37 (A)The Lord was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘(B)Not even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, (C)shall himself enter there; encourage him, for (D)he will give it to Israel as an inheritance. 39 Moreover, (E)your little ones who, you said, would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have (F)no knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall take possession of it. 40 But as for you, (G)turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [a]Red Sea.’

41 (H)Then you replied to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord; we ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every man of you strapped on his weapons of war, and you viewed it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 (I)But the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be [b]defeated [c]by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, (J)you rebelled against the [d]command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 (K)And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you (L)as bees do, and they scattered you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord; but the (M)Lord did not listen to your voice, nor pay attention to you. 46 So you remained at (N)Kadesh for many days, [e]the days that you spent there.

Wanderings in the Wilderness

(O)Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [f]Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we circled (P)Mount Seir for many days. And the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, (Q)and command the people, saying, “You are going to pass through the (R)territory of your brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and (S)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; do not [g]provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a [h]footprint, (T)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You are to buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all [i]that you have done; He has known your [j]wandering through this (U)great wilderness. These (V)forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked anything.”’

“So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the (W)Arabah road, away from Elath and (X)Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of [k]their land as a possession, because I have given (Y)Ar to (Z)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ 10 (The (AA)Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as (AB)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 (AC)The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before [l]them, and settled in their place; (AD)just as Israel did to the land of [m]their possession which the Lord gave them.) 13 ‘Now arise and cross over the [n]Wadi Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the [o]Wadi Zered. 14 Now the [p]time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the [q]Wadi Zered was (AE)thirty-eight years, until (AF)all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, just as (AG)the Lord had sworn to them. 15 (AH)Indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 1:40 Lit Sea of Reeds
  2. Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit struck
  3. Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit before
  4. Deuteronomy 1:43 Lit mouth
  5. Deuteronomy 1:46 Lit as the days
  6. Deuteronomy 2:1 Lit Sea of Reeds
  7. Deuteronomy 2:5 Or engage in strife with
  8. Deuteronomy 2:5 Lit treading of a sole of a foot
  9. Deuteronomy 2:7 Lit the work of your hand
  10. Deuteronomy 2:7 Lit going
  11. Deuteronomy 2:9 Lit his
  12. Deuteronomy 2:12 I.e., the sons of Esau
  13. Deuteronomy 2:12 Lit his
  14. Deuteronomy 2:13 I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
  15. Deuteronomy 2:13 I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
  16. Deuteronomy 2:14 Lit days in which we went
  17. Deuteronomy 2:14 See note v 13

Bible Gateway Recommends