Deuteronomy 1-5

GOD’S WORD Translation

Moses Speaks to the People 40 Years after Leaving Egypt

1 This is the speech Moses gave in the desert east of the Jordan River, on the plains, near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and near Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab. He spoke to all the Israelites. ² (It takes 11 days to go from Mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by way of Mount Seir.)

³ On the first day of the eleventh month in the fortieth year ⌞after they had left Egypt⌟, Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. ⁴ This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and ^[a] in Edrei. ⁵ The Israelites were east of the Jordan River in Moab when Moses began to review God’s teachings.

Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Mount Horeb

This is what he said:

⁶ At Mount Horeb the Lord our God said to us, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷ Break camp, and get ready! Go to the mountain region of the Amorites, and go to everyone living on the plains, in the mountains, in the foothills, in the Negev, on the whole Mediterranean coast (the land of the Canaanites), and into Lebanon as far as the Euphrates River. ⁸ I’m giving you this land. Enter, and take possession of the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to you, their descendants.”

⁹ At that time I said to you, “I’m not able to take care of you by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has made your population increase so that you are now as numerous as the stars in the sky. ¹¹ May the Lord God of your ancestors make you a thousand times more numerous, and may he bless you as he has promised. ¹² How can I take care of your problems, your troubles, and your disagreements all by myself? ¹³ From each of your tribes, choose some men who are wise, intelligent, and experienced, and I’ll appoint them to be your leaders.”

¹⁴ You agreed that this was a good idea.

¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes who were wise and experienced men and made them officers for each of your tribes. I put them in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10 people. ¹⁶ Also at that time I gave these instructions to your judges: “Hear the cases that your people bring. Judge each case fairly, no matter whether it is ⌞a dispute⌟ between two Israelites or ⌞a dispute⌟ between an Israelite and a non-Israelite. ¹⁷ Be impartial in your decisions. Listen to the least important people the same way you listen to the most important people. Never be afraid of anyone, since your decisions come from God. You may bring me any case that’s too hard for you, and I will hear it.” ¹⁸ So I told you how to handle these situations.

Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Kadesh Barnea

¹⁹ So we left Mount Horeb, as the Lord our God had commanded. We traveled through all that vast and dangerous desert you saw on the way to the mountain region of the Amorites. At last we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰ Then I said to you, “We have come to the mountain region of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹ The Lord your God is giving you this land. Go ahead! Take possession of it, as the Lord God of your ancestors told you. Don’t be afraid or terrified.”

²² All of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men ahead of us to gather information about the land for us. Have them report to us about the route we should take and the cities we’ll come to.”

²³ It seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of your men, one from each tribe. ²⁴ They left and went into the mountains. When they came to the Eshcol Valley, they explored it. ²⁵ They took some of the region’s fruit with them and brought it back to us. They reported, “The land that the Lord our God is giving us is good.”

²⁶ But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go. ²⁷ You complained in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us! That’s why he brought us out of Egypt. He wanted to hand us over to the Amorites so that they could destroy us! ²⁸ Where are we going anyway? Our own men have discouraged us by saying, ‘The people there are taller and stronger than we are. The cities are big with sky-high walls! We even saw the people of Anak there.’ ”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble. Don’t be afraid of them. ³⁰ The Lord your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you as you saw him fight for you in Egypt ³¹ and in the desert.” There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as parents carry their children. He carried you wherever you went until you came to this place.

³² In spite of this, you didn’t trust the Lord your God, ³³ who went ahead of you to find places for you to camp. He appeared in a column of fire at night and in a column of smoke during the day to show you which route to take.

³⁴ When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and took this oath: ³⁵ “Not one of these evil people will ever see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors, ³⁶ except Caleb, son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give the land that he set his feet on to him and his descendants, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord.”

³⁷ The Lord became angry with me because of you. He said, “You won’t go there either. ³⁸ But your assistant Joshua, son of Nun, will go there. Encourage him, because he will help Israel take possession of the land. ³⁹ Although you thought the little children would be captured in war, your children, who are still too young to know the difference between good and evil, will enter that land. I will give it to them, and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰ Turn around, go back into the desert, and follow the road that goes to the Red Sea.”

⁴¹ You responded, “We have sinned against the Lord. We’ll go and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us to do.” Each of you armed yourself for war, thinking you could easily invade the mountain region.

⁴² But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go and fight, because I won’t be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’ ”

⁴³ I told you, but you wouldn’t listen. You defied the Lord’s command and invaded the mountain region. ⁴⁴ The Amorites who lived there came out and attacked you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They defeated you, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah. ⁴⁵ When you came back, you cried to the Lord, but the Lord didn’t listen to you or hear you. ⁴⁶ That’s why you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.

Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Mount Seir

2 We went back into the desert, following the road that goes to the Red Sea as the Lord had told me. For a long time we traveled around the region of Mount Seir.

² The Lord said to me, ³ “You’ve traveled around this region long enough. Now go north. ⁴ Give the people these instructions: ‘You’re going to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They’ll be afraid of you, but be very careful. ⁵ Don’t start a fight with them, because I’m not giving you any of their land—not even enough to stand on. I’ve given Esau’s descendants the region of Mount Seir as their property. ⁶ You must pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ”

⁷ The Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched over you as you traveled through this vast desert. For 40 years now the Lord your God has been with you, and you haven’t needed a thing.

⁸ So we passed by our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir. We turned off the road that goes through the plains to Elath and Ezion Geber and took the road that goes through the desert of Moab.

⁹ The Lord said to me, “Don’t bother the people of Moab or start a war with them. I’m not giving you any of Ar as your property. I have given it to the descendants of Lot.”

¹⁰ The Emites used to live there. These people were as strong, as numerous, and as tall as the people of Anak. ¹¹ They were thought to be Rephaim, like the people of Anak, but the Moabites called them Emites. ¹² The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau claimed their land, wiped them out, and took their place, as Israel did in the land that the Lord gave them.

¹³ Then the Lord said, “Now cross the Zered River.”

So we crossed the Zered River. ¹⁴ Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered River. During that time all our soldiers from that generation died, as the Lord had sworn they would. ¹⁵ In fact, it was the Lord himself who got rid of all of them until none were left in the camp.

Moses Reminds Israel about Ammon

¹⁶ When the last of these soldiers had died, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ “Today you are going to pass by the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ When you come near the Ammonites, don’t bother them or start a fight with them. I’m not giving you any of the land that I have already given to the descendants of Lot as their property.”

²⁰ This land was thought of as the land of the Rephaim who used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummim. ²¹ These people were as strong, as numerous, and as tall as the people of Anak. But the Lord wiped them out before the Ammonites came so that the Ammonites claimed their land and took their place. ²² The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir. Before the descendants of Esau came, he wiped out the Horites so that Esau’s descendants claimed their land and took their place. Esau’s descendants are still there today. ²³ The same thing happened to the Avvites who lived in villages as far away as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete, wiped them out and took their place.

Moses Reminds Israel about King Og and King Sihon

²⁴ ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Now break camp. Cross the Arnon Valley. I’m going to hand King Sihon of Heshbon, the Amorite, over to you. Fight him, and take possession of his country. ²⁵ Today I will start to make all the people under heaven terrified of you. When they hear about you, they will tremble and shake because of you.”

²⁶ From the desert of Kedemoth, I sent messengers to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace: ²⁷ “If you allow us to travel through your country, we’ll go straight through and won’t ever leave the road. ²⁸ We’ll pay you in silver for the food we eat and the water we drink. Please let us go through, ²⁹ as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us. We’ll keep going until we cross the Jordan River into the land the Lord our God is giving us.”

³⁰ But King Sihon of Heshbon wouldn’t allow us to pass through. The Lord your God made him stubborn and overconfident in order to hand him over to you, as he has now done. ³¹ The Lord said to me, “I have begun to give you Sihon and his country. Go ahead! Take possession of his land.”

³² Sihon and all his troops came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ³³ The Lord our God gave Sihon to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and all his troops. ³⁴ At that time we captured all his cities and claimed them for God by destroying men, women, and children. There were no survivors. ³⁵ However, we did loot the cities that we captured, taking the cattle and goods. ³⁶ From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley and the city in that valley as far as Gilead, no city had walls that could keep us out. The Lord our God gave us all of them. ³⁷ But the Lord our God had forbidden you to go anywhere near the land of the Ammonites. So you didn’t enter the land along the bank of the Jabbok River or capture the cities in the mountains.

Moses Reminds Israel of How They Defeated King Og of Bashan

3 Next we turned and followed the road that goes to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and all his troops came to fight us at Edrei. ² The Lord said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him. I’ll hand him, all his troops, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.”

³ So the Lord our God also handed King Og of Bashan and all his troops over to us. We defeated him, leaving no survivors. ⁴ At that time we captured all of his cities. There wasn’t a city we didn’t take. We captured a total of 60 cities—the whole territory of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All of these cities were fortified with high walls and double-door gates with bars across the gates. We also captured a large number of unwalled villages. ⁶ We claimed them all for God, destroying every city, including men, women, and children—as we did to King Sihon of Heshbon. ⁷ However, we did loot the cities, taking all of the cattle and goods.

⁸ We took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon. ⁹ (The Sidonians call Mount Hermon by the name Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir.) ¹⁰ We took all of the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as Salcah and Edrei, cities of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. ¹¹ (Of the Rephaim only King Og of Bashan was left. His bed was made of iron and was more than 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

¹² At that time we took possession of this land. I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad the land north of Aroer near the Arnon Valley and half of the mountain region of Gilead with its cities. ¹³ I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan ruled by Og to half of the tribe of Manasseh. (The whole territory of Argob in Bashan used to be called the land of the Rephaim. ¹⁴ Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole territory of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites. The settlements in Bashan he named Havvoth Jair after himself. This is still their name today.) ¹⁵ I gave Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad some of Gilead from the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley is the border) to the Jabbok River, which is the border of Ammon. ¹⁷ Their land included the plains around the Jordan River. The western border was the river, from the Sea of Galilee to the Sea of the Plains (the Dead Sea), which is near Mount Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸ I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh this command: “The Lord your God has given you this land so that you can take possession of it. All your soldiers must be ready for battle when they cross ⌞the Jordan River⌟ ahead of the other Israelites. ¹⁹ I know you have a lot of livestock. Your wives, children, and livestock must stay here in the cities that I gave you. ²⁰ Your soldiers will go with the other Israelites until they take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then they will have a place to rest as you have. After that each of you may go back to the land I gave you.”

²¹ I also gave Joshua this command: “You have seen with your own eyes everything that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all of the kingdoms on the other side ⌞of the Jordan River⌟ where you’re going. ²² Don’t be afraid of them, because the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”

Moses Reminds Israel Why He Will Not Enter Canaan

²³ Then I pleaded with the Lord: ²⁴ “Almighty Lord, you have ⌞only⌟ begun to show me how great and powerful you are. What kind of god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and the mighty acts you have done? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see the beautiful land on the other side of the Jordan River—those beautiful mountains in Lebanon.”

²⁶ The Lord was angry with me because of you, so he wouldn’t listen to me. He said, “That’s enough out of you! Don’t talk to me anymore about this. ²⁷ Go to the top of Mount Pisgah, and look west, north, south, and east. You may look at the land, but you will never cross the Jordan River. ²⁸ Give instructions to Joshua. Encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people across ⌞the Jordan River⌟, and he will help them take possession of the land you see.”

²⁹ So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

Moses Reminds Israel to Be Loyal to the Lord

4 Israel, listen to the laws and rules I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you will live and be able to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord God of your ancestors is giving you. ² Never add anything to what I command you, or take anything away from it. Then you will be able to obey the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

³ With your own eyes you saw what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal while you were at Peor. ⁴ But you were loyal to the Lord your God and are still alive today.

⁵ I have taught you laws and rules as the Lord my God commanded me. You must obey them when you’ve entered the land and taken possession of it. ⁶ Faithfully obey these laws. This will show the people of the world your wisdom and insight. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, “What wise and insightful people there are in this great nation!”

⁷ What great nation ever had their gods as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we pray to him? ⁸ Or what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as all these teachings I am giving you today?

⁹ However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you don’t forget the things which you have seen with your own eyes. Don’t let them fade from your memory as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. ¹⁰ Never forget the day you stood in front of the Lord your God at Mount Horeb. The Lord had said to me, “Assemble the people in front of me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on earth, and they will teach their children the same thing.”

¹¹ So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, which was on fire with flames shooting into the sky. It was dark, cloudy, and gloomy. ¹² The Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard a voice speaking but saw no one. There was only a voice. ¹³ The Lord told you about the terms of his promise, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to do. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ The Lord also commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey after you cross ⌞the Jordan River⌟ and take possession of the land.

¹⁵ You didn’t see the Lord the day he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb. So be very careful ¹⁶ that you don’t become corrupt and make your own carved idols. Don’t make statues that represent men or women, ¹⁷ any animal on earth, any creature with wings that flies, ¹⁸ any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water. ¹⁹ Don’t let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. The Lord your God has given them to all people everywhere. ²⁰ But you are the people the Lord brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me because of you. So the Lord your God took an oath that I wouldn’t cross the Jordan River and enter the good land he is giving you as your property. ²² I’m going to die in this land and not cross the Jordan River, but you’re going to go across and take possession of that good land. ²³ Be careful that you don’t forget the promise ^[b] that the Lord your God made to you. Don’t make your own carved idols or statues that represent anything the Lord your God has forbidden. ²⁴ The Lord your God is a raging fire, a God who does not tolerate rivals.

²⁵ Even when you have children and grandchildren and have grown old in that land, don’t become corrupt and make carved idols or statues that represent anything. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today: ^[c] If you do this thing that the Lord your God considers evil, making him furious, ²⁶ you will quickly disappear from the land you’re going to possess on the other side of the Jordan River. You won’t live very long there. You’ll be completely wiped out. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the people of the world, and only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will force you to live. ²⁸ There you will worship wooden and stone gods made by human hands. These gods can’t see, hear, eat, or smell.

²⁹ But if you look for the Lord your God when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you’re in distress and all these things happen to you, then you will finally come back to the Lord your God and obey him. ³¹ The Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.

³² Search the distant past, long before your time. Start from the very day God created people on earth. Search from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened before, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³ Have any ⌞other⌟ people ever heard God speak from a fire and lived? You did! ³⁴ Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? The Lord your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you.

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God. There is no other god. ³⁶ He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire. ³⁷ Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power. ³⁸ He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.

³⁹ Remember today, and never forget that the Lord is God in heaven above and here on earth. There is no other god. ⁴⁰ Obey his laws and commands which I’m giving you today. Then things will go well for you and your descendants. You will live for a long time in the land. The Lord your God is giving you the land for as long as you live.

Three Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan River

⁴¹ Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River. ⁴² Those who unintentionally killed someone whom they had never hated could flee to one of these cities and save their lives. ⁴³ The cities were Bezer on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.

Introduction to Moses’ Teachings

⁴⁴ This is what Moses taught the people of Israel. ⁴⁵ These are the commandments, laws, and rules Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt. ⁴⁶ He gave these to the people when they were east of the Jordan River in the valley near Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses and Israel defeated him after they left Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were east of the Jordan River. ⁴⁸ This land went from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Siyon (that is, Mount Hermon). ⁴⁹ It included all the plains on the east side of the Jordan River as far as the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Mount Pisgah.

The Ten Commandments^(A)

5 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Israel, listen to the laws and rules I’m telling you today. Learn them and faithfully obey them.

² The Lord our God made a promise ^[d] to us at Mount Horeb. ³ He didn’t make this promise to our ancestors, but to all of us who are alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. ⁵ I stood between the Lord and you to tell you the Lord’s word, because you were afraid of the fire and didn’t go up on the mountain. The Lord said:

⁶ “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.

⁷ “Never have any other gods. ⁸ Never make your own carved idols or statues that represent any creature in the sky, on the earth, or in the water. ⁹ Never worship them or serve them, because I, the Lord your God, am a God who does not tolerate rivals. I punish children for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. ¹⁰ But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments.

¹¹ “Never use the name of the Lord your God carelessly. The Lord will make sure that anyone who uses his name carelessly will be punished.

¹² “Observe the day of rest as a holy day. This is what the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ You have six days to do all your work. ¹⁴ The seventh day is the day of rest—a holy day dedicated to the Lord your God. You, your sons, your daughters, your male and female slaves, your oxen, your donkeys—all of your animals—even the foreigners living in your city must never do any work ⌞on that day⌟. In this way your male and female slaves can rest as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring you out of there. This is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the day of rest as a holy day.

¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live for a long time, and things will go well for you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁷ “Never murder.

¹⁸ “Never commit adultery.

¹⁹ “Never steal.

²⁰ “Never avoid the truth when you testify about your neighbor.^[e]

²¹ “Never desire to take your neighbor’s wife away from him.

“Never long for your neighbor’s household, his field, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.”

²² These are the commandments the Lord spoke to your whole assembly on the mountain. He spoke in a loud voice from the fire, the cloud, and the gloomy darkness. Then he stopped speaking. He wrote the commandments on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

²³ But when you heard the voice coming from the darkness and saw the mountain blazing with fire, all the leaders and heads of your tribes came to me. ²⁴ You said, “The Lord our God has let us see how great and glorious he is. We’ve heard his voice come from the fire. Today we’ve seen that people can live even if God speaks to them. ²⁵ Why should we die? This great fire will consume us! If we continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God, we’ll die! ²⁶ Who has ever heard the voice of the living God speak from a fire, as we did, and lived? ²⁷ ⌞Moses,⌟ go and listen to everything that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We’ll listen and obey.”

²⁸ When the Lord heard the words that you spoke to me, he said, “I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they said was good. ²⁹ If only they would fear me and obey all my commandments as long as they live! Then things would go well for them and their children forever.

³⁰ “Tell the people to go back to their tents. ³¹ But you stay here with me. I will give you all the commands, laws, and rules that you must teach them to obey in the land which I’m giving them to possess.”

³² So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you. Never stop living this way. ³³ Follow all the directions the Lord your God has given you. Then you will continue to live, life will go well for you, and you will live for a long time in the land that you are going to possess.