Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ Moses answered, “If you really mean what you say, then here in the presence of the Lord get ready to go into battle. ²¹ All your fighting men are to cross the Jordan and under the command of the Lord they are to attack our enemies until the Lord defeats them ²² and takes possession of the land. After that, you may return, because you will have fulfilled your obligation to the Lord and to the other Israelites. Then the Lord will acknowledge that this land east of the Jordan is yours. ²³ But if you do not keep your promise, I warn you that you will be sinning against the Lord. Make no mistake about it; you will be punished for your sin. ²⁴ So build your towns and the enclosures for your sheep, but do what you have promised!”

²⁵ The men of Gad and Reuben said, “Sir, we will do as you command. ²⁶ Our wives and children and our cattle and sheep will remain here in the towns of Gilead. ²⁷ But all of us are ready to go into battle under the Lord's command. We will cross the Jordan and fight, just as you have said.”

^28 (A)So Moses gave these commands to Eleazar, Joshua, and the other leaders of Israel: ²⁹ “If the men of Gad and Reuben cross the Jordan ready for battle at the Lord's command and if with their help you are able to conquer the land, then give them the land of Gilead as their property. ³⁰ But if they do not cross the Jordan and go into battle with you, they are to receive their share of the property in the land of Canaan, as you do.”

³¹ The men of Gad and Reuben answered, “Sir, we will do as the Lord has commanded. ³² Under his command we will cross into the land of Canaan and go into battle, so that we can retain our property here east of the Jordan.”

³³ So Moses assigned to the tribes of Gad and Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh all the territory of King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan, including the towns and the country around them. ³⁴ The tribe of Gad rebuilt the fortified towns of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran. ³⁷ The tribe of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, Baal Meon (this name was changed), and Sibmah. They gave new names to the towns they rebuilt.

³⁹ The clan of Machir son of Manasseh invaded the land of Gilead, occupied it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir, and they lived there. ⁴¹ Jair, of the tribe of Manasseh, attacked and captured some villages and named them “Villages of Jair.” ⁴² Nobah attacked and captured Kenath and its villages, and he renamed it Nobah, after himself.

The Journey from Egypt to Moab

33 The following account gives the names of the places where the Israelites set up camp after they left Egypt in their tribes under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ² At the command of the Lord, Moses wrote down the name of the place each time they set up camp.

³ The people of Israel left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, the day after the first Passover. Under the Lord's protection they left the city of Rameses in full view of the Egyptians, ⁴ who were burying the first-born sons that the Lord had killed. By doing this, the Lord showed that he was more powerful than the gods of Egypt.

⁵ The people of Israel left Rameses and set up camp at Sukkoth. ⁶ Their next camp was at Etham on the edge of the desert. ⁷ From there they turned back to Pi Hahiroth, east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol. ⁸ They left Pi Hahiroth and passed through the Red Sea^[a] into the desert of Shur; after a three days' march they camped at Marah. ⁹ From there they went to Elim, where they camped, because there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees there.

¹⁰ They left Elim and camped near the Gulf of Suez. ¹¹ Their next camp was in the desert of Sin. ¹² Then they camped at Dophkah, ¹³ and after that at Alush. ¹⁴ Next was Rephidim, where there was no water for them to drink.

^15-37 From Rephidim to Mount Hor they set up camp at the following places: the Sinai Desert, Kibroth Hattaavah (or “Graves of Craving”), Hazeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon Perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene Jaakan, Hor Haggidgad, Jotbathah, Abronah, Eziongeber, the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh), and Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom.

^38-39 (B)At the command of the Lord, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor. At the age of 123 he died there on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites had left Egypt.

^40 (C)The king of Arad in southern Canaan heard that the Israelites were coming.

^41-49 From Mount Hor to the plains of Moab the Israelites set up camp at the following places: Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth, the ruins of Abarim in the territory of Moab, Dibon Gad, Almon Diblathaim, the Abarim Mountains near Mount Nebo, and in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, between Beth Jeshimoth and Acacia Valley.

Instructions before Crossing the Jordan

⁵⁰ There in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord gave Moses ⁵¹ the following instructions for Israel: “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land. Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship. ⁵³ Occupy the land and settle in it, because I am giving it to you. ^54 (D)Divide the land among the various tribes and clans by drawing lots, giving a large piece of property to a large clan and a small one to a small clan. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. ⁵⁶ If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them.”

The Boundaries of the Land

34 The Lord gave Moses ² the following instructions for the people of Israel: “When you enter Canaan, the land which I am giving you, the borders of your territory will be as follows. ³ The southern border will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. It will begin on the east at the southern end of the Dead Sea. ⁴ Then it will turn southward toward Akrabbim Pass and continue on through Zin as far south as Kadesh Barnea. Then it will turn northwest to Hazar Addar and on to Azmon, ⁵ where it will turn toward the valley at the border of Egypt and end at the Mediterranean.

⁶ “The western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.

⁷ “The northern border will follow a line from the Mediterranean to Mount Hor ⁸ and from there to Hamath Pass. It will continue to Zedad ⁹ and to Ziphron, and will end at Hazar Enan.

¹⁰ “The eastern border will follow a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. ¹¹ It will then go south to Harbel, east of Ain, and on to the hills on the eastern shore of Lake Galilee, ¹² then south along the Jordan River to the Dead Sea.

“These will be the four borders of your land.”

^13 (E)So Moses said to the Israelites, “This is the land that you will receive by drawing lots, the land that the Lord has assigned to the nine and one-half tribes. ¹⁴ The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the eastern half of Manasseh have received their property, divided according to their families, ¹⁵ on the eastern side of the Jordan, opposite Jericho.”

The Leaders Responsible for Dividing the Land

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun will divide the land for the people. ¹⁸ Take also one leader from each tribe to help them divide it.” ^19-28 These are the men the Lord chose:

²⁹ These are the men that the Lord assigned to divide the property for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

The Cities Assigned to the Levites

35 ^(F)In the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites that from the property they receive they must give the Levites some cities to live in and pasture land around the cities. ³ These cities will belong to the Levites, and they will live there. The pasture land will be for their cattle and all their other animals. ⁴ The pasture land is to extend outward from the city walls five hundred yards in each direction, ⁵ so that there is a square area measuring one thousand yards on each side, with the city in the middle. ⁶ You are to give the Levites six cities of refuge to which any of you can escape if you kill someone accidentally. In addition, give them forty-two other cities ⁷ with their pasture land, making a total of forty-eight. ⁸ The number of Levite cities in each tribe is to be determined according to the size of its territory.”

The Cities of Refuge^(G)

^9 (H)The Lord told Moses ¹⁰ to say to the people of Israel: “When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land of Canaan, ¹¹ you are to choose cities of refuge to which any of you can escape if you kill someone accidentally. ¹² There you will be safe from the dead person's relative who seeks revenge. No one accused of manslaughter is to be put to death without a public trial. ¹³ Choose six cities, ¹⁴ three east of the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. ¹⁵ These will serve as cities of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners who are temporary or permanent residents. Anyone who kills someone accidentally can escape to one of them.

^16-18 “If, however, any of you use a weapon of iron or stone or wood to kill someone, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. ¹⁹ The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.

²⁰ “If you hate someone and kill him by pushing him down or by throwing something at him ²¹ or by striking him with your fist, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.

²² “But suppose you accidentally kill someone you do not hate, whether by pushing him down or by throwing something at him. ²³ Or suppose that, without looking, you throw a stone that kills someone whom you did not intend to hurt and who was not your enemy. ²⁴ In such cases the community shall judge in your favor and not in favor of the dead person's relative who is seeking revenge. ²⁵ You are guilty only of manslaughter, and the community is to rescue you from the dead person's relative, and they are to return you to the city of refuge to which you had escaped. You must live there until the death of the man who is then High Priest. ²⁶ If you leave the city of refuge to which you have escaped ²⁷ and if the dead person's relative finds you and kills you, this act of revenge is not murder. ²⁸ Any of you guilty of manslaughter must remain in the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest, but after that you may return home. ²⁹ These rules apply to you and your descendants wherever you may live.

^30 (I)“Those accused of murder may be found guilty and put to death only on the evidence of two or more witnesses; the evidence of one witness is not sufficient to support an accusation of murder. ³¹ Murderers must be put to death. They cannot escape this penalty by the payment of money. ³² If they have fled to a city of refuge, do not allow them to make a payment in order to return home before the death of the High Priest. ³³ If you did this, you would defile the land where you are living. Murder defiles the land, and except by the death of the murderer there is no way to perform the ritual of purification for the land where someone has been murdered. ³⁴ Do not defile the land where you are living, because I am the Lord and I live among the people of Israel.”

The Inheritance of Married Women

36 The heads of the families in the clan of Gilead, the son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh son of Joseph, went to Moses and the other leaders. ^2 (J)They said, “The Lord commanded you to distribute the land to the people of Israel by drawing lots. He also commanded you to give the property of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ But remember, if they marry men of another tribe, their property will then belong to that tribe, and the total allotted to us will be reduced. ⁴ In the Year of Restoration, when all property that has been sold is restored to its original owners, the property of Zelophehad's daughters will be permanently added to the tribe into which they marry and will be lost to our tribe.”

⁵ So Moses gave the people of Israel the following command from the Lord. He said, “What the tribe of Manasseh says is right, ⁶ and so the Lord says that the daughters of Zelophehad are free to marry anyone they wish but only within their own tribe. ⁷ The property of every Israelite will remain attached to his tribe. ⁸ Every woman who inherits property in an Israelite tribe must marry a man belonging to that tribe. In this way all Israelites will inherit the property of their ancestors, ⁹ and the property will not pass from one tribe to another. Each tribe will continue to possess its own property.”

^10-11 So Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, did as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they married their cousins. ¹² They married within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their property remained in their father's tribe.

¹³ These are the rules and regulations that the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.

Introduction

1 In this book are the words that Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between the town of Paran on one side and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other. (² It takes eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea by way of the hill country of Edom.) ³ On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after they had left Egypt, Moses told the people everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. ^4 (K)This was after the Lord^[b] had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in the town of Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵ It was while the people were east of the Jordan in the territory of Moab that Moses began to explain God's laws and teachings.

He said, ⁶ “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the surrounding regions—to the Jordan Valley, to the hill country and the lowlands, to the southern region, and to the Mediterranean coast. Go to the land of Canaan and on beyond the Lebanon Mountains as far as the great Euphrates River. ⁸ All of this is the land which I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants. Go and occupy it.’”

Moses Appoints Judges^(L)

⁹ Moses said to the people, “While we were still at Mount Sinai, I told you, ‘The responsibility for leading you is too much for me. I can't do it alone. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky. ¹¹ May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you increase a thousand times more and make you prosperous, as he promised! ¹² But how can I alone bear the heavy responsibility for settling your disputes? ¹³ Choose some wise, understanding, and experienced men from each tribe, and I will put them in charge of you.’ ¹⁴ And you agreed that this was a good thing to do. ¹⁵ So I took the wise and experienced leaders you chose from your tribes, and I placed them in charge of you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten. I also appointed other officials throughout the tribes.

¹⁶ “At that time I instructed them, ‘Listen to the disputes that come up among your people. Judge every dispute fairly, whether it concerns only your own people or involves foreigners who live among you. ¹⁷ Show no partiality in your decisions; judge everyone on the same basis, no matter who they are. Do not be afraid of anyone, for the decisions you make come from God. If any case is too difficult for you, bring it to me, and I will decide it.’ ¹⁸ At the same time I gave you instructions for everything else you were to do.

The Spies Are Sent Out from Kadesh Barnea^(M)

¹⁹ “We did what the Lord our God commanded us. We left Mount Sinai and went through that vast and fearful desert on the way to the hill country of the Amorites. When we reached Kadesh Barnea, ^20-21 I told you, ‘You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God, the God of our ancestors, is giving us. Look, there it is. Go and occupy it as he commanded. Do not hesitate or be afraid.’

²² “But you came to me and said, ‘Let's send men ahead of us to spy out the land, so that they can tell us the best route to take and what kind of cities are there.’

²³ “That seemed like a good thing to do, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe. ²⁴ They went into the hill country as far as Eshcol Valley and explored it. ²⁵ They brought us back some fruit they found there, and reported that the land which the Lord our God was giving us was very fertile.

^26 (N)“But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you would not enter the land. ²⁷ You grumbled to one another: ‘The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us. ²⁸ Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!’

²⁹ “But I told you, ‘Don't be afraid of those people. ³⁰ The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt ^31 (O)and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.’ ^32 (P)But in spite of what I said, you still would not trust the Lord, ³³ even though he always went ahead of you to find a place for you to camp. To show you the way, he went in front of you in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day.

The Lord Punishes Israel^(Q)

^34 (R)“The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared, ³⁵ ‘Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors. ³⁶ Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.’ ³⁷ Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, ‘Not even you, Moses, will enter the land. ³⁸ But strengthen the determination of your helper, Joshua son of Nun. He will lead Israel to occupy the land.’

³⁹ “Then the Lord said to all of us, ‘Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land—the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it. ⁴⁰ But as for you people, turn around and go back into the desert on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.’

⁴¹ “You replied, ‘Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country.

⁴² “But the Lord said to me, ‘Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.’ ⁴³ I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You rebelled against him, and in your pride you marched into the hill country. ⁴⁴ Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom. ⁴⁵ So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.

The Years in the Desert

⁴⁶ “So then, after we had stayed at Kadesh for a long time,

2 ^(S)we finally turned and went into the desert, on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba, as the Lord had commanded, and we spent a long time wandering about in the hill country of Edom.

² “Then the Lord told me ³ that we had spent enough time wandering about in those hills and that we should go north. ^4 (T)He told me to give you the following instructions ‘You are about to go through the hill country of Edom, the territory of your distant relatives, the descendants of Esau. They will be afraid of you, ⁵ but you must not start a war with them, because I am not going to give you so much as a square foot of their land. I have given Edom to Esau's descendants. ⁶ You may buy food and water from them.’

⁷ “Remember how the Lord your God has blessed you in everything that you have done. He has taken care of you as you wandered through this vast desert. He has been with you these forty years, and you have had everything you needed.

⁸ “So we moved on and left the road that goes from the towns of Elath and Eziongeber to the Dead Sea, and we turned northeast toward Moab. ^9 (U)The Lord said to me, ‘Don't trouble the people of Moab, the descendants of Lot, or start a war against them. I have given them the city of Ar, and I am not going to give you any of their land.’”

(¹⁰ A mighty race of giants called the Emim used to live in Ar. They were as tall as the Anakim, another race of giants. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they were also known as Rephaim; but the Moabites called them Emim. ¹² The Horites used to live in Edom, but the descendants of Esau chased them out, destroyed their nation, and settled there themselves, just as the Israelites later chased their enemies out of the land that the Lord gave them.)

¹³ “Then we crossed the Zered River as the Lord told us to do. ^14 (V)This was thirty-eight years after we had left Kadesh Barnea. All the fighting men of that generation had died, as the Lord had said they would. ¹⁵ The Lord kept on opposing them until he had destroyed them all.

¹⁶ “After they had all died, ¹⁷ the Lord said to us, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are to pass through the territory of Moab by way of Ar. ^19 (W)You will then be near the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. Don't trouble them or start a war against them, because I am not going to give you any of the land that I have given them.’”

(²⁰ This territory is also known as the land of the Rephaim, the name of the people who used to live there; the Ammonites called them Zamzummim. ²¹ They were as tall as the Anakim. There were many of them, and they were a mighty race. But the Lord destroyed them, so that the Ammonites took over their land and settled there. ²² The Lord had done the same thing for the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in the hill country of Edom. He destroyed the Horites, so that the Edomites took over their land and settled there, where they still live. ²³ The land along the Mediterranean coast had been settled by people from the island of Crete. They had destroyed the Avvim, the original inhabitants, and had taken over all their land as far south as the city of Gaza.)

²⁴ “After we had passed through Moab, the Lord told us, ‘Now, start out and cross the Arnon River. I am placing in your power Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, along with his land. Attack him, and begin occupying his land. ²⁵ From today on I will make people everywhere afraid of you. Everyone will tremble with fear at the mention of your name.’

Israel Defeats King Sihon^(X)

²⁶ “Then I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace: ²⁷ ‘Let us pass through your country. We will go straight through and not leave the road. ²⁸ We will pay for the food we eat and the water we drink. All we want to do is to pass through your country, ²⁹ until we cross the Jordan River into the land that the Lord our God is giving us. The descendants of Esau, who live in Edom, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, allowed us to pass through their territory.’

³⁰ “But King Sihon would not let us pass through his country. The Lord your God had made him stubborn and rebellious, so that we could defeat him and take his territory, which we still occupy.

³¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have made King Sihon and his land helpless before you; take his land and occupy it.’ ³² Sihon came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Jahaz, ³³ but the Lord our God put him in our power, and we killed him, his sons, and all his men. ³⁴ At the same time we captured and destroyed every town, and put everyone to death, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ We took the livestock and plundered the towns. ³⁶ The Lord our God let us capture all the towns from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and the city in the middle of that valley, all the way to Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us. ³⁷ But we did not go near the territory of the Ammonites or to the banks of the Jabbok River or to the towns of the hill country or to any other place where the Lord our God had commanded us not to go.

Israel Conquers King Og^(Y)

3 “Next, we moved north toward the region of Bashan, and King Og came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Edrei. ² But the Lord said to me, ‘Don't be afraid of him. I am going to give him, his men, and all his territory to you. Do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.’

³ “So the Lord also placed King Og and his people in our power, and we slaughtered them all. ⁴ At the same time we captured all his towns—there was not one that we did not take. In all we captured sixty towns—the whole region of Argob, where King Og of Bashan ruled. ⁵ All these towns were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars to lock the gates, and there were also many villages without walls. ⁶ We destroyed all the towns and put to death all the men, women, and children, just as we did in the towns that belonged to King Sihon of Heshbon. ⁷ We took the livestock and plundered the towns.

⁸ “At that time we took from those two Amorite kings the land east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon River to Mount Hermon. (⁹ Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and Senir by the Amorites.) ¹⁰ We took all the territory of King Og of Bashan: the cities on the plateau, the regions of Gilead and of Bashan, as far east as the towns of Salecah and Edrei.”

(¹¹ King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin,^[c] made of stone,^[d] was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

The Tribes That Settled East of the Jordan^(Z)

¹² “When we took possession of the land, I assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory north of the town of Aroer near the Arnon River and part of the hill country of Gilead, along with its towns. ¹³ To half the tribe of Manasseh I assigned the rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, where Og had ruled, that is, the entire Argob region.”

(Bashan was known as the land of the Rephaim. ¹⁴ Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, took the entire region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of Geshur and Maacah. He named the villages after himself, and they are still known as the villages of Jair.)

¹⁵ “I assigned Gilead to the clan of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁶ And to the tribes of Reuben and Gad I assigned the territory from Gilead to the Arnon River. The middle of the river was their southern boundary, and their northern boundary was the Jabbok River, part of which formed the Ammonite border. ¹⁷ On the west their territory extended to the Jordan River, from Lake Galilee in the north down to the Dead Sea in the south and to the foot of Mount Pisgah on the east.

^18 (AA)“At the same time, I gave them the following instructions: ‘The Lord our God has given you this land east of the Jordan to occupy. Now arm your fighting men and send them across the Jordan ahead of the other tribes of Israel, to help them occupy their land. ¹⁹ Only your wives, children, and livestock—I know you have a lot of livestock—will remain behind in the towns that I have assigned to you. ²⁰ Help the other Israelites until they occupy the land that the Lord is giving them west of the Jordan and until the Lord lets them live there in peace, as he has already done here for you. After that, you may return to this land that I have assigned to you.’

²¹ “Then I instructed Joshua: ‘You have seen all that the Lord your God did to those two kings, Sihon and Og; and he will do the same thing to everyone else whose land you invade. ²² Don't be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will fight for you.’

Moses Is Not Permitted to Enter Canaan

^23 (AB)“At that time I earnestly prayed, ²⁴ ‘Sovereign Lord, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! ²⁵ Let me cross the Jordan River, Lord, and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon Mountains.’

²⁶ “But because of you people the Lord was angry with me and would not listen. Instead, he said, ‘That's enough! Don't mention this again! ²⁷ Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan. ²⁸ Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.’

²⁹ “So we remained in the valley opposite the town of Bethpeor.”

Moses Urges Israel to Be Obedient

4 Then Moses said to the people, “Obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. ^2 (AC)Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away. Obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have given you. ^3 (AD)You yourselves saw what the Lord did at Mount Peor. He destroyed everyone who worshiped Baal there, ⁴ but those of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today.

⁵ “I have taught you all the laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. ⁶ Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!’

⁷ “No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the Lord our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help. ⁸ No other nation, no matter how great, has laws so just as those that I have taught you today. ⁹ Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren ¹⁰ about the day you stood in the presence of the Lord your God at Mount Sinai,^[e] when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same.’

^11 (AE)“Tell your children how you went and stood at the foot of the mountain which was covered with thick clouds of dark smoke and fire blazing up to the sky. ¹² Tell them how the Lord spoke to you from the fire, how you heard him speaking but did not see him in any form at all. ^13 (AF)He told you what you must do to keep the covenant he made with you—you must obey the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets. ^14 (AG)The Lord told me to teach you all the laws that you are to obey in the land that you are about to invade and occupy.

Warning against Idolatry

¹⁵ “When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain ^16 (AH)that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all—whether man or woman, ^17 (AI)animal or bird, ¹⁸ reptile or fish. ¹⁹ Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. ^20 (AJ)But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today. ^21 (AK)Because of you the Lord your God was angry with me and solemnly declared that I would not cross the Jordan River to enter the fertile land which he is giving you. ²² I will die in this land and never cross the river, but you are about to go across and occupy that fertile land. ²³ Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol, ^24 (AL)because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

²⁵ “Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord's sight, and it will make him angry. ²⁶ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed. ^27 (AM)The Lord will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive. ²⁸ There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell. ^29 (AN)There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. ³⁰ When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the Lord and obey him. ³¹ He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors.

³² “Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? ³³ Have any people ever lived after hearing a god speak to them from a fire, as you have? ³⁴ Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. ^35 (AO)The Lord has shown you this, to prove to you that he alone is God and that there is no other. ³⁶ He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it. ³⁷ Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt. ³⁸ As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you. ³⁹ So remember today and never forget: the Lord is God in heaven and on earth. There is no other god. ⁴⁰ Obey all his laws that I have given you today, and all will go well with you and your descendants. You will continue to live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to be yours forever.”

The Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

^41 (AP)Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan River ⁴² to which a man could escape and be safe if he had accidentally killed someone who had not been his enemy. He could escape to one of these cities and not be put to death. ⁴³ For the tribe of Reuben there was the city of Bezer, on the desert plateau; for the tribe of Gad there was Ramoth, in the territory of Gilead; and for the tribe of Manasseh there was Golan, in the territory of Bashan.

Introduction to the Giving of God's Law

⁴⁴ Moses gave God's laws and teachings to the people of Israel. ^45-46 It was after they had come out of Egypt and were in the valley east of the Jordan River, opposite the town of Bethpeor, that he gave them these laws. This was in the territory that had belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in the town of Heshbon. Moses and the people of Israel defeated him when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the other Amorite king who lived east of the Jordan. ⁴⁸ This land extended from the town of Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon River, all the way north to Mount Sirion,^[f] that is, Mount Hermon. ⁴⁹ It also included all the region east of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea and east to the foot of Mount Pisgah.

The Ten Commandments^(AQ)

5 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, “People of Israel, listen to all the laws that I am giving you today. Learn them and be sure that you obey them. ² At Mount Sinai the Lord our God made a covenant, ³ not only with our fathers, but with all of us who are living today. ⁴ There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you face-to-face from the fire. ⁵ I stood between you and the Lord at that time to tell you what he said, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.

“The Lord said, ⁶ ‘I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

⁷ “‘Worship no god but me.

^8 (AR)“‘Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. ^9 (AS)Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, for I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. ¹⁰ But I show my love to thousands of generations^[g] of those who love me and obey my laws.

^11 (AT)“‘Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.

^12 (AU)“‘Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, as I, the Lord your God, have commanded you. ^13 (AV)You have six days in which to do your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work—neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. Your slaves must rest just as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that I, the Lord your God, rescued you by my great power and strength. That is why I command you to observe the Sabbath.

^16 (AW)“‘Respect your father and your mother, as I, the Lord your God, command you, so that all may go well with you and so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.

^17 (AX)“‘Do not commit murder.

^18 (AY)“‘Do not commit adultery.

^19 (AZ)“‘Do not steal.

^20 (BA)“‘Do not accuse anyone falsely.

^21 (BB)“‘Do not desire another man's wife; do not desire his house, his land, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns.’

^22 (BC)“These are the commandments the Lord gave to all of you when you were gathered at the mountain. When he spoke with a mighty voice from the fire and from the thick clouds, he gave these commandments and no others. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

The People's Fear^(BD)

²³ “When the whole mountain was on fire and you heard the voice from the darkness, your leaders and the chiefs of your tribes came to me ²⁴ and said, ‘The Lord our God showed us his greatness and his glory when we heard him speak from the fire! Today we have seen that it is possible for people to continue to live, even though God has spoken to them. ²⁵ But why should we risk death again? That terrible fire will destroy us. We are sure to die if we hear the Lord our God speak again. ²⁶ Has any human being ever lived after hearing the living God speak from a fire? ²⁷ Go back, Moses, and listen to everything that the Lord our God says. Then return and tell us what he said to you. We will listen and obey.’

²⁸ “When the Lord heard this, he said to me, ‘I have heard what these people said, and they are right. ²⁹ If only they would always feel this way! If only they would always honor me and obey all my commands, so that everything would go well with them and their descendants forever. ³⁰ Go and tell them to return to their tents. ³¹ But you, Moses, stay here with me, and I will give you all my laws and commands. Teach them to the people, so that they will obey them in the land that I am giving them.’

³² “People of Israel, be sure that you do everything that the Lord your God has commanded you. Do not disobey any of his laws. ³³ Obey them all, so that everything will go well with you and so that you will continue to live in the land that you are going to occupy.

The Great Commandment

6 “These are all the laws that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. Obey them in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. ² As long as you live, you and your descendants are to honor the Lord your God and obey all his laws that I am giving you, so that you may live in that land a long time. ³ Listen to them, people of Israel, and obey them! Then all will go well with you, and you will become a mighty nation and live in that rich and fertile land, just as the Lord, the God of our ancestors, has promised.

^4 (BE)“Israel, remember this! The Lord—and the Lord alone—is our God.^{[h] 5 (BF)}Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ^6 (BG)Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. ⁸ Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

Warning against Disobedience

^10 (BH)“Just as the Lord your God promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he will give you a land with large and prosperous cities which you did not build. ¹¹ The houses will be full of good things which you did not put in them, and there will be wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. When the Lord brings you into this land and you have all you want to eat, ¹² make certain that you do not forget the Lord who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. ^13 (BI)Honor the Lord your God, worship only him, and make your promises in his name alone. ¹⁴ Do not worship other gods, any of the gods of the peoples around you. ¹⁵ If you do worship other gods, the Lord's anger will come against you like fire and will destroy you completely, because the Lord your God, who is present with you, tolerates no rivals.

^16 (BJ)“Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure that you obey all the laws that he has given you. ¹⁸ Do what the Lord says is right and good, and all will go well with you. You will be able to take possession of the fertile land that the Lord promised your ancestors, ¹⁹ and you will drive out your enemies, as he promised.

²⁰ “In times to come your children will ask you, ‘Why did the Lord our God command us to obey all these laws?’ ²¹ Then tell them, ‘We were slaves of the king of Egypt, and the Lord rescued us by his great power. ²² With our own eyes we saw him work miracles and do terrifying things to the Egyptians and to their king and to all his officials. ²³ He freed us from Egypt to bring us here and give us this land, as he had promised our ancestors he would. ²⁴ Then the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these laws and to honor him. If we do, he will always watch over our nation and keep it prosperous. ²⁵ If we faithfully obey everything that God has commanded us, he will be pleased with us.’^[i]

The Lord's Own People^(BK)

7 ^(BL)“The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ² When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. ³ Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, ⁴ because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. ^5 (BM)So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. ^6 (BN)Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

⁷ “The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth. ⁸ But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt. ^9 (BO)Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, ¹⁰ but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him. ¹¹ Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today.

The Blessings of Obedience^(BP)

^12 (BQ)“If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors. ¹³ He will love you and bless you, so that you will increase in number and have many children; he will bless your fields, so that you will have grain, wine, and olive oil; and he will bless you by giving you many cattle and sheep. He will give you all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors he would give to you. ¹⁴ No people in the world will be as richly blessed as you. None of you nor any of your livestock will be sterile. ¹⁵ The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and he will not bring on you any of the dreadful diseases that you experienced in Egypt, but he will bring them on all your enemies. ¹⁶ Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal.

¹⁷ “Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. ¹⁸ Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. ¹⁹ Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. ²⁰ He will even cause panic^[j] among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. ²¹ So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. ²² Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. ²³ The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. ²⁵ Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry. ²⁶ Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.