Deuteronomy 2
Open in the reader1Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Reed Sea, as He-Who-Is had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Hairy.
2At this time He-Who-Is said to me,
3“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north
4and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Hairy, who live in Hairy. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.
5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Hairy to Hairy as his possession.
6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
7Indeed, He-Who-Is your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. He-Who-Is your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.
8So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Hairy, who live in Hairy. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Grove-of-Palms and Backbone-of-the-Mighty-Man, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of From-the-Father.
9Then He-Who-Is said to me, “Do not harass the From-the-Fatherites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given A-City to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
10(Terrors used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the children of Long-Necked.
11Like the children of Long-Necked, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the From-the-Father-Ones called them Terrors.
12The Cave-Dwellers used to live in Hairy, but the descendants of Hairy drove them out. They destroyed the Cave-Dwellers from before them and settled in their place, just as Strives-with-God did in the land that He-Who-Is gave them as their possession.)
13“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Brushwood.” So we crossed over the Brook of Brushwood.
14The time we spent traveling from Devoted-Place-of-Wandering until we crossed over the Brook of Brushwood was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as He-Who-Is had sworn to them.
15Indeed, He-Who-Is’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.
16Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,
17He-Who-Is said to me,
18“Today you are going to cross the border of From-the-Father at A-City.
19But when you get close to the children of Kindred, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Kindred. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
20(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Kindred-Peoples called them Zamzummites.
21They were a people great and many, as tall as the children of Long-Necked. But He-Who-Is destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,
22just as He had done for the descendants of Hairy who lived in Hairy, when He destroyed the Cave-Dwellers from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.
23And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Stronghold, were destroyed by Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)
24“Arise, set out, and cross the Rushing-Stream Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Tempestuous the Mountaineer, king of Reckoning, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.
25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
26So from the Wilderness of Eastern-Places I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Tempestuous king of Reckoning, saying,
27“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.
28You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,
29just as the descendants of Hairy who live in Hairy and the From-the-Father-Ones who live in A-City did for us, until we cross the Descender into the land that He-Who-Is our God is giving us.”
30But Tempestuous king of Reckoning would not let us pass through, for He-Who-Is your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
31Then He-Who-Is said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Tempestuous and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”
32So Tempestuous and his whole army came out for battle against us at Trodden-Place.
33And He-Who-Is our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.
34At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.
35We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.
36From Bare-Place on the rim of the Rushing-Stream Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Heap-of-Witness, not one city had walls too high for us. He-Who-Is our God gave us all of them.
37But you did not go near the land of the children of Kindred, or the land along the banks of the Pouring-Out River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that He-Who-Is our God had forbidden.