Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ So Moses told them, “You must do these things. You must go before the Lord into battle. ²¹ You must cross the Jordan River armed. The Lord will force out the enemy. ²² After the Lord helps us take the land, you may return home. You will have done your duty to the Lord and Israel. Then you may have this land as your own.

²³ “But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the Lord. And know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. ²⁴ Build cities for your wives and children and pens for your animals. But then you must do what you promised.”

²⁵ The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “We are your servants. We will do what you, our master, command. ²⁶ Our wives, children and all our cattle will stay in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ But we, your servants, will prepare for battle. We will go over and fight for the Lord, as you have said.”

²⁸ So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest. And he gave them to Joshua son of Nun and the leaders of the tribes of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “The Gadites and Reubenites will prepare for battle. They will cross the Jordan River with you. They will go before the Lord and help you take the land. If they do that, give them the land of Gilead for their own. ³⁰ But if they do not go over armed, they will not receive it. Their land will be in Canaan with you.”

³¹ The Gadites and Reubenites answered, “We are your servants. We will do as the Lord said. ³² We will cross over into Canaan. We will go before the Lord ready for battle. But our land will be east of the Jordan River.”

³³ So Moses gave that land to the Gadites, Reubenites and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land had been the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. And it included the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan. It also included all the cities and the land around them.

³⁴ The Gadites rebuilt the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran. These were strong, walled cities. And they built sheep pens.

³⁷ The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, Baal Meon and Sibmah. They renamed Nebo and Baal Meon when they rebuilt them.

³⁹ The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went and captured Gilead. They forced out the Amorites who were there. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to the family of Makir son of Manasseh. And they settled there. ⁴¹ Jair son of Manasseh went out and captured the small towns there. He called them the Towns of Jair. ⁴² Nobah went and captured Kenath and the small towns around it. Then he named it Nobah after himself.

Israel’s Journey from Egypt

33 These are the places the Israelites went as Moses and Aaron led them out of Egypt in divisions. ² At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the places they went. These are the places they went.

³ On the fifteenth day of the first month, they left Rameses. That was the day after the Passover. The Israelites marched out boldly in front of all the Egyptians. ⁴ The Egyptians were burying their firstborn sons. The Lord had killed them. He showed that the gods of Egypt were false.

⁵ The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Succoth.

⁶ They left Succoth and camped at Etham. It was at the edge of the desert.

⁷ They left Etham and went back to Pi Hahiroth. This was east of Baal Zephon. They camped near Migdol.

⁸ They left Pi Hahiroth. They walked through the sea into the desert. After going three days through the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.

⁹ They left Marah and went to Elim. There were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees where they camped.

¹⁰ They left Elim and camped near the Red Sea.

¹¹ They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

¹² They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

¹³ They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴ They left Alush and camped at Rephidim. The people had no water to drink there.

¹⁵ They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.

¹⁶ They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

¹⁷ They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸ They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹ They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

²⁰ They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹ They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²² They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³ They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴ They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵ They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶ They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷ They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸ They left Terah and camped at Mithcah.

²⁹ They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰ They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹ They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

³² They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

³³ They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴ They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵ They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

³⁶ They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin.

³⁷ They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor. This was on the border of Edom. ³⁸ Aaron the priest obeyed the Lord and went up Mount Hor. There he died. He died on the first day of the fifth month. This was in the fortieth year after the Israelites left Egypt. ³⁹ Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ The king of Arad lived in the southern area of Canaan. He heard that the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹ The people left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴² They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³ They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

⁴⁴ They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim. This was on the border of Moab.

⁴⁵ They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad.

⁴⁶ They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

⁴⁷ They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.

⁴⁸ They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab. This was near the Jordan River across from Jericho. ⁴⁹ They camped along the Jordan on the plains of Moab. Their camp went from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Acacia.

⁵⁰ On the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁵¹ “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan. ⁵² Force out the people who live there. Destroy all of their carved statues. Destroy their metal idols. Wreck all of their places of worship. ⁵³ Take over the land and settle there. I have given this land to you to own. ⁵⁴ Throw lots to divide up the land by family groups. Give larger portions to larger family groups. Give smaller portions to smaller family groups. The land will be given as the lots decide. Each tribe will get its own land.

⁵⁵ “‘But if you don’t force those people out of the land, they will bring you trouble. They will be like sharp hooks in your eyes. They will be like thorns in your sides. They will bring trouble to the land where you live. ⁵⁶ I will punish you as I had planned to punish them.’”

The Borders of Canaan

34 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give this command to the people of Israel: ‘You will soon enter Canaan. It will be yours. These shall be the borders. ³ On the south you will get part of the Desert of Zin. This is near the border of Edom. On the east side your southern border will start at the south end of the Dead Sea. ⁴ It will cross south of Scorpion Pass. It will go through the Desert of Zin and south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon. ⁵ From Azmon it will go to the brook of Egypt. It will end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶ “‘Your western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.

⁷ “‘Your northern border will begin at the Mediterranean Sea and go to Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor it will go to Lebo Hamath. Then it will go to Zedad. ⁹ Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.

¹⁰ “‘Your eastern border will begin at Hazar Enan and go to Shepham. ¹¹ From Shepham the border will go east of Ain to Riblah. It will go along the hills east of Lake Galilee. ¹² Then the border will go down along the Jordan River. It will end at the Dead Sea.

“‘These are the borders around your country.’”

¹³ So Moses gave this command to the Israelites: “This is the land you will receive. Throw lots to divide it among the nine and a half tribes. The Lord commanded that it should be theirs. ¹⁴ The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their land. ¹⁵ These two and a half tribes received land east of the Jordan River. It is across from Jericho.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “These are the men who will divide the land: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸ Also take one leader from each tribe. They will divide the land. ¹⁹ These are the names of the leaders: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ²⁰ from the tribe of Simeon, Shemuel son of Ammihud; ²¹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; ²² from the tribe of Dan, Bukki son of Jogli; ²³ from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, Hanniel son of Ephod; ²⁴ from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; ²⁵ from the tribe of Zebulun, Elizaphan son of Parnach; ²⁶ from the tribe of Issachar, Paltiel son of Azzan; ²⁷ from the tribe of Asher, Ahihud son of Shelomi; ²⁸ from the tribe of Naphtali, Pedahel son of Ammihud.”

²⁹ The Lord commanded these men to divide the land of Canaan among the Israelites.

The Levites’ Towns

35 The Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab. This was across from Jericho by the Jordan River. He said, ² “Command the Israelites to give the Levites cities to live in. These will be cities in the land they receive. Also give the Levites the pastureland around these cities. ³ Then the Levites will have cities where they may live. And they will have pastureland for their cattle, sheep and other animals. ⁴ The pastureland you give the Levites will extend 1,500 feet from the city wall. ⁵ Also measure 3,000 feet in each direction from the city wall. Measure 3,000 feet east of the city. Measure 3,000 feet south of the city. Measure 3,000 feet west of the city. And measure 3,000 feet north of the city. The city will be in the center. This will be pastureland for the Levites’ cities.

Cities of Safety

⁶ “Six of the cities you give the Levites will be cities of safety. A person might accidentally kill someone. If he does, he may run to one of those cities for safety. You must also give 42 other cities to the Levites. ⁷ Give the Levites a total of 48 cities and their pastures. ⁸ The larger tribes of Israel must give more cities. The smaller tribes must give fewer cities. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the Levites. The number of cities they give will depend on the size of their land.”

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Tell the Israelites these things: ‘You will cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan. ¹¹ You must choose cities to be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, he may run to them for safety. ¹² There he will be safe from the dead person’s relative who has the duty of punishing the killer. He will not die before he is judged in court. ¹³ The six cities you give will be cities of safety. ¹⁴ Give three cities east of the Jordan River. And give three cities in Canaan as cities of safety. ¹⁵ These six cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel. And they will be for foreigners and other people living with you. Any of these people may run to one of these cities if he accidentally kills someone.

¹⁶ “‘If a person uses an iron weapon to kill someone, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. ¹⁷ A person might take a rock that could kill someone. If he kills a person with it, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. ¹⁸ A person might pick up a piece of wood that could kill someone. If he kills someone with it, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. ¹⁹ A relative of the dead person must put the murderer to death. When he finds the murderer, he must kill him. ²⁰ A person might shove someone and kill him. Or he might throw something at someone and kill him. ²¹ Or he might hit someone with his hand and kill him. If he did that from hate, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. A relative of the dead person must kill the murderer when he finds him.

²² “‘But a person might suddenly shove someone. He did not hate the person. Or he might accidentally throw something and hit someone. ²³ Or he might drop a rock that could kill someone. It might fall on someone he did not see. And it might kill that person. He didn’t plan to hurt anyone. He didn’t hate the person he killed. ²⁴ If that happens, the community must decide what to do. They must decide between the relative of the dead person and the killer. Here are the rules. ²⁵ They must protect the killer from the dead person’s relative. They must send the killer back to the city of safety that he ran to. He must stay there until the high priest dies. The high priest had the holy oil poured on him.

²⁶ “‘That man must never go outside the limits of his city of safety. ²⁷ If a relative of the dead person finds him outside the city, the relative may kill him. He will not be guilty of murder. ²⁸ The killer must stay in his city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, he may go back to his own land.

²⁹ “‘These laws are for you from now on, wherever you live.

³⁰ “‘A killer may be put to death only if he is a murderer. And there must be witnesses. No one may be put to death with only one witness.

³¹ “‘A murderer should die. Don’t take money to spare his life. He must be put to death.

³² “‘A person might run to a city of safety. Don’t take money to let him go back home before the high priest dies.

³³ “‘Don’t let murder spoil your land. There is only one way to remove the sin of killing an innocent person. The murderer must be put to death. ³⁴ I am the Lord. I live among the Israelites. I live in that land with you. So do not spoil it with murder.’”

Land for Zelophehad’s Daughters

36 The leaders of Gilead’s family group went to talk to Moses and the leaders of the families of Israel. (Gilead was the son of Makir. Makir was Manasseh’s son, and Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) ² They said, “The Lord commanded you, our master, to give the land to the Israelites by throwing lots. And the Lord commanded you to give the land of Zelophehad, our brother, to his daughters. ³ His daughters may marry men from other tribes of Israel. Then that land will leave our family. The people of the other tribes will get that land. So we will lose some of our land. ⁴ The time of Jubilee will come for the Israelites. Then their land will go to other tribes. It will go to the tribes of the people they marry. So their land will be taken away from us. And that was land we received from our fathers.”

⁵ Then Moses gave the Israelites this command from the Lord: “These men from the tribe of Joseph are right. ⁶ This is the Lord’s command to Zelophehad’s daughters: You may marry anyone you wish from your own tribe. ⁷ In this way the Israelites’ land will not pass from tribe to tribe. Each Israelite will keep the land in the tribe that belonged to his ancestors. ⁸ A woman who inherits her father’s land may marry. But she must marry someone from her own tribe. In this way every Israelite will keep the land that belonged to his ancestors. ⁹ The land must not pass from tribe to tribe. Each Israelite tribe will keep the land it received from its ancestors.”

¹⁰ Zelophehad’s daughters obeyed the Lord’s command to Moses.

¹¹ So Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah—married their cousins. These were their father’s relatives. ¹² Their husbands were from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph. So their land stayed in their father’s family group and tribe.

¹³ These were the laws and commands that the Lord gave to the Israelites. He gave them through Moses. The Israelites were on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

Moses Talks to the Israelites

1 This is the message Moses gave the people of Israel. They were in the desert east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Paran and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

² (The trip from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the Mount Edom road takes 11 days.) ³ But it was now 40 years after the Israelites had left Egypt. On the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people. He told them everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. ⁴ This was after the Lord had defeated Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei.

⁵ Now the Israelites were east of the Jordan River in the land of Moab. There Moses began to explain what God had commanded. Moses said:

⁶ The Lord our God spoke to us at Mount Sinai. He said, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Get ready. Go to the mountain country of the Amorites. Go to all the places around there—the Jordan Valley, the mountains, the western slopes, the southern area, the seacoast, the land of Canaan and Lebanon. Go as far as the great river, the Euphrates. ⁸ See, I have given you this land. Go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord promised it to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.”

Moses Appoints Leaders

⁹ At that time I said, “I am not able to take care of you by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has made you grow in number. There are as many of you as there are stars in the sky. ¹¹ I pray that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, will give you a thousand times more people. That’s what he promised. ¹² But I cannot take care of your problems, your troubles and your arguments by myself. ¹³ So choose some men from each tribe. Choose wise men who have understanding and experience. I will make them leaders over you.”

¹⁴ And you said, “That’s a good thing to do.”

¹⁵ So I took the wise and experienced leaders of your tribes. And I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over 1,000 people, over 100 people, over 50 people and over 10 people. I made them officers over your tribes. ¹⁶ Then I told your judges, “Listen to the arguments between your people. Judge fairly between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner. ¹⁷ When you judge, be fair to everyone. Don’t act as if one person is more important than another. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision comes from God. Bring the hard cases to me. I will judge them.” ¹⁸ At that time I told you everything you must do.

Spies Enter the Land

¹⁹ Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai. We went toward the mountain country of the Amorite people. We went through that large and terrible desert you saw. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰ Then I said to you, “You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites. The Lord our God will give us this land. ²¹ Look, there it is! Go up. Take it. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this. So don’t be afraid. Don’t worry.”

²² Then all of you came to me. You said, “Let’s send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and tell us the way we should go. They can tell us about the cities we will find.”

²³ I thought that was a good idea. So I chose 12 of your men, 1 for each tribe. ²⁴ They left and went up to the mountains. They came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it. ²⁵ They took some of the fruit from that land. And they brought it down to us. They said, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”

Israel Refuses to Enter

²⁶ But you refused to go. You would not obey the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ You grumbled in your tents. You said, “The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to give us to the Amorites. They will destroy us. ²⁸ Where can we go now? The spies we sent have made us afraid. They said, ‘The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big. They have walls up to the sky. And we saw the Anakites there!’”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Don’t be frightened. Don’t be afraid of those people. ³⁰ The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will fight for you as he did in Egypt. You saw him do it. ³¹ And in the desert you saw how the Lord your God carried you. He was like a man carrying his son. And he has brought you safely all the way to this place.”

³² But you still did not trust the Lord your God. ³³ As you moved, he went before you. He found places for you to camp. He went before you in a fire at night and in a cloud during the day. He showed you which way to go.

³⁴ When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry. He made a promise. He said, ³⁵ “I promised a good land to your ancestors. But none of you evil people will see it. ³⁶ Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it. I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on. I will do this because he followed me completely.”

³⁷ Because of you, the Lord was also angry with me. He said to me, “You won’t enter the land either. ³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will go there. Encourage Joshua, because he will lead Israel to take the land for their own.”

³⁹ The Lord said to us, “You said your babies would be captured. But they will go into the land. They are too young to know right from wrong. So I will give the land to them. And they will take it for their own. ⁴⁰ But you must turn around. Follow the desert road toward the Gulf of Aqaba.”

⁴¹ Then you said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord. But now we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” Then all of you put on weapons. You thought it would be easy to go into the mountains.

⁴² But the Lord said to me, “Tell them not to go up there and fight. I will not be with them. Their enemies will defeat them.”

⁴³ So I told you, but you would not listen. You would not obey the Lord’s command. You were proud. So you went on up into the mountains. ⁴⁴ The Amorites who lived there came out and fought you. They chased you like bees. They defeated you from Edom to Hormah. ⁴⁵ So you came back and cried to the Lord. But the Lord did not hear you. He refused to listen to you. ⁴⁶ So you stayed in Kadesh a long time.

Israel Wanders in the Desert

2 Then we turned around. And we traveled on the desert road toward the Gulf of Aqaba. That is what the Lord had told me to do. We traveled through the mountains of Edom for many days.

² Then the Lord said to me, ³ “You have traveled through these mountains long enough. Turn north. ⁴ Tell the people this: ‘You will soon go through the land of Edom. This land belongs to your relatives, the descendants of Esau. They will be afraid of you. But be very careful. ⁵ Don’t go to war against them. I am not giving you any of their land—not even a foot of it. I have given the mountains of Edom to Esau as his own. ⁶ You must pay them in silver for any food you eat or water you drink.’”

⁷ The Lord your God has blessed everything you have done. He has protected you while you traveled through this large desert. The Lord your God has been with you for these 40 years. You have had everything you needed.

⁸ So we passed by our relatives, the people of Esau who lived in Edom. We turned off the Jordan Valley road. It comes from the towns of Elath and Ezion Geber. And we traveled along the desert road of Moab.

The Land of Ar

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “Don’t bother the people of Moab. Don’t go to war against them. I am not giving you any of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot.” ¹⁰ (The Emites lived in Ar before. They were strong people, and there were many of them. They were very tall, like the Anakites. ¹¹ The Emites were thought to be Rephaites, like the Anakites. But the Moabite people called them Emites. ¹² The Horites also lived in Edom before. But the people of Esau forced them out. They destroyed the Horites and took their place. That is also what Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their own.)

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley. ¹⁴ It had been 38 years since we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, all the fighting men from that time had died. This is what the Lord had promised would happen. ¹⁵ The Lord had continued to destroy them until they were all gone from the camp. ¹⁶ Now the last of those fighting men had died.

¹⁷ Then the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ “Today you must go by Ar, on the border of Moab. ¹⁹ When you come near the people of Ammon, don’t bother them. Don’t go to war against them. I am not giving you their land. I have given that land to the descendants of Lot.”

²⁰ (That land was also thought to be a land of Rephaites. Those people used to live there. But the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. ²¹ They were strong people, and there were many of them. They were very tall, like the Anakites. The Lord went before the Ammonites and destroyed the Zamzummites. The Ammonites forced them out of the land and took their place. ²² The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau. They lived in Edom. He destroyed the Horites. The Edomites forced them out of the land and took their place. And they live there to this day. ²³ The Caphtorite people came from Crete. They destroyed the Avvites. The Avvites lived in towns all the way to Gaza. But the Caphtorites destroyed them and took their place.)

Fighting the Amorites

²⁴ The Lord said, “Get up. Cross the Arnon Ravine. See, I am giving you the power to defeat Sihon the Amorite. He is king of Heshbon. I am giving you his land. So fight against him and begin taking his land. ²⁵ Today I will begin to make all the people in the world afraid of you. They will hear reports about you. And they will shake with fear. They will be terrified of you.”

²⁶ I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon. They offered him peace. They said, ²⁷ “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the road. We will not turn right or left. ²⁸ We will pay you in silver for any food we eat or water we drink. We only want to walk through your country. ²⁹ The descendants of Esau in Edom let us go through their land. So did the Moabites in Ar. We want to cross the Jordan River into the land the Lord our God has given us.” ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass. The Lord your God had made him stubborn. The Lord wanted you to defeat Sihon. And now this has happened.

³¹ The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to give Sihon and his country to you. Begin taking the land as your own.”

³² Then Sihon and all his army came out. And they fought us at Jahaz. ³³ But the Lord our God gave Sihon to us. We defeated him, his sons and all his army. ³⁴ We captured all his cities. We completely destroyed them, the men, women and children. We left no one alive. ³⁵ But we kept the cattle and valuable things from the cities for ourselves. ³⁶ We defeated Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Ravine. And we defeated the town in the ravine, and even Gilead. No town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them. ³⁷ But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites. You did not go near the shores of the Jabbok River. You did not go near the towns in the mountains. This was what the Lord our God had commanded.

The Battle at Bashan

3 Then we turned and went up the road toward Bashan. Og king of Bashan and all his army came out to fight us at Edrei. ² The Lord said to me, “Don’t be afraid of Og. I will hand him, his whole army and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.”

³ So the Lord our God gave us Og king of Bashan and all his army. We defeated them and left no one alive. ⁴ Then we captured all of Og’s cities. We captured all 60 of them. We took the whole area of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. ⁵ All these were strong cities. They had high walls and gates with bars. And there were also many small towns with no walls. ⁶ We completely destroyed them. We destroyed them just like the cities of Sihon king of Heshbon. We killed all the men, women and children. ⁷ But we kept all the cattle and valuable things from the cities for ourselves.

⁸ So at that time we took the land east of the Jordan River. We took it from these two Amorite kings. It went from the Arnon Ravine to Mount Hermon. ⁹ (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonian people. The Amorites call it Senir.) ¹⁰ We captured all the cities on the high plain and all of Gilead. We took all of Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei. These were towns in Og’s kingdom of Bashan. ¹¹ (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the few Rephaites. His bed was made of iron. It was more than 13 feet long and 6 feet wide! It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

The Land Is Divided

¹² At that time we took this land to be our own. I gave the people of Reuben and Gad the land from Aroer by the Arnon Ravine. And I gave them half of the mountain country of Gilead and the cities in it. ¹³ To the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead. And I gave them all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The area of Argob in Bashan was called the land of the Rephaites. ¹⁴ Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole area of Argob. It went to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. That land was named for Jair. So even today Bashan is called the Towns of Jair.) ¹⁵ I gave Gilead to Makir. ¹⁶ I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the land that begins at Gilead. It goes from the Arnon Ravine to the Jabbok River. (The middle of the Arnon is the border.) The Jabbok River is the Ammonite border. ¹⁷ The border on the west was the Jordan River in the Jordan Valley. It goes from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea west of Mount Pisgah.

¹⁸ At that time I gave you this command: “The Lord your God has given you this land as your own. Now your fighting men must take their weapons. And you must lead the other Israelites across the river. ¹⁹ Your wives, your young children and your cattle may stay here. I know you have many cattle. They may stay here in the cities I have given you. ²⁰ Some day your Israelite relatives will also have a place to rest. They will receive the land the Lord your God has given them. It is on the other side of the Jordan River. After that, you may each return to the land I have given you.”

²¹ Then I gave this command to Joshua: “You have seen for yourself what the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same thing to all the kingdoms where you are going. ²² Don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will fight for you.”

Moses Cannot Enter the Land

²³ Then I begged the Lord: ²⁴ “Lord God, you have begun to show me, your servant, how great you are. You have great strength. No other god in heaven or earth can do the powerful things you do. There is no other god like you. ²⁵ Please let me cross the Jordan River. I want to see the beautiful mountains and Lebanon.”

²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you. He would not listen to me. The Lord said to me, “That’s enough. Don’t talk to me anymore about it. ²⁷ Climb to the top of Mount Pisgah. Look west, north, south and east. You can look at the land. But you will not cross the Jordan River. ²⁸ Appoint Joshua. Help him be brave and strong. He will lead the people across the river. He will give them the land that they are to inherit. You can only look at it.” ²⁹ So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth Peor.

Moses Tells Israel to Obey

4 Now, Israel, listen to the laws and commands I will teach you. Obey them so you will live. Then you will go over and take the land. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving it to you. ² Don’t add to these commands. And don’t leave anything out. But obey the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

³ You have seen for yourselves what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed everyone among you who followed Baal in Peor. ⁴ But you continued to follow the Lord your God. So you are still alive today.

⁵ Look, I have taught you the laws and rules the Lord my God commanded me. Now you can obey the laws in the land you are entering. It is the land you will own. ⁶ Obey these laws carefully. This will show the other nations that you have wisdom and understanding. They will hear about these laws. And they will say, “This great nation of Israel is wise and understanding.” ⁷ No other nation is as great as we are. Their gods do not come near them. But the Lord our God comes near when we pray to him. ⁸ And no other nation has such good teachings and commands. I am giving them to you today.

⁹ But be careful! Watch out. Don’t forget the things that you have seen. Don’t forget them as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai. He said to me, “Bring the people together to listen to what I say. Then they will respect me as long as they live in the land. And they will teach these things to their children.” ¹¹ Then you came and stood at the bottom of the mountain. It blazed with fire that reached to the sky. Black clouds made it very dark. ¹² Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the sound of words. But you did not see him. There was only a voice. ¹³ The Lord told you about his agreement. It was the Ten Commandments. And he told you to obey them. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ Then the Lord commanded me to teach you the laws and rules. You must obey them in the land you will own when you cross the Jordan River.

Laws About Idols

¹⁵ The Lord spoke to you from the fire at Mount Sinai. But you did not see him. So watch yourselves carefully! ¹⁶ Don’t sin by making idols of any kind. Don’t make statues of men or women. ¹⁷ Don’t make statues of animals on earth or birds that fly in the air. ¹⁸ Don’t make statues of anything that crawls on the ground. Don’t make statues of fish in the water below. ¹⁹ When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, moon and stars. You can see everything in the sky. But don’t bow down and worship them. The Lord your God has made these things for all people everywhere. ²⁰ Egypt tested you like a furnace for melting iron. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. And he made you his very own people, as you are now.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me because of you. He made a strong promise that I would not cross the Jordan River. I could not go into the good land the Lord your God is giving you to own. ²² I will die here in this land. I will not cross the Jordan. But you will soon go across and take that good land. ²³ Be careful. Don’t forget the agreement of the Lord your God that he made with you. Don’t make any idols for yourselves. The Lord your God has commanded you not to do that. ²⁴ The Lord your God is a jealous God. He is like a fire that burns things up.

²⁵ You will live in the land a long time. You will have children and grandchildren. Even after that, don’t do evil things. Don’t make any kind of idol. Don’t do what the Lord says is evil. That will make him angry. ²⁶ I will ask heaven and earth to speak against you that day. Then you will quickly be removed from this land. You are crossing the Jordan River to take the land. But you will not live there long after that. You will be completely destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the other nations. Only a few of you will be left alive. And those few will be in other nations where the Lord will send you. ²⁸ There you will worship gods made by men. They will be made of wood and stone. They cannot see, hear, eat or smell. ²⁹ But even there you can look for the Lord your God. And you will find him if you look. But you must look for him with your whole being. ³⁰ It will be hard when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God. You will obey him. ³¹ The Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you. He will not forget the agreement he made with your ancestors. He made that agreement sure with his strong promise.

The Lord Is Great

³² Nothing like this has ever happened before! Look at the past, long before you were even born. Go all the way back to when God made man on the earth. Look from one end of heaven to the other. Nothing like this has ever been heard of! ³³ No other people have ever heard God speak from a fire and still lived. But you have. ³⁴ No other god has ever taken for himself one nation out of another. But the Lord your God did this for you in Egypt. He did it right before your own eyes. He did it with tests, signs, miracles, war and great sights. He did it by his great power and strength.

³⁵ He showed you things so you would know that the Lord is God. There is no other God besides him. ³⁶ He spoke to you from heaven to teach you. He showed you his great fire on earth. And you heard him speak from the fire. ³⁷ The Lord loved your ancestors. That is why he chose you, their descendants. He brought you out of Egypt himself by his great strength. ³⁸ He forced nations out of their land ahead of you. And these nations were bigger and stronger than you were. But the Lord brought you into their land and gave it to you to own. And this land is yours today.

³⁹ Know and believe today that the Lord is God. He is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other god! ⁴⁰ Obey his laws and commands, which I am giving you today. Obey them so that things will go well for you and your children. Then you will live a long time in this land. The Lord your God is giving it to you forever.

Cities of Safety

⁴¹ Moses chose three cities east of the Jordan River. ⁴² A person who killed someone accidentally could go there. He did not hate the person he killed. So he could save his life by running to one of these cities. ⁴³ These were the cities: Bezer in the desert high plain was for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead was for the Gadites; Golan in Bashan was for the Manassites.

The Law Moses Gave

⁴⁴ These are the teachings Moses gave to the people of Israel. ⁴⁵ They are the rules, commands and laws he gave them when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁶ They were in the valley near Beth Peor. That is east of the Jordan River in the land of Sihon. Sihon was king of the Amorites. He ruled in Heshbon. He was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ The Israelites captured his land. They also took the land of Og king of Bashan. These were the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River. ⁴⁸ This land went from Aroer to Mount Hermon. Aroer is on the edge of the Arnon Ravine. ⁴⁹ It included all the Jordan Valley east of the Jordan River. And it went as far as the Dead Sea below Mount Pisgah.

The Ten Commandments

5 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said: Listen, Israel, to the commands and laws I give you today. Learn them and obey them carefully. ² The Lord our God made an agreement with us at Mount Sinai. ³ He did not make this agreement with our ancestors. He made it with us. He made it with all of us who are alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face. He spoke from the fire on the mountain. ⁵ (At that time I stood between you and the Lord. I told you what the Lord said. You were afraid of the fire. So you would not go up on the mountain.) The Lord said:

⁶ “I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

⁷ “You must not have any other gods except me.

⁸ “You must not make for yourselves any idols. Don’t make something that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. ⁹ You must not worship or serve any idol. This is because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. A person may sin against me and hate me. I will punish his children, even his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. ¹⁰ But I will be very kind to thousands who love me and obey my commands.

¹¹ “You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly. The Lord will punish anyone who is guilty and misuses his name.

¹² “Keep the Sabbath as a holy day. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. ¹³ You may work and get everything done during six days each week. ¹⁴ But the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, or your men or women slaves. Neither your ox, your donkey nor any of your animals may work. The foreigners living in your cities may not work. That way your servants may rest as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by his great power and strength. So the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. Then you will live a long time. And things will go well for you in the land. The Lord your God is going to give you this land.

¹⁷ “You must not murder anyone.

¹⁸ “You must not be guilty of adultery.

¹⁹ “You must not steal.

²⁰ “You must not tell lies about your neighbor in court.

²¹ “You must not want to take your neighbor’s wife. You must not want to take your neighbor’s house or land. You must not want to take his men or women slaves. You must not want to take his ox or his donkey. You must not want to take anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

²² The Lord gave these commands to all of you on the mountain. He spoke them in a loud voice out of the fire. He spoke from the cloud and the deep darkness. He did not say anything else. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets. And he gave them to me.

²³ You heard the voice from the darkness. The mountain was blazing with fire. Then all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. ²⁴ And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and majesty. We have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks to him. ²⁵ But now, we will die! This great fire will burn us up. And we will die if we hear the Lord our God speak anymore. ²⁶ No human being has ever heard the living God speaking from a fire and still lived. But we have. ²⁷ Moses, you go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you tell us what the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”

²⁸ The Lord heard what you said to me. And he said to me, “I have heard what the people said to you. Everything they said was good. ²⁹ I wish their hearts would always respect me. I wish they would always obey my commands. Then things would go well for them and their children forever!

³⁰ “Go and tell the people to return to their tents. ³¹ But you stay here with me. I will give you all the commands, rules and laws. Teach the people to obey them in the land I am giving them to own.”

³² So be careful. Do what the Lord your God has commanded you. You must follow the commands exactly. ³³ Live the way the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live and be successful. You will live a long time in the land you will own.

The Command to Love God

6 These are the commands, rules and laws of the Lord your God. He told me to teach them to you. Obey them in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to own. ² You, your children and grandchildren must respect the Lord your God. You must do this as long as you live. Obey all his rules and commands I give you. Then you will live a long time. ³ Listen, Israel, and carefully obey these laws. Then all will go well for you. You will become a great nation in a land where much food grows. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised it to you.

⁴ Listen, people of Israel! The Lord is our God. He is the only Lord. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. ⁶ Always remember these commands I give you today. ⁷ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your forehead to remind you. ⁹ Write them on your doors and gates.

¹⁰ The Lord your God will bring you into the land. He promised it to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He will give it to you. The land has large, growing cities you did not build. ¹¹ The houses there are full of good things that you did not buy. They have wells you did not dig. There are vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. You will eat as much as you want. ¹² But be careful! Do not forget the Lord. He brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

¹³ Respect the Lord your God. Serve only him. Make your promises in his name. ¹⁴ Do not worship other gods as the people around you do. ¹⁵ The Lord your God is a jealous God. He is present with you. If you worship other gods, he will become angry with you. And he will destroy you from the earth. ¹⁶ Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure to obey the commands of the Lord your God. Obey the rules and laws he has given you. ¹⁸ Do what the Lord says is good and right. Then things will go well for you. Then you may go in and take the good land the Lord promised to your ancestors. ¹⁹ He will force all your enemies out as you go in. This is what the Lord has said.

²⁰ In the future your son will ask you, “What do the laws, commands and rules the Lord our God gave us mean?” ²¹ Tell him, “We were slaves to the king of Egypt. But the Lord brought us out of Egypt by his great power. ²² The Lord showed us great and terrible signs and miracles. He did them to Egypt, the king and his whole family. ²³ The Lord brought us out of Egypt. He led us here. And he will give us the land he promised our ancestors. ²⁴ The Lord ordered us to obey all these commands. And we must respect the Lord our God. Then we will always do well and stay alive as we are today. ²⁵ The right thing for us to do is this: Obey all these rules in the presence of the Lord our God. He has commanded it.”

God’s People

7 The Lord your God will bring you into the land. You are entering that land to own it. As you go in, he will force out these nations: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. These seven nations are stronger than you. ² The Lord your God will hand these nations over to you. You will defeat them. You must destroy them completely. Do not make a peace treaty with them. Do not show them any mercy. ³ Do not marry any of them. Don’t let your daughters marry their sons. And don’t let your sons marry their daughters. ⁴ Those people will turn your children away from me. Your children will begin serving other gods. The Lord will be very angry with you. And he will quickly destroy you. ⁵ This is what you must do to those people: Tear down their altars. Smash their holy stone pillars. Cut down their Asherah idols and burn their idols in the fire. ⁶ You are holy people. You belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth. You are his very own.

⁷ The Lord did not care for you and choose you because there were many of you. You are the smallest nation of all. ⁸ But the Lord chose you because he loved you. And he kept his promise to your ancestors. So he brought you out of Egypt by his great power. He brought you back from the land of slavery. He bought you back from the power of the king of Egypt. ⁹ So know that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He will keep his agreement of love for a thousand lifetimes. He does this for people who love him and obey his commands. ¹⁰ But he will pay back those people who hate him. He will destroy them. And he will not be slow to pay back those who hate him. ¹¹ So be careful to obey the commands, rules and laws I give you today.

¹² Pay attention to these laws. Obey them carefully. Then the Lord your God will keep his agreement and show his love to you. He promised your ancestors he would. ¹³ He will love and bless you. He will make the number of your people grow. He will bless you with children. He will bless your fields with good crops. He will give you grain, new wine and oil. He will bless your cows with calves and your sheep with lambs. This is the way it will be in the land he promised your ancestors he would give you. ¹⁴ You will be blessed more than any other people. Every husband and wife will have children. All your cattle will have calves. ¹⁵ The Lord will take away all disease from you. You will not have the terrible diseases that were in Egypt. But he will give them to your enemies. ¹⁶ You must destroy all the people the Lord your God hands over to you. Do not feel sorry for them. Do not worship their gods. They will trap you.

¹⁷ You might say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. We can’t force them out.” ¹⁸ But don’t be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord your God did to all of Egypt and its king. ¹⁹ You saw for yourselves the troubles, signs and miracles he did. You saw how the Lord’s great power and strength brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will do the same thing to all the nations you now fear. ²⁰ The Lord your God will also send hornets to attack them. Even those who are alive and hiding from you will die. ²¹ Don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God is with you. He is a great God and people are afraid of him. ²² The Lord your God will force those nations out of the land. They will leave little by little ahead of you. Don’t destroy them all at once. Otherwise, the wild animals will grow too many in number. ²³ But the Lord your God will hand those nations over to you. He will confuse them until they are destroyed. ²⁴ The Lord will help you defeat their kings. The world will forget who they were. No one will be able to stop you. You will destroy them all. ²⁵ Burn up their idols in the fire. Do not wish for the silver and gold on them. Don’t take it for yourselves, or you will be trapped by it. The Lord your God hates it. ²⁶ Do not bring one of those hated things into your house. If you do, you will be completely destroyed along with it. Hate and reject those things. They must be completely destroyed.