The Wilderness Years

Joshua son of Nun, who is standing before thee, he goeth in thither; him strengthen thou; for he doth cause Israel to inherit.

`And your infants, of whom ye have said, For a prey they are, and your sons who have not known to-day good and evil, they go in thither, and to them I give it, and they possess it;

and ye, turn for yourselves, and journey toward the wilderness, the way of the Red Sea.

`And ye answer and say unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah; we--we go up, and we have fought, according to all that which Jehovah our God hath commanded us; and ye gird on each his weapons of war, and ye are ready to go up into the hill-country;

and Jehovah saith unto me, Say to them, Ye do not go up, nor fight, for I am not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies.

`And I speak unto you, and ye have not hearkened, and provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and act proudly, and go up into the hill-country;

and the Amorite who is dwelling in that hill-country cometh out to meet you, and they pursue you as the bees do, and smite you in Seir--unto Hormah.

`And ye turn back and weep before Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not hearkened to your voice, nor hath he given ear unto you;

and ye dwell in Kadesh many days, according to the days which ye had dwelt.

`And we turn, and journey into the wilderness, the way of the Red Sea, as Jehovah hath spoken unto me, and we go round the mount of Seir many days.

`And Jehovah speaketh unto me, saying,

Enough to you--is the going round of this mount; turn for yourselves northward.

`And the people command thou, saying, Ye are passing over into the border of your brethren, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, and they are afraid of you; and ye have been very watchful,

ye do not strive with them, for I do not give to you of their land even the treading of the sole of a foot; for a possession to Esau I have given mount Seir.

`Food ye buy from them with money, and have eaten; and also water ye buy from them with money, and have drunk,

for Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hands; He hath known thy walking in this great wilderness these forty years; Jehovah thy God is with thee; thou hast not lacked anything.

`And we pass by from our brethren, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, by the way of the plain, by Elath, and by Ezion-Gaber; and we turn, and pass over the way of the wilderness of Moab;

and Jehovah saith unto me, Do not distress Moab, nor stir thyself up against them in battle, for I do not give to thee of their land for a possession; for to the sons of Lot I have given Ar for a possession.'

`The Emim formerly have dwelt in it, a people great, and numerous, and tall, as the Anakim;

Rephaim they are reckoned, they also, as the Anakim; and the Moabites call them Emim.

And in Seir have the Horim dwelt formerly; and the sons of Esau dispossess them, and destroy them from before them, and dwell in their stead, as Israel hath done to the land of his possession, which Jehovah hath given to them;

now, rise ye, and pass over for yourselves the brook Zered; and we pass over the brook Zered.

`And the days which we have walked from Kadesh-Barnea until that we have passed over the brook Zered, are thirty and eight years, till the consumption of all the generation of the men of battle from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah hath sworn to them;

and also the hand of Jehovah hath been against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, till they are consumed.

`And it cometh to pass, when all the men of battle have finished dying from the midst of the people,