Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ Settlement Reached. Then Moses said to them, “You are to do this: arm yourselves for the Lord’s war, ²¹ and have all your armed men go over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven out his enemies before him ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord. Then after this, you can return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel. This land will be your possession before the Lord. ²³ But if you do not do this, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and be sure, your sin will catch up with you. ²⁴ Build your cities for your little ones and your enclosures for your sheep, but then do what you have promised to do.”

²⁵ The Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as our lord commands. ²⁶ Our children and our wives, our flocks and our herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ But your servants will cross over, every one of them armed for battle, to fight, as my lord has proposed.”

²⁸ Moses gave orders to Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the ancestral tribes of the people of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross over the Jordan, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. ³⁰ However, if they do not cross over armed, then they will have a possession among you in the land of Canaan.”

³¹ The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, saying, “We will do what the Lord has said to your servants. ³² We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan. The possession of our inheritance will remain on this side of the Jordan.”^[a]

³³ So Moses gave to the Gadites and the Reubenites and to half of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan; he gave the land and its cities with their territory and the cities of the surrounding countryside. ³⁴ The Gadites built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities with sheepfolds for the sheep.

³⁷ The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, Baal-meon^[b] (whose names were changed) and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities that they built.

³⁹ The Machirites who were from Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, driving out the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt there. ⁴¹ Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took its small towns and called them Havvoth-jair. ⁴² Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages. He called it Nobah after himself.

Chapter 33

Stages of Israel’s Journey.^{[c] 1} These are the journeys of the people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ² At the command of the Lord, Moses recorded the stages of their journeys. These are their journeys by stages: ³ the people of Israel left Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover. They went out triumphantly in the sight of the Egyptians. ⁴ This was while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn whom the Lord had slain. The Lord also executed judgment upon their gods.

⁵ The people of Israel set out from Rameses, and they camped in Succoth. ⁶ They set out from Succoth and they camped in Etham, which is on the fringes of the desert. ⁷ They left Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, to the east of Baal-zephon. They camped near Migdol. ⁸ They left Pi-hahiroth and crossed over through the midst of the sea into the desert. They traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, camping in Marah. ⁹ They left Marah and came to Elim. There are twelve springs and seventy palm trees there, so they camped there. ¹⁰ They left Elim and camped by 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 in Dophkah. ¹³ They left Dophkah and camped in Alush. ¹⁴ They left Alush and camped in Rephidim. (There was no water there for the people to drink.) ¹⁵ They left Rephidim and camped in the Sinai Desert. ¹⁶ They left the Sinai Desert and camped in Kibroth-hattaavah. ¹⁷ They left Kibroth-hattaavah and camped in Hazeroth. ¹⁸ They left Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. ¹⁹ They left Rithmah and camped in Rimmon-perez. ²⁰ They left Rimmon-perez and camped in Libnah. ²¹ They left Libnah and camped in Rissah. ²² They left Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. ²³ They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴ They left Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. ²⁵ They left Haradah and camped in Makheloth. ²⁶ They left Makheloth and camped in Tahath. ²⁷ They left Tahath and camped in Terah. ²⁸ They left Terah and camped in Mithkah. ²⁹ They left Mithkah and camped in Hashmonah. ³⁰ They left Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. ³¹ They left Moseroth and camped in Bene-jaakan. ³² They left Bene-jaakan and camped in Hor-haggidgad. ³³ They left Hor-haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. ³⁴ They left Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. ³⁵ They left Abronah and camped in Ezion-geber.^{[d] 36} They left Ezion-geber and camped in Kadesh, which is in the Desert of Zin. ³⁷ They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.

³⁸ Then Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor following the Lord’s command. He died there in the fortieth year after the people of Israel came out of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹ Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ The Canaanite king of Arad who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan heard that the people of Israel were coming.

⁴¹ They left Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. ⁴² They left Zalmonah and camped in Punon. ⁴³ They left Punon and camped in Oboth. ⁴⁴ They left Punon and camped in Iye-abarim on the border of Moab. ⁴⁵ They left Iye-abarim, and camped in Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶ They left Dibon-gad and camped in 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 in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. ⁴⁹ There on the plain of Moab they camped near the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.

⁵⁰ Possession and Division of Canaan. On the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵¹ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan ⁵² drive out the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all of their carved images^[e] and all of their cast idols. Demolish all of their high places. ⁵³ Take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess. ⁵⁴ Distribute the land by lot among your families. Give a larger inheritance to those that are larger and a smaller inheritance to those that are smaller. Wherever the lot falls, give it to them. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, then those whom you leave will become splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell.’ ”

Chapter 34

Canaan’s Boundaries. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance: the land of Canaan to its borders.

³ “ ‘Your southern section will run from the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern border will be along the eastern coast of the Salt Sea. ⁴ Your border in the south will extend from the Ascent of Akrabbim on to Zin, and then passing on the south of Kadesh-barnea on to Hazar-addar and Azmon. ⁵ From Azmon the border will stretch to the Wadi of Egypt,^[f] ending where it enters the sea.

⁶ “ ‘Your western border will be the great sea. This will be your western border.

⁷ “ ‘Your northern border will run from the great sea to Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor it will run to the Pass of Hamath. The border will then run to Zedad. ⁹ The border will continue on to Ziphron and it will end at Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border.

¹⁰ “ ‘Your eastern border will run from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah on the eastern side of Ain. The border will run down until it reaches the eastern shore of the Sea of Chinnereth.^{[g] 12} The border will run down along the Jordan until it enters the Salt Sea. This will be your land, with your borders on every side.’ ”

¹³ Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you will inherit by lot, as the Lord commanded. Give it to the nine and one-half tribes. ¹⁴ The tribe of the Reubenites, according to their ancestral tribe, has received their inheritance. The tribe of the Gadites, according to their ancestral tribe, as well as the half-tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance. ¹⁵ The two and one-half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan, opposite Jericho, to the east, toward the direction of sunrise.”

¹⁶ Appointed Leaders.^[h] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “The names of the men who will divide the land for you are: Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun. ¹⁸ You will choose one leader from each tribe to divide the land for inheritance. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah: Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; ²⁰ from the tribe of Simeon: Samuel, the son of Ammihud; ²¹ from the tribe of Benjamin: Elidad, the son of Chislon; ²² from the tribe of Dan, a leader: Bukki, the son of Jogli; ²³ from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, a leader: Hanniel, the son of Ephod; ²⁴ from the tribe of Ephraim, a leader: Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan; ²⁵ from the tribe of Zebulun, a leader: Elizaphan, the son of Parnach; ²⁶ from the tribe of Issachar, a leader: Paltiel, the son of Azzan; ²⁷ from the tribe of Asher, a leader: Ahihud, the son of Shelomi; ²⁸ from the tribe of Naphtali, a leader: Pedahel, the son of Ammihud.” ²⁹ These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance of the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Chapter 35

The Levites’ Share. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel to give cities to the Levites from the inheritance that they will possess. Also give the Levites pastures around the cities. ³ They are to have cities in which they can dwell as well as pastures for their cattle, their flocks, and all their other animals. ⁴ The pastures that you will give the Levites around the cities will extend one thousand cubits^[i] from the city wall.

⁵ “Outside of the city, measure two thousand cubits on the east side, two thousand cubits on the south side, two thousand cubits on the west side, and two thousand cubits on the north side, with the city in the middle. This will be the pastures for the city.

⁶ “Six of the cities that you give to the Levites will be established as cities of refuge to which a person who has killed another can flee. In addition, there are to be another forty-two cities. ⁷ In all you will give the Levites forty-eight cities along with their pastures. ⁸ The cities that you will give the Levites from the possession of Israel will be given according to the inheritance that they have inherited. Those who have more will give more and those who have less will give less.”

Cities of Refuge. ⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ choose cities that will be your cities of refuge to which a person who has accidentally killed another person can flee. ¹² These will be cities of refuge from the kinsman avenger^[j] so that the killer will not die until he has received judgment before the assembly. ¹³ These six cities that you give will be your cities of refuge. ¹⁴ Give three cities across the Jordan and give three cities in the land of Canaan to be your cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities will be a refuge for the people of Israel, for foreigners, and for foreigners dwelling among them, to which a person who has killed accidentally can flee.

¹⁶ Treatment of Murderers.“ ‘If someone strikes another with an iron object to kill him, then he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death. ¹⁷ If someone strikes another with a stone in his hand to kill him, then he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death. ¹⁸ If someone strikes another with a wooden object in his hand to kill him, then he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death. ¹⁹ The kinsman avenger of blood will kill him. When he meets the murderer, he will put him to death. ²⁰ If anyone pushes another person out of hatred or lays in wait and throws something at him in order to kill him, ²¹ or if with bitterness he strikes someone with his hand in order to kill him, then that person will be put to death, for he is a murderer. The kinsman avenger of blood will kill the murderer when he meets him.

²² “ ‘But if someone without bitterness pushes another person or throws something at him without his lying in wait, ²³ or he has a deadly stone object and he does not see the other, but drops it on him causing him to die, and he was not an enemy nor was he seeking to harm the other person, ²⁴ then the assembly will judge between the killer and the kinsman avenger of blood according to these ordinances: ²⁵ the assembly will save the killer from the hands of the kinsman avenger of blood. The assembly will send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He will live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil.

²⁶ “ ‘But if the killer at any time crosses over the boundary of the city of refuge to which he has fled, ²⁷ and the kinsman avenger of blood finds him outside of the boundary of the city of refuge, and the kinsman avenger of blood kills the killer, he will not be considered to have blood guilt. ²⁸ He should have remained in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the killer can return to the land of his possession. ²⁹ These things will be a statute and an ordinance for you for all of your generations and in all of your dwellings.

³⁰ “ ‘If a person kills another, the murderer will be put to death upon the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of a single witness. ³¹ You are not to accept a ransom for the murderer who is guilty of death; he is to be put to death. ³² You are not to take a ransom from someone who has fled to his city of refuge who wants to return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

³³ “ ‘You are not to pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed upon it except through the blood of the person who shed it. ³⁴ You are not to pollute the land in which you dwell, for I dwell in it; I, the Lord, dwell among the people of Israel.’ ”

Chapter 36

The Daughters of Zelophehad. ¹ The family heads of the clan of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses, before the leaders, and before the family heads of the people of Israel. ² They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, the Lord commanded my lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ If they marry members of another Israelite tribe, then the inheritance of our ancestral tribe will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they have married. It will be taken from the portion of our inheritance. ⁴ During the Jubilee of the people of Israel their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they were received. Thus, their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”

⁵ Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of Joseph is correct in what they have said. ⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whomever they wish, only they are to marry within the ancestral tribe of their father. ⁷ Thus, no inheritance among the people of Israel will be transferred from one tribe to another. The people of Israel will hold on to the inheritance of their ancestral tribe. ⁸ Every daughter who comes into the possession of an inheritance of any tribe among the people of Israel will marry someone from the family of the tribe of her father. This way, each Israelite will inherit the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ No inheritance will pass from one tribe to another. Each Israelite tribe is to keep its own inheritance.’ ”

¹⁰ Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord had commanded Moses.^{[k] 11} Zelophehad’s daughters, Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, married their cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained within their clan and their tribe. ¹³ These are the commandments and the ordinances that the Lord commanded the people of Israel through Moses while they were in the plain of Moab, near the Jordan, across from Jericho.

Moses’ First Address^[l]

Chapter 1

Introduction.^{[m] 1} These are the words that Moses spoke to the whole of Israel on the desert side of the Jordan, in the Arabah,^[n] opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² This was an eleven days’ journey from Horeb^[o] to Kadesh-barnea by way of the highlands of Seir.

³ On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them.^{[p] 4} This was after he had killed Sihon, the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.^[q]

Command to Leave Horeb. ⁵ On the eastern side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, ⁶ The Lord, our God, spoke to us at Horeb, saying, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷ Go and proceed into the hill country of the Amorites, into all the territory neighboring the Arabah, into the hill country and the lowlands, into the Negeb and the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. ⁸ Behold, I have given you the land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord promised he would give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants after them.”

Appointment of Leaders. ⁹ At that time I said to you, “I am not able to carry the burden of leading you all by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord, your God, has multiplied you and now you are as numerous as the stars in the heavens. ¹¹ May the Lord, the God of your fathers, multiply you a thousand times over and bless you, as he has promised you. ¹² How can I handle your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? ¹³ Choose some wise, prudent, and respected men from your tribesmen, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

¹⁴ They answered, saying, “It would be good to do what you suggested.” ¹⁵ So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them your leaders, captains of the thousands, and captains of the hundreds, and captains of the fifties and the tens, as your tribal officials. ¹⁶ At that time I instructed your judges, “Listen to the disputes among your brethren and judge them justly, whether between a man and his fellow countryman or even the foreigner who is with him.^{[r] 17} Do not show partiality in judging; listen to both the lowly and the great. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case that is too difficult for you and I will hear it.” ¹⁸ At that time I instructed you concerning everything that you were to do.

¹⁹ Twelve Explorers. Then, as the Lord, our God, had commanded us, we set out from Horeb. We passed through the great and terrible wilderness that you have seen up into the hill country of the Amorites, coming to Kadesh-barnea. ²⁰ I said to you, “Come up into the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord, our God, is giving to us. ²¹ Look! The Lord, your God, has given the land to you. Go up and take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has instructed you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

²² All of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead of ourselves to explore the land. They can bring a report back to us as to which way we should travel and as to what cities we will encounter.”

²³ This seemed to be a very good idea to me. I chose twelve of your men, one from each tribe. ²⁴ They left and went up into the hill country and reached the Valley of Eshcol which they explored. ²⁵ They gathered some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, reporting, “The land that the Lord, our God, has given us is good.”

²⁶ The People Rebel. But you were unwilling to go up. You defied the command of the Lord, your God. ²⁷ You complained in your tents and said, “It is because the Lord hates us that he brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they might destroy us. ²⁸ Why should we go up? Our brothers have frightened us by saying, ‘The people are larger and taller than we are. The cities have great walls that reach up into the heavens. Moreover, there are the sons of the Anakim,^[s] we have seen them there.’ ”

²⁹ But I said to them, “Do not be afraid of them! ³⁰ The Lord, your God, marches before you. He will fight for you, just as he did on your behalf in Egypt, as you yourselves have seen. ³¹ You saw how the Lord, your God, carried you all throughout your journey in the wilderness, just as a man carries his son, until you arrived in this place.” ³² Yet, in spite of this, you did not trust the Lord, your God. ³³ He went ahead of you on your journey, as fire by night to search out a place for you to pitch your tents and as cloud by day to show you the path by which you should travel.

³⁴ When the Lord heard your words, he became angry and swore, ³⁵ “Not one of these men from this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your fathers ³⁶ except for Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his children the land upon which he has set foot, for he has wholeheartedly followed the Lord.”

³⁷ The Lord grew angry with me because of you and said, “You are not going to enter it either. ³⁸ Joshua, the son of Nun, who assists you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will bring Israel in to inherit it. ³⁹ Furthermore, your children whom you said would be taken captive, those who do not yet know the difference between good and evil, they will enter it. I will give it to them, and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

⁴¹ Then you replied and said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight as the Lord, our God, has commanded us.” So every one of you put on your weapons, thinking it would be easy to go up into the hill country.

⁴² The Lord said to me, “Say to them, ‘Do not go up, nor fight. Otherwise you will be slain by your enemies.’ ” ⁴³ So I spoke to you, but you would not listen to me. You defied the command of the Lord and arrogantly went up into the hill country. ⁴⁴ The Amorites who dwell in that hill country came out against you and chased you like bees, beating you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. ⁴⁵ You came back and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not pay attention to your voice nor give ear to you. ⁴⁶ So you stayed in Kadesh for a long time, all the days that you spent there.

Chapter 2

The People Travel North. ¹ Then we turned back and set out for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the Lord had instructed me. We traveled around the highlands of Seir for many days.

² Then the Lord spoke to me, saying, ³ “You have been going around these highlands long enough. Turn to the north ⁴ and command the people: ‘You are to pass through the territory of your kin, the children of Esau,^[t] who dwell in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. ⁵ Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a single foot, for I have given Esau possession of the highlands of Seir. ⁶ You are to purchase your food with silver, and you will also purchase your drinking water with silver. ⁷ The Lord, your God, has blessed you in all your undertakings, and he has watched over your journey through this great wilderness these forty years. The Lord, your God, has been with you, and you have lacked for nothing.’ ”

⁸ So we went on, bypassing our kin, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

Bypassing Moab. ⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “Do not provoke the Moabites nor fight with them, for I will not give you their land as a possession. I have given the Ar to the children of Lot as a possession.” ¹⁰ (The Emim lived there in days of old, they were a great and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they were considered to be Rephaim, but the Moabites called them the Emim. ¹² The Horites lived in Seir in days of old, but the children of Esau drove them out from before themselves and destroyed them, settling where they had lived, just as Israel did in the land that the Lord had given them to possess.)

¹³ “Now rise up and cross the Valley of the Zered.” So we crossed the Valley of the Zered. ¹⁴ It was thirty-eight years from when we left Kadesh-barnea until when we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. During this time the entire generation of men of war perished in the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For the hand of the Lord was set against them, to wipe them out from the camp until they were consumed. ¹⁶ And so the men of war among the people perished.

¹⁷ Bypassing Ammon. Then the Lord spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Today you will cross over the Ar,^[u] the boundary of Moab. ¹⁹ When you come up against the Ammonites, do not harass nor provoke them, for I will not give you the land of the Ammonites as a possession. I have given it to the children of Lot as a possession.” ²⁰ (It is considered to be the land of the Rephaim, for the Rephaim lived in it in days of old, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin. ²¹ They were a great and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim, but the Lord destroyed them before them. They drove them out and settled in their place. ²² He had done the same for the children of Esau in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them. They drove them out and live where they had lived to the present. ²³ The Avvim, who lived in villages up to Gaza,^[v] were destroyed by the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor. They dwell in their place.)

²⁴ Defeat of Sihon.“Rise, set out and cross over the Valley of the Arnon. I have given Sihon the Amorite, the king of Heshbon, and his land into your hands. Start to occupy it and do battle with him. ²⁵ From today on I will place terror and fear of you in all of the nations under the heavens. Whoever hears about you will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶ I sent messengers from the Desert of Kedemoth to Sihon, the king of Heshbon, with words of peace saying, ²⁷ “Let me pass through your land. I will travel on the road, and I will not turn either to the right or the left. ²⁸ You can sell us food for silver so that we might eat, and water for silver so that we might drink, only let me pass through on foot. ²⁹ This is what the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me. Then I will pass over the Jordan into the land that the Lord, our God, has given us.” ³⁰ But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, would not let us pass through, for the Lord had hardened his spirit and made his heart stubborn so that he might deliver him into your hands, as he has today.

³¹ Then the Lord said to me, “I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land to you. Now begin to take it, so that you may inherit his land.” ³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to give battle at Jahaz. ³³ The Lord, our God, delivered him over to us. We killed him and his sons and all his people. ³⁴ It was then that we captured all of his cities and completely wiped out the men, the women, and the children of all the cities.^[w] We left nothing alive ³⁵ except for the cattle that we took as pillage along with the spoils from the cities that we captured. ³⁶ There was not a city that was too strong for us, from Aroer on the shore of the Arnon River and the city that is in the valley, all the way up to Gilead. The Lord, our God, delivered everything into our hands. ³⁷ But as the Lord, our God, had commanded, you did not enter the land of the Ammonites, nor the land along the River Jabbok, nor the cities in the hill country.

Chapter 3

Defeat of Og. ¹ Next we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out against us, he and all his people, to give battle at Edrei. ² But the Lord said to me, “Do not fear him, for I will deliver him and all his people and his land into your hands. You will do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” ³ The Lord, our God, delivered Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people into our hands. We continued to attack them until there was not a single survivor left. ⁴ This was when we captured all of his cities. There was not a single city that we did not take from them, sixty in all, the entire region of the Argob, the kingdom of Og of Bashan. ⁵ All of these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars. There were also a great number of unfortified cities. ⁶ We totally destroyed them, just as we had destroyed Sihon, the king of Heshbon, wiping out the men, women, and children from every city. ⁷ But we took all the cattle and spoils of the cities as pillage.

⁸ This was when we took the land of two of the kings of the Amorites from their hands, land on the east of the Jordan, from the Arnon River to Mount Hermon. ⁹ (The Sidonians call Hermon Siron, while the Amorites call it Senir.) ¹⁰ This included all of the cities of the plain and all of Gilead and all of Bashan, up to Salecah and Edrei, cities in the kingdom of Og of Bashan. ¹¹ (Og was the last of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron, and it was nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is now in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)^[x]

¹² Distribution of Conquered Lands. From the land that we occupied at this time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the land beginning at Aroer on the Arnon River and half of the hill country of Gilead as well as its cities. ¹³ I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (This was the whole region of Argob with all of Bashan, and it was known as the land of the Rephaim. ¹⁴ The clan of Jair, the son of Manasseh, took the entire region of Argob up to the borders with the Geshurites and the Maacathites. They named it after themselves, so that Bashan is known as Havvoth-jair until the present.) ^15 [y]I gave Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the land that stretched from Gilead up to the Arnon River (with the center of the valley being the boundary) and on to the Jabbok River, the border with the Ammonites. ¹⁷ Its border on the west was the Jordan in the Arabah, from the Kinnereth down to the Sea in the Arabah, the Salt Sea, at the foot of the slopes of the Pisgah.

¹⁸ At that time I commanded you, “The Lord, your God, has given you this land to possess. Have all of the armed men pass over in front of their brethren, the Israelites, armed for battle. ¹⁹ But your wives and your children and your cattle (for I know that you have many cattle) can remain in your cities that I have given you. ²⁰ It will be this way until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he already has to you, so that they also come to possess the land that the Lord, your God, has given them on the other side of the Jordan. Then, each of you can return to the property that I have given you.”

²¹ Then I commanded Joshua, “You have seen with your own eyes what the Lord, your God, has done to these two kings. This is what the Lord will do to any kingdom that you might encounter.^{[z] 22} Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord, your God, will fight for you.”

²³ Moses Forbidden to Enter Jordan. At that time I pleaded with the Lord, ²⁴ “O Lord God, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong arm. What God in heaven or on earth can do such deeds and mighty works as yours? ²⁵ Please let me cross over and see the bounteous land that is on the other side of the Jordan, the hill country and the Lebanon.”

²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you^[aa] and would not listen to me. The Lord said to me, “Enough! Do not speak to me about this anymore. ²⁷ Climb up to the top of Pisgah and look to the west, the north, the south, and the east and see it with your own eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. ²⁸ But give orders to Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he is to lead this people across and he will give them the land that you see as an inheritance.” ²⁹ So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

Chapter 4

Benefits of Obedience. ¹ Now listen, O Israel, to the statutes and the ordinances that I am teaching you to observe so that you might live and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ^2 [ab]You will not add to what I command you, nor will you take away from it, so that you might observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, that I am giving you. ³ Your own eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor, for the Lord, your God, wiped out from all of those who followed Baal-peor from your midst. ⁴ But every one of you who clung to the Lord, your God, is alive today.

⁵ Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord, my God, commanded me, so that you might enter into the land into which you are going and take possession of it. ⁶ Carefully observe them, for the nations will consider this is your wisdom and your understanding. They will hear all these statutes and say, “Truly this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” ⁷ For what nation is as great as we are? Who has God as near to them, as the Lord, our God, is whenever we call upon him? ⁸ What nation is so great that it has statutes and ordinances as righteous as this law that I set before you today?

⁹ Only be careful and watch yourselves closely lest you ever forget the things that your eyes have seen or you let them slip out of your mind. Teach them to your children and your children’s children, ¹⁰ especially about the day that you stood before the Lord, your God, in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I might let them hear my words. They will thus learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and they will be able to teach their children.” ¹¹ You approached and stood at the base of the mountain. The mountain blazed with flames reaching the very heavens, and it was covered with dark clouds and thick darkness. ¹² The Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you did not see a form. There was only a voice. ¹³ He proclaimed his covenant to you which he ordered you to fulfill, the Ten Commandments, that he wrote upon two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ The Lord then commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances so that you might observe them in the land that you were crossing over to possess.

¹⁵ Pitfalls of Idolatry. Therefore, guard yourselves carefully, for you did not see any kind of form when the Lord spoke to you on Horeb from the midst of the fire. ¹⁶ Do not become perverse and make an idol for yourselves of any shape or likeness, whether male or female, ¹⁷ whether it be a land animal or a bird that flies in the skies, ¹⁸ or like something that crawls on the ground or a fish in the waters beneath the earth. ¹⁹ When you look up into the skies and you see the sun and the moon and stars, all the hosts of heaven, do not be enticed to worship and serve the things that the Lord, your God, has assigned to every other nation under the heavens. ²⁰ But as for you, the Lord has chosen you and taken you out from the iron furnace,^[ac] out of Egypt, to be a people who are his own possession, as you are today.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me because of you and he swore that I would not cross over the Jordan nor enter the fertile land that the Lord, your God, has given to you as an inheritance. ²² I must die in this land; I will not cross over the Jordan. But you will cross over and take possession of this fertile land. ²³ Therefore, keep guard over yourselves, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord, your God, has made with you and you make an idol in the form of anything that the Lord, your God, has prohibited. ²⁴ The Lord, your God, is a consuming fire and a jealous God.

²⁵ When you have borne children and grandchildren and have dwelt in the land for a long time, if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord, your God, and provoking him to anger, ²⁶ I will call upon the heavens and the earth to give witness against you on that day so that you might be utterly obliterated from the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess. You will not remain there long, but you will be totally wiped out.

²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the nations and only a few of you will survive among the foreign peoples where the Lord has led you. ²⁸ There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, made of wood and stone, which cannot see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

²⁹ But if you seek the Lord, your God, and you strive with all your heart and your soul, you will find him there. ³⁰ When you are in distress and all of these things happen to you in the future, you are to return to the Lord,^[ad] your God, and obey his voice, ³¹ and he will not abandon you, nor destroy you nor forget the covenant that he made with your fathers, confirming it to them by oath, for the Lord, your God, is a merciful God.

³² Ask now about the days of old, the former times. From the day that God created humans upon the earth, inquire from one end of the heavens to the other, has anything so great ever happened or has anything like it been heard of? ³³ Has any other people heard the voice of God speak from the midst of the flame, as you heard, and still live? ³⁴ Did God ever go and lead one nation from the midst of another nation by trials, signs, wonders, and battle, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great and wondrous deeds, all things that the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might come to know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. ³⁶ He had you hear his voice from out of the heavens so that he might instruct you. He showed you his great fire upon the earth so that you might hear his voice from the midst of the flames. ³⁷ It was because he loved your fathers and had chosen their descendants after them that he brought you out of Egypt before him by his great strength. ³⁸ He drove out greater and more powerful nations before you so that he might bring you into their land to give it to you as an inheritance, just as it is today.

³⁹ So today acknowledge it and take it to heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ You shall obey his statutes and the commandments that I give you today, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you for all time.

⁴¹ Cities of Refuge. Then Moses set aside three cities on the east of the Jordan ⁴² to which anyone who unintentionally killed another person with whom he had not previously been at enmity might flee. He could flee to one of these cities and save his life. ⁴³ They were Bezer,^[ae] on the desert plateau, for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the men of Manasseh.

Moses’ Second Address

The Covenant with Israel^[af]

⁴⁴ Introduction. This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. ⁴⁵ These are the stipulations, the statutes, and the judgments that Moses declared to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt ⁴⁶ and they were dwelling in the valley near Beth-peor on the east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and who was defeated by Moses and the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and also the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who reigned on the east side of the Jordan. ⁴⁸ This land extended from Aroer, that is on the bank of the Arnon River, up to Mount Sion (that is Hermon). ⁴⁹ It included all of the plain on the east side of the Jordan up to the Sea in the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

Chapter 5

The Ten Commandments.^{[ag] 1} Moses then summoned all of the Israelites and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the decrees that I proclaim in your hearing today. Learn them and carefully observe them. ² The Lord, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb. ³ The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with those of us who are still alive and present today. ⁴ The Lord spoke with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the flame.

⁵ “I stood between you and the Lord at that time, declaring the word of the Lord to you, for you were afraid and did not go up the mountain because of the fire. He said, ⁶ ‘I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out from the land of slavery. ⁷ You shall have no god other than me. ⁸ You shall not make any idols in the form of anything that dwells in the heavens above or on the earth below or even in the waters below the land. ⁹ You shall not prostrate yourself to them nor worship them. I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God. I visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but I will show mercy to the thousandth generation on those who love me and observe my commandments.

¹¹ “ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not consider blameless those who take his name in vain.

¹² “ ‘You shall observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you. ¹³ You are to labor on six days, doing all of your work then. ¹⁴ The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor your cattle, nor even the foreigner living in your town. Thus your manservant and maidservant can rest as well. ¹⁵ Remember that you were once a slave in the land of Egypt. The Lord, your God, brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord, your God, has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.^[ah]

¹⁶ “ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you,^[ai] so that you might have a long life and things might go well with you in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you.

¹⁷ “ ‘You shall not murder. ¹⁸ You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁹ You shall not steal. ²⁰ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ²¹ You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife. Nor shall you desire your neighbor’s house or land, or his manservant or his maidservant, or his ox or ass or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’ ”

²² Moses at Sinai. These are the things that the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly on the mountain from the midst of the flame, out of the cloud and the deep darkness, this and nothing more. He then wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. ²³ When you heard the voice coming out of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire,^[aj] all of the leaders of your tribes and your elders drew near to me.

²⁴ You said, “The Lord, our God, has shown us his glory and his majesty. We have heard his voice coming forth from out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God were to speak to him. ²⁵ But now, why should we die, for this great fire will consume us if we listen anymore to the voice of the Lord, our God? We will surely die. ²⁶ For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out from the midst of the flames, as we have, and continued to live? ²⁷ You approach him and listen to all that the Lord, our God, will say to you. Then you can tell us all that the Lord, our God, said to you. We will listen and obey.”

²⁸ The Lord heard what you said to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people has said to you. Everything that they said is acceptable. ²⁹ Oh, that they would have fear of me in their hearts and they would observe all of my commandments always. Then things would go well with them and their children forever. ³⁰ Go tell them, ‘Go back to your tents.’ ³¹ But you, stay here with me, so that I can pass on to you all of the commandments and statutes and decrees that you are to teach them so that they might observe them in the land that I am giving to them to possess. ³² Therefore, be careful to observe what the Lord, your God, has commanded of you. Do not turn away from it to the right nor the left. ³³ Continue in all of the ways that the Lord, your God, has commanded you. Continue in them so that you may live and prosper and that you may long dwell on the land of your inheritance.”

Chapter 6

¹ These are the commands, statutes, and decrees that the Lord, your God, directed me to teach you so that you might observe them in the land to which you are going as your inheritance. ² Thus, you will fear the Lord, your God, and observe the statutes and commandments that I give you—you, and your children, and your children’s children—all the days of your life, so that you might live a long time.

³ Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that you might prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

The Law of Love.^{[ak] 4} Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is Lord alone. ⁵ You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶ You shall keep these things that I command you today in your heart. ⁷ Teach them to your children. You shall talk of them when you are sitting in your home, and when you are walking along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. ^8 [al]Bind them as a reminder upon your hand, and wear them as a pendant between your eyes ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and your gates.

^10 [am]When the Lord, your God, will have brought you into the land that he promised to your forefathers, to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, that he would give to you, a land with large and pleasant cities that you did not build ¹¹ with houses filled with all kinds of good things that you did not provide, wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill of them, ¹² be sure not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the land of slavery.

¹³ Fear the Lord, your God, and serve him. Swear oaths with his name. ¹⁴ You shall not seek after other gods, the gods of the peoples around you ¹⁵ for the Lord, your God, who lives among you is a jealous God.^[an] Beware lest the anger of the Lord, your God, be kindled and he wipe you off of the face of the earth.

¹⁶ You shall not tempt the Lord,^[ao] your God, as you tempted him at Massah. ¹⁷ You shall take heed to observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and the decrees and statutes that he has given to you. ¹⁸ Do what the Lord regards as right and good so that things will go well with you and that you might enter in and take possession of the good land that the Lord promised to your fathers, ¹⁹ being able to cast out all of your enemies from before you, just as the Lord has promised.

²⁰ Instructing Children. In the future when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the Lord, our God, has commanded of you,” ²¹ you are to tell your son, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² The Lord performed signs and wonders in our sight, great and terrible things, that he imposed upon Egypt and upon Pharaoh and upon all of his household. ²³ He brought us out from there so that he might bring us into and give to us the land that he promised to our fathers.

²⁴ “The Lord commanded us to observe all of these statutes and to fear the Lord, our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, even as we are today. ²⁵ If we are diligent in observing all of these commandments before the Lord, our God, as he commanded of us, then this will be our righteousness.”

Chapter 7

Destroying the Nations.^{[ap] 1} When the Lord, your God, has brought you into the land that you are entering to take possession of and he has driven out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations in all, each larger and stronger than you are ² and when the Lord, your God, will have delivered them over to you and you will have defeated them, you are to wipe them out. You are not to make a covenant with them or show them any mercy. ^3 [aq]Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons. ⁴ They would turn your sons away from serving me to serve other gods and the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you and destroy you in an instant.

⁵ This is what you are to do to them: you are to destroy their altars, tear down their sacred images, cut down their sacred groves, and burn up their idols in fire. ⁶ You are a people holy to the Lord, your God. The Lord, your God, has chosen you from among all the peoples in the world to be his own, a treasured possession. ⁷ The Lord did not delight in you because you were more numerous than these other peoples, for you are actually the least numerous of all people. ⁸ It was because the Lord loved you and was keeping the promise that he had sworn to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, from the land of your slavery.

⁹ Keep in mind, therefore, that the Lord, your God, is God. He is a faithful God who keeps his covenant of mercy to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and observe his commandments. ¹⁰ But upon those who hate him, he will avenge himself face to face, wiping them out. He will not delay in avenging himself face to face with those who hate him.^{[ar] 11} Therefore, be careful to observe the commandments, statutes, and decrees that I give you today.

¹² Blessings of the Covenant. If you obey these decrees and carefully observe them, then the Lord, your God, will preserve his covenant of mercy with you, as he promised to your forefathers. ¹³ He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the crops on your land, your grain, your wine and your oil, as well as the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks, in the land that he promised to your forefathers to give to you. ¹⁴ You will be more greatly blessed^[as] than any other people. None of your men or women will be childless, none of your cattle will be without young. ¹⁵ The Lord will protect you from all illnesses. He will not inflict upon you any of the terrible diseases that you encountered in Egypt, but rather he will send them upon everyone who hates you. ¹⁶ You must annihilate all of the people whom the Lord, your God, delivers over to you. Do not look with pity upon them; do not serve their gods, for this would be a snare for you. ^17 [at]You should say to yourselves, “These nations were stronger than we were. How did we ever drive them out?” ¹⁸ Do not be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord, your God, did to Pharaoh and to the whole of Egypt. ¹⁹ You saw with your own eyes the tremendous trials, signs, and wonders, how with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm the Lord, your God, brought you out. The Lord, your God, will do the same things to all of those people of whom you are afraid. ²⁰ The Lord, your God, will destroy them by sending hornets into the midst of those who survived and are hiding. ²¹ Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord, your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. ²² Little by little the Lord, your God, will drive out those nations before you. You will not be able to eliminate them immediately, lest the wild animals around you multiply too much. ²³ The Lord, your God, will hand them over to you, throwing them into a great confusion until they are totally wiped out. ²⁴ He will deliver kings into your hands, and you will wipe out their names from under the heavens. No one will be able to stand up to you. You will destroy them.

²⁵ You are to burn the idols of their gods in the fire. Do not seek after the gold or the silver that covers them, nor take it for yourselves, lest it become a snare for you. It is an abomination to the Lord, your God. ²⁶ Nor should you bring an abomination into your house, or you, like it, will be set aside for destruction. Loathe and detest it, for it is something that is cursed.