Deuteronomy, Chapter 2:

Verses from Deuteronomy, Chapter 2 of the book of Deuteronomy of the Bible.

Deuteronomy - Old Testament — Deuteronomy – Old Testament

Journeys in the desert

1. Then we turned and set out along the desert road toward the Red Sea, as the Lord had commanded me. And for many days we circled Mount Seir.
2. And the Lord said to me:
3. “You have been around this mountain long enough; Now, face north.
4. Give command to the people, saying, 'You are passing through the territory of Esau's brothers, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be careful.
5. Do not provoke them, for I will not give them any of their land, not even a piece of land to set foot on. This is because I gave Mount Seir as an inheritance to Esau.
6. You will be able to buy food from them for money to eat, and also water for money to drink'”.
7. Remember that the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched over you during this long journey through the desert. During these forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.
8. Then we passed by Esau's brothers, who lived in Seir. We left the road that comes from Elath and Ezion-geber and headed through the desert of Moab.
9. The Lord said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or attack them in war, for I will not give you any of their land as an inheritance. Because I gave Ar as an inheritance to the sons of Lot.”
10. (The Emites formerly lived there, a great people, numerous and tall in stature, like the Anakim.
11. They were also considered Rephaim, like the Anakim; but the Moabites called them Emites.
12. And in Seir, before, lived the Horim. But the sons of Esau took their place, cutting them off from before them and living in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the Lord gave them as an inheritance.)
13. “Now get up and cross the valley of Zered.” We crossed the Zerede valley.
14. For thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, was eliminated from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.
15. Furthermore, the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them from the camp, until they were all cut off.
16. “When the last of them fell dead before us, the people stopped sinning against the Lord.
17. And this is what the Lord commanded me:
18. 'Today you are passing through Ar, through the border of Moab.
19. When you approach the Ammonites, do not provoke them or attack them, for I will not give you anything from the land of the Ammonites as an inheritance. This is because I gave their land to the sons of Lot for an inheritance.'”
20. (This land was also considered the land of the Rephaim. Previously, the Rephaim lived there; the Ammonites called them Zanzumin.
21. They were a great people, numerous and tall, like the Anakites. The Lord destroyed the Rephaim before the Ammonites, who displaced them and lived in their place.
22. The same he did for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them. They displaced them and began to live in their place until this day.
23. They were also displaced by the Caphtorim, who left Caphtor and destroyed the Aveites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza and began to live in their place.)
24. “Get up, set out, and cross the Arnon River. See, I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hands. Begin to conquer it and engage it in battle.
25. Today I will begin to put fear and terror of you into every nation under heaven. They will hear about you and will tremble with fear and terror because of you.”

The defeat of King Sihon of Heshbon

26. From the wilderness of Kedemote I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying:
27. “Let me pass through your land. I will follow the main road and will not deviate to the right or to the left.
28. Sell me food to eat and water to drink, and let me pass by on foot,
29. as did the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar. Until I cross the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
30. But Sihon, king of Heshbon, did not let us pass through his land, because the Lord his God had hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, to deliver him into his hands, as is the case today.
31. The Lord said to me, “See, I will begin to hand Sihon and his land over to you. Start taking possession of it so you can own it.”
32. Then Sihon and all his army went out to meet us in war in Jaaz.
33. The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his entire army.
34. At that time, we took all their cities and dedicated every city, including the men, women and children, to complete extermination. We leave no survivors.
35. We only took the cattle for ourselves, along with the spoils of the cities we had taken.
36. From Aroer, by the river Arnon, and from the city of the river to Gilead, there was no fortified city that was inaccessible to us. The Lord our God gave them all to us.
37. However, we did not touch the land of the Ammonites; no part of that region watered by the brook Jabbok, nor the cities in the mountains, nor in any place has the Lord our God forbidden.