⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea,^[a] to go around the land of Edom, but the people became discouraged on the way.^(A)

2 ¹ “we journeyed back into the wilderness, in the direction of the Red Sea,^[a] as the Lord had told me, and skirted Mount Seir for many days.^{(A) 2} Then the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have been skirting this hill country long enough. Head north, ⁴ and charge the people as follows: “You are about to pass through the territory of your kindred, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful^{(B) 5} not to engage in battle with them, for I will not give you even so much as a foot’s length of their land, since I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.^{(C) 6} You shall purchase food from them for money, so that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them for money, so that you may drink. ⁷ Surely the Lord your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’^{(D) 8} So we passed by our kin, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, leaving behind the route of the Arabah and leaving behind Elath and Ezion-geber.

“When we had headed out along the route of the wilderness of Moab,^{(E) 9} the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or engage them in battle, for I will not give you any of its land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.’^(F)