Defeat of Og King of Bashan

Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan(A) with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.(B) The Lord said to me, “Do not be afraid(C) of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”

So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down,(D) leaving no survivors.(E) At that time we took all his cities.(F) There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom(G) in Bashan.(H) All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed[a] them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying[b](I) every city—men, women and children. But all the livestock(J) and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.

So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites(K) the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.(L) (Hermon is called Sirion(M) by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)(N) 10 We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salekah(O) and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 (Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites.(P) His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide.[c] It is still in Rabbah(Q) of the Ammonites.)

Division of the Land

12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer(R) by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. 13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh.(S) (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.(T) 14 Jair,(U) a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites;(V) it was named(W) after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.[d]) 15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.(X) 16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River,(Y) which is the border of the Ammonites. 17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah,(Z) from Kinnereth(AA) to the Sea of the Arabah(AB) (that is, the Dead Sea(AC)), below the slopes of Pisgah.

18 I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given(AD) you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites.(AE) 19 However, your wives,(AF) your children and your livestock(AG) (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”

Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid(AH) of them;(AI) the Lord your God himself will fight(AJ) for you.”

23 At that time I pleaded(AK) with the Lord: 24 “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness(AL) and your strong hand. For what god(AM) is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works(AN) you do?(AO) 25 Let me go over and see the good land(AP) beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.(AQ)

26 But because of you the Lord was angry(AR) with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah(AS) and look west and north and south and east.(AT) Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross(AU) this Jordan.(AV) 28 But commission(AW) Joshua, and encourage(AX) and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across(AY) and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.(AZ)

Obedience Commanded

Now, Israel, hear the decrees(BA) and laws I am about to teach(BB) you. Follow them so that you may live(BC) and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add(BD) to what I command you and do not subtract(BE) from it, but keep(BF) the commands(BG) of the Lord your God that I give you.

You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor.(BH) The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

See, I have taught(BI) you decrees and laws(BJ) as the Lord my God commanded(BK) me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering(BL) to take possession of it. Observe(BM) them carefully, for this will show your wisdom(BN) and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”(BO) What other nation is so great(BP) as to have their gods near(BQ) them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws(BR) as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

Only be careful,(BS) and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach(BT) them to your children(BU) and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,(BV) when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn(BW) to revere(BX) me as long as they live in the land(BY) and may teach(BZ) them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain(CA) while it blazed with fire(CB) to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.(CC) 12 Then the Lord spoke(CD) to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form;(CE) there was only a voice.(CF) 13 He declared to you his covenant,(CG) the Ten Commandments,(CH) which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws(CI) you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 You saw no form(CJ) of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb(CK) out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,(CL) 16 so that you do not become corrupt(CM) and make for yourselves an idol,(CN) an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,(CO) 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,(CP) the moon and the stars(CQ)—all the heavenly array(CR)—do not be enticed(CS) into bowing down to them and worshiping(CT) things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,(CU) out of Egypt,(CV) to be the people of his inheritance,(CW) as you now are.

21 The Lord was angry with me(CX) because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. 22 I will die in this land;(CY) I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.(CZ) 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant(DA) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol(DB) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,(DC) a jealous God.(DD)

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt(DE) and make any kind of idol,(DF) doing evil(DG) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses(DH) against you(DI) this day that you will quickly perish(DJ) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter(DK) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive(DL) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods(DM) of wood and stone,(DN) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.(DO) 29 But if from there you seek(DP) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart(DQ) and with all your soul.(DR) 30 When you are in distress(DS) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days(DT) you will return(DU) to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful(DV) God; he will not abandon(DW) or destroy(DX) you or forget(DY) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

32 Ask(DZ) now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth;(EA) ask from one end of the heavens to the other.(EB) Has anything so great(EC) as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God[e] speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?(ED) 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation,(EE) by testings,(EF) by signs(EG) and wonders,(EH) by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,(EI) or by great and awesome deeds,(EJ) like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.(EK) 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice(EL) to discipline(EM) you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved(EN) your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,(EO) 38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance,(EP) as it is today.

39 Acknowledge(EQ) and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.(ER) 40 Keep(ES) his decrees and commands,(ET) which I am giving you today, so that it may go well(EU) with you and your children after you and that you may live long(EV) in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

Cities of Refuge(EW)

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, 42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally(EX) killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. 43 The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth(EY) in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt 46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon(EZ) king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 This land extended from Aroer(FA) on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion[f](FB) (that is, Hermon(FC)), 49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,[g] below the slopes of Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 3:6 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Deuteronomy 3:6 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  3. Deuteronomy 3:11 That is, about 14 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 4 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  4. Deuteronomy 3:14 Or called the settlements of Jair
  5. Deuteronomy 4:33 Or of a god
  6. Deuteronomy 4:48 Syriac (see also 3:9); Hebrew Siyon
  7. Deuteronomy 4:49 Hebrew the Sea of the Arabah

Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.

And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.

But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.

And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;

(Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;)

10 All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

13 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.

14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.

15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir.

16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward.

18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.

19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;

20 Until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.

21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.

22 Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you.

23 And I besought the Lord at that time, saying,

24 O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?

25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.

26 But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

29 So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.

36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

42 That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.

46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:

47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.