Deuteronomy 2

1 Then we turned back [to retrace our steps, changed direction] and headed for the wilderness [a desert or open field, a place of testing] by way of the Red Sea [the sea of reeds, a body of water], as the LORD [Yehovah, the Lord of Israel] had instructed me, and for many days [a long time, numerous days] we wandered around Mount Seir [a mountain in Idumaea, a region of spiritual challenge]. word study 2 At this time [when the appointed moment arrived] the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] said [to speak, command, or declare] to me [toward me, in my direction], word study 3 “You have been wandering [journeying, compassing] around this hill country [mountain, hilly area] long enough; turn [face] to the north [Zaphon, the northern direction] word study 4 and command [give orders to, instruct] the people [a nation, community]: ‘You will pass through [cross over, transition] the territory [border, land] of your brothers [relatives, kin], the descendants [sons, offspring] of Esau [hairy, shaggy], who live [dwell, reside] in Seir [a mountain in Idumaea]. They will be afraid [fear, revere] of you, so you must be very [exceedingly, greatly] careful [watchful, guarded]. word study 5 Do not [stir up] provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land [the sole of the foot to tread on], not even a footprint [the treading of the sole of a foot], because I have given Mount Seir [a mountain in Idumaea] to Esau [the son of Isaac, hairy] as his possession [inheritance, a gift from God]. word study 6 You are to pay them in silver [silver or money] for the food [food or provisions, including cereal, meat, and other supplies] you eat and the [water or liquid refreshment] water you drink [to quench your thirst, using the Hebrew word for drink].’” word study 7 Indeed, the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] your God [Elohim, the supreme God] has blessed [praised or honored] you in all [every aspect of] the work [deeds or actions] of your hands [an open hand; strength, a side or share]. He has watched over [known and protected] your journey [path or way] through this vast [great and expansive] wilderness [desert or open field]. The LORD your God has been with [accompanied and supported] you these forty [a significant period of time] years, and you have lacked [been without or needed] nothing [no thing, completely sufficient]. word study 8 So we passed by [avoided, turned away from] our brothers [relatives, kin], the descendants of Esau [hairy, rough], who live [dwell, reside] in Seir [hairy, shaggy mountain]. We turned away [changed direction, departed] from the Arabah road [plain, desert highway], which comes up [rises, ascends] from Elath [grove of lofty trees] and Ezion-geber [backbone of a giant], and traveled along [proceeded on, journeyed] the road [path, way] of the Wilderness [desert, barren land] of Moab [land of the descendants of Lot]. word study 9 Then the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] said to me, “Do not [absolutely not, in no way] harass the Moabites [descendants of Lot, a related nation] or provoke them to war [stir up conflict, contend with them in battle], for I will not [under no circumstances] give you any of their land [territory, possession], because I have given Ar [a city in Moab, a capital] to the descendants of Lot [as their inheritance, a possession] as their possession [a permanent inheritance, a gift].” word study 10 (The Emites used to live there, a people [nation, tribe] great [in size, importance] and many [numerous, abundant], as tall [exalted, lofty] as the Anakites [descendants of Anak, giant people]. word study 11 Like the Anakites [giants, descendants of Anak], they were also regarded as Rephaim [giants, including Goliath], though the Moabites [people of Moab, descended from Lot] called them Emites. word study 12 The Horites [formerly dwelling in the region] used to live in Seir [a mountain in Idumaea, meaning hairy or shaggy], but the descendants [sons, posterity] of Esau [hairy, the son of Isaac] drove them out [expelled, dispossessed]. They destroyed [annihilated, desolated] the Horites from before them [in their presence, from their sight] and settled [dwelt, remained] in their place [underneath them, in their stead], just as Israel [the symbolic name of Jacob, his descendants] did in the land [earth, territory] that the LORD [Yehovah, the supreme God] gave them as their possession [inheritance, what is passed down].) word study 13 “Now [at this time, as the moment has come] arise [rise up, stand up] and cross over [to pass, transition] the Brook [stream, small river] of Zered [a river in Moab].” So we crossed over [went over, passed] the Brook [stream, small river] of Zered. word study 14 The time [period of thirty-eight years, a span of nearly four decades] we spent traveling [journeying, wandering] from Kadesh-barnea [a city in the southern desert of Judah] until we crossed over [passed, transitioned] the Brook [stream, river] of Zered [a brook or river in the region of Moab and Edom] was thirty-eight years [a generation, a complete cycle of life], until that entire [whole, complete] generation [group of people, period of time] of fighting men [warriors, men of battle] had perished [died, been consumed] from the camp [army, community], as the LORD [Yehovah, the supreme God] had sworn [made a promise, vowed] to them. word study 15 Indeed, the LORD’s [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] hand [an open hand; strength, a side or share] was against them, to eliminate [destroy, consume] them from the camp [the midst of the army, the Israelites’ encampments], until [as far as, till the point of] they had all perished [been consumed, come to an end]. word study 16 Now when all [every single one, completely] the fighting men [warriors, men of battle] among the people [the nation, Amaw] had died [finished dying, come to the end of their life, to die a physical death], word study 17 the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] said [to speak, communicate, or utter] to me [toward me, in my direction], word study 18 “Today [this day, at this time] you [as individuals, personally] are going to cross [to pass over, transition] the border [boundary, limit] of Moab [the land of the descendants of Lot] at Ar [the city, capital of Moab]. word study 19 But when you get close [approach, draw near] to the Ammonites [sons of Ammon, descendants of Lot], do not harass [vex, distress] them or provoke [stir up, contend with] them, for I will not give [bestow, grant] you any of the land [territory, possession] of the Ammonites [people of Ammon]. I have given [assigned, allotted] it to the descendants [sons, children] of Lot [Abraham’s nephew, a righteous man] as their possession [inheritance, heritage].” word study 20 (That too [also, in addition] was regarded as the land [territory, region] of the Rephaim [giants, Raphaite], who used to live [dwell, reside] there, though the Ammonites [people of Ammon, descendants of Lot] called them Zamzummites [Zamzummim, a native tribe of Palestine]. word study 21 They were a people [great and numerous, a large nation] great and many, as tall as the Anakites [descendants of Anak, a tribe of giants]. But the LORD [Yehovah, the supreme God] destroyed [to annihilate, desolate] them from before [in the presence of, before the face of] the Ammonites, who drove them out [dispossessed, took control] and settled [to dwell, remain] in their place [underneath, in their stead], word study 22 just as He had done [in a similar manner, previously] for the descendants [sons, offspring] of Esau [hairy, rough] who lived [dwelt, resided] in Seir [hairy, shaggy mountain], when He destroyed [annihilated, desolated] the Horites [original inhabitants of Seir] from before them [in their presence, from their sight]. They drove them out [dispossessed, expelled] and have lived [dwelt, remained] in their place [underneath, in their stead] to this day [until now, continually]. word study 23 And the Avvim [the Avvites, a group of people], who lived [dwelt, resided] in villages [settlements, Hazerim] as far as [till, up to] Gaza [Azzah, the strong city], were destroyed [annihilated, devastated] by the Caphtorites [people from Caphtor, an island like Crete], who came out [emigrated, departed] of Caphtor [their original home, possibly Crete] and settled [dwelt, took their place] in their place [underneath them, in their stead].) word study 24 “Arise [stand up, take your position], set out [begin your journey, depart], and cross [pass over, transition] the Arnon Valley [brook, river]. See [behold, look], I have delivered [given, placed] into your hand [power, authority] Sihon the Amorite [a member of a Canaanite tribe], king of Heshbon [the capital city], and his land [territory, region]. Begin [start, initiate] to take possession [occupy, inherit] of it and engage [contend, stir up] him in battle [war, conflict]. word study 25 This very day [from now on, at this moment] I will begin [to initiate, to start anew] to put the dread [fear, terror] and fear [reverence, awe] of you upon [on, above] all the nations [peoples, Gentiles] under [beneath, below] heaven [the sky]. They will hear [listen to, obey] the reports [news, rumors] of you and tremble [shake, quiver] in anguish [pain, distress] because of you [on account of you, due to your presence].” word study 26 So from the Wilderness [desert or open field] of Kedemoth I sent [dispatched as representatives] messengers [an ambassador, an envoy] with an offer of peace [shalom, completeness and wellness] to Sihon [an Amorite king] king of Heshbon, saying [to communicate or speak], word study 27 “Let us pass [cross over, transition] through your land [territory, region]; we will stay on the main road [highway, way of travel]. We will not turn [depart, stray] to the right [Benjamin, the southern direction] or to the left [north, the opposite direction]. word study 28 You can sell us food [meat, provisions] to eat and water [for drinking, refreshment] to drink in exchange for silver [money, payment]. Only [except, solely] let us pass through [cross over, transition] on foot [on my feet, as travelers], word study 29 just as the descendants [sons, offspring] of Esau [hairy, rough] who live in Seir [hairy, shaggy] and the Moabites [people of Moab, from Lot’s son] who live in Ar [a city in Moab] did for us, until we cross [pass over, transition] the Jordan [a key river in Israel] into the land [earth, territory] that the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] our God [Elohim, the supreme one] is giving [providing, putting] us.” word study 30 But Sihon king [ruler, monarch] of Heshbon would not let us pass through [cross over, transition], for the LORD [Yehovah, the covenant God] your God had made his spirit [breath of life, mind and emotions] stubborn [hard, unyielding] and his heart [innermost part, mind and will] obstinate [strong-willed, uncooperative], that He might deliver him into your hand [give him over to your power, surrender him to your authority], as is the case [as it appears, as it has happened] this day [at this time, in this moment]. word study 31 Then the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] said to me, “See [behold, look], I have begun [initiated, started] to deliver [give, hand over] Sihon [the Amorite king] and his land [territory, region] over to you [before thee, into your hands]. Now begin [start, take initiative] to conquer [possess, occupy] and possess [take control of, inherit] his land [territory, inheritance].” word study 32 So Sihon [the Amorite king] and his whole army [all his people, every soldier] came out [to meet, to encounter] for battle [to fight, to war] against us at Jahaz [a city east of the Jordan River]. word study 33 And the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] our God [Elohim, the supreme deity] delivered [to give, put, or set something] him over [before us, into our power] to us, and we defeated [smote, struck, or hit] him and his sons [descendants, or children] and his whole [all, everything] army [people, or nation]. word study 34 At that time [the same moment, when] we captured [seized, took control of] all his cities [towns, inhabited places] and devoted [set apart, utterly destroyed] to destruction [annihilation, complete ruin] the people [men, women, and children] of every city [town, settlement], including [with] women [females, wives] and children [little ones, infants]. We left [did not spare, utterly destroyed] no survivors [remnant, none to remain]. word study 35 We carried off [took as plunder, seized] for ourselves only [except, but] the livestock [animals, beasts] and the plunder [spoils, booty] from the cities [towns, settlements] we captured [seized, took control of]. word study 36 From Aroer [on the edge of the valley] on the rim of the Arnon Valley [brook, river], along with the city [town, urban center] in the valley, even as far as [till, unto] Gilead, not one city [town, village] had walls too high [lofty, strong] for us. The LORD [Yehovah, the supreme God] our God [Elohim, Creator] gave us all [everything, the whole] of them. word study 37 But you did not go near [come close to, approach] the land [territory, region] of the Ammonites [sons of Ammon, descendants of Lot], or the land [area, region] along the banks [sides, borders] of the Jabbok River [brook, stream], or the cities [towns, settlements] of the hill country [mountains, highlands], or any place [location, area] that the LORD [Yehovah, the supreme God] our God [Elohim, the one true God] had forbidden [commanded not to go, prohibited]. word study