46So you had to stay a long time in Kadesh, all the time you spent there.

Narrative of the Protracted Wanderings at Mount Seir

2 And when we turned back and went into the wilderness, on the road to the Red Sea, as the Lord had commanded me, we had a long, long journey round about[1171] the mountains of Seir. 2 Until the Lord said to me, 3, "Stop walking around these mountains. Turn north! 4And give the people this command: "You will have to pass through the land of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who are now living in Seir. And they will be afraid of you, but you are strict that you do not have any conflicts with them. I will not give you an inch of their land in the hill country of Seir, which I gave to Esau and his descendants. 6For the water and food that you take from them, you shall always pay in silver, 7for the Lord your God[1172]a has blessed all your labor and has taken care[1173] of you as you pass through this vast wilderness. The Lord your God was with you forty years, and therefore you lacked nothing."

8And so we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who lived in the mountainous country of Seir, and by the way of Araba,1174 we passed, passed Elat and Ezion-Haver,[1175] and then came to the road that led to the wilderness of Moab. 9There again the Lord admonished me: "Do not quarrel with the Moabites, but avoid anything that might lead to war with them, for I have given all the land of Ar[1176] to the possession of the descendants of Lot, and nothing will ever be yours there."

10(In these lands once lived the Emei, a strong and numerous people, all as one lofty, like the descendants of Anak. 11 Like the descendants of Anak, they were considered Rephaim,1177 and the Moabites called them Emei. 12 In Seir there used to be the Choreans. But in time they were driven out by the descendants of Esau, who raided the people, destroyed them, and settled there themselves, as did the children of Israel in the land which the Lord had given them.)

13"It is time for you to go up and pass through the valley of Zehred," said the Lord. And we crossed that valley. 14From Kadesh-Barnea to this crossing of the Zered we walked thirty-eight years. By this time, there was not one of us left alive from a whole generation of men capable of war, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15The hand of the Lord made itself known to them until he had driven them all out of the camp.

Reminder of the Meeting with the Ammonites and Kings Og and Shechon

16When the last of these men fit for war died, and there was none of them left among the people, 17The Lord said to me: 18"Now you have to cross the border of Moab, near Ara,1178 19 and pass through the possessions of the Ammonites. Do not quarrel with them, nor give them cause to fear you, for I have given all that land to the seed of Lot, and nothing will ever be yours there."

20 These regions were once considered the land of the Rephaim, who had lived there from ancient times. The Ammonites then called them Zamzoommi. 21 They were a strong and numerous people, all tall as one, like the descendants of Anak. And yet the Lord destroyed them, and the Ammonites drove them out, raiding them, and settled there themselves. 22 And the Lord did the same for the descendants of Esau, now living in the mountainous country of Seir, when he destroyed the Choreans; then the descendants of Esau drove them out of those lands, and live there to this day. 23 The same fate befell the Abbites who lived in the villages as far as Gaza; but then another tribe appeared, coming from Caphtor[1179] – they destroyed all the Abbites and live there themselves.)

24The Lord said to us: "Move away! Cross the Arnon stream. Behold, before you is the Amorite Sihon, king of Heshbon, and his land, and I give it into your hands. Go and take possession of it by engaging in battle with Sihon. 25Know, then, that from now on I will cast all the nations under heaven into fear and terror before you. They will tremble at the mere rumor of you."

26And from the wilderness of Kedemot[1180] I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon. They came to him with a peace proposal: 27"If you allow me to pass through your land, then I will keep to the straight path, not turning anywhere, neither to the right nor to the left. 28For the water and food that I take from you, I will pay in silver. All I need is to walk through your lands; 29The descendants of Esau in the land of Seir and the Moabites in Aren have allowed this to be done, and I will go with my people beyond the Jordan, to the land that the LORD our God is giving us."

30But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not allow us to pass through his land, for the Lord your God had allowed the king to be stubborn and unyielding, so that he might deliver Sihon into your hands, as it happened. 31 And the Lord said to me before, 'I give you king Sihon and all his lands. So go and occupy them." 32 And when Shehon with all his army went forth to oppose us in the battle of Yah, 33the LORD our God delivered Sihon into our hands, as he had promised, and we slew them all, the king himself, and his sons, and all that people. 34Then we captured their cities and put them under a curse,[1182] leaving no one alive, neither men, nor children, nor women. 35Only the cattle and their goods in all the cities have been taken for themselves as booty. 36And nowhere in this land, from Aroer, in the valley of the Arnon, to Gilad, have we found a city whose walls could stand before us. The Lord our God has given us everything. 37Only to the lands of the Ammonites, on both sides of the Yabwok River, you did not even approach, nor to the cities in the mountains, for the LORD our God has commanded us so.

Overview of the events surrounding the defeat of Og, King of Bashan

3 Then we turned north and went along the road to Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, marched against us with all his army to fight us at Edreya. 2The Lord said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have given him into your hands, together with all his people and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon." 3The LORD our God has indeed delivered into our hands Og king Bashan and all his soldiers, and we have utterly defeated them. And again, not a single survivor. 4 Then we took all his cities. There is not a single one that we have not taken, sixty cities and the whole region of Argo, the possession of Og in Bashan. 5And those cities were fortified, with high walls and strong gates with secure bars, not to mention many unfortified villages. 6And We put those cities under a curse, as we did with the cities of Sihon king of Heshbon. We exterminated all the inhabitants there: men, women, and children. 7 Only the cattle and the spoils of war taken in those cities were kept for themselves.