| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the LORD had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir. | 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. |
| 2Then the LORD said to me, | 2At this point the LORD said to me, |
| 3"You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north. | 3"You have circled around this mountain long enough; now turn north. |
| 4Give the people these orders: 'You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. | 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. |
| 5Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. | 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. |
| 6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.'" | 6You may purchase food to eat and water to drink from them. |
| 7The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. | 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.'" |
| 8So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab. | 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. |
| 9Then the LORD said to me, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession." | 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. |
| 10(The Emites used to live there--a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. | 10(The Emites used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. |
| 11Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites. | 11These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; the Moabites call them Emites. |
| 12Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the LORD gave them as their possession.) | 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.) |
| 13And the LORD said, "Now get up and cross the Zered Valley." So we crossed the valley. | 13Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered." So we did so. |
| 14Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. | 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. |
| 15The LORD's hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp. | 15Indeed, it was the very hand of the LORD that eliminated them from within the camp until they were all gone. |
| 16Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died, | 16So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, |
| 17the LORD said to me, | 17the LORD said to me, |
| 18"Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar. | 18"Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. |
| 19When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot." | 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. |
| 20(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. | 20(That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites. The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. |
| 21They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place. | 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. |
| 22The LORD had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day. | 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. |
| 23And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.) | 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.) |
| 24"Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. | 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! |
| 25This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you." | 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." |
| 26From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, | 26Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: |
| 27"Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. | 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. |
| 28Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot-- | 28Sell me food for cash so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. Just allow me to go through on foot, |
| 29as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us--until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us." | 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." |
| 30But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done. | 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. |
| 31The LORD said to me, "See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land." | 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." |
| 32When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, | 32When Sihon and all his troops emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, |
| 33the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army. | 33the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons and everyone else. |
| 34At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them--men, women and children. We left no survivors. | 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. |
| 35But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves. | 35We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. |
| 36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them. | 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. |
| 37But in accordance with the command of the LORD our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills. | 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. |
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