Deuteronomy 2:1-25

The Wilderness Years

1 "Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, 1as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir.
2 Then the LORD said to me,
3 'You have been traveling around this mountain country 2long enough. Turn northward
4 and command the people, "You are about to pass through the territory of 3your brothers, the people of Esau, 4who live in Seir; and 5they will be afraid of you. So be very careful.
5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because 6I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
6 7You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.
7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. 8He knows your going through this great wilderness. 9These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing."'
8 So 10we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from 11the Arabah road from 12Elath and 13Ezion-geber. "And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.
9 And the LORD said to me, 14'Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given 15Ar to 16the people of Lot for a possession.'
10 (17The Emim formerly lived there, 18a people great and many, and tall 19as the Anakim.
11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as 20Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
12 21The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, 22as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.)
13 'Now rise up and go over 23the brook Zered.' So we went over 24the brook Zered.
14 And the time from our leaving 25Kadesh-barnea until we crossed 26the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, 27until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.
16 "So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people,
17 the LORD said to me,
18 'Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, 28do not harass them or contend 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 29the sons of Lot for a possession.'
20 (It is also counted as a land of 30Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there--but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim--
21 31a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites,[a] and they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed 32the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day.
23 As for 33the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as 34Gaza, 35the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)
24 'Rise up, set out on your journey and 36go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of 37Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and 38contend with him in battle.
25 This day I will begin to put 39the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.'

Cross References 39

  • 1. Deuteronomy 1:40; Numbers 14:25
  • 2. Deuteronomy 1:6
  • 3. Deuteronomy 23:7; Amos 1:11; Obad. 10, 12
  • 4. See Genesis 32:3
  • 5. See Numbers 20:18-21
  • 6. [See ver. 4 above]
  • 7. ver. 28
  • 8. [Job 23:10]
  • 9. See Deuteronomy 8:2-4
  • 10. Judges 11:18
  • 11. See Deuteronomy 1:1
  • 12. 1 Kings 9:26; [2 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 16:6; 2 Chronicles 26:2]
  • 13. See Numbers 33:35
  • 14. ver. 19, 29
  • 15. ver. 18; Numbers 21:15; Isaiah 15:1
  • 16. ver. 19; Genesis 19:36, 37
  • 17. Genesis 14:5
  • 18. [ver. 21]
  • 19. See Numbers 13:22
  • 20. See Genesis 14:5
  • 21. ver. 22; Genesis 14:6; See Genesis 36:20-30
  • 22. Num. 21:24, 31, 35
  • 23. [Numbers 21:12]
  • 24. [Numbers 21:12]
  • 25. See Deuteronomy 1:2, 19
  • 26. [Numbers 21:12]
  • 27. Numbers 14:33, 35; Numbers 26:64; Psalms 78:33; Psalms 95:11; Psalms 106:26; Ezekiel 20:15; [1 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 3:17]; See Deuteronomy 1:35
  • 28. [ver. 9]
  • 29. Genesis 19:36, 38
  • 30. See Genesis 14:5
  • 31. [ver. 10]
  • 32. Genesis 14:6; See Genesis 36:20-30
  • 33. Joshua 13:3, 4
  • 34. Genesis 10:19; Jeremiah 25:20
  • 35. See Genesis 10:14
  • 36. Numbers 21:13, 14; Judges 11:18, 21
  • 37. Num. 21:27, 28, 30
  • 38. [ver. 9]
  • 39. Deuteronomy 11:25; Deuteronomy 28:10; See Exodus 15:14-16; Joshua 2:9-11

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.