8. We went on past our relatives. They are from the family line of Esau. They live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah Valley road. It comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber. We traveled along the desert road of Moab.
9. Then the Lord said to me, "Do not attack the Moabites. Do not even make them angry. If you do, they will go to war against you. I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Moab to the people in the family line of Lot. I have given it to them as their own."
10. The Emites used to live there. They were strong people. There were large numbers of them. They were as tall as the Anakites.
11. Like the Anakites, they too were thought of as Rephaites. But the Moabites called them Emites.
12. The Horites used to live in Seir. But the people of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites to make room for themselves. Then they settled in their territory. They did just as Israel has done in the land the Lord gave them as their own.
13. The Lord said, "Now get up. Go across the Zered Valley." So we went across it.
14. Between the time we left Kadesh Barnea and the time we went across the Zered Valley, 38 years passed. By then, all of the fighting men who had been in our camp from the beginning had died. The Lord had warned them with an oath that it would happen.
15. He used his power against them until he had gotten rid of all of them. Not one was left in the camp.
16. Finally, the last of the fighting men among the people died.
17. Then the Lord spoke to me. He said,
18. "Today you must pass near the border of Moab. Moab is also called Ar.
19. "When you come to the Ammonites, do not attack them. Do not make them angry. If you do, they will go to war against you. I will not give you any of their land as your own. I have given it to the people in the family line of Lot. I have given it to them as their own."
20. That land was also thought of as a land of the Rephaites. They used to live there. But the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21. The Rephaites were strong people. There were large numbers of them. They were as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed the Rephaites to make room for the Ammonites. So the Ammonites drove them out. Then they settled in the territory of the Rephaites.
22. The Lord had done the same thing for the people of Esau. They lived in Seir. He destroyed the Horites to make room for them. They drove the Horites out. So the people of Esau have lived in Seir in the territory of the Horites to this very day.
23. The Avvites lived in villages as far away as Gaza. But people came from Crete. They destroyed the Avvites. Then they settled in the territory of the Avvites.
24. The Lord said, "Start out and go across the valley of the Arnon River. I have handed Sihon over to you. He is the Amorite king of Heshbon. I have also given you his country. Begin to take it as your own. Go to war against him.