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the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The
Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. 5 Do
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. 6 If you need food to eat or water
to drink, pay them for it. 7 For 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.”’
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, 9 the 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 (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. 11 Both the Emites and the Anakites are
also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites. 12 In 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.)
13 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said to
us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.’ So we
crossed the brook.
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. 15 The Lord struck them down until they
had all been eliminated from the community.
16 “When all the men of fighting age had died,
17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you will cross the
border of Moab at Ar 19 and 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 area was once considered the land
of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though
the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They
were also as strong and numerous and tall as the
Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the
Ammonites could occupy their land. 22 He 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. 23 A similar
2:23 Hebrew from Caphtor.
DEUTER ONOM Y 2
thing happened when the Caphtorites from
Crete* invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who
had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)
24 Moses 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. 25 Beginning 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
26 Moses continued, “From the wilderness of
Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of
Heshbon with this proposal of peace:
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. 28 Sell us food
to eat and water to drink, and we will pay
for it. All we want is permission to pass
through your land. 29 The 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.’
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.
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.’
32 “Then King Sihon declared war on us and
mobilized his forces at Jahaz. 33 But the Lord our
• Celebration
DE U TE R ON OM Y 2:7
As God has led, protected, and provided
for you, celebrate him! As he has helped
you become who you are and accomplish
what you have done, celebrate him! We
celebrate God in our blessings because
we acknowledge that it is God from
whom those blessings come. When you
have a reason to celebrate—a wedding,
a new baby, a new job or a promotion,
a new home, making it through a rough
time, or whatever reason—rejoice, and
do so with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving
should be at the heart of our celebration;
otherwise it is empty partying. Our
celebrations should stand for something.
Then the joy from them will last long after
the actual celebration is over.