| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days. | 1Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir. |
| 2“And the LORD spoke to me, saying: | 2At this time the LORD said to me, |
| 3‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. | 3“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north |
| 4And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. | 4and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. |
| 5Do not meddle 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 to Esau as a possession. | 5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession. |
| 6You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. | 6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ” |
| 7“For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’ | 7Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing. |
| 8“And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. | 8So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab. |
| 9Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ” | 9Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.” |
| 10(The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. | 10(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. |
| 11They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. | 11Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites. |
| 12The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.) | 12The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.) |
| 13“ ‘Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. | 13“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered. |
| 14And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them. | 14The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. |
| 15For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed. | 15Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished. |
| 16“So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, | 16Now when all the fighting men among the people had died, |
| 17that the LORD spoke to me, saying: | 17the LORD said to me, |
| 18‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. | 18“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar. |
| 19And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle 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 the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ” | 19But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.” |
| 20(That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, | 20(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. |
| 21a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, | 21They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place, |
| 22just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. | 22just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day. |
| 23And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.) | 23And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.) |
| 24“ ‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. | 24“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. |
| 25This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’ | 25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.” |
| 26“And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, | 26So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying, |
| 27‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. | 27“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left. |
| 28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, | 28You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot, |
| 29just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD our God is giving us.’ | 29just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.” |
| 30“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, 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. | 30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day. |
| 31“And the LORD said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ | 31Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.” |
| 32Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. | 32So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz. |
| 33And the LORD our God delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. | 33And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army. |
| 34We took all his cities at that time, and we utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. | 34At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors. |
| 35We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took. | 35We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured. |
| 36From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the LORD our God delivered all to us. | 36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them. |
| 37Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the River Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or wherever the LORD our God had forbidden us. | 37But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden. |
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