1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spoke unto me: and we went around mount Seir many days.
2 And the LORD spoke unto me, saying,
3 You have gone around this mountain long enough: turn northward.
4 And command the people, saying, You are to pass through the territory of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take you good heed unto yourselves therefore:
5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.
6 You shall buy food from them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.
7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the works of your hand: he knows your walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.
8 And when we passed by away from our brethren the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongeber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
9 And the LORD said unto me,
10 The Emim dwelt there in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim;
11 Who also were considered giants, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
12 The Horites also dwelt in Seir formerly; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.
13 Now rise up,
14 And the time in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were perished from among the camp as the LORD swore unto 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 came to pass, when all the men of war were perished and dead from among the people,
17 That the LORD spoke unto me, saying,
18 You are to pass over through Ar, the boundary of Moab, this day:
19 And when you come near the border of the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
20 (That also was regarded as a land of giants: giants dwelt there formerly; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim;
21 A people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:
22 As he did to the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:
23 And the Avvim who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
24 Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.
25 This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear reports of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.
26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
27 Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand 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: only I will pass through on my feet;
29 (As the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives us.
30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
31 And the LORD said unto me,
32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.
33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we defeated him, and his sons, and all his people.
34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:
35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
36 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:
37 Only unto the land of the children of Ammon you came not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbade us.