Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ So Moses said to them, “Do as you say. Get ready for war before the Lord. ²¹ All of you men of war cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven away those who fight against Him, ²² and has won the land in battle. Then after this you may return because you have done your duty to the Lord and to Israel. This land will be your land before the Lord. ²³ But if you do not do as you say, you have sinned against the Lord. And for sure you will be punished for your sin. ²⁴ Build cities for your little ones and places for your sheep. Then do what you have promised.” ²⁵ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord says. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks and all our cattle will stay there in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ But your servants, everyone who is ready for war, will cross over before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸ So Moses gave news about them to Eleazar the religious leader, Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the families of the people of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, every man ready for battle, are to cross with you over the Jordan before the Lord, and the land will be won. After this, you must give them the land of Gilead for their own. ³⁰ But if they will not cross over with you ready for battle, their land must be among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “We will do as the Lord has said to your servants. ³² We will cross over into the land of Canaan ready for battle before the Lord. And the land on this side of the Jordan will be ours.”

³³ So Moses gave the nations of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben and the half-family group of Joseph’s son Manasseh. He gave them the land, with its cities and the country around them. ³⁴ Then the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atrothshophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Bethnimrah and Beth-haran, cities with walls around them. And they made safe places for their sheep. ³⁷ The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo and Baal-meon (their names to be changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities they built. ³⁹ The sons of Manasseh’s son Machir went to Gilead and took it. They drove away the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. ⁴¹ Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth-jair. ⁴² Nobah went and took Kenath and its towns, and called it Nobah after his own name.

From Egypt to Moab

33 These are the travels of the people of Israel, when Moses and Aaron led them out from the land of Egypt by their armies. ² Moses wrote down the starting places of their travels, as the Lord told him. These are their travels by their starting places. ³ They traveled from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover the people of Israel started out strong in heart in front of all the Egyptians. ⁴ The Egyptians were burying all their first-born whom the Lord had killed among them. The Lord had punished their gods also.

⁵ Then the people of Israel traveled from Rameses and stayed in Succoth. ⁶ They traveled from Succoth and stayed in Etham, beside the desert. ⁷ They went from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, east of Baal-zephon, and stayed at Migdol. ⁸ Then they traveled from Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the desert. They traveled for three days in the desert of Etham, and stayed at Marah. ⁹ They left Marah and came to Elim. There were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees in Elim, and they stayed there. ¹⁰ Then they traveled from Elim and stayed by the Red Sea. ¹¹ They left the Red Sea and stayed in the Desert of Sin. ¹² They traveled from the Desert of Sin, and stayed at Dophkah. ¹³ Then they left Dophkah and stayed at Alush. ¹⁴ They traveled from Alush and stayed at Rephidim. It was there that the people had no water to drink. ¹⁵ They went from Rephidim and stayed in the Desert of Sinai. ¹⁶ They traveled from the Desert of Sinai, and stayed at Kibroth-hattaavah.

¹⁷ They went from Kibroth-hattaavah and stayed at Hazeroth. ¹⁸ They left Hazeroth and stayed at Rithmah. ¹⁹ Then they went from Rithmah and stayed at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰ They traveled from Rimmon-perez, and stayed at Libnah. ²¹ They left Libnah, and stayed at Rissah. ²² Then they went from Rissah and stayed at Kehelathah. ²³ They went from Kehelathah and stayed at Mount Shepher. ²⁴ They traveled from Mount Shepher and stayed at Haradah. ²⁵ They left Haradah and stayed at Makheloth. ²⁶ Then they traveled from Makheloth, and stayed at Tahath. ²⁷ They traveled from Tahath, and stayed at Terah. ²⁸ They went from Terah and stayed at Mithkah. ²⁹ They left Mithkah and stayed at Hashmonah. ³⁰ Then they left Hashmonah and stayed at Moseroth. ³¹ They went from Moseroth and stayed at Benejaakan. ³² They traveled from Benejaakan, and stayed at Hor-haggidgad. ³³ They went from Hor-haggidgad and stayed at Jotbathah. ³⁴ Then they left Jotbathah and stayed at Abronah. ³⁵ They went from Abronah and stayed at Ezion-geber. ³⁶ They went from Ezion-geber and stayed in the Desert of Zin, that is, Kadesh. ³⁷ And they traveled from Kadesh, and stayed at Mount Hor, beside the land of Edom.

³⁸ Then Aaron the religious leader went up to Mount Hor, as the Lord told him. He died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had left the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹ Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹ Then the people traveled from Mount Hor, and stayed at Zalmonah. ⁴² They left Zalmonah, and stayed at Punon. ⁴³ They went from Punon and stayed at Oboth. ⁴⁴ Then they left Oboth and stayed at Iye-abarim, beside Moab. ⁴⁵ They traveled from Iyim, and stayed at Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶ They went from Dibon-gad and stayed at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷ They left Almon-diblathaim and stayed in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo. ⁴⁸ They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and stayed in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho. ⁴⁹ And they stayed by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.

⁵⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho, ⁵¹ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You will cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan. ⁵² Then drive out all the people living in the land in front of you. Destroy all their cut stones, and all their man-made gods, and all their high places. ⁵³ Take the land for your own and live in it. For I have given the land to you. ⁵⁴ Your families will receive land by drawing names. The larger families should be given more land. The smaller families should be given less land. When a man’s name is drawn, that land will be his. You will receive land by the family groups of your fathers. ⁵⁵ Drive out the people who live in the land in front of you. If you do not, then those who are allowed to stay will be like sharp pieces in your eyes and like thorns in your sides. They will trouble you in the land where you live. ⁵⁶ And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’”

The Land of Canaan

34 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel, ‘When you go into the land of Canaan, this is the land that will be given to you, all the land of Canaan. ³ Your south side will be from the Desert of Zin along the side of Edom. It will go east from the end of the Salt Sea. ⁴ Then the side of your land will turn from the south up to the pass of Akrabbim and on to Zin. Its end will be south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazaraddar and on to Azmon. ⁵ Then it will turn from Azmon to the river of Egypt, and will end at the sea.

⁶ ‘The west side of your land will be the shore of the Great Sea.

⁷ ‘Your north side will be from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. ⁸ And it will go from Mount Hor to the Lebohamath, and end at Zedad. ⁹ Then it will go to Ziphron and end at Hazer-enan. This will be the north side.

¹⁰ ‘The east side of your land will be from Hazer-enan to Shepham, ¹¹ then down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. Then it will go down to the hill on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth. ¹² It will go down to the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be the sides all around your land.’”

¹³ Moses told the people of Israel, “This is the land you will receive by drawing names, which the Lord has said should be given to the nine and a half-family groups. ¹⁴ For the sons of Reuben have received their land by their fathers’ houses. The sons of Gad have received theirs by their fathers’ houses. And the half-family group of Manasseh has received their land. ¹⁵ The two and a half-family groups have received their land on the other side of the Jordan from Jericho, toward the east.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Eleazar the religious leader and Joshua the son of Nun are the men who will divide the land to be given to you. ¹⁸ And take one leader of every family group to divide the land among you. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men. Take Caleb the son of Jephunneh of the family group of Judah. ²⁰ Take Samuel the son of Ammihud of the family group of the sons of Simeon. ²¹ Take Elidad the son of Chislon of the family group of Benjamin. ²² Take Bukki the son of Jogli as the leader of the family group of the sons of Dan. ²³ Of the sons of Joseph, take Hanniel the son of Ephod as the leader of the family group of the sons of Manasseh. ²⁴ Take Kemuel the son of Shiphtan as the leader of the family group of the sons of Ephraim. ²⁵ Take Elizaphan the son of Parnach as the leader of the family group of the sons of Zebulun. ²⁶ Take Paltiel the son of Azzan as the leader of the family group of the sons of Issachar. ²⁷ Take Ahihud the son of Shelomi as the leader of the family group of the sons of Asher. ²⁸ And take Pedahel the son of Ammihud as the leader of the family group of the sons of Naphtali.” ²⁹ These are the men whom the Lord told to divide the land among the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho, ² “Tell the people of Israel to give the Levites cities to live in from the land they receive. And give the Levites fields around the cities. ³ The cities will be theirs to live in. Their fields will be for their cattle and flocks and for all their animals. ⁴ The fields you give the Levites should be around the cities, from the city walls out 500 long steps. ⁵ And you should number 1,000 long steps from the city on the east side, on the south side, on the west side, and on the north side, with the city in the center. These fields around the cities will belong to them for their animals. ⁶ The cities you give the Levites will be the six cities where people can go to be safe. They will be where a man may run to if he has killed another person. And give them forty-two other cities, added to these. ⁷ Give forty-eight cities in all to the Levites, together with their fields. ⁸ Take more cities from the larger families of Israel to give to the Levites. And take less cities from the smaller families. Each should give some of its cities to the Levites by how much land is received.”

The Cities to Be a Safe Place

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ choose which cities are to be the ones where you can run to be safe. The man who has killed a person without meaning to may run there. ¹² The cities will be a safe place for you from the one who wants to punish you. So the one who has killed a person may not die until the people decide if he is guilty or not. ¹³ The cities you give will be your six cities where you can go to be safe. ¹⁴ Give three cities on the east side of the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be the cities where you can go to be safe. ¹⁵ These six cities will be safe places for the people of Israel and for the stranger and for the one who visits them. Anyone who kills a person without meaning to may run there.

¹⁶ ‘But if he killed him with an iron object, then he is guilty. For sure the killer will be put to death. ¹⁷ If he knocked him down with a stone so that he died, he is guilty. For sure the killer will be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he hit him with a piece of wood in his hand so that he died, he is guilty. For sure the killer will be put to death. ¹⁹ The man who wants to punish him for the killing will put the killer to death. He will put him to death when he meets him. ²⁰ If the killer has pushed him because he hated him, or has thrown something at him after waiting for him, and because of this he died, ²¹ or if he hit him down with his hand because he hated him and killed him, for sure the one who killed him must be put to death. He is guilty. The man who wants to punish him for the killing will put him to death when he meets him.

²² ‘But if he pushed him without planning to and without hating him, or threw something at him without having waited for him, ²³ or he threw a stone without seeing him, killing him without hating him or meaning to hurt him, ²⁴ then the people will decide by these Laws between the killer and the one who wants to punish him. ²⁵ The people will save the killer from the man who wants to punish him. And they will return him to his city where he had gone to be safe. He will live in it until the death of the head religious leader who was set apart with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the man who killed another person at sometime goes outside his city where he went to be safe, ²⁷ then the man who wants to punish him will not be guilty of blood if he finds him outside the safe city and kills him. ²⁸ Because the man should have stayed in his city to be safe until the death of the head religious leader. But after the head religious leader dies, the man who killed another person may return to his own land.

²⁹ ‘These things will be a Law to you and to all your children-to-come in all your homes. ³⁰ If anyone kills a person, the killer must be put to death by what is told by those who saw the killing. But no person may be put to death because of what one person says. ³¹ You must not take pay to save the life of a killer who is guilty of death. But he must be put to death. ³² You must not take pay for him who has run to his city to be safe, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the religious leader. ³³ You must not make the land where you live unclean. The land is not holy when people are killed. And only the blood of him who is guilty can pay to make the land free from the blood that has fallen on it. ³⁴ Do not make the land where you live unclean, in the place where I live. For I the Lord am living among the people of Israel.’”

Married Women and What They Would Get from Their Families

36 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the family group of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near. They spoke in front of Moses and the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. ² They said, “The Lord told my lord to give the land to the people of Israel by drawing names. And my lord was told by the Lord to give the land of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ But if they marry one of the sons of the other family groups of Israel, then their land would be taken away from what was given to our fathers and would be added to the land of the family group they marry into. So it would be taken from the land that had been given to us. ⁴ When the Year of Jubilee of the people of Israel comes, their land will be added to the land of the family group into which they marry. So their land will be taken from the land of the family group of our fathers.”

⁵ Then Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord said. He said, “The family group of the sons of Joseph are right in what they say. ⁶ This is what the Lord has said about the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best. Only they must marry within the family group of their father.’ ⁷ This way no land of the people of Israel will go from one family group to another. The people of Israel will each hold to the land of the family group of his fathers. ⁸ Every daughter who comes to own the land of any family group of Israel, must be the wife of one of her father’s family group. So every one of the people of Israel may own the land of his fathers. ⁹ No land will go from one family group to another. For the families of Israel will each hold to his own land.” ¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did just as the Lord had told Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married sons of their father’s brothers. ¹² They married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. And their land stayed with their father’s family group.

¹³ These are the Laws which the Lord told the people of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Israel Told to Go to Canaan

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan, in the desert, in the Arabah beside Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. ² It takes eleven days to travel from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. ³ On the first day of the eleventh month in the fortieth year, Moses spoke to the children of Israel. He told them all the Lord said they must do. ⁴ This was after he had won the war against Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵ On the other side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses talked to the people about this Law. He said, ⁶ “The Lord our God spoke to us at Mount Sinai, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Get ready to travel now. Go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the valley, in the Negev and by the sea, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the big river, the river Euphrates. ⁸ See, I have set the land in front of you. Go in and take for your own the land which the Lord promised to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to their children after them.’

Leaders of Family Groups

⁹ “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to take care of you alone. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has made you become many people. Now you are as many as the stars of heaven. ¹¹ May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you 1,000 times as many as you are. May He bring good to you just as He has promised you! ¹² How can I alone carry the weight of your troubles? ¹³ Choose wise, understanding and able men from your family groups. And I will make them leaders over you.’ ¹⁴ You answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.’ ¹⁵ So I took the leaders of your family groups, wise and able men. I made them leaders over you, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens, and rulers of your family groups.

¹⁶ “Then I said to your judges at that time, ‘Listen to the problems between your brothers. And be right in what you decide between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. ¹⁷ Do not show favor as you judge. Listen to the small and the great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, because you are judging for God. Bring to me any problem that is too hard for you, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ I told you at that time all the things you should do.

Men Are Sent to Spy Out the Land

¹⁹ “Then we left Mount Sinai. We went through the big desert you saw which fills people with fear, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had told us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. ²⁰ I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God will give us. ²¹ See, the Lord your God has set the land in front of you. Go and take it for your own, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or troubled.’ ²² Then all of you came to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, to spy out the land for us. They will return and tell us which way we should go and which cities we will come to.’ ²³ What you said pleased me. I took twelve of your men, one man for each family group. ²⁴ They went up into the hill country, came to the valley of Eshcol, and saw what was there. ²⁵ They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. And they told us that it is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.

²⁶ “Yet you would not go up. You went against what the Lord your God told you to do. ²⁷ You complained in your tents, saying, ‘Because the Lord hates us He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to give us to the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸ Where would we be going? Our brothers have made our hearts weak with fear, saying, ‘The people are bigger and taller than we. The cities are large, with walls as high as the heavens. And we have even seen the sons of the Anakim there.’” ²⁹ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be afraid of them. ³⁰ The Lord your God Who goes before you will Himself fight for you. He did this for you in Egypt in front of your eyes, ³¹ and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way you have walked until you came to this place.’ ³² But even so, you did not trust the Lord your God, ³³ Who goes before you on your way. He finds a place for you to set up your tents. He uses fire to show you the way to go during the night. During the day He uses a cloud to lead you.

Israel’s Punishment

³⁴ “The Lord heard your words and was angry. He swore, ³⁵ ‘Not one of these men of these sinful people will see the good land I promised to give your fathers, ³⁶ except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it. I will give the land on which he has walked to him and his children because he has always followed the Lord.’ ³⁷ The Lord was angry with me because of you. He said, ‘Not even you will go in there. ³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who stands in front of you, will go in there. Tell him to be strong, for he will bring Israel into their new land. ³⁹ And your little ones whom you said would be taken by strange hands, and your children who do not yet know the difference between good and bad, will go in there. I will give the land to them. It will be theirs. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn around and go into the desert by way of the Red Sea.’

⁴¹ “Then you said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God told us.’ So every man of you put on his sword and thought it an easy thing to go up into the hill country. ⁴² The Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up or fight. For I am not among you. You would be destroyed by those who hate you.”’ ⁴³ So I spoke to you but you would not listen. You went against what the Lord told you. In your pride you went up into the hill country. ⁴⁴ Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you. They came at you like bees, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. ⁴⁵ And you returned and cried before the Lord but the Lord did not listen to you. ⁴⁶ So you stayed in Kadesh. Many days you stayed there.

Years in the Desert

2 “Then we turned and went into the desert by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord said to me. We went around Mount Seir for many days. ² And the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have traveled around this mountain long enough. Now turn north. ⁴ Tell the people, “You will pass through the land of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. ⁵ Do not make them angry. For I will not give you any of their land, not even enough for a foot to step on. I have given Mount Seir to Esau for his own. ⁶ You will pay them with money for the food you eat. And you will pay them with money for the water you drink. ⁷ For the Lord your God has brought good to you in all you have done. He knows about your traveling through this big desert. The Lord your God has been with you these forty years. You have not been without a thing.”’

⁸ “So we moved on from our brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and Ezion-geber. We turned and went by the way of the desert of Moab. ⁹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not bring trouble to Moab or fight them in war. For I will not give you any of their land for your own. I have given Ar to the children of Lot for their own.’ ¹⁰ (The Emim had lived there before. These people were many and powerful, and as tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ They are known as Rephaim also, like the Anakim. But the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² The Horites once lived in Seir also. But the sons of Esau took their place. They destroyed them and took the land for themselves, as Israel did to the land which the Lord gave them for their own.) ¹³ ‘Now get up and go over the river Zered.’ So we went over the river Zered. ¹⁴ It was thirty-eight years from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the river Zered. By that time all the men of war among us had died, as the Lord had said they would. ¹⁵ The hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them within their tents until they were all dead.

¹⁶ “When all the men of war had died from among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you will cross over Ar and into Moab. ¹⁹ But when you come near the land of the sons of Ammon, do not bring them trouble or make them angry. For I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon for your own. Because I have given it to the sons of Lot for their own.’ ²⁰ (It is known as the land of the Rephaim also. For Rephaim once lived in it. But the Amorites call them Zamzummin, ²¹ a people as great, as many and as tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them, and the sons of Ammon took their place and lived in their land. ²² It was as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir. He destroyed the Horites, and the sons of Esau took their place and live in their land even to this day. ²³ And the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor destroyed the Avvim who lived in towns as far as Gaza. Then they lived in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Now rise up and go on your way. Pass through the valley of Arnon. See, I have given you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take it for your own, and fight with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put much fear of you upon the nations everywhere under the heavens. When they hear about you, they will shake with fear and be filled with trouble because of you.’

Battle with King Sihon

²⁶ “So I sent men carrying news from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace. They said, ²⁷ ‘Let me pass through your land. I will travel only on the road. I will not turn to the right or to the left. ²⁸ You will sell me food for money so I may eat, and give me water for money so I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot ²⁹ as the sons of Esau did for us in Seir and the Moabites in Ar. Do this until I cross over the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’ ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through his land. For the Lord your God made his spirit and heart hard, so He might give him into your hand, as he is today. ³¹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take it for your own, so you may live in it.’

³² “Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ³³ The Lord our God gave him to us. We won the fight against him, his sons and all his people. ³⁴ So we took all his cities at that time, and destroyed every man, woman and child in them. We left no one alive. ³⁵ We took only the animals for our own, and the things that were left behind in the cities. ³⁶ There was no city too strong for us, from Aroer by the valley of Arnon, and from the city which is in the valley, as far as Gilead. The Lord our God gave all to us. ³⁷ Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country. You did not go where the Lord our God told us not to go.

Battle with King Og

3 “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan. Og king of Bashan and all his people came out to meet us in battle. ² But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of him. For I have given him and all his people and his land to you. Do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon.’ ³ So the Lord our God gave us Og king of Bashan and all his people also. We destroyed them until no one was left alive. ⁴ And we took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we did not take from them. We took sixty cities, the whole land of Argob, the nation of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these cities were built strong, with high walls, gates and iron. There were many towns without walls also. ⁶ We destroyed them, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon. We destroyed every man, woman and child in every city. ⁷ But we took for ourselves all the animals and what was left in the cities. ⁸ So we took the land at that time from the two kings of the Amorites who were on the east side of the Jordan, from the valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon ⁹ (Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir). ¹⁰ We took all the cities of the plain and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the nation of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ (For only Og king of Bashan was left of the children of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron. It is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. It was as long as five steps, and as wide as two long steps.)

Dividing the Land East of the Jordan

¹² “So we took this land for ourselves at that time. I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the land from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead. ¹³ I gave to the half-family of Manasseh the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the nation of Og, all the land of Argob. It is called the land of Rephaim. ¹⁴ Manasseh’s son Jair took all the land of Argob as far as the land of the Geshurites and the Maacathites. He called Bashan after his own name, Havvothjair. And that is its name to this day. ¹⁵ I gave Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ To the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave from Gilead to the valley of Arnon, from the center of the valley to the river Jabbok, beside the Ammonites. ¹⁷ I gave them the Arabah also, with the Jordan as its west side, from Chinnereth as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, at the bottom of the hills of Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸ “At that time I told you, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land for your own. All you men with strength of heart will cross over ready to fight before your brothers, the sons of Israel. ¹⁹ But your wives, your little ones and your animals (I know you have many animals) will stay in your cities that I have given you. ²⁰ They will stay until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and until they own the land the Lord your God will give them on the other side of the Jordan. Then every one of you may return to what is his, which I have given you.’ ²¹ And then I told Joshua, ‘Your eyes have seen all the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the nations through which you pass. ²² Do not be afraid of them. For the Lord your God is the One fighting for you.’

Moses Not Allowed to Cross the Jordan

²³ “After that I begged the Lord, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your great power and Your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and powerful acts as You do? ²⁵ I ask of You, let me cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you. He would not listen to me. The Lord told me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more about this. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah, and look to the west and north and south and east. See it with your eyes, for you will not cross over this Jordan. ²⁸ But tell Joshua what is to be done. Comfort him and give him strength. For he will cross in front of this people. And he will give them for their own the land that you will see.’ ²⁹ So we stayed in the valley beside Beth-peor.

Moses Tells Israel to Obey

4 “Now, O Israel, listen to the Laws I am teaching you. Do them so that you may live and go in to take the land for your own that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ² Do not add to the Word that I tell you, and do not take away from it. Keep the Laws of the Lord your God which I tell you. ³ Your eyes saw what the Lord did because of Baal-peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. ⁴ But you who stayed faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵ See, I have taught you Laws just as the Lord my God told me. So you are to live by them in the land you are going to have for your own. ⁶ Keep them and do them. For this will show how wise and understanding you are. The people who will hear all these Laws will say, ‘For sure this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷ For what great nation is there that has a god so near as the Lord our God is to us every time we call to Him? ⁸ What great nation is there that has laws as right as this whole Law which I am giving you today?

⁹ “Only be careful. Keep watch over your life. Or you might forget the things you have seen. Do not let them leave your heart for the rest of your life. But teach them to your children and to your grandchildren. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai. The Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people together before Me, so I may let them hear My words. Then they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and they may teach their children.’ ¹¹ You came near and stood at the bottom of the mountain. And the mountain burned with fire into the heavens, which were covered with darkness and black clouds. ¹² Then the Lord spoke to you from the center of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no body. There was only a voice. ¹³ He told you His agreement which He told you to keep, the Ten Laws. And He wrote them on two pieces of stone. ¹⁴ The Lord told me at that time to teach you Laws. So you might obey them in the land that you are going to have for your own.

Israel Not to Worship False Gods

¹⁵ “So watch yourselves and be careful. For you saw no body on the day the Lord spoke to you in the fire at Mount Sinai. ¹⁶ Do not become sinful and make a false god for yourselves that looks like a body or object, like a male or female, ¹⁷ or like an animal on the earth, or a bird with wings that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ or like anything that moves on the ground, or like any fish in the water below the earth. ¹⁹ Be careful not to lift up your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and moon and stars, all the things of heaven, and be pulled away and worship them and serve them. The Lord your God has given these things to all the nations under the whole heavens. ²⁰ But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron stove, out of Egypt, to be His own people, as you are this day.

²¹ “The Lord was angry with me because of you. He swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not go into the good land the Lord your God is giving you for your own. ²² For I must die in this land. I will not cross the Jordan. But you will cross and take that good land for your own. ²³ So watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the agreement the Lord your God made with you, or make a false god for yourselves that looks like something which the Lord your God has told you not to do. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is an all-burning fire, a jealous God.

²⁵ “When you become the father of children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, if you become sinful and make a god that looks like anything, and anger the Lord your God by doing what is bad in His eyes, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth to speak against you this day. You will soon be destroyed from the land you are crossing the Jordan to have for your own. You will not live long on it, but will all be destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will spread you out among the nations. And there will not be many of you left among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ There you will work for gods made by man’s hands out of wood and stone. They do not see or hear or eat or smell. ²⁹ But from there you will look for the Lord your God. And you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰ When you are in trouble and all these things have happened to you in later days, you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. ³¹ For the Lord your God is a God of loving-pity. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the agreement He promised to your fathers.

³² “Ask about the past days, the days before your time, since the day that God made man on the earth. Ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing? Has anything been heard like it? ³³ Have any people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the center of the fire, as you have heard it, and still live? ³⁴ Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation, by trials, special things to see, great works, war, a powerful hand, a long arm, and spreading much fear? The Lord your God did this for you in Egypt in front of your eyes. ³⁵ It was shown to you so you might know that the Lord is God. There is no other except Him. ³⁶ He let you hear His voice from the heavens to teach you. On earth He let you see His great fire. And you heard His words from the center of the fire. ³⁷ He loved your fathers, so He chose their children after them. He Himself brought you from Egypt by His great power. ³⁸ He drove out from in front of you nations greater and more powerful than you. And He brought you in and gave you their land for your own, as it is today. ³⁹ So know this day, take it to your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep His Laws which I am giving you today. Then it may go well with you and your children after you. And you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan ⁴² where a person may run to, if he killed his neighbor without meaning to and had not hated him in the past. He might save his life by running to one of these cities: ⁴³ Bezer in the desert on the plain for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

⁴⁴ This is the Law which Moses gave to the children of Israel. ⁴⁵ These are the Laws which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁶ They were on the other side of the Jordan, in the valley beside Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon. Moses and the sons of Israel won the war against him when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took for their own his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, east of the Jordan, ⁴⁸ from Aroer beside the valley of Arnon, as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon). ⁴⁹ They took all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the sea of the Arabah at the bottom of the hills of Pisgah.

God’s Ten Great Laws

5 Then Moses called all Israel, and said to them, “Listen, O Israel, to the Laws which I speak in your hearing today. Learn them and be careful to live by them. ² The Lord our God made an agreement with us at Mount Sinai. ³ The Lord did not make this agreement with our fathers, but with us, all those of us alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the center of the fire. ⁵ I was standing between the Lord and you then, to tell you the Word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said:

⁶ ‘I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house where you were servants.

⁷ ‘Have no other gods except Me.

⁸ ‘Do not make a false god for yourselves, or anything that is like what is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the water under the earth. ⁹ Do not bow down to them or serve them. I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children, the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren for the sins of their fathers who hate Me. ¹⁰ But I show loving-kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Laws.

¹¹ ‘Do not use the name of the Lord your God in a bad way. For the Lord will punish the one who uses His name in a bad way.

¹² ‘Remember the Day of Rest, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God told you. ¹³ Six days you will do all your work. ¹⁴ But the seventh day is a Day of Rest to the Lord your God. You, your son, your daughter, your man servant, your woman servant, your bull, donkey or any of your cattle, or the traveler who stays with you, must not do any work on this day. So your man servant and woman servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were servants in the land of Egypt. The Lord your God brought you out of there by a powerful hand and a long arm. So the Lord your God told you to keep the Day of Rest.

¹⁶ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has told you. So your life may be long and it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God gives you.

¹⁷ ‘Do not kill another person.

¹⁸ ‘Do not do sex sins.

¹⁹ ‘Do not steal.

²⁰ ‘Do not tell a lie about your neighbor.

²¹ ‘Do not have a desire for your neighbor’s wife. Do not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his man servant, his bull, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

²² “The Lord spoke these words to you while you were all gathered at the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the center of the fire, the cloud and the darkness. He added no more. And He wrote them on two pieces of stone and gave them to me.

The People Are Afraid

²³ “When you heard the voice from the center of the darkness while the mountain burned with fire, you came to me with all the heads of your families and your leaders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘See, the Lord our God has shown us His shining-greatness. We have heard His voice from the center of the fire. Today we have seen that God speaks with man and man still lives. ²⁵ But why should we die now? For this big fire will burn us up. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we will die. ²⁶ For who of all flesh has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking from the center of the fire, as we have heard, and lived? ²⁷ Go near and hear all the Lord our God says. Then tell us all the Lord our God says to you, and we will listen and do it.’

²⁸ “The Lord heard what you said when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words which the people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have said. ²⁹ If only they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and live by all My Laws always! Then it would go well with them and with their children forever. ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But you stand here by Me. And I will tell you all the Laws which you should teach them, so they may keep them in the land I give them for their own.’ ³² Be careful to do just as the Lord your God has told you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³³ Walk in all the way the Lord your God has told you. Then you may live, it may be well with you, and you may live a long time in the land that will belong to you.

The Greatest Law

6 “These are the Laws which the Lord your God has told me to teach you. You are to do them in the land you are going to take for your own. ² Then you and your son and your grandson will fear the Lord your God. You will obey all His Laws that I tell you, all the days of your life. And then you will have a longer life. ³ O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do them. Then it will go well with you. And you will become many in a land flowing with milk and honey. This is what the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord! ⁵ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ Keep these words in your heart that I am telling you today. ⁷ Do your best to teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as something special to see on your hand and on your forehead. ⁹ Write them beside the door of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ “The Lord your God will bring you into the land He promised to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give to you. There will be big and beautiful cities which you did not build. ¹¹ Houses will be full of good things which you did not fill. There will be pools for keeping water which you did not dig, and grape vines and olive trees which you did not plant. You will eat and be filled. ¹² But then be careful not to forget the Lord Who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the land where you were held as servants. ¹³ You must fear the Lord your God. You must worship Him, and swear by His name. ¹⁴ Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the people around you. ¹⁵ Or the anger of the Lord your God will burn against you. He will destroy you from the earth. For the Lord your God Who is among you is a jealous God.

¹⁶ “Do not test the Lord your God, as you put Him to the test at Massah. ¹⁷ Be careful to keep all the Laws which the Lord your God has told you. ¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord. Then it will be well with you. And you may go in and take the good land for your own which the Lord promised to give to your fathers. ¹⁹ You will drive out of your way all who hate you, as the Lord has promised.

²⁰ “In time to come your son will ask you, ‘What do all the Laws mean which the Lord told you?’ ²¹ Then say to your son, ‘We were servants of Pharaoh in Egypt. But the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. ²² The Lord showed us great and powerful works against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all those of his house. ²³ The Lord brought us out from there to bring us into the land He had promised to our fathers.’ ²⁴ So the Lord told us to do all these Laws and to fear the Lord our God for our good always, as it is today. ²⁵ We will be right with the Lord our God if we are careful to obey all of the Law before Him, just as He told us.

God’s Chosen People

7 “The Lord your God will bring you into the land you are taking for your own. He will drive away many nations in front of you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations bigger and stronger than you. ² When the Lord your God gives them to you and you win the battles against them, you must destroy all of them. Make no agreement with them and show no favor to them. ³ Do not take any of them in marriage. Do not give your daughters to their sons. And do not take their daughters for your sons. ⁴ For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you. And He will be quick to destroy you. ⁵ But do this to them: Break down their altars. Crush their objects of worship. Cut down their female goddess Asherim. And burn their false gods with fire.

⁶ “For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the nations on the earth, to be His own. ⁷ The Lord did not give you His love and choose you because you were more people than any of the nations. For the number of your people was less than all nations. ⁸ But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the promise He made to your fathers. So the Lord brought you out by a strong hand. He set you free from the land where you were servants, and from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know then that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. He keeps His promise and shows His loving-kindness to those who love Him and keep His Laws, even to a thousand family groups in the future. ¹⁰ But He destroys those who hate Him. He will not show kindness to the one who hates Him, but will punish him to his face. ¹¹ So keep and obey all the Laws I am telling you today.

Good Comes to Those Who Obey

¹² “If you listen to these Laws and keep and obey them, the Lord your God will keep His agreement and loving-kindness as He promised to your fathers. ¹³ He will love you and bring good to you and make you a nation of many. He will bring good to your children and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine and your oil. And He will give you many cattle and young ones in your flock, in the land He promised to your fathers to give you. ¹⁴ More good will come to you than to any other nation. There will be no male or female among you or your cattle that is not able to have young ones. ¹⁵ The Lord will take all sickness from you. He will not let any bad diseases come upon you that you have known in Egypt. But He will give them to all who hate you. ¹⁶ You will destroy all the nations the Lord your God will give to you. You will not pity them or worship their gods, for that would be a trap to you.

¹⁷ “You may say in your heart, ‘These nations are stronger than I. How can I drive them out?’ ¹⁸ But you will not be afraid of them. You will remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. ¹⁹ You will remember the hard trials you saw, the powerful works, and the strong hand and powerful arm the Lord your God used to bring you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the nations who make you afraid. ²⁰ And the Lord your God will send the hornet against them. Those who are left will hide themselves from you and be destroyed. ²¹ You will not be afraid of them. For the Lord your God is among you, a great and powerful God. ²² The Lord your God will drive away these nations in front of you one by one. You will not be able to destroy them in a short time, or the wild animals may become too many for you. ²³ But the Lord your God will give them to you. He will bring much trouble upon them until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will give their kings into your hand. And you will destroy their name from under heaven. No man will be able to stand in front of you until you have destroyed them. ²⁵ You must burn with fire their objects of worship. Do not want the silver or gold that is on them, or take it for yourselves. It would be a trap to you, for it is a hated thing to the Lord your God. ²⁶ Do not bring a hated thing into your house. You would become hated also. But turn from it with fear and hate, for bad will come from it.