Bible in 90 Days
20 Moses said to them, “If you will do what you have said, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, 21 and if every one of you who is armed will cross over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven out his enemies before him, 22 and until the land has been subdued before the Lord, then after that you may return home. You will be guiltless toward the Lord and Israel. This land will be a possession for you in the presence of the Lord.
23 “But if you will not do this, look, you will have sinned against the Lord. Know that your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your children, and pens for your flocks, but keep the promises that have come out of your mouth.”
25 The descendants of Gad and Reuben spoke to Moses: “We, your servants, will do as my lord commands. 26 Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will stay here by the cities of Gilead, 27 but your servants, every man who is armed for war, will cross over before the Lord for battle, as my lord says.”
28 So Moses gave a command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leading fathers of the Israelite tribes. 29 Moses said to them, “If the descendants of Gad and Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross over the Jordan with you before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 But if they are not willing to cross over with you armed, they will have an inheritance among you in the land of Canaan.”
31 The descendants of Gad and Reuben answered, “We will do what the Lord has said to us, your servants. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the property that comes to us as our inheritance will be east of the Jordan.”
33 Moses gave the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan to the descendants of Gad, to the descendants of Reuben, and to half of the tribe descended from Manasseh, the son of Joseph—the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them. 34 The descendants of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran as fortified cities and built sheep pens there. 37 The descendants of Reuben built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo and Baal Meon (their names were changed), and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt. 39 The descendants of Makir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. 40 Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Makir, the descendants of Manasseh, and they lived there. 41 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth Jair.[a] 42 Nobah went and captured Kenath and its settlements. He renamed it Nobah after himself.
Forty Stages of Israel’s Journey
33 These were the stages in the Israelites’ journey when they went out from the land of Egypt, lined up according to their military units, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the command of the Lord, Moses recorded their departure locations according to the stages in their journey. These were the stages in their journey listed by their departure locations:
3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. The Israelites went out defiantly[b] in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. The Lord also brought judgment on their gods. 5 The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Sukkoth.
6 They set out from Sukkoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
7 They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which faces Baal Zephon. They camped in front of Migdol.
8 They set out from Pi Hahiroth[c] and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They traveled for three days in the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
9 They set out from Marah and came to Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They camped there.
10 They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
11 They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.
12 They set out from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
13 They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.
14 They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
15 They set out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.
16 They set out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hatta’avah.
17 They set out from Kibroth Hatta’avah and camped at Hazeroth.
18 They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.
19 They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.
20 They set out from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.
21 They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.
22 They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.
23 They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
24 They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
25 They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
26 They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
27 They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.
28 They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.
29 They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.
30 They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.
31 They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene Ja’akan.
32 They set out from Bene Ja’akan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.
33 They set out from Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
34 They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
35 They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.
36 They set out from Ezion Geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, that is, at Kadesh.
37 They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.
38 Aaron the priest went up onto Mount Hor at the Lord’s command and died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. 39 Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died at Mount Hor.
40 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.
41 They set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42 They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43 They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.
44 They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.
45 They set out from Iyim[d] and camped at Dibon Gad.
46 They set out from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.
47 They set out from Almon Diblathaim and camped by the mountains of the Abarim range, near Nebo.
48 They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the Plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim, on the Plains of Moab.
Instructions for Conquering Canaan
50 On the Plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses: 51 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their carved images and all their cast idols, and destroy all their high places. 53 You shall take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall distribute the land as a possession by lot according to your clans. For a larger clan you shall increase its inheritance. For a smaller clan you shall decrease its inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for that clan, that will be its portion. You will distribute the land as a possession according to the tribes of your fathers. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those that you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will cause trouble for you in the land where you will settle. 56 Then I will do to you what I planned to do to them.’”
The Boundaries of Canaan
34 The Lord told Moses 2 to deliver these commands to the Israelites:
When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its boundaries), 3 your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern border on the east will start from the south end of the Dead Sea.[e] 4 Your border will turn south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, pass through to Zin, and it will end south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go out to Hazar Adda and pass through to Azmon. 5 The border will turn from Azmon to the Stream of Egypt,[f] and it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.[g]
6 For the western border, you will have the Mediterranean Sea as your border. This will be your western border.
7 This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea you will draw a line for yourselves to Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath. The end of the border will be at Zedad. 9 Then the border will go to Ziphron, and it will end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.
10 You will draw a line to serve as your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border will go down and meet the eastern slope of the Sea of Galilee.[h] 12 The border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land according to its boundaries on all sides.
Tribal Chiefs Assigned for Dividing the Land
13 Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land which you will assign as a possession by lot, which the Lord has commanded you to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 The tribe of Reuben’s descendants according to their fathers’ houses and the tribe of Gad’s descendants according to their fathers’ houses have already received their possession. Also half of the tribe of Manasseh has received its possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their possession east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
16 The Lord spoke to Moses:
17 These are the names of the men who will assign the land as a possession for you:
Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.
18 You will take one tribal chief from every tribe to assign the land as a possession. 19 These are the names of the men:
Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
20 Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon’s descendants;
21 Elidad son of Kislon from the tribe of Benjamin;
22 Bukki son of Jogli, a tribal chief from the tribe of Dan’s descendants;
23 from the sons of Joseph: Hanniel son of Ephod, a tribal chief from the tribe of Manasseh’s descendants;
24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a tribal chief from the tribe of Ephraim’s descendants;
25 Elizaphan son of Parnak, a tribal chief from the tribe of Zebulun’s descendants;
26 Paltiel son of Azzan, a tribal chief from the tribe of Issachar’s descendants;
27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, a tribal chief from the tribe of Asher’s descendants;
28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, a tribal chief from the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants.
29 These were the men whom the Lord commanded to assign the areas of possession for the Israelites in the land of Canaan.
Towns for the Levites
35 The Lord spoke to Moses on the Plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:
2 Command the people of Israel to give the Levites cities[i] to live in from the territory assigned to them as their possession. They will also give the Levites the pasturelands around those cities. 3 The Levites will then have cities to live in. Their pasturelands will be for their cattle, their flocks and herds, and all their other animals.
4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you will give to the Levites, will extend out from the wall of the city 500 yards[j] in all directions. 5 As the eastern boundary you will measure 1000 yards[k] in addition to the size of the city, 1000 yards as the southern boundary, 1000 yards as the western boundary, and 1000 yards as the northern boundary. The city is in the middle. This area will serve as the pasturelands of their cities.
6 The cities which you will give to the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you will provide so that a person who has killed someone may flee there. In addition to these six cities, you will give them forty-two other cities. 7 All the cities which you are to give to the Levites will total forty-eight cities along with their pasturelands. 8 For the cities which you will transfer to the Levites from the property of the Israelites, you will take more cities from a larger tribe and fewer from a smaller tribe. Every tribe will give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the amount of assigned territory it has received.
Cities of Refuge
9 The Lord told Moses 10 to speak to the Israelites and tell them this:
When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 you are to designate some cities to be cities of refuge for yourselves, so that a person who has killed someone by taking someone’s life unintentionally may flee there. 12 The cities will serve as a refuge for you from the avenger,[l] so that a person who has killed someone will not die until he stands trial before the community. 13 The cities which you will set aside will serve as the six cities of refuge for you. 14 You are to set aside three cities east of the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. They will serve as cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will serve as a refuge for Israelites, for resident aliens, and for temporary residents living among them so that everyone who has taken someone’s life unintentionally may flee there.
16 But if a person strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, that person is a murderer. The murderer must certainly be put to death. 17 If a person strikes someone with a stone in his hand that could kill someone, and the victim dies, that person is a murderer. The murderer must certainly be put to death. 18 Or if a person strikes someone with a wooden object in his hand that could kill someone, and the victim dies, that person is a murderer. The murderer must certainly be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself will put the murderer to death. When he apprehends him, he is to put him to death. 20 If a person pushes someone out of hatred or throws something at him with malicious intent so that he dies, 21 or in hostility strikes him with his hand so that he dies, that person who struck him must certainly be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death when he apprehends him.
22 But if a person pushes someone suddenly without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent, 23 or if without looking he drops a stone on someone big enough to kill him and that person dies, since that person was not his enemy, and he did not seek to harm him, 24 the community will judge between the killer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25 The community will deliver the person who has killed someone from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the community will take him back to his city of refuge, to which he had fled. He must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the person who has killed someone ever goes outside of the border of the city of refuge to which he has fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the person who has killed someone, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, 28 because the person who has killed someone should have stayed in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest he may return to the land that is his possession.
29 These things will be a legal statute for you throughout your generations wherever you live.
30 Everyone who has taken someone’s life is to be put to death as a murderer on the testimony of witnesses, but no one is to die on the testimony of only one witness.
31 You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, because he must certainly be put to death.
32 You are not to accept a ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge in order to allow him to return to live in his land before the death of the priest.
33 So you are not to pollute the land where you are, because bloodshed pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land where blood has been shed except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You are not to defile the land in which you are living, where I am dwelling in its midst, for I, the Lord, am dwelling in the midst of the people of Israel.
Inheritance for Zelophehad’s Daughters
36 The leading fathers of the clan of the descendants of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, from the clans of the sons of Joseph, approached Moses and spoke to Moses and the tribal chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to assign the land for the Israelites’ inheritance by lot. My lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 Now, if they marry any of the men from the other Israelite tribes, then their inheritance would be taken away from our ancestral inheritance and would be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they married. So part of our allotted inheritance would be taken away. 4 When the Jubilee occurs for the Israelites, that inheritance would be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they married. Therefore that inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
5 Then at the Lord’s word, Moses commanded the Israelites, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants is saying is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may be married to whomever they wish, but they are to be married within the clan of their father’s tribe. 7 In that way no inheritance for the Israelites will transfer from tribe to tribe, for each of the Israelites is to keep the inheritance of his ancestral tribe. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any of the Israelite tribes is to be married to someone from the clan of her father’s tribe, so that each of the Israelites will retain possession of the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance will transfer from one tribe to another tribe, for each of the Israelite tribes will keep its own inheritance.”
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah—were married to cousins on their father’s side. 12 They were married to men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commands and the ordinances which the Lord commanded through Moses for the Israelites on the Plains of Moab near the Jordan across from Jericho.
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the area beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab on the other.
2 (It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)
3 In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel everything that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and he had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.[m] 5 In the area east of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses took on the task of explaining clearly this law[n] as follows. This is what he said:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb. He said, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Turn in the other direction, start traveling, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the people living in the Arabah,[o] in the hill country,[p] in the Shephelah,[q] and in the Negev,[r] and in the coastland by the sea (the land of the Canaanites) and the Lebanon range, up to the Great River (the River Euphrates). 8 Look now, I have given you the land that is ahead of you. Go and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promising to give it to them and to their descendants after them.”
9 So I said to you at that time, “I am not able to carry you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has increased your number, and here you are today, as numerous as the stars in the heavens. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, add to you a thousand times as many as you are now, and may he bless you, just as he promised you. 12 But how can I manage by myself to carry the burden that you have become and the load that you are—especially your disputes? 13 Provide for yourselves, tribe by tribe, men who are wise and perceptive and with known ability, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”
14 Then you answered me, “What you propose to do is good.” 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, men who were wise and of known ability, and I appointed them as heads over you, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and commanders of fifties and commanders of tens, as well as officers for your tribes.
16 I gave these orders to your judges at that time: “Listen to disputes among your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother Israelite, as well as with the alien who resides with him. 17 Do not show partiality in judgment. Provide a hearing for the small and the great alike. Do not be motivated by fear of any person, because judgment belongs to God. Any case that is too difficult for you, bring it before me and I will hear it.” 18 So I gave you orders at that time about everything that you should do.
19 Then we journeyed from Horeb, and we walked through that whole vast and terrifying wilderness that you saw on the road to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us to do. When we came to Kadesh Barnea, 20 I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look now, the Lord your God has given you the land ahead of you. Go up, take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has said to you. Do not be afraid and do not be overwhelmed.”
22 Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send out some of our men so that they can scout the land for us and bring us a report about the route that we should take and the cities that we will reach.”
23 The plan seemed good to me, so I selected from you twelve men, one man from each tribe. 24 They set out and went up to the hill country and came to the area of the Valley of Eshcol and spied on it. 25 They took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it back to us and brought us a report that said, “The land that the Lord our God is giving us is good.”
26 Still you were not willing to go up, and you rebelled against the order of the Lord your God. 27 You complained in your tents and said, “Because the Lord hates us, he brought us out of the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us. 28 Where are we going? Our brothers have made our hearts melt by saying, ‘People there are stronger and taller than we are! There are large cities with fortified walls up to the skies! Also, we have seen the descendants of Anak there!’”
29 So I said to you, “Do not be overwhelmed and do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you, exactly as he did for you in Egypt, right before your very eyes, 31 and just as he did in the wilderness, where you saw that the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son, on the entire way that you walked until you came to this place.” 32 Yet even with this, you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on the journey to search out a place for you to camp. He showed you the way that you should travel, by fire during the night and by a cloud during the day.
34 When the Lord heard the tone of your words, he was angry, and he swore an oath: 35 “Not one of these people from this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give the land on which he walked to him and his children, because he has fully followed the Lord.” 37 The Lord was angry with me too because of you. He said, “You also will not enter there. 38 Joshua son of Nun, who is standing before you, will enter there. Strengthen him, because he will lead Israel to possess it. 39 Your toddlers, who you said would become plunder of war, and your children, who today do not yet know good and evil, will enter there. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. 40 But you, turn around and travel into the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”[s]
41 Then you answered me, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us to do.” So each man among you strapped on his weapons of war, and you thought it would be easy to go up to the hill country.
42 But the Lord instructed me: “Say to them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be among you to keep you from being struck down by your enemies.’” 43 So I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You rebelled against the command of the Lord and acted presumptuously by going up to the hill country anyway. 44 Then the Amorites living in the hill country went out to meet you. They pursued you like bees, and they struck you down in Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and you cried out before the Lord, but the Lord did not pay attention to the noise you made. He did not listen to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days—those well-known days that you stayed there.
2 Then we turned and traveled toward the wilderness on the road to the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we traveled for many days to get around the area of Mount Seir.[t]
The Journey Past Edom
2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 “You have been traveling around this mountainous region long enough. Turn north 4 and command the people, ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who are living in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not wage war against them because I am not going to give you any of their land, not even an area the size of a footprint, because I have given the Mount Seir region to Esau as a possession. 6 You may buy food from them with money so you can eat, and you may purchase water from them with money so you can drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your trek through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have not lacked anything.’” 8 So we passed by the territory of our brothers, the people of Esau, who were living in Seir. After leaving the Arabah Road, Elat, and Ezion Geber behind us, we turned and we traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab.
The Journey Past Moab
9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not be hostile toward Moab and do not wage war against them in battle, because I am not going to give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar to the people of Lot as a possession.”
10 (The Emites formerly lived in it, a strong, numerous people and tall like the Anakites. 11 They, like the Anakites, are also considered to be Rephaim,[u] but the Moabites call them Emites. 12 The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau took possession of their land and destroyed them from their midst. They settled there in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the Lord gave to them as their possession.)
13 Then the Lord told us:[v] “Now get ready and cross the Zered Canyon.” So we crossed over the Zered Canyon. 14 The time that we traveled from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Zered Canyon was thirty-eight years, until that whole generation of fighting men were eliminated from the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 Yes indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them from the camp until they were eliminated.
The Journey Past Ammon
16 Just as soon as all those fighting men were eliminated from the people by their death, 17 the Lord spoke to me: 18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 When you come near the people of Ammon, do not be hostile toward them and do not wage war against them, because I am not going to give any of the land of the people of Ammon to you as a possession, since I have given it to the people of Lot as a possession.”
20 (It also is considered to be the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived in it formerly, but the Ammonites call them Zamzumites. 21 They are a strong and numerous people and as tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaim from among the Ammonites. The Ammonites took possession of their land and lived there in their place. 22 The Lord had done the same things for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them, and they took possession of their land and settled there in their place and remain there to this day. 23 Now the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor,[w] destroyed the Avvites who were living in villages as far as Gaza and settled in their place.)
Confrontation With the Amorites
24 Then the Lord told us:[x] “Get ready to travel and cross over the Arnon Canyon. See, I have given into your hands Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Start to take possession of it and wage war against him. 25 This very day I will begin to put dread and fear of you on the faces of the people everywhere under heaven, so that they will hear reports about you and they will tremble, and they will be shaking because of you.”
26 So I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedmoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with an offer of peace. I said, 27 “Let us pass through your land. We will proceed only on the road. We will not turn aside to the right or to the left. 28 You can sell us food in exchange for money so we can eat, and you can give us water in exchange for money so we can drink. Only let us pass through on foot, 29 as did the people of Esau living in Seir and the Moabites living in Ar, until we can cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
30 But Sihon king of the Amorites was not willing to let us pass through on the road, because the Lord your God gave him a stubborn attitude by making his heart obstinate, in order to give him over into your hands, as is now the case today. 31 Then the Lord said to me, “Look now, I have begun to give you Sihon and his land. Start taking action to take possession of his land.”
32 Then Sihon and all of his people went out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. 33 The Lord our God gave him to us, and we struck him down, as well as his sons and all his people. 34 So we captured each of his cities at that time. We devoted each city to destruction, with the men, women, and children. We did not leave a survivor. 35 We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, as well as the spoils of war from the cities that we captured. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Canyon, from the city that is in the canyon, all the way up to Gilead, there was not a city that was out of reach for us. The Lord our God gave us everything. 37 But it was only the land of the people of Ammon that you did not approach: the land along both sides of the Jabbok Canyon, the cities of the hill country, and everything that the Lord our God had forbidden us to take.
3 Then we turned and went up on the road to Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan came out to confront us. He and all his people came for war at Edrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, “Do not be afraid of him, because I have given him into your hands, as well as all of his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 3 So the Lord our God gave into our hands also Og king of Bashan and all his people. We struck them down until they had no survivor remaining.
4 So we took all of his cities at that time. There was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole area of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All of these were fortified cities with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many small unwalled towns.[y] 6 We devoted them to destruction, just as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon. There was a total destruction of every city, of men, women, and children, 7 but all of the cattle and the plunder of the cities we took as spoils for ourselves.
8 So at that time we took the land out of the hands of the two kings of the Amorites who were east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Canyon to Mount Hermon. 9 (The Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, but the Amorites call it Senir.) 10 We took all the cities of the tableland and all of Gilead and all of Bashan, up to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (Only Og king of Bashan had remained from what was left of the Rephaim. His bed,[z] a bed of iron, is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon? Its length is thirteen feet, and its width is six feet,[aa] according to the standard measure.)
12 So we took possession of this land at that time. I gave to Reuben and to Gad the land starting at Aroer, which is at the Arnon Canyon, and half of the hill country[ab] of Gilead, as well as its cities. 13 I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh the remainder of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, all the territory of Argob (all that part of Bashan is called the land of the Rephaim). 14 Jair, the descendant of Manasseh, took all the territory of Argob up to the border of the Geshurites and the Ma’acathites, and he named the villages of Bashan after himself, Havvoth Jair,[ac] as they are called to this day. 15 I gave Gilead to Makir. 16 To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave the land of Gilead from the Arnon Canyon (that is, from the middle of the canyon), which served as one of their borders, up to the Jabbok Canyon, which served as their border with the people of Ammon. 17 Also the Arabah and the Jordan served as their border from the Sea of Kinneret[ad] to the Sea of the Arabah, that is, the Salt Sea,[ae] under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
18 I gave you a command at that time: “The Lord your God gave you this land as a possession. All of your soldiers, armed for battle, are to cross over before your brother Israelites. 19 Only your wives and your children and your livestock (I know that you have a lot of livestock) may stay in your cities that I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan. After that you may return, each man to his possession that I have given you.”
21 I also gave a command to Joshua at that time: “With your own eyes you have been observing everything that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms to which you are crossing. 22 Do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God himself is fighting for you.”
23 I also begged the favor of the Lord at that time: 24 “My Lord God, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand. Indeed, what god in heaven or on earth is there that has done anything like your works and your mighty deeds? 25 Let me cross over, please, and let me see the good land on the other side of the Jordan—this good hill country and the mountains of Lebanon.”
26 But the Lord was furious with me because of you, and he did not listen to me but said to me, “Enough from you! Do not continue to speak to me anymore about this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes toward the west and the north and the south and the east. Take a good look, because you will not be crossing over this Jordan. 28 But commission Joshua for duty and strengthen him and encourage him, because he will cross over in front of these people, and he will enable them to take possession of the land that you will only see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth Peor.
Review of the Covenant for a New Generation
4 So now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the ordinances that I am teaching you, and carry them out so that you may live and so that you may enter the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving to you and take possession of it. 2 Do not add to the word that I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it, so that you keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you. 3 With your own eyes you have been observing what the Lord did at Baal Peor. Indeed, the Lord your God destroyed from among you every man who followed the Baal of Peor.
4 But all of you, who are clinging to the Lord your God, are still alive today. 5 Note well now, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may carry them out also in the land that you are entering to take as a possession. 6 Keep them and put them into practice, because in this way your wisdom and your understanding will be recognized by all the people who hear about all these statutes; and they will say, “This great nation is certainly a wise and understanding people,” 7 because what other great nation is there that has a god as close to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call on him? 8 What other great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances as righteous as this entire law that I am presenting to you today?
9 But guard yourselves and guard your whole being[af] diligently, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen and so that those things do not disappear from your heart all the rest of the days of your life. Make them known to your children and to your children’s children. 10 Tell about the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb when the Lord said to me, “Bring the people near to me and I will make sure that they hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they are living in the land, and so that they may teach their children.” 11 So you drew near and you stood under the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire up to the very heavens. There was darkness, a thick cloud, and gloom. 12 Then the Lord your God spoke to you from the middle of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but you did not see a form. You only heard the sound. 13 He declared to you his covenant that he commanded you to carry out, namely, the Ten Commandments.[ag] Then he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances for you to carry out in the land that you are entering in order to occupy it.
15 So guard your hearts very carefully, because you did not see any form on the day that the Lord your God spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 16 Do this so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves an idol of any form. Do not make an image of a male or female, 17 an image of any animal that walks on the earth, an image of any bird that flies in the sky, 18 an image of anything that creeps on the ground, or an image of any fish that swims in the water below the earth. 19 Beware so that you do not lift up your eyes to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the vast army of the heavens, and you are lured away, and you bow down to them and worship them—things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the nations under all the heavens.
20 But you are the ones that the Lord has chosen and has brought out of the iron furnace of Egypt, to be a nation that is his possession, as is the case today. 21 But the Lord was angry with me because of your words, and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan and would not come into the good land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 I will die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you will cross over and take possession of this good land. 23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made[ah] with you and so that you do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything that the Lord your God prohibited. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.[ai]
25 But when you become the father of children, and you have grandchildren, and you have grown old in the land, if you then act corruptly by making an idol of any form, and you do evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, provoking him to anger, 26 I today call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you, that you will most certainly perish quickly from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live many days in it, because you will most certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left as a people that are few in number among the nations where the Lord your God will force you to go. 28 There you will worship gods, the work of human hands, made of wood and stone—things that do not see or hear or eat or smell.
29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him when you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you experience misery and all these things have happened to you in future days, then you will return to the Lord your God, and you will be obedient to his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a compassionate God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant that he promised to your fathers with an oath.
32 So ask now about the former days, long before your time, beginning from the day when God created man on the earth. Search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has there ever been anything like this great event, or has anything like it ever been heard? 33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire as you heard and yet continued to live? 34 Or has a god ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from inside another nation by tests, signs, and warnings, or by war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great awe-inspiring acts like all those that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt in front of your very eyes? 35 You yourselves were shown this so that you could know that the Lord—he is God! There is none except him alone. 36 He let you hear his voice from the heavens to discipline you, and on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words from the middle of the fire. 37 Yes, because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by the great power of his Presence, 38 driving out from your presence nations greater and stronger than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this today and again take it to heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his statutes and his commandments that I am commanding you today, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you, and so that you may live long on the land[aj] that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.[ak]
Cities of Refuge
41 Then Moses set aside three cities in the region east of the Jordan, the place where the sun rises, 42 so that someone who killed a man could flee to them, that is, someone who killed his neighbor unintentionally and who did not previously hate him—he could flee to one of these cities and remain alive: 43 Bezer in the wilderness in the tableland belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.
A Review of the Law
44 This is the Law that Moses set before the people of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies and statutes and ordinances that Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they went out of Egypt, 46 in the region east of the Jordan opposite Beth Peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck down when they came out of Egypt. 47 So they took possession of his land as well as the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were in the region east of the Jordan, where the sun rises. 48 They took possession from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Canyon, all the way to Mount Siyon, that is, Mount Hermon, 49 including all of the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan, up to the Sea of the Arabah[al] below the slopes of Pisgah.
5 Moses called together all Israel and said this to them: Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am speaking in your hearing today so that you learn them and are conscientious about carrying them out. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with those who are here today, all of us who are living today. 4 Face-to-face the Lord spoke with you at the mountain from the middle of the fire. 5 At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to relate to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and you did not go up on the mountain.
Then the Lord said:
6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.[am]
7 You shall have no other gods beside me.[an] 8 You shall not make any carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. 9 Do not bow down to them or be subservient to[ao] them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.[ap] I follow up on[aq] the guilt of the fathers with their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren if they also hate me. 10 But I show mercy to thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
11 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not permit anyone who misuses his name to escape unpunished.
12 Observe the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy, just as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you are to serve and perform all of your regular work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath rest to the Lord your God. You are not to do any regular work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the alien who resides inside your gates, in order that your male servant and your female servant may rest like you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the day of rest.
16 Honor your father and your mother, just as the Lord your God commanded you, so that you may prolong your days and so that it may go well for you on the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
17 You shall not commit murder.
18 You shall not commit adultery.
19 You shall not steal.
20 You shall not give lying testimony against your neighbor.
21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house or his field, his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
22 These are the words the Lord spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the thick cloud, and the gloom, with a loud voice, and he did not add anything. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 When you heard the voice from the middle of the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me—all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
24 Then you said, “See how the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the middle of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even though God has spoken to him. 25 But now, why should we die, because this great fire will consume us? If we continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we will die. 26 For who of all flesh has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of fire as we have and has lived? 27 You go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says, and then you speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.”
28 The Lord heard what you said when you spoke to me. So the Lord said to me, “I heard what these people said when they spoke to you. Everything that they spoke to you is good. 29 If only this would be in their hearts—to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well for them and for their children continually. 30 Go and say to them, ‘Go back to your tents.’ 31 As for you, stand here with me and I will speak to you all the commands and the statutes and the ordinances that you are to teach them and that they are to do in the land that I am giving them as a possession. 32 Tell them:[ar] ‘Be conscientious about doing just as the Lord your God commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in every way the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and it may be good for you and you may live long in the land that you will possess.’”
6 Moses spoke as follows:[as]
Now this is the body of commands, and these are the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, so you may carry them out in the land to which you are crossing over to receive as a possession, 2 so that you may fear the Lord your God by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding to you, as well as to your children and grandchildren, all the days of your life, and so that your days may be long.
3 Listen, O Israel, and be conscientious about doing those things, so it may go well for you and so you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God. The Lord is one! 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul[at] and with all your might. 6 These words that I am commanding you today are to be on your heart. 7 Teach them diligently to your children, and speak about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as a sign on your wrists, and they will serve as symbols on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the Lord your God brings you to the land about which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to you, he will bring you to great and good cities that you did not build, 11 to houses full of all kinds of good things that you did not fill, to wells that you did not dig, and to vineyards and olives that you did not plant. Then, when you eat and are full, 12 watch yourself, so that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. 13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him, and swear by his name. 14 Do not go after other gods from among the gods of the peoples around you. 15 If you do, the Lord your God will be a jealous God in your midst, and the anger of the Lord your God will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test the way you tested him at Massah. 17 Be very conscientious about keeping the commandments of the Lord your God and his testimonies and his statutes, which he commanded you. 18 Do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord, so that it may go well for you and you may go and take possession of the good land that the Lord promised to your fathers with an oath, 19 driving out all your enemies from your presence, as the Lord promised.
20 When your son asks you in the future, “What are these testimonies and statutes and ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded for you?” 21 then you are to say to your son, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. 22 Right before our eyes the Lord gave great, devastating signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and against his whole household. 23 Then he brought us out of there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised to our fathers with an oath.”
24 Then the Lord commanded us to carry out all of these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our own lasting good, to keep us alive, even as we are today. 25 Righteousness will be ours when we are conscientious about carrying out this entire set of commands in the presence of the Lord our God as he commanded us.
7 When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take as a possession, and when he clears away many nations before you (the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and stronger than you), 2 and when the Lord your God has given them over to you and he has struck them down, you are to devote them to destruction. Do not make a treaty with them, and do not show mercy to them. 3 Do not form marriage alliances with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons, 4 because they will turn your sons away from following me, and they will serve other gods. The anger of the Lord will burn against you, and then he will destroy you quickly. 5 Instead, this is the way you must deal with them: Break down their altars. Smash their sacred memorial stones. Cut down their Asherah poles. [au]Burn their idols with fire.
6 For you are a people that is holy to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God has chosen you to belong to him as a people that is his treasured possession, chosen from all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. 7 The Lord became attached to you by love and has chosen you, not because you were more numerous than all the peoples. Actually you were the fewest of all the peoples. 8 But because of the Lord’s love for you and because he was keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that is why the Lord brought you out by a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 He did this so that you would know that the Lord your God, yes, he is God, the faithful God who maintains both his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. 10 But he also repays the ones who hate him to their face by destroying them. He will not delay repaying anyone who hates him. To his face he will fully repay him. 11 So you are to be careful to keep the set of commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that I am commanding you today.
12 When you obey these ordinances and are careful to keep them, the Lord your God will keep for your benefit the covenant and the mercy that he promised to your fathers with an oath. 13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit from your womb and the fruit from your soil, your grain and your new wine and your fresh olive oil, the offspring of your cattle and the young of your flock upon the land that he swore to your fathers that he would give you. 14 You will be blessed beyond all the peoples. There will not be an infertile male or infertile female among you or among your livestock. 15 The Lord will remove from you all sickness, and he will not place on you all of the diseases of Egypt, the calamities that you experienced. Instead he will put them on all those who hate you. 16 You will consume all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving to you. Your eye is not to look with compassion on them. You are not to serve their gods, because that would be a snare to you.
17 If you say in your heart, “These nations are more numerous than we are. How are we able to take possession of their land?” 18 do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians. 19 The great test which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the strong hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out—that is what the Lord your God will do to all the peoples that you fear.
20 The Lord your God will also send the hornet against them until those who are left and are hiding from you have been destroyed. 21 Do not be overwhelmed before them, because the Lord your God is right among you, a great and awe-inspiring God.
22 The Lord your God, the God before you, will clear away the nations little by little. You will not succeed in finishing them off too quickly, so that the wild animals do not become too numerous for you. 23 But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and he will throw these peoples into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will give their kings into your hands, and he will cause their names to die out under the heavens, because none of them will be able to hold their ground against you until you have destroyed them. 25 Burn the images of their gods with fire, and do not covet the silver and gold on them or take it for yourself, so that you are not snared by it, because it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring a detestable thing to your house and in that way become devoted to destruction just like it. Detest it and regard it as an utterly disgusting thing, because it is devoted to destruction.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.