^{14 Ref} Then Moses sent men from Kadesh to the king of Edom to say to him, Your brother Israel says, You have knowledge of all the things we have been through;

^{15 Ref} How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we were living in Egypt for a long time; and the Egyptians were cruel to us and to our fathers:

^{16 Ref} And the Lord gave ear to the voice of our cry, and sent an angel and took us out of Egypt: and now we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land;

^{17 Ref} Let us now go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, till we have gone past the limits of your land.

¹⁸ And Edom said, You are not to go through my land, for if you do I will come out against you with the sword.

^{19 Ref} And the children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway: and if we or our cattle take of your water, we will give you a price for it: only let us go through on our feet, nothing more.

^{20 Ref} But he said, You are not to go through. And Edom came out against them in his strength, with a great army.

^{21 Ref} So Edom would not let Israel go through his land; and Israel went in another direction.