1“Then we turned back, and set out toward the wilderness by the road to the Red Sea, as the LORD had directed me: and we wandered around Mount Seir for many days. 2And the LORD said to me, 3‘You have wandered around this mountain long enough: turn northward. 4And give the people these orders, “You are to pass through the border of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you; but be very careful: 5Do not meddle with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. 6If you need food to eat, you shall buy it from them; and you shall also pay them money for water to drink. 7For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He knows and has watched over your journey through this great wilderness. These forty years, the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’ 8And so we bypassed our brethren, the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, and went the way of the Arabah from Elath; and from Ezion-geber, we turned and travelled by way of the wilderness of Moab.

9“And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass the Moabites, nor engage them in battle: for I will not give you any of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot for a possession.’ 10The Emim dwelt there in times past, a people great, numerous, and as tall as the Anakim, 11Who also were considered giants, like the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. 12The Horites also formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They had destroyed them and occupied their land, just as Israel did to the land which the LORD gave to them. 13‘Now rise,’ said the LORD, ‘and get yourselves over the brook Zered.’ And so we crossed the brook Zered. 14And thirty-eight years passed in the period from when we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we crossed over the brook Zered - until all the generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. 15For indeed, the hand of the LORD was against them, to eliminate them from the camp.

16“So, when all the men of fighting age were dead and gone from among the people, 17The LORD spoke to me: 18‘You are to pass over through Ar, the border of Moab, today: 19And when you come near the Ammonites, do not distress nor meddle with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites for a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot.’ 20(That also was considered a land of giants: giants formerly dwelt there; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim - 21A people great, strong, and tall, like the Anakim; but the Ammonites succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead, when the LORD destroyed the giants, 22As He did for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, after the LORD destroyed the Horites before them; and the descendants of Esau succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead, as they do this day; 23As for the Avvim, who dwelt in Hazerim, and as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites, who came from Crete, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.) 24‘Now rise, resume your journey, and cross over the river Arnon. I have given Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land, into your hand. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. 25This day will I begin to put the dread of you upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear reports of you, and shall tremble, and be in distress because of you’.

26“And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with these words of peace, 27‘Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right or to the left. 28You shall sell me food to eat; and water to drink for money, that I may pass through only on my feet; 29As the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to us until I shall cross the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives us’. 30But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver Sihon into your hand, as it appears this day. 31And the LORD said to me, ‘I have begun to give you Sihon and his land that lies before you; begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ 32Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his army, to fight at Jahaz. 33And the LORD our God delivered him to us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people. 34And we captured all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed them - men, women, and their little ones - of every city; we left none alive. 35But we took the cattle for plunder for ourselves, and the spoil from the cities. 36From Aroer, which is by the brink of the Arnon River, and from the cities by the river, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the LORD our God delivered them all to us: 37But upon the land of the Ammonites you did not encroach – bot any place along the river Jabbok, nor the cities in the mountains, nor anywhere that the LORD our God forbade us.