Deuteronomy 2 · Parashat Devarim

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Suf, as the Lord spoke to me: and we went about mount Se῾ir many days.

And the Lord spoke to me, saying,

You have compassed this mountain long enough: turn northwards.

And command the people, saying, You are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of ῾Esav, who dwell in Se῾ir; and they shall be afraid of you: take good heed to yourselves therefore:

meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Se῾ir to ῾Esav for a possession.

You shall buy food of them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.

For the Lord thy God has blessed thee in all the work of thy hand: he knows thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God has been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

And when we passed by from our brethren the children of ῾Esav, who dwelt in Se῾ir, through the way of the ῾Arava from Elat and from ῾Eżyon-gever, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Mo᾽av.

And the Lord said to me, Do not harass Mo᾽av, nor contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given ῾Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.

(The Emim dwelt there in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, like the ῾Anaqim;

who also were considered Refa᾽im as the ῾Anaqim; but the Mo᾽avim call them Emim.

The Ḥorim also dwelt in Se῾ir beforetime; but the children of ῾Esav succeeded them, and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place; as Yisra᾽el did to the land of his possession, which the Lord gave to them.)

Now rise up, and get you over the wadi Zered. And we went over the wadi Zered.

And the days in which we came from Qadesh-Barnea, until we were come over the wadi Zered, were thirty eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord swore to them.

For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.

So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,

that the Lord spoke to me, saying,

Thou art to pass over through ῾Ar, the border of Mo᾽av, this day:

and when thou comest near, opposite the children of ῾Ammon, harass them not, nor contend with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of ῾Ammon any possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.

(That also was considered a land of Refa᾽im: Refa᾽im dwelt therein in old time; and the ῾Ammonim call them Zamzummim.

A people great, and many, and tall, like the ῾Anaqim; but the Lord destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their place:

as he did to the children of ῾Esav, who dwelt in Se῾ir, when he destroyed the Ḥorim from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead until this very day:

and the ῾Avvim who dwelt in Ḥażerim, as far as ῾Azza; Kaftorim who came from Kaftor, destroyed them and dwelt in their stead.)

Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the wadi Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Siĥon the Emorite, king of Ḥeshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and quake because of thee.

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Qedemot to Siĥon king of Ḥeshbon with words of peace, saying,

Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn to the right hand nor to the left.

Thou 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 with those who follow me;

(as the children of ῾Esav who dwell in Se῾ir, and the Mo᾽avim who dwell in ῾Ar, did to me;) until I shall pass over the Yarden into the land which the Lord our God gives us.

But Siĥon king of Ḥeshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as is apparent this day.

And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have begun to give Siĥon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayst inherit his land.

Then Siĥon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Yahaż.

And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

And we took all his cities at that time, and devoted to destruction every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones; we left none remaining:

only the cattle we took for a prey to ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took;

From ῾Aro῾er, which is by the edge of the wadi of Arnon, and from the city that is by the wadi, as far as Gil῾ad, there was not one city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all to us:

only to the land of the children of ῾Ammon thou didst not come, nor to any place of the torrent of Yabboq, nor to the cities in the mountains, nor to whatever place the Lord our God forbad us.