Deuteronomy 1-4
Revised Geneva Translation
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel, on this side of Jordan, in the wilderness, on the plain, next to the Red Sea, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, by way of Mount Seir.
3 And it happened that on the first day of the eleventh month, in the fortieth year, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in Commandment to them,
4 after he had killed Sihon, the king of the Amorites (who dwelt in Heshbon), and Og, king of Bashan (who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei).
5 On this side of Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this Law, saying,
6 “The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have dwelt long enough on this mountain.
7 ‘Turn and depart, and go to the mountain of the Amorites, and to all places on the plain that are near it—on the mountain or in the valley, southward and to the seaside, to the land of the Canaanites, and to Lebanon—all the way to the great river, the river Perah.
8 ‘Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess that land which the LORD swore to your fathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and to their seed after them.’
9 “And I spoke to you at the same time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear you myself alone.
10 ‘The LORD your God has multiplied you. And behold, you are this day as the stars of Heaven in number.
11 ‘The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you, as He has promised you.
12 ‘How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your strife?
13 ‘Bring men of wisdom and of understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
14 ‘Then you answered me and said, “The thing that you have commanded to do is good.”
15 “So I took the chief of your tribes, wise and known men, and made them rulers over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifty, and captains over ten, and officers among your tribes.
16 “And I charged your Judges at that same time, saying, ‘Hear the controversies between your brothers and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 ‘You shall have no respect of person in judgment, but shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not fear the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’
18 “Also I commanded you at the same time all the things which you should do.”
19 “Then we departed from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness (as you have seen) by way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God Commanded us. And we came to Kadesh Barnea.
20 “And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God gives us.
21 ‘Behold, the LORD your God has laid the land before you. Go up, possess it, as the LORD the God of your fathers has said to you. Do not fear or be discouraged.’
22 “Then everyone came to me, and said, ‘We will send men before us, to search out the land, and to bring us word again, what way we must go, and to what cities we shall come.’
23 “So the saying pleased me well and I took twelve men from you, one from every tribe,
24 “who departed and went up into the mountain, and came to the river Eshcol, and searched out the land.
25 “And they took the fruit of the land in their hand and brought it to us, and brought us word again, and said, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God gives us.’
26 “Notwithstanding, you would not go up, but were disobedient to the Commandment of the LORD your God,
27 “and murmured in your tents, and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us, therefore He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, and to destroy us.
28 ‘Where shall we go up? Our brothers have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we, the cities great and walled up to heaven. And, moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.”’
29 “But I said to you, ‘Do not dread or be afraid of them.
30 ‘The LORD your God —Who goes before you —He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes
31 ‘and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God bore you, as a man bears his son, all the way in which you have gone until you came to this place.’
32 “Yet for all this you did not believe the LORD your God,
33 “Who went in the way before you, to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, in fire by night (so that you might see what way to go) and in a cloud by day.”
34 “Then the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,
35 ‘Surely, not one of these men of this froward generation shall see that good land which I swore to give to your fathers,
36 ‘except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him I will give the land that he has walked upon, and to his children, because he has constantly followed the LORD.’
37 “Also the LORD was angry with me because of you, saying, ‘You also shall not go in there,
38 ‘But Joshua, the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him. For he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 ‘Moreover, your children (whom you said would be a prey) and your sons (who, in those days, had no knowledge between good and evil), they shall go in there. And to them I will give it. And they shall possess it.
40 ‘But as for you, turn back and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.’
41 “Then you answered and said to Me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God has Commanded us.’ And you armed every man for war and were ready to go up into the mountain.
42 “But the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and fight, for I am not among you, lest you fall before your enemies.’
43 “And when I told you, you would not hear, but rebelled against the Commandment of the LORD, and were presumptuous, and went up into the mountain.
44 “Then the Amorites, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you and chased you (as bees used to do) and destroyed you from Seir to Hormah.
45 “And when you came back, you wept before the LORD. But the LORD would not hear your voice, nor incline His Ears to you.
46 “So you stayed in Kadesh a long time, for all the time that you were there.”
2 “Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness, by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me. And we encircled Mount Seir a long time.
2 “And the LORD spoke to me, saying,
3 ‘You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward
4 ‘and warn the people, saying, “You shall go through the coast of your brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir.” And they shall be afraid of you. Be very careful, therefore.
5 ‘You shall not provoke them. For I will not give you so much as a footstep of their land, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.
6 ‘You shall buy meat from them, for money to eat. And you shall also procure water from them, for money to drink.
7 ‘For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the works of your hand. He knows your comings and goings through this great wilderness. And the LORD your God has been with you these forty years. You have lacked nothing.’
8 “And when we had departed from our brothers, the children of Esau (who dwelt in Seir, by way of the plain, from Elath and from Ezion Geber) we turned and went by way of the wilderness of Moab.
9 “Then the LORD said to me, ‘You shall not besiege Moab or provoke them to battle. For I will not give you their land for a possession because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.
10 ‘The Emims — a people great and many, and tall — dwelt there in times past, as the Anakims did.
11 ‘Those whom the Moabites call Emims were also called “giants”, as the Anakims were.
12 ‘The Horites also dwelt in Seir before time. The children of Esau chased them out and destroyed them from before them and dwelt in their place, as Israel shall do to the land of its possession (which the LORD has given them).
13 ‘Now rise up and get over the river Zered.’ And we went over the river Zered.
14 “And the time it took to go from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the river Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from among the army, as the LORD swore to them.
15 “For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the army, until they were consumed.
16 “So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,
17 “then the LORD spoke to me, saying,
18 ‘You shall go through Ar (the coast of Moab) this day.
19 ‘And you shall come near the children of Ammon, but shall not lay siege to them, nor move war against them. For I will not give you possession of the land of the children of Ammon. For I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession,
20 ‘that also was taken for a land of giants. Giants dwelt there previously, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummims,
21 ‘a great people, and many, and tall as the Anakims.’ But the LORD destroyed them before them. And they succeeded them in their inheritance and dwelt in their place.
22 ‘He also did so to the children of Esau (who dwell in Seir) when he destroyed the Horites before them. And they dispossessed them and have dwelt in their place until this day,
23 ‘And the Avim (who dwelt from Hazarim to Azzah) and the Caphtorims (who came out of Caphtor) destroyed them and dwelt in their place.
24 ‘Rise up! Take your journey and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it and provoke him to battle.
25 ‘This day I will begin to send your fear and your dread upon all people under the whole heaven, who shall hear your fame and shall tremble and quake before you.
26 ‘Then I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,
27 “Let me pass through your land. I will go by the highway. I will not turn to the right or to the left.
28 “You shall sell me meat for money (so that I may eat) and shall give me water for money (so that I may drink). Only, I will go through on foot,
29 “as the children of Esau (who dwell in Seir) and the Moabites (who dwell in Ar) did to me until I had come over Jordan, into the land which the LORD our God gave us.”’
30 “But Sihon, the King of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him. For the LORD your God had hardened His Spirit, and made his heart obstinate, because he would deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
31 “And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess and inherit his land.’
32 “Then Sihon came out to meet us (himself with all his people) to fight at Jahaz.
33 “But the LORD our God delivered him into our power. And we struck him and his sons and all his people.
34 “And we took all his cities at the same time and destroyed every city—men and women and children. We let nothing remain.
35 “We only took the cattle for ourselves, plus the spoil of the cities which we took,
36 “from Aroer (which is by the bank of the river of Arnon) to the city that is upon the river, all the way to Gilead. There was not one city that escaped us. The LORD our God delivered them all up before us.
37 “Only to the land of the children of Ammon did you not come, nor to any place on the river Jabbok, nor to the cities in the mountains, nor to whatever the LORD our God forbade us.”
3 “Then we turned and went up by the way of Bashan. And Og, king of Bashan, came out against us (he and all his people), to fight at Edrei.
2 “And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him. For I will deliver him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites (who dwelt at Heshbon).’
3 “So the LORD our God also delivered to our hand, Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people. And we struck him, until he was left with no one.
4 “And we took all his cities at the same time. There was not a city which we did not take from them—60 cities—all the country of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5 “All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars. And there were a great many unwalled towns.
6 “And we overthrew them, as we did to Sihon, king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, women and children.
7 “But all the cattle and the spoil of the cities we took for ourselves.
8 “Thus, at that time, we took out of the hand of two kings of the Amorites: the land that was on this side of Jordan—from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon
9 “(the same Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, but the Amorites call Senir),
10 “all the cities of the plain, all Gilead, all Bashan, up to Salcah, and Edrei—cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
11 “For only Og, king of Bashan, remained from the remnant of the giants, whose bed was a bed of iron. Is it not at Rabbath, among the children of Ammon? The length of it is nine cubits. And four cubits is 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 of Mount Gilead, and its cities—I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites.
13 “And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan (the kingdom of Og) I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh, all the country of Argob, with all Bashan (which is called ‘The Land of Giants’.
14 “Jair, the son of Manasseh, took all the country of Argob, to the coasts of Geshuri and of Maachathi. And he called them after his own name—Bashan, Havoth Jair—to this day.
15 “And I gave part of Gilead to Machir.
16 “And to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave part of Gilead: to the river of Arnon—half the river and the borders—as far as the river Jabbok (which is the border of the children of Ammon),
17 “the plain, also, and Jordan, and the borders from Chinnereth, as far as the sea of the plain (the Salt Sea, under the springs of Pisgah, eastward).
18 “And I commanded you at the same time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land, to possess it. You shall go over, armed, ahead of your brothers, the children of Israel, all men of war.
19 ‘But your wives and your children and your cattle (for I know that you have many cattle) shall stay in your cities which I have given you,
20 ‘until the LORD has given rest to your brothers (as to you) and they also possess the land which the LORD your God has given them beyond Jordan. Then you shall return every man to his possession, which I have given you.’
21 “And I charged Joshua at the same time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So shall the LORD do to all the kingdoms where you go.
22 ‘You shall not fear them. For the LORD your God, He shall fight for you.’
23 “And I implored the LORD at the same time, saying,
24 ‘O LORD God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand. For where is there a God in Heaven or on Earth, that can match Your works and Your power?
25 ‘I beg You, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’
26 “But the LORD was angry with me for your sakes and would not hear me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Let it satisfy you. Speak no more to Me of this matter.
27 ‘Get up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and behold it with your eyes. For you shall not go over this Jordan.
28 ‘But charge Joshua and encourage him and embolden him. For he shall go before this people. And he shall divide to them for an inheritance the land which you shall see.’
29 “So we stayed in the valley, near Beth Peor.”
4 “Now therefore, listen, O Israel, to the Ordinances and to the Laws which I teach you to do, so that you may live and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives you.
2 “You shall add nothing to the Word which I command you. Nor shall you take anything from it, so that you may keep the Commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
3 “Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal Peor. For of all the men who followed Baal Peor, the LORD your God has destroyed every one from among you.
4 “But you who clung to the LORD your God are alive, every one of you, this day.
5 “Behold, I have taught you Ordinances and Laws, as the LORD my God Commanded me, so that you should do the same within the land to which you go to possess.
6 “Keep them, therefore, and do them. For that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the people who shall hear all these Ordinances, and shall say, ‘Only this people is wise and of understanding, a great nation.
7 ‘For what nation is so great, to whom the gods come so near as the LORD our God is in all that we call to Him for?’
8 “And what nation is so great that it has Ordinances and Laws so righteous as all this Law which I set before you this day?
9 “But guard yourself. And keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen. And that they do not depart out of your heart all the days of your life. But teach them to your sons, and your sons’ sons,
10 “the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb when the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people together for Me. And I will cause them to hear My Words, so 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 “Then you came near and stood under the mountain. And the mountain burnt with fire, up to the midst of Heaven—darkness, clouds and mist.
12 “And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the Voice of the words but saw no Image, only the Voice.
13 “Then He declared to you His Covenant, which He Commanded you to do—The Ten Commandments—and wrote them upon two Tablets of stone.
14 “And the LORD Commanded me at that same time that I should teach you Ordinances and Laws, which you should observe in the land to which you go to possess.
15 “Therefore, take good heed to yourselves (for you saw no image on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb, out of the midst of the fire)
16 “so that you do not corrupt yourselves and make yourself a graven image or representation of any figure (the likeness of male or female,
17 “the likeness of any beast that is on Earth, the likeness of any feathered fowl that flies in the air,
18 “the likeness of anything that creeps on the Earth, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the Earth)
19 “and lest you lift up your eyes to Heaven, and when you see the Sun and the Moon and the stars with all the host of Heaven, be driven to worship them and serve them which the LORD your God has distributed to all people under the whole Heaven.
20 “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people and inheritance, as it is this day.
21 “And the LORD was angry with me for your words and swore that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
22 “For I must die in this land and shall not go over Jordan. But you shall go over and possess that good land.
23 “Guard yourselves, lest you forget the Covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and you make any graven image or likeness of anything, as the LORD your God has charged you.
24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 “When you shall bear children and children’s children and shall have remained long in the land, if you corrupt yourselves and make any graven image out of anything and work evil in the sight of the LORD your God, to provoke Him to anger,
26 “I call Heaven and Earth to record against you this day, that you shall shortly perish from the land to which you go over Jordan to possess. You shall not prolong your days there, but shall be utterly destroyed.
27 “And the LORD shall scatter you among the people. And you shall be left few in number among the nations where the LORD shall bring you.
28 “And there you shall serve gods, the work of man’s hand—wood and stone—which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
29 “But if, from then on, you shall seek the LORD your God, you shall find Him. If you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30 “When you are in tribulation, and all these things have come upon you, at the end of the day, if you return to the LORD your God and be obedient to His Voice,
31 “(for the LORD your God is a merciful God) He will not forsake you or destroy you or forget the Covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
32 “For inquire now about the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the Earth, and whether there has been as great a thing as this from the one end of Heaven to the other, or whether anything like this has been heard.
33 “Did people ever hear the Voice of God speaking out of the midst of a fire, as you have heard, and lived?
34 “Or has God attempted to go and take a nation for Himself from among nations—by temptations, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty Hand, by an outstretched Arm, and by great fear—according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35 “To you it was shown, so that you might know that the LORD He is God, that there is none but He alone.
36 “Out of Heaven He made you hear His Voice to instruct you. And upon Earth He showed you His great fire. And you heard His Voice out of the midst of the fire.
37 “And because He loved your fathers, He therefore chose their seed after them. And He has brought you out of Egypt in His sight, by His mighty power,
38 “to thrust out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for inheritance, as it happens this day.
39 “Understand, therefore, this day, and consider in your heart that the LORD Himself is God in Heaven above, and upon the Earth beneath. There is no other.
40 “You shall therefore keep His Ordinances and His Commandments which I command you this day, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you and that you may prolong your days upon the Earth which the LORD your God gives you forever.”
41 Then Moses separated three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising Sun,
42 so that the slayer who had killed his neighbor unintentionally, and had not hated him in the past, could flee from there. That is to say, he might flee to one of these cities and live:
43 Bezer in the wilderness in the plain country of the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead among the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan, among those of Manasseh.
44 So this is the Law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
45 These are the witnesses and the Ordinances and the Laws which Moses declared to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt.
46 On this side of Jordan, in the valley next to Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon, King of the Amorites (who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel killed, after they had come out of Egypt).
47 And they possessed his land and the land of Og, king of Bashan (two kings of the Amorites who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising Sun):
48 from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, to mount Sion (which is Hermon),
49 and all the plain (from Jordan, eastward to the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah).
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