Profectique inde, venimus in solitudinem, quæ ducit ad mare Rubrum, sicut mihi dixerat Dominus: et circuivimus montem Seir longo tempore.

So we went back towards the Red Sea, back into the desert, as the Lord had bidden me, and for a long time the centre of our wanderings was the hill country of Seir.

And departing from thence we came into the wilderness that leadeth to the Red Sea, as the Lord had spoken to me: and we compassed mount Seir a long time.

Dixitque Dominus ad me:

Then the Lord said to me,

And the Lord said to me:

Sufficit vobis circuire montem istum: ite contra aquilonem:

You have spent long enough roaming about these hills, you must go northwards now.

You have compassed this mountain long enough: go toward the north:

et populo præcipe, dicens: Transibitis per terminos fratrum vestrorum filiorum Esau, qui habitant in Seir, et timebunt vos.

And give the people this message, Your way lies by the frontiers of your own brethren, the sons of Edom. They will be alarmed at your coming,

And command thou the people, saying: You shall pass by the borders of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they will be afraid of you.

Videte ergo diligenter ne moveamini contra eos. Neque enim dabo vobis de terra eorum quantum potest unius pedis calcare vestigium, quia in possessionem Esau dedi montem Seir.

and you must take good care not to assail them. These mountains of Seir are the portion I have given to Esau, and you are not to have a foot of ground there for your own.

Take ye then good heed that you stir not against them. For I will not give you of their land so much as the step of one foot can tread upon, because I have given mount Seir to Esau, for a possession.

Cibos emetis ab eis pecunia, et comedetis: aquam emptam haurietis, et bibetis.

Food you may have, but it must be bought at a fair price; you may draw and drink their water, but not without payment.

You shall buy meats of them for money and shall eat: you shall draw waters for money, and shall drink.

Dominus Deus tuus benedixit tibi in omni opere manuum tuarum: novit iter tuum, quomodo transieris solitudinem hanc magnam, per quadraginta annos habitans tecum Dominus Deus tuus, et nihil tibi defuit.

Do you grudge that, when the Lord has so prospered all your enterprises, watched over your journey through this wild wilderness, secured you from want by forty years of his companionship?

The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in every work of thy hands: the Lord thy God dwelling with thee, knoweth thy journey, how thou hast passed through this great wilderness, for forty years, and thou hast wanted nothing.

Cumque transissemus fratres nostros filios Esau, qui habitabant in Seir, per viam campestrem de Elath, et de Asiongaber, venimus ad iter quod ducit in desertum Moab.

So we passed beyond these brethren of ours, the Edomites of Seir, taking the road that leads over the level plain, from Elath and Asiongaber. And when we reached the path that leads into the desert of Moab,

And when we had passed by our brethren the children of Esau, that dwelt in Seir, by the way of the plain from Elath and from Asiongaber, we came to the way that leadeth to the desert of Moab.

Dixitque Dominus ad me: Non pugnes contra Moabitas, nec ineas adversus eos prælium: non enim dabo tibi quidquam de terra eorum, quia filiis Loth tradidi Ar in possessionem.

the Lord said to me, Do not levy war against the Moabites, or attack them; I do not mean to give thee any of their lands. Ar is the territory I have given to the sons of Lot for their home.

And the Lord said to me: Fight not against the Moabites, neither go to battle against them: for I will not give thee any of their land, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot in possession.

Emim primi fuerunt habitatores ejus, populus magnus, et validus, et tam excelsus ut de Enacim stirpe,

The earliest inhabitants of the country were the Emim, a great race of warriors, so tall in stature that they might have come of Enac’s family;

The Emims first were the inhabitants thereof, a people great, and strong, and so tall, that like the race of the Enacims,

quasi gigantes crederentur, et essent similes filiorum Enacim. Denique Moabitæ appellant eos Emim.

and indeed men held them to be giants of Enac’s breed, but the Moabite name for them is Emim.

They were esteemed as giants, and were like the sons of the Enacims. But the Moabites call them Emims.

In Seir autem prius habitaverunt Horrhæi: quibus expulsis atque deletis, habitaverunt filii Esau, sicut fecit Israël in terra possessionis suæ, quam dedit illi Dominus.

(So, too, Seir had its earlier inhabitants, the Horites, but they were dispossessed and destroyed by the sons of Esau, who took possession of the land just as Israel took possession of the land which the Lord gave him.)

The Horrhites also formerly dwelt in Seir: who being driven out and destroyed, the children of Esau dwelt there, as Israel did in the land of his possession, which the Lord gave him.

Surgentes ergo ut transiremus torrentem Zared, venimus ad eum.

So we moved forward, and reached the brook Zared, minded to cross it.

Then rising up to pass the torrent Zared, we came to it.

Tempus autem, quo ambulavimus de Cadesbarne usque ad transitum torrentis Zared, triginta et octo annorum fuit: donec consumeretur omnis generatio hominum bellatorum de castris, sicut juraverat Dominus:

Between our departure from Cades-Barne and the crossing of the brook Zared lay thirty-eight years of wandering, till all the fighting men of that generation had passed away from this camp of ours, as the Lord swore they should;

And the time that we journeyed from Cadesbarne till we passed over the torrent Zared, was thirty-eight years: until all the generation of the men that were fit for war was consumed out of the camp, as the Lord had sworn:

cujus manus fuit adversum eos, ut interirent de castrorum medio.

on all of them his hand fell, and they were lost to our ranks.

For his hand was against them, that they should perish from the midst of the camp.

Postquam autem universi ceciderunt pugnatores,

And when all those warriors were dead

And after all the fighting men were dead,

locutus est Dominus ad me, dicens:

the Lord had a command to give me:

The Lord spoke to me, saying:

Tu transibis hodie terminos Moab, urbem nomine Ar:

To-day thou shalt pass beyond the frontiers of Moab, at the city called Ar,

Thou shalt pass this day the borders of Moab, the city named Ar:

et accedens in vicina filiorum Ammon, cave ne pugnes contra eos, nec movearis ad prælium: non enim dabo tibi de terra filiorum Ammon, quia filiis Loth dedi eam in possessionem.

and reach the neighbourhood of the Ammonites. Do not levy war against them or threaten battle; I do not mean to give thee any of the Ammonites’ land; here too the children of Lot must dwell.

And when thou comest nigh the frontiers of the children of Ammon, take heed thou fight not against them, nor once move to battle: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.

Terra gigantum reputata est: et in ipsa olim habitaverunt gigantes, quos Ammonitæ vocant Zomzommim,

(This, too, was reckoned a land of giants; it was a giant race that lived there once, the Zomzommim, as they are called by the Ammonites,

It was accounted a land of giants: and giants formerly dwelt in it, whom the Ammonites call Zomzommims,

populus magnus, et multus, et proceræ longitudinis, sicut Enacim, quos delevit Dominus a facie eorum: et fecit illos habitare pro eis,

a people great and powerful, tall in stature as the Enacim themselves. But the Lord dispossessed them to make room for the Ammonites, and these made their dwelling there instead.

A people great and many, and of tall stature, like the Enacims whom the Lord destroyed before their face: and he made them to dwell in their stead,

sicut fecerat filiis Esau, qui habitant in Seir, delens Horrhæos, et terram eorum illis tradens, quam possident usque in præsens.

Just so he had destroyed the Horites, that once lived in Seir, and given their land to the Edomites, who enjoy it to this day:

As he had done in favour of the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, destroying the Horrhites, and delivering their land to them, which they possess to this day.

Hevæos quoque, qui habitabant in Haserim usque Gazan, Cappadoces expulerunt: qui egressi de Cappadocia deleverunt eos, et habitaverunt pro illis.

the Hevites, too, that dwelt in Haserim, right up to Gaza, were dispossessed by the Caphtorim; these left their home and settled in the land of the Hevites, whom they destroyed.)

The Hevites also, that dwelt in Haserim as far as Gaza, were expelled by the Cappadocians: who came out of Cappadocia, and destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.

Surgite, et transite torrentem Arnon: ecce tradidi in manu tua Sehon regem Hesebon Amorrhæum, et terram ejus incipe possidere, et committe adversus eum prælium.

March on, then, and cross the ravine of Arnon; here is the prey I have given thee, Sehon, the Amorrhite king who reigns at Hesebon. Join battle with him, and set about the conquest of his land.

Arise ye, and pass the torrent Arnon: Behold I have delivered into thy hand Sehon king of Hesebon the Amorrhite, and begin thou to possess his land and make war against him.

Hodie incipiam mittere terrorem atque formidinem tuam in populos, qui habitant sub omni cælo: ut audito nomine tuo paveant, et in morem parturientium contremiscant, et dolore teneantur.

To-day I will begin making thy name a name of terror, so that every nation on earth, hearing it, shall be overcome with fear, sudden as the throes of a woman in travail.

This day will I begin to send the dread and fear of thee upon the nations that dwell under the whole heaven: that when they hear thy name they may fear and tremble, and be in pain like women in travail.

Misi ergo nuntios de solitudine Cademoth ad Sehon regem Hesebon verbis pacificis, dicens:

So, from the desert of Cademoth, I sent an embassy to Sehon king of Hesebon, with peaceful overtures.

So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Cademoth to Sehon the king of Hesebon with peaceable words, saying:

Transibimus per terram tuam: publica gradiemur via; non declinabimus neque ad dexteram, neque ad sinistram.

We will pass through thy land, I said, by the common highway, not turning aside to right or left.

We will pass through thy land, we will go along by the highway: we will not turn aside neither to the right hand nor to the left.

Alimenta pretio vende nobis, ut vescamur: aquam pecunia tribue, et sic bibemus. Tantum est ut nobis concedas transitum,

Sell us food to eat, and we will pay for it; allow us water to drink, and we will pay for it. Only grant us leave to pass through,

Sell us meat for money, that we may eat: give us water for money and so we will drink. We only ask that thou wilt let us pass through,

sicut fecerunt filii Esau, qui habitant in Seir, et Moabitæ, qui morantur in Ar: donec veniamus ad Jordanem, et transeamus ad terram, quam Dominus Deus noster daturus est nobis.

like the Edomites in Seir and the Moabites in Ar, so that we can reach the Jordan, and cross over it into the land which the Lord our God is giving us to be our home.

As the children of Esau have done, that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites, that abide in Ar: until we come to the Jordan, and pass to the land which the Lord our God will give us.

Noluitque Sehon rex Hesebon dare nobis transitum: quia induraverat Dominus Deus tuus spiritum ejus, et obfirmaverat cor illius, ut traderetur in manus tuas, sicut nunc vides.

But Sehon, king of Hesebon, would not let us pass; the Lord your God gave him a hard heart, a stubborn will, so as to put him at your mercy; and it has happened under your eyes.

And Sehon the king of Hesebon would not let us pass: because the Lord thy God had hardened his spirit, and fixed his heart, that he might be delivered into thy hands, as now thou seest.

Dixitque Dominus ad me: Ecce cœpi tibi tradere Sehon, et terram ejus: incipe possidere eam.

I am ready, the Lord told me, to deliver him into thy power, and his land with him; set about the conquest of it;

And the Lord said to me: Behold I have begun to deliver unto thee Sehon and his land, begin to possess it.

Egressusque est Sehon obviam nobis cum omni populo suo ad prælium in Jasa.

and when Sehon offered battle at Jasa, coming out to meet us with all his forces,

And Sehon came out to meet us with all his people to fight at Jasa.

Et tradidit eum Dominus Deus noster nobis: percussimusque eum cum filiis suis et omni populo suo.

the Lord our God gave us the victory over him. We made an end of him and of his sons and of all his people,

And the Lord our God delivered him to us: and we slew him with his sons and all his people.

Cunctasque urbes in tempore illo cepimus, interfectis habitatoribus earum, viris ac mulieribus et parvulis: non reliquimus in eis quidquam,

took all his cities there and then, putting all that dwelt there, men, women, and children, to the sword, and spared nothing

And we took all his cities at that time, killing the inhabitants of them, men and women and children. We left nothing of them:

absque jumentis, quæ in partem venere prædantium: et spoliis urbium, quas cepimus

except the beasts we drove off for our use, and such plunder as captured cities yield.

Except the cattle which came to the share of them that took them: and the spoils of the cities, which we took:

ab Aroër, quæ est super ripam torrentis Arnon, oppido quod in valle situm est, usque Galaad. Non fuit vicus et civitas, quæ nostras effugeret manus: omnes tradidit Dominus Deus noster nobis,

From Aroer on the bank of Arnon, where it lies in its valley, right up to Galaad, there was no town or city but came into our hands; the Lord our God put all in our possession

From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, a town that is situate in a valley, as far as Galaad. There was not a village or city, that escaped our hands: the Lord our God delivered all unto us:

absque terra filiorum Ammon, ad quam non accessimus: et cunctis quæ adjacent torrenti Jeboc, et urbibus montanis, universisque locis, a quibus nos prohibuit Dominus Deus noster.

except the Ammonite country we might not enter, and all that lies in the ravine of Jeboc, and the mountain cities, and those other lands from which he bade us turn away.

Except the land of the children of Ammon, to which we approached not: and all that border upon the torrent Jeboc, and the cities in the mountains, and all the places which the Lord our God forbade us.