Deuteronomy 1-4

1These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.

3In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

4This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

5On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

6The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

7Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.

8See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

9At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.

10The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.

12But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself?

13Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

14And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”

15So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.

16At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.

17Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

18And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.

19And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,

20I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

21See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

22Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”

23The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

24They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land.

25They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

26But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

27You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated.

28Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

29So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them!

30The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt

31and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”

32But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

33who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.

34When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,

35“Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

36except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”

37The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.

38Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land.

39And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.

40But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

41“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

42But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”

43So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

44Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.

45And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

46For this reason you stayed in Kadesh for a long time—a very long time.

1Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

2At this time the LORD said to me,

3“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north

4and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.

6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

7Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

8So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab.

9Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

10(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

11Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.

12The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)

13“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.

14The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

15Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.

16Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,

17the LORD said to me,

18“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

19But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

20(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

21They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

22just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

23And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)

24“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

26So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,

27“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.

28You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,

29just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

31Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

32So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.

33And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.

34At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.

35We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.

36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

37But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.

1Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.

2But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

3So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left.

4At that time we captured all sixty of his cities. There was not a single city we failed to take—the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

5All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages.

6We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.

7But all the livestock and plunder of the cities we carried off for ourselves.

8At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon—

9which the Sidonians call Sirion but the Amorites call Senir—

10all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as the cities of Salecah and Edrei in the kingdom of Og.

11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

12So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with its cities.

13To the half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.)

14Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this day.

15To Machir I gave Gilead,

16and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.

17The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.

18At that time I commanded you: “The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor are to cross over, armed for battle, ahead of your brothers, the Israelites.

19But your wives, your children, and your livestock—I know that you have much livestock—may remain in the cities I have given you,

20until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to the possession I have given you.”

21And at that time I commanded Joshua: “Your own eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter.

22Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.”

23At that time I also pleaded with the LORD:

24“O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?

25Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that pleasant hill country as well as Lebanon!”

26But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.

27Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.

28But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.”

29So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

1Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.

3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.

4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.

5See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.

6Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

7For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

8And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

10The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.”

11You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

12And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

13He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone.

14At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

15So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful

16that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,

17of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air,

18or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below.

19When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

20Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.

21The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

22For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land.

23Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.

24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger—

26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

27Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

28And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

29But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.

31For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.

32Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?

33Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?

34Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

35You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.

36He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.

37Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,

38to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day.

39Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

40Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

41Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east

42to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities:

43Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

44This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites.

45These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,

46while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.

47They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east—

48extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),

49including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.