Israel Defeats the King of Bashan

3 “We set out and went up along the road to Bashan. Then King Og of Bashan came out to meet us—he and his whole army—for a battle at Edrei. ² Then the Lord told me, ‘Don’t fear him, because I’ve delivered him, his army, and his territory into your control. Do to him just as you have done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’

³ “So the Lord our God also delivered into our control King Og of Bashan, along with his whole army. We attacked him until there were no survivors.^{[a] 4} Then we captured all his cities at that time. There was not a city left that we didn’t capture from them—60 cities in all from the region of Argob, which is part of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All of these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars. Furthermore, there were very many unwalled regions. ⁶ We utterly destroyed them, just as we did King Sihon of Heshbon, attacking them in every city—the men, women, and children. ⁷ But we kept for ourselves all of the livestock and plunder from the towns.

⁸ “So at that time, we took control from the two Amorite kings the territory east of the Jordan from Wadi^[b] Arnon to Mount Hermon. ⁹ (The Sidonians called Hermon Sirion, but the Amorites called it Senir.) ¹⁰ We took control of^[c] all the cities of the plain, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ Only King Og of Bashan remained from the remnants of the Rephaim.^[d] In fact, his bed was made of iron. It’s in Rabbah of the Ammonites, isn’t it? It was nine cubits^[e] long and four cubits^[f] wide.”

Moses Allots Land East of the Jordan^(A)

¹² “Of the land that we captured at that time, I’ve given its towns to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad from Aroer near the Wadi^[g] Arnon to half of the hill country of Gilead. ¹³ The remainder of Gilead and Bashan of the kingdom of Og, I’ve given to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob—that is, all of Bashan—is called the land of the Rephaim.) ¹⁴ Manasseh’s son Jair captured all the Argob region as far as the territory of the descendants of Geshur and the descendants of Maacath. Bashan was named after him; that’s why it is called Havvoth-jair to this day. ¹⁵ Furthermore, I’ve given Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ And I’ve given Gilead to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad as far as the Arnon Valley, designating the middle of the valley as its boundary, including up to the Jabbok River as a boundary with the Ammonites. ¹⁷ The Arabah and the Jordan River are also a boundary from Chinnereth^[h] to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea),^[i] below the slopes of Pisgah on the east.”

Moses Instructs the Men of War

¹⁸ “Then I commanded you at that time, ‘The Lord your God gave you this land as a possession. Those equipped for battle—every man a warrior—will cross before your fellow Israelis. ¹⁹ However, your women, children, and livestock—and I know you have many—may reside in your towns that I gave you ²⁰ until the Lord grants rest to your fellow Israelis like you. When they take possession of the territory that the Lord your God is about to give them on the other side of the Jordan River, then each of you may return to the territory that I’ve allotted for you.’

²¹ “I also charged Joshua at that time, ‘You witnessed everything that the Lord your God did to the two kings. Indeed, the Lord will do this to all the kingdoms which you are about to enter. ²² You are not to fear them, because the Lord your God will fight for you.’”

Moses Pleads with God

²³ “I pleaded with the Lord at that time, ²⁴ ‘Lord God, you’ve begun to show your greatness and your strong power to your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can equal your works and mighty deeds? ²⁵ Let me cross over that I may see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River—the good hill country—as well as Lebanon.’

²⁶ “However, the Lord was furious with me because of you. He did not listen to me. Instead, the Lord said, ‘You are not to speak to me about this matter again! ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift your eyes toward the west, north, south, and east. Look with your own eyes, since you won’t be able to cross this Jordan River. ²⁸ Therefore charge Joshua to be doubly strong, because he will lead this people^[j] and cause them to inherit the land that you’ll see.’ ²⁹ We then encamped in the valley opposite Beth-peor.”