17Please allow us to travel through your country. We will be careful to not walk through your fields and your vineyards. We will not even drink water from your wells. As we travel, we will stay on the king's highway, the main road that goes from the south to the north, and we will not leave that road until we have crossed the border of your country in the north.”
18But the king of Edom refused. He replied, “Stay out of my country! If you try to enter it, I will send my army to attack you!”
19The Israeli messengers replied, “ If we travel through your country, we will stay on the main road. If we and any of our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We want only to travel through your country. We do not want anything else.”
20But the king replied, “No! Stay out of our country! We will not allow you to travel through our land!” Then he sent the strongest soldiers in his army to prevent the Israelis from entering his country.
21So, because the king of Edom refused to allow the Israelis to travel through his country, the Israelis turned and traveled a different way.
Numbers 20
Numbers 20:17-21