The Desert Years
1 Deut. 1:40"Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, Num. 14:25as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.
2 "And the Lord spoke to me, saying: 3 ‘You have skirted this mountain Deut. 2:7, 14long enough; turn northward. 4 And command the people, saying, Num. 20:14–21"You areaboutto pass through the territory of Deut. 23:7your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, Gen. 36:8; Josh. 24:4because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
7 "For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. Deut. 8:2–4; (Matt. 6:8, 32)These forty years the Lord your God hasbeen with you; you have lacked nothing." ’
8 "And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Judg. 11:18; 1 Kin. 9:26Elath and Ezion Geber, we Num. 21:4turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. 9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Num. 21:15, 28; Deut. 2:18, 29Ar to Gen. 19:36–38the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ "
10 Gen. 14:5(The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as Num. 13:22, 33; Deut. 9:2the Anakim. 11 They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 Gen. 14:6; 36:20; Deut. 2:22The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)
13 " ‘Now rise and cross over Num. 21:12the Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. 14 And the time we took to come Num. 13:26from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, Num. 14:33; 26:64; Deut. 1:34, 35until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, Num. 14:35; Ezek. 20:15just as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.
16 "So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the Lord spoke to me, saying: 18 ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. 19 And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to Gen. 19:38; Num. 21:24the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ "
20 (That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Gen. 14:5Zamzummim, 21 Deut. 2:10a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, 22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, Gen. 36:8; Deut. 2:5who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed Gen. 14:6; 36:20–30the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. 23 And Josh. 13:3the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—Gen. 10:14; 1 Chr. 1:12; Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
24 " ‘Rise, take your journey, and Num. 21:13, 14; Judg. 11:18cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Deut. 1:4Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. 25 Ex. 23:27; Deut. 11:25; Josh. 2:9This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall Ex. 15:14–16tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
King Sihon Defeated
26 "And I Num. 21:21–32; Deut. 1:4; Judg. 11:19–21sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, Deut. 20:10with words of peace, saying, 27 Num. 21:21, 22; Judg. 11:19‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; Num. 20:19only let me pass through on foot, 29 Num. 20:18; Deut. 23:3, 4; Judg. 11:17just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
30 Num. 21:23"But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for Josh. 11:20the Lord your God Ex. 4:21hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as itis this day.
31 "And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to Deut. 1:3, 8give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ 32 Num. 21:23Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. 33 And Ex. 23:31; Deut. 7:2the Lord our God delivered him over to us; so Num. 21:24we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. 34 We took all his cities at that time, and we Lev. 27:28utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. 35 We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took. 36 Deut. 3:12; 4:48; Josh. 13:9From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and fromJosh. 13:9, 16the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; Ps. 44:3the Lord our God delivered all to us. 37 Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the River Gen. 32:22; Num. 21:24; Deut. 3:16Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or Deut. 2:5, 9, 19wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.