Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.

Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”

Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.

(The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.

Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,

(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.

(Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)

Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.)

But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

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.

Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?

The Lord heard you when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.

Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.

You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.

The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”