Beginning
The Fifth Book of Moses, called [a]Deuteronomy
1 2 A brief rehearsal of things done before, from Horeb unto Kadesh Barnea. 32 Moses reproveth the people for their incredulity. 44 The Israelites are overcome by the Amorites because they fought against the commandment of the Lord.
1 These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel, on [b]this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain, [c]over against the red sea, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 There are eleven days’ journey from [d]Horeb unto Kadesh Barnea, by the way of mount Seir.
3 And it came to pass in the first day of the eleventh month, in the fortieth year that Moses spake unto the children of Israel according unto all that the Lord hath given him in commandment unto them.
4 After that he had slain [e](A)Sihon the King of the Amorites which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, which dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.
5 On this side Jordan at the land of Moab [f]began Moses to declare this law, saying,
6 The Lord our God spake unto us in [g]Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount,
7 Turn you and depart, and go unto the mountain of the Amorites, and unto all places near thereunto in the plain, in the mountain, or in the valley: both Southward, and to the Sea side to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon: even unto the great river, the river [h]Perah.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and (B)possess that land which the Lord sware, unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and unto their seed after them.
9 ¶ And I spake [i]unto you the same time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
10 The Lord your God hath [j]multiplied you: and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven in number:
11 (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you,)
12 How can I alone [k]bear your cumbrance and your charge, and your strife?
13 Bring you men of wisdom and of understanding, and [l]known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you:
14 Then he answered me and said, the thing is good that thou hast commanded us to do.
15 So I took the chief of your tribes, [m]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 that same time, saying, Hear the controversies between your brethren, and (C)judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 Ye shall have no respect of person in judgment, (D)but shall hear the small as well as the great: ye shall not fear the face of man: for the judgment is [n]God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring unto me, and I will hear it.
18 Also I commanded you the same time all the things which ye should do.
19 ¶ Then we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness (as ye have seen) by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us: and we came to Kadesh Barnea.
20 And [o]I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us.
21 Behold, the Lord thy God hath laid the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath said unto thee: fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 ¶ [p]Then ye came unto me everyone, and said, We will send men before us, to search us out the land, and to bring us word again, what way we must go up by, and unto what cities we shall come.
23 So the saying pleased me well, and I took twelve men of you, of every tribe one.
24 (E)Who departed, and went up into the mountain, and came unto the [q]river Eshcol, and searched out the land.
25 And took of the fruit of the land in their hand, and brought it unto us, and brought us word again, and [r]said, It is a good land, which the Lord our God doth give us.
26 Notwithstanding, ye would not go up, but were disobedient unto the commandment of the Lord your God,
27 And murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord [s]hated us, therefore hath he brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, and to destroy us.
28 Whither shall we go up, our [t]brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, The people [are] greater, and taller than we: the cities are great and walled up to heaven: and moreover we have seen the sons of the (F)Anakims there.
29 But I said unto you, Dread not, nor be afraid of them.
30 The Lord your God, [u]who goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did unto you in Egypt before your eyes,
31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way which ye have gone, until ye came unto this place.
32 Yet for all this ye did not believe the Lord your God,
33 (G)Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, that ye might see what way to go, and in a cloud by day.
34 Then the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35 (H)Surely there shall not one of these men of this forward generation, see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,
36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it, (I)and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath constantly followed the Lord.
37 (J)Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, (K)Thou also shalt not go in thither,
38 But Joshua the son of Nun which standeth [v]before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover, your [w]children, which ye said should be a prey, and your sons, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I 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 ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord, [x]we will go up, and fight, according to all that the Lord our God hath commanded us: and ye armed you every man to the war, and were ready to go up into the mountain.
42 But the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight, (for I am [y]not among you) lest ye fall before your enemies.
43 And when I told you, ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and were presumptuous, and went up into the mountain.
44 Then the Amorites which dwelt in that mountain came out against you, and chased you (as bees used to do) and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45 And when ye came again, ye wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not [z]hear your voice, nor incline his ears unto you.
46 So ye abode in Kadesh a long time, according to the time that ye had remained before.
2 4 Israel is forbidden to fight with the Edomites, 9 Moabites, 19 and Ammonites. 23 Sihon King of Heshbon.
1 Then [aa]we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness, by the way of the red Sea, as the Lord spake unto me: and were compassed mount Seir [a] [ab]long time.
2 And the Lord spake unto me, saying,
3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you Northward.
4 And warn thou the people, saying, Ye shall go through the [ac]coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed therefore.
5 Ye shall not provoke them: for I will not give you of their land so much as a foot breadth, (L)because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.
6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money to eat, and ye shall also procure water of them for money to drink.
7 For the Lord thy God hath [ad]blessed thee in all the works of thine hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness, and the Lord thy God hath been with thee this forty years, and thou hast lacked nothing.
8 And when we were departed from our brethren the children of Esau which dwelt in Seir: through the way of the [ae]plain, from Elath, and from Ezion Geber, we turned and went by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
9 Then the Lord said unto me, Thou shalt not [af]vex Moab, neither provoke them to battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar unto the children [ag]of Lot for a possession.
10 The [ah]Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great and many, and tall, as the Anakims.
11 They also were taken for giants as the Anakims: whom the Moabites call Emims.
12 The (M)Horites also dwelt in Seir before time, whom the children of Esau chased out and destroyed them before them, and dwelt in their stead: as Israel shall do unto the land of his possession, which the Lord hath given them.
13 Now rise up, said I, and get you over the river (N)Zered: and we went over the river Zered.
14 The [ai]space also wherein we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we were come over the river Zered, was eight and thirty years, until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord sware unto them.
15 For indeed the [aj]hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host, till they were consumed.
16 ¶ So when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people:
17 Then the Lord spake unto me, saying,
18 Thou shalt go through Ar the coast of Moab this day:
19 And thou shalt come near over against the children of Ammon: but shalt not lay siege unto them, nor move war against them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession: for I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
20 That also was taken for a land [ak]of giants: for giants dwelt therein afore time, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummims:
21 A people that was great, 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 stead:
22 As he did to the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them, and they possessed them, and dwelt in their stead unto this day.
23 And the Avim which dwelt in Hazarim even unto [al]Azzah, the Caphtorims which came out of Caphtor destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.
24 ¶ Rise up therefore, said the Lord: take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon, the [am]Amorite, King of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and provoke him to battle.
25 This day will I [an]begin to send thy fear and thy dread, upon all people under the whole heaven, which shall hear thy fame, and shall tremble and quake before thee.
26 Then I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon King of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,
27 ¶ (O)Let me pass through thy land: I will go by the highway: I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.
28 Thou shalt sell me meat for money, for to eat, and shalt give me water for money for to drink: only I will go through on my foot,
29 (As the [ao]children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me) until I be come over Jordan, into the land which the Lord our God giveth us.
30 But Sihon the King of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God had [ap]hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, because he would deliver him into thine hand, as appeareth this day.
31 And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess and inherit his land.
32 (P)Then came out Sihon to meet us, himself with all his people to fight at Jahaz.
33 But the Lord our God delivered him [aq]into our power, and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
34 And we took all his cities the same time, and destroyed every city, men, and [ar]women, and children: we let nothing remain.
35 Only the cattle we took to ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
36 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is upon the river, even unto Gilead: there was not one city that escaped us: for the Lord our God delivered up all [as]before us.
37 Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the [at]river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbade us.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.