1»We went back into the desert. We followed the road that leads to the Red Sea as Jehovah told me. For a long time we traveled around the region of Mount Seir. 2»Then Jehovah said to me: 3‘You traveled around this mountain long enough. Now go north. 4»‘Give these instructions to the people: »You will pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau. They live in Seir. They will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5»‘Do not start a fight with them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not so much as one foot. I gave Esau's descendants the region of Mount Seir as their property. 6»‘You must pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink. 7»‘Remember how Jehovah your God blessed you in everything you have done. He took care of you as you wandered through this vast desert. He has been with you these forty years. You had everything you needed.« ’ 8We moved on and left the road that goes from the towns of Elath and Eziongeber to the Dead Sea. »We turned northeast toward Moab.« 9»Then Jehovah said to me: ‘Do not trouble the people of Moab, the descendants of Lot. And do not start a war with them. I gave them the city of Ar, and I am not going to give you any of their land.’ 10The Emits used to live there. They are a mighty race of giants who lived in Ar. They were as tall as the Anakim, another race of giants. 11Like the Anakim they were also known as Rephaim; but the Moabites called them Emim. 12Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau chased them out. They destroyed their nation and settled there themselves. This is similar to the Israelites who later chased their enemies out of the land that Jehovah gave them. 13Then we crossed the Zered River Valley just as Jehovah told us to do. 14This was thirty-eight years after we left Kadesh-Barnea. By that time all the men who had been in the army at Kadesh-Barnea had died, just as Jehovah said they would. 15Jehovah kept getting rid of them until finally none of them were left. 16»When the last of these soldiers died, 17»Jehovah said to me Moses: 18»‘You will cross over the border of Moab at Ar today. 19»‘When you come near the Ammonites, do not bother them or start a fight with them. I am not giving you any of the land that I already gave to the descendants of Lot as their property. 20»‘This territory is also known as the land of the Rephaim. That is the name of the giants who formerly lived there. The Ammonites called them Zamzummim. 21»They were as tall as the Anakim. There were many of them. They were a mighty race. But Jehovah destroyed them. Then the Ammonites took over their land and settled there. 22»Jehovah did the same thing for the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in the mountains of Edom. He destroyed the Horites. That allowed the Edomites to take over their land and settled there, where they still live. 23»The Avims lived in Hazerim, even as far as Azzah. The Caphtorims came from Caphtor to destroy them and live there in their place. 24Moses continued: »Cross over the Arnon River. I will help you defeat Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon and his country. Possess his land and engage him in battle. 25»From this day forward I will make all the people and nations through out the earth afraid of you. They will hear reports about you and tremble and be in anguish because of you. 26»I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace: 27‘If you allow us to travel through your country, we will go straight through and will not leave the road. 28‘We will pay you in silver for the food we eat and the water we drink. Please let us go through, 29as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us. We will keep going until we cross the Jordan River into the land Jehovah our God is giving us.’ 30King Sihon of Heshbon would not allow us to pass through. Jehovah your God made him stubborn and overconfident in order to hand him over to you, as he has now done. 31»Then Jehovah said to me: ‘I make King Sihon and his land helpless before you. Capture his land and occupy it.’ 32Sihon came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Jahaz, 33and Jehovah our God helped us defeat them. We killed Sihon, his sons, and all his people. 34We captured and destroyed every town in Sihon's kingdom. We killed everyone. 35We took the livestock and everything else of value. 36Jehovah helped us capture every town from the Arnon River Gorge north to the boundary of Gilead. This included the town of Aroer on the edge of the gorge and the town in the middle of the gorge. 37However, we did not go near the Ammonite towns, both in the mountains and near the Jabbok River, just as Jehovah commanded.