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Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

Deuteronomy 2


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1'We then turned round and made for the desert, in the direction of the Sea of Suph, as Yahweh hadordered me. For many days we skirted Mount Seir.2Yahweh then said to me,3"You have gone far enough round this mountain; now turn north.4And give the people this order: You are about to pass through the territory of your kinsmen, the sons ofEsau who live in Seir. They are afraid of you, and you wil be wel protected.5Do not provoke them, for I shall give you none of their land, no, not so much as a foot's length of it. Ihave given the highlands of Seir to Esau as his domain.6Pay them in money for what food you eat; and pay them in money for the water you drink.7Yahweh your God has blessed you in al you do; he has watched over your journeying through this vastdesert. Yahweh your God has been with you these forty years and you have never been in want."8'So we passed beyond those relatives of ours, the children of Esau who live in Seir, by the road throughthe Arabah, Elath and Ezion-Geber; then, changing direction, we took the road towards the Plains of Moab.9Yahweh then said to me, "Do not attack Moab, do not provoke him to fight, for I shal give you none ofhis land, since I have given Ar to the children of Lot as their domain."10(At one time the Emim lived there, a great and numerous people, tal as the Anakim;11and, like the Anakim, they were considered to be Rephaim, though the Moabites cal them Emim.12The Horites, too, lived in Seir at one time; these, however, were dispossessed and exterminated bythe children of Esau who settled there in place of them, just as Israel has done in the country given to it byYahweh as a heritage.)13"On your way, then! Cross the Wadi Zered!" 'And so we crossed the Wadi Zered.14From Kadesh-Barnea to the crossing of the Wadi Zered our wanderings had taken thirty-eight years;as a result of which, the entire generation of those of age to bear arms had been eliminated, as Yahweh hadsworn to them.15Yahweh's hand had been against them, to eliminate them completely from the camp.16'When death had carried off from the people those of age to bear arms, to the last man,17Yahweh said this to me,18"You are now crossing Ar, the country of Moab,19and soon you wil encounter the children of Ammon. Do not attack them, do not provoke them, for Ishall give you none of the land belonging to the children of Ammon as your domain. I have given it to thechildren of Lot as theirs."20(This used also to be considered as Rephaim territory; at one time the Rephaim lived there, thoughthe Ammonites call them Zamzummim,21a great and numerous people, and tal like the Anakim. Yahweh exterminated them for the Ammoniteswho dispossessed them and settled there in place of them,22just as he had done for the children of Esau who live in Seir, so that they dispossessed the Horitesand settled there instead of them and are stil there now.23It was the same with the Avvites who occupied encampments as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, comingfrom Caphtor, exterminated them and settled there instead.)24"On your way! Break camp and cross the Wadi Arnon. See, I am putting Sihon the Amorite, king ofHeshbon, at your mercy, and his country too. Set about the conquest; engage him in battle.25Today and henceforth, I shal fill the peoples under al heaven with fear and terror of you; whoeverhears word of your approach wil tremble and writhe in anguish because of you."26'So, from the desert of Kedemoth I sent envoys to Sihon king of Heshbon with this peaceful message,27"I intend to cross your country. I shal go my way, straying neither to right nor to left.28I shal eat and pay for the food you choose to sell me, and I shall drink and pay for the water you letme have. I only want to march through,29just as the children of Esau who live in Seir permitted, as wel as the Moabites who live in Ar, until Icross the Jordan into the country that Yahweh our God is giving us."30'But Sihon king of Heshbon would not give us leave to pass through his territory; Yahweh our God hadmade his spirit obstinate and his heart stubborn, to put him at your mercy, as he stil is.31Yahweh said to me, "You see, I am starting to give you Sihon and his country. Begin the conquest byseizing his country."32Sihon marched out against us, he and all his people, to give battle at Jahaz.33And Yahweh our God handed him over to us: we defeated him and his sons and al his people.34We captured al his towns and laid al these towns under the curse of destruction: men, women andchildren, we left no survivors35except the livestock which we took as our booty, and the spoils of the captured towns.36From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley and from the town down in the val ey, as far as Gilead, notone town was beyond our reach; Yahweh our God delivered them al to us.37You did not, however, go near the country of the Ammonites, or the region of the River Jabbok, or thetowns in the highlands, or anywhere forbidden us by Yahweh our God.'