Deuteronomy (The Fifth Book of Moses, Commonly Called )

'Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers,

except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land upon which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!'

The LORD was angry with me also on your account, and said, 'You also shall not go in there;

Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter; encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Moreover your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there, and to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.'

"Then you answered me, 'We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.' And every man of you girded on his weapons of war, and thought it easy to go up into the hill country.

And the LORD said to me, 'Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in the midst of you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.'

So I spoke to you, and you would not hearken; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and were presumptuous and went up into the hill country.

Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.

And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not hearken to your voice or give ear to you.

So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

"Then we turned, and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me; and for many days we went about Mount Seir.

Then the LORD said to me,

'You have been going about this mountain country long enough; turn northward.

And command the people, You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So take good heed;

do not contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.

For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands; he knows your going through this great wilderness; these forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.'

So we went on, away from our brethren the sons of Esau who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Eziongeber. "And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.

And the LORD said to me, 'Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot for a possession.'

(The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim;

like the Anakim they are also known as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them, and destroyed them from before them, and settled in their stead; as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.)

'Now rise up, and go over the brook Zered.' So we went over the brook Zered.

And the time from our leaving Kadeshbarnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

"So when all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people,

the LORD said to me,

'This day you are to pass over the boundary of Moab at Ar;

and when you approach the frontier of the sons of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.'

(That also is known as a land of Rephaim; Rephaim formerly lived there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they dispossessed them, and settled in their stead;

as he did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them, and they dispossessed them, and settled in their stead even to this day.

As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their stead.)

'Rise up, take your journey, and go over the valley of the Arnon; behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle.

This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.'