Edom Denies Passage

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel(A) says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us. 15 Our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many years, but the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. 16 When we cried out to the Lord, he heard our plea,[a] and sent an angel,[b](B) and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your territory. 17 Please let us travel through your land. We won’t travel through any field or vineyard, or drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway; we won’t turn to the right or the left until we have traveled through your territory.’”(C)

18 But Edom answered him, “You will not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

19 “We will go on the main road,” the Israelites replied to them, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay its price.(D) There will be no problem; only let us travel through on foot.”

20 Yet Edom insisted, “You may not travel through.” And they came out to confront them with a large force of heavily-armed people.[c] 21 Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

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Footnotes

  1. 20:16 Lit voice
  2. 20:16 Or a messenger
  3. 20:20 Lit with numerous people and a strong hand

Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. Don’t provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot of it,[a] because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession.(A) You may purchase food from them, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.(B) For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.(C) He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you these past forty years, and you have lacked nothing.’(D)

Journey past Moab

“So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road and from Elath and Ezion-geber.(E) We traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab. The Lord said to me, ‘Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.’”(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:5 Lit land as far as the width of a sole of a foot

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