Wanderings in the Wilderness 1 UDB "Then we turned around and went through the desert toward the Sea of Reeds as Yahweh told us to do, and we wandered in Edom for many years. BSB BSB: Then 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 UDB Then Yahweh said to me, BSB BSB: At this time the LORD said to me,
3 UDB 'You have been wandering around this hill country for a long enough time. Now turn and travel toward the north. BSB BSB: “You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north
4 UDB And tell the people that they are about to travel near the land that belongs to the descendants of Esau, who are also descendants of Isaac. They live in the hill country of Edom. They will be afraid of you, BSB BSB: and 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.
5 UDB but do not start to fight against them, because I am not going to give you even a tiny bit of their land. I have given that land to the descendants of Esau. BSB BSB: Do 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.
6 UDB When you travel near their land, buy food and water from them.' BSB BSB: You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
7 UDB Do not forget that Yahweh our God has blessed you in everything that you have done. He knows what has happened to you while you have wandered in this huge desert. But he has been with you during those forty years, and as a result you have had everything that you needed. BSB BSB: Indeed, 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 UDB So we continued to travel. We avoided going through the hill country where the descendants of Esau live. We turned from the road that goes along the plain of the Jordan valley and comes up from Ezion Geber and Elath, and we traveled along the desert road of Moab. BSB BSB: So 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.
10 UDB A large group of giants called Emim formerly lived there. They were as tall as the giants who were descendants of Anak. BSB BSB: (The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.
11 UDB They and the descendants of Anak are also called the Repha giants, but the people of Moab call them Emim. BSB BSB: Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.
12 UDB The Hor people also formerly lived in the Edom area, but the descendants of Esau chased them out. They defeated and killed them and settled in their land, just as the Israelite people later expelled their enemies from the land that Yahweh gave to them.) BSB BSB: The 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 UDB Moses also said to the Israelite people, "Then we crossed the Zered Gorge, as Yahweh told us to do. BSB BSB: “Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.
14 UDB It had been thirty-eight years from the time we first left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Gorge. During those years, all the Israelite fighting men of that generation died, as Yahweh had solemnly said would happen. BSB BSB: The 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.
15 UDB They died because Yahweh opposed them until he had gotten rid of all of them. BSB BSB: Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.
16 UDB After all the men who had been old enough to fight in wars had died, BSB BSB: Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,
17 UDB Yahweh said to me, BSB BSB: the LORD said to me,
18 UDB 'Today you all must travel through the region of Moab, near Ar, their city. BSB BSB: “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
20 UDB (That region is also called the land of the Repha giants, who formerly lived there. The Ammon people call them the Zamzum group. BSB BSB: (That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21 UDB They were a large and powerful group, who were as tall as the descendants of Anak. But Yahweh destroyed them, and the Ammon people drove them away and took their land from them and started to live there. BSB BSB: They 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,
22 UDB Yahweh had done the same thing for the descendants of Esau who live in the hill country of Edom. He got rid of the people of Hor, with the result that the people of Edom took their land from them and started to live there. They still live there. BSB BSB: just 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.
The Defeat of Sihon (Numbers 21:21–30)
24 UDB "After we had gone through the region of Moab, Yahweh said to us, 'Now cross the Arnon River. I will help you to defeat the army of Sihon, the king of the Amor people, who lives in the city of Heshbon. So attack their army and start to take their land from them. BSB BSB: “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.
25 UDB Today I will begin to cause everyone, everywhere, to be afraid of you. Everyone who hears about you will tremble and be terrified.' BSB BSB: This 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 UDB Then I sent messengers to go from the desert, where we were, to King Sihon at Heshbon. I told them to give this peaceful message to the king: BSB BSB: So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,
27 UDB 'Please allow us to travel through your land. We promise that we will stay on the road; we will not turn off to the right or to the left. BSB BSB: “Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.
28 UDB We will pay for any food or water that you allow us to buy. We want only to walk through your country BSB BSB: You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,
29 UDB until we cross the Jordan River into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us. Do for us just as the descendants of Esau who live in the Edom area and the Moab people did for us when they allowed us to go through their areas.' BSB BSB: just 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 UDB But King Sihon would not allow us to go through his country. That was because Yahweh our God caused him to be stubborn. The result was that Yahweh enabled us to defeat his army and take his land, which we still live in. BSB BSB: But 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 UDB Yahweh said to me, 'Listen! I am about to allow you to defeat Sihon's army and to take the people's land from them. So start to occupy it!' BSB BSB: Then 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.”
32 UDB Then Sihon came out of the city with all his army to fight against us at the town of Jahaz. BSB BSB: So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.
33 UDB But God enabled us to defeat them, and we killed Sihon, his sons, and all his soldiers. BSB BSB: And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.
34 UDB We captured their cities and destroyed them all. We killed all the men and women and children; we did not allow any of them to remain alive. BSB BSB: At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.
35 UDB We took the valuable things that were in the cities that we captured, and also their cattle. BSB BSB: We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.
36 UDB Yahweh our God enabled us to capture all their towns from Aroer in the south, which is at the edge of the Arnon River Valley, to the region of Gilead in the north. Some of their cities had walls around them, but we were still able to capture them. BSB BSB: From 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.
37 UDB But we did not go near the area where the Ammon people live, or the banks of the Jabbok River, or the towns of the hill country, or any other place where Yahweh our God told us not to go." BSB BSB: But 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.