From Aroer, which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us--the LORD our God gave them all to us. | 36“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. |
| 37However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the LORD our God. | 37However, 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. |
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