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Deuteronomy 1-5
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, in accordance with everything that the LORD had commanded him to declare to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Law, saying,
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'The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
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Turn and set out on your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Negev, by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
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See, I have placed the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants after them.’
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'And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to endure you alone.
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The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.
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May the LORD, the God of your fathers increase you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you, just as He has promised you!
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How can I alone endure the burden and weight of you and your strife?
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Obtain for yourselves men who are wise, discerning, and informed from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’
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And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’
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So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and informed men, and appointed them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes.
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'Then I ordered your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen and judge righteously between a person and his fellow countryman, or the stranger who is with him.
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You are not to show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You are not to be afraid of any person, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
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At that time I commanded you all the things that you were to do.
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'Then we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness that you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
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And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is about to give us.
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See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
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'Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may spy out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up, and the cities which we should enter.’
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The plan pleased me, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.
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Then they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.
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And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. They also brought us back a report and said, ‘The land that the LORD our God is about to give us is good.’
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'Yet you were unwilling to go up; instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;
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and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.
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Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, 'The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.'?’
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But I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, nor fear them.
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The LORD your God, who goes before you, will Himself fight for you, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
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and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, on all of the road which you have walked until you came to this place.’
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Yet in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
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who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to make camp, in the fire by night to show you the way by which you should go, and in the cloud by day.
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'Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and swore an oath, saying,
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‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers,
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except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him I will give the land on which he has set foot, and to his sons, because he has followed the LORD fully.’
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The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there.
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Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall himself enter there; encourage him, for he will give it to Israel as an inheritance.
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Moreover, your little ones who, you said, would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall take possession of it.
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But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.’
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'Then you replied to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every man of you strapped on his weapons of war, and you viewed it as easy to go up into the hill country.
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But the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, 'Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated by your enemies.'?’
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So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.
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And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and they scattered you from Seir to Hormah.
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Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not listen to your voice, nor pay attention to you.
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So you remained at Kadesh for many days, the days that you spent there.
Chapter 2
1 'Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we circled Mount Seir for many days. 2 And the LORD spoke to me, saying, 3 ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, 4 and command the people, saying, 'You are going to pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and 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 as much as a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You are to buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. 7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wandering through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked anything.'?’
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'So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
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Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.’
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(The Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim.
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Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
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The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and settled in their place; just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.)
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‘Now arise and cross over the Wadi Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the Wadi Zered.
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Now the time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them.
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Indeed, the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.
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'So it came about, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,
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that the LORD spoke to me, saying,
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‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab.
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When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’
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(It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin,
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a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
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just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, where they remain even to this day.
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And as for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.)
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‘Arise, set out, and pass through the Valley of Arnon. Look! I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; start taking possession and plunge into battle with him.
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This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the faces of people everywhere, who, when they hear the news of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
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'So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
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‘Let me pass through your land; I will travel only on the road. I will not turn aside to the right or to the left.
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You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, only let me pass through on foot,
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just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.’
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But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to hand him over to you, as he is today.
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And the LORD said to me, ‘See, I have begun to turn Sihon and his land over to you. Begin taking possession, so that you may possess his land.’
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'Then Sihon came out with all his people to meet us in battle at Jahaz.
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And the LORD our God turned him over to us, and we defeated him with his sons and all his people.
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So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women, and children of every city. We left no survivor.
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We took only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured.
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From Aroer which is on the edge of the Valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too high for us; the LORD our God turned it all over to us.
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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, and wherever the LORD our God had commanded us to avoid.
Chapter 3
1 'Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og, king of Bashan, came out with all his people to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have handed him and all his people and his land over to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’ 3 So the LORD our God also handed over to us Og, king of Bashan, with all his people, and we struck them until no survivor was left. 4 We captured all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns. 6 We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 7 But all the animals and the spoils of the cities we took as our plunder.
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'So at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon
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(Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir):
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all the cities of the plateau, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
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(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits, and its width four cubits by the usual cubit.)
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'So we took possession of this land at that time. From Aroer, which is by the Valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
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The rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, all the region of Argob. (As to all Bashan, it is called the land of Rephaim.
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Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, that is, Bashan, and named it after his own name: Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.)
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To Machir I gave Gilead.
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To the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave from Gilead even as far as the Valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley as a border, and as far as the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon;
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the Arabah also, with the Jordan as a border, from Chinnereth even as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
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'Then I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it; all you valiant men shall cross over armed ahead of your brothers, the sons of Israel.
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However, your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in your cities which I have given you,
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until the LORD gives rest to your fellow countrymen as to you, and they also take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then you may return, each man to his possession which I have given you.’
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And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; the LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross.
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Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the One fighting for you.’
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'I also pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying,
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‘Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?
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Please let me cross over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country, and Lebanon.’
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But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; instead, the LORD said to me, ‘Enough! Do not speak to Me any more about this matter.
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Go up to the top of Pisgah and raise your eyes to the west, the north, the south, and the east, and see it with your eyes; for you shall not cross over this Jordan.
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But commission Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across leading this people, and he will give to them, as an inheritance, the land which you will see.’
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So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
Chapter 4
1 'Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you will live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I am commanding you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you. 4 But you who clung to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.
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'See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it.
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So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
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For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?
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Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?
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'Only be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.
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Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may have them hear My words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
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You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire to the heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.
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Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice.
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So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
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The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so that you would perform them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it.
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'So be very careful yourselves, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire,
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so that you do not act corruptly and make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female,
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a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
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a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth.
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And be careful not to raise your eyes to heaven and look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the heavenly lights, and allow yourself to be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
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But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people of His own possession, as today.
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'Now the LORD was angry with me on your account, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
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For I am going to die in this land; I am not crossing the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you will take possession of this good land.
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So be careful yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you.
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For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
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'When you father children and have grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger,
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I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.
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The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you.
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There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything.
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But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
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When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.
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For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
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'Indeed, ask now about the earlier days that were before your time, since the day that God created mankind on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?
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Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?
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Or has a god ventured to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, just as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
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You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him.
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Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.
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Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,
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driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today.
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Therefore know today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
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So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.'
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Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east,
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for one to flee there who unintentionally killed his neighbor, without having hatred for him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
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Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
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Now this is the Law which Moses set before the sons of Israel;
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these are the testimonies and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,
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across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.
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And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east,
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from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),
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with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
Chapter 5
1 Now Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: 'Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I am speaking today for you to hear, so that you may learn them and be careful to do 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 us, all of us who are alive here today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, 5 while I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up on the mountain. He said,
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‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
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‘You shall have no other gods besides Me.
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‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
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You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
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but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain.
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‘Keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
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For six days you shall labor and do all your work,
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but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; you shall not do any work that day, you or your son or your daughter, or your male slave or your female slave, or your ox, your donkey, or any of your cattle, or your resident who stays with you, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you.
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And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to celebrate the Sabbath day.
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‘Honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well for you on the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
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‘You shall not murder.
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‘You shall not commit adultery.
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‘You shall not steal.
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‘You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
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‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male slave or his female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
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'These words the LORD spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, from the cloud, and from the thick darkness, with a great voice, and He added nothing more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
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And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
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You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with mankind, yet he lives.
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Now then, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die!
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For who is there of humanity who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
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Go near and listen to everything that the LORD our God says; then speak to us everything that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
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'Now the LORD heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.
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If only they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it would go well with them and with their sons forever!
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Go, say to them, 'Return to your tents.'
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But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, so that they may follow them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
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So you shall be careful to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.
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You shall walk entirely in the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and that it may be well for you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
King James Version
Chapter 1
1 These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) 3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; 4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: 5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
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And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
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The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
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(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
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How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?
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Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
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And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.
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So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.
16
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
18
And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
19
And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.
20
And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.
21
Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
22
And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
23
And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
24
And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
25
And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
26
Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:
27
And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
29
Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30
The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
31
And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32
Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,
33
Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
34
And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35
Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,
36
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
37
Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38
But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39
Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
40
But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41
Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
42
And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43
So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
44
And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45
And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46
So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
Chapter 2
1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. 2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying, 3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. 4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: 5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. 6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. 7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
8
And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
9
And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
10
The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;
11
Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.
12
The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.
13
Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.
14
And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them.
15
For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.
16
So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,
17
That the LORD spake unto me, saying,
18
Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day:
19
And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
20
(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;
21
A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:
22
As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:
23
And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
24
Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.
25
This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.
26
And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
27
Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.
28
Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet;
29
(As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.
30
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
31
And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.
32
Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.
33
And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
34
And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:
35
Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
36
From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:
37
Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.
Chapter 3
1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. 4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. 6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. 7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. 8 And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; 9 (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) 10 All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
12
And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
13
And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
14
Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.
15
And I gave Gilead unto Machir.
16
And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
17
The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward.
18
And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.
19
But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;
20
Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.
21
And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.
22
Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.
23
And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
24
O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
25
I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
26
But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.
27
Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
28
But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
29
So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.
Chapter 4
1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. 5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. 25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. 28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. 32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. 40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.
41
Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
42
That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
43
Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.
44
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
45
These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,
46
On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:
47
And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
48
From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
49
And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
Chapter 5
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
6
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
7
Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8
Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
10
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
12
Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
13
Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
14
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15
And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
16
Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
17
Thou shalt not kill.
18
Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19
Neither shalt thou steal.
20
Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
21
Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.
22
These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
23
And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24
And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
25
Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
26
For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27
Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
28
And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.
29
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
30
Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
31
But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
32
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33
Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. 3 In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him to say to them. 4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:
6
"The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb: 'You have stayed at this mountain long enough.
7
Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and their neighbors in the Arabah, the hill country, the Judean foothills, the Negev and the sea coast--to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates River.
8
See, I have set the land before you. Enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their future descendants.'
9
"I said to you at that time: I can't bear the responsibility for you on my own.
10
The Lord your God has so multiplied you that today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky.
11
May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more, and bless you as he promised you.
12
But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself?
13
Appoint for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will make them your leaders.
14
"You replied to me, 'What you propose to do is good.'
15
"So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and set them over you as leaders: commanders for thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes.
16
I commanded your judges at that time: Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge rightly between a man and his brother or his resident alien.
17
Do not show partiality when deciding a case; listen to small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.
18
At that time I commanded you about all the things you were to do.
19
"We then set out from Horeb and went across all the great and terrible wilderness you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,
20
I said to you: You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.
21
See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
22
"Then all of you approached me and said, 'Let's send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.'
23
The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one man for each tribe.
24
They left and went up into the hill country and came to Eshcol Valley, scouting the land.
25
They took some of the fruit from the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us back a report: 'The land the Lord our God is giving us is good.'
26
"But you were not willing to go up. You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.
27
You grumbled in your tents and said, 'The Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites in order to destroy us, because he hates us.
28
Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.'
29
"So I said to you: Don't be terrified or afraid of them!
30
The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw him do for you in Egypt.
31
And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place.
32
But in spite of this you did not trust the Lord your God,
33
who went before you on the journey to seek out a place for you to camp. He went in the fire by night and in the cloud by day to guide you on the road you were to travel.
34
"When the Lord heard your words, he grew angry and swore an oath:
35
None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,
36
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he remained loyal to the Lord.'
37
"The Lord was angry with me also because of you and said, 'You will not enter there either.
38
Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.
39
Your children, who you said would be plunder, your sons who don't yet know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it.
40
But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.'
41
"You answered me, 'We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight just as the Lord our God commanded us.' Then each of you put on his weapons of war and thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.
42
"But the Lord said to me, 'Tell them: Don't go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from being defeated by your enemies.'
43
So I spoke to you, but you didn't listen. You rebelled against the Lord's command and defiantly went up into the hill country.
44
Then the Amorites who lived there came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir as far as Hormah.
45
When you returned, you wept before the Lord, but he didn't listen to your requests or pay attention to you.
46
For this reason you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.
Chapter 2
1 "Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we traveled around the hill country of Seir for many days. 2 The Lord then said to me, 3 You've been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north. 4 Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. 5 Don't provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot of it, because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession. 6 You may purchase food from them, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you these past forty years, and you have lacked nothing.'
8
"So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road and from Elath and Ezion-geber. We traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab.
9
The Lord said to me, 'Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.' "
10
The Emim, a great and numerous people as tall as the Anakim, had previously lived there.
11
They were also regarded as Rephaim, like the Anakim, though the Moabites called them Emim.
12
The Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out, destroying them completely and settling in their place, just as Israel did in the land of its possession the Lord gave them.
13
"The Lord said, 'Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.' So we crossed the Zered Valley.
14
The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley was thirty-eight years until the entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.
15
Indeed, the Lord's hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp until they had all perished.
16
"When all the fighting men had died among the people,
17
the Lord spoke to me,
18
Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
19
When you get close to the Ammonites, don't show any hostility to them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the Ammonites' land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.' "
20
This too used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim,
21
a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. The Lord destroyed the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they drove them out and settled in their place.
22
This was just as he had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and have lived in their place until now.
23
The Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed the Avvites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and settled in their place.
24
"The Lord also said, 'Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed the Amorites' King Sihon of Heshbon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession of it; engage him in battle.
25
Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.'
26
"So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to King Sihon of Heshbon from the Wilderness of Kedemoth, saying,
27
Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left.
28
You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot,
29
just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.'
30
But King Sihon of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.
31
"Then the Lord said to me, 'See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.'
32
So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz.
33
The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army.
34
At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors.
35
We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves.
36
There was no city that was inaccessible to us, from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead. The Lord our God gave everything to us.
37
But you did not go near the Ammonites' land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River, the cities of the hill country, or any place that the Lord our God had forbidden.
Chapter 3
1 "Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against us with his whole army to do battle at Edrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, 'Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.' 3 So the Lord our God also handed over King Og of Bashan and his whole army to us. We struck him until there was no survivor left. 4 We captured all his cities at that time. There wasn't a city that we didn't take from them: sixty cities, the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a large number of rural villages. 6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon, destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 7 But we took all the livestock and the spoil from the cities as plunder for ourselves.
8
"At that time we took the land from the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon,
9
which the Sidonians call Sirion, but the Amorites call Senir,
10
all the cities of the plateau, Gilead, and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
11
(Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron. Isn't it in Rabbah of the Ammonites? It is 13 1/2 feet long and 6 feet wide by a standard measure.)
12
"At that time we took possession of this land. I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Aroer by the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead along with its cities.
13
I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og. The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.
14
Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took over the entire region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He called Bashan by his own name, Jair's Villages, as it is today.
15
I gave Gilead to Machir,
16
and I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.
17
The Arabah and Jordan are also borders from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
18
"I commanded you at that time: The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your valiant men will cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers the Israelites.
19
But your wives, dependents, and livestock--I know that you have a lot of livestock--will remain in the cities I have given you
20
until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession that I have given you.
21
"I commanded Joshua at that time: Your own eyes have seen everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter.
22
Don't be afraid of them, for the Lord your God fights for you.
23
"At that time I begged the Lord:
24
Lord God, you have begun to show your greatness and your strong hand to your servant, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours?
25
Please let me cross over and see the beautiful 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 and would not listen to me. The Lord said to me, 'That's enough! Do not speak to me again about this matter.
27
Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west, north, south, and east, and see it with your own eyes, for you will not cross the Jordan.
28
But commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit this land that you will see.'
29
So we stayed in the valley facing Beth-peor.
Chapter 4
1 "Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today. 5 Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. 6 Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, 'This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.' 7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? 8 And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
9
"Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don't forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don't slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.
10
The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, 'Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.'
11
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud.
12
Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn't see a form; there was only a voice.
13
He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets.
14
At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.
15
"Diligently watch yourselves--because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb--
16
so you don't act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form,
17
or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky,
18
any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth.
19
When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars--all the stars in the sky--do not be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them. The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.
20
But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt's iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.
21
"The Lord was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22
I won't be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.
23
Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you.
24
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25
"When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, angering him,
26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.
27
The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you.
28
There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.
29
But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.
30
When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.
31
He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.
32
"Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created mankind on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of?
33
Has a people heard God's voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived?
34
Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35
You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.
36
He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire.
37
Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,
38
to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.
39
Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.
40
Keep his statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time."
41
Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east.
42
Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive:
43
Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.
44
This is the law Moses gave the Israelites.
45
These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,
46
across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt.
47
They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east,
48
from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon)
49
and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.
Chapter 5
1 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 He did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. 5 At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to report the word of the Lord to you, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain. And he said:
6
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
7
Do not have other gods besides me.
8
Do not make an idol for yourself in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
9
Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers' iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,
10
but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.
11
Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.
12
Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you.
13
You are to labor six days and do all your work,
14
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work--you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.
15
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and so that you may prosper in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
17
Do not murder.
18
Do not commit adultery.
19
Do not steal.
20
Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor.
21
Do not covet your neighbor's wife or desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
22
"The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
23
All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.
24
You said, 'Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God speaks with a person, yet he still lives.
25
But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.
26
For who out of all humanity has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived?
27
Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you can tell us everything the Lord our God tells you; we will listen and obey.'
28
"The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, 'I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.
29
If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that they and their children would prosper forever.
30
Go and tell them: Return to your tents.
31
But you stand here with me, and I will tell you every command--the statutes and ordinances--you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.'
New Living Translation
Chapter 1
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2
Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir.
3
But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the LORD had commanded him to say.
4
This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who had ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
5
While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the LORD's instructions as follows.
6
'When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, 'You have stayed at this mountain long enough.
7
It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions--the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River.
8
Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.''
9
Moses continued, 'At that time I told you, 'You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself.
10
The LORD your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars!
11
And may the LORD, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised!
12
But you are such a heavy load to carry! How can I deal with all your problems and bickering?
13
Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.'
14
'Then you responded, 'Your plan is a good one.'
15
So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten.
16
'At that time I instructed the judges, 'You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions
17
and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don't be afraid of anyone's anger, for the decision you make is God's decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.'
18
'At that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do.
19
'Then, just as the LORD our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea,
20
I said to you, 'You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the LORD our God is giving us.
21
Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don't be afraid! Don't be discouraged!'
22
'But you all came to me and said, 'First, let's send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.'
23
'This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes.
24
They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it.
25
They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, 'The land the LORD our God has given us is indeed a good land.'
26
'But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to go in.
27
You complained in your tents and said, 'The LORD must hate us. That's why he has brought us here from Egypt--to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered.
28
Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, 'The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there--the descendants of Anak!''
29
'But I said to you, 'Don't be shocked or afraid of them!
30
The LORD your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt.
31
And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.'
32
'But even after all he did, you refused to trust the LORD your God,
33
who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
34
'When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore,
35
'Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,
36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.'
37
'And the LORD was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, 'Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land!
38
Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it.
39
I will give the land to your little ones--your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it.
40
As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.'
41
'Then you confessed, 'We have sinned against the LORD! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the LORD our God has commanded us.' So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.
42
'But the LORD told me to tell you, 'Do not attack, for I am not with you. If you go ahead on your own, you will be crushed by your enemies.'
43
'This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the LORD's command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight.
44
But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah.
45
Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but he refused to listen.
46
So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.
Chapter 2
1 'Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea, just as the LORD had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.
2
'Then at last the LORD said to me,
3
You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north.
4
Give these orders to the people: 'You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful.
5
Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land.
6
If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it.
7
For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.''
8
'So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber. 'Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab,
9
the LORD warned us, 'Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.''
10
(A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants.
11
Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites.
12
In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the LORD gave Israel their land.)
13
Moses continued, 'Then the LORD said to us, 'Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.' So we crossed the brook.
14
'Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the LORD had vowed would happen.
15
The LORD struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.
16
'When all the men of fighting age had died,
17
the LORD said to me,
18
'Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar
19
and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.''
20
(That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites.
21
They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land.
22
He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day.
23
A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)
24
Moses continued, 'Then the LORD said, 'Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land.
25
Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.''
26
Moses continued, 'From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace:
27
Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won't turn off into the fields on either side.
28
Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land.
29
The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.'
30
'But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.
31
'Then the LORD said to me, 'Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.'
32
'Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz.
33
But the LORD our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people.
34
We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone--men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared.
35
We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.
36
'The LORD our God also helped us conquer Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and the town in the gorge, and the whole area as far as Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us.
37
However, we avoided the land of the Ammonites all along the Jabbok River and the towns in the hill country--all the places the LORD our God had commanded us to leave alone.
Chapter 3
1 'Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his entire army attacked us at Edrei. 2 But the LORD told me, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, and I will give you all his land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.'
3
'So the LORD our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived.
4
We conquered all sixty of his towns--the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest.
5
These towns were all fortified with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time.
6
We completely destroyed the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered--men, women, and children alike.
7
But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.
8
'So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River--all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon.
9
(Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and the Amorites call it Senir.)
10
We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the towns of Salecah and Edrei, which were part of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
11
(King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
12
'When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Aroer along the Arnon Gorge, plus half of the hill country of Gilead with its towns.
13
Then I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan--Og's former kingdom--to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (This entire Argob region of Bashan used to be known as the land of the Rephaites.
14
Jair, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the whole Argob region in Bashan, all the way to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. Jair renamed this region after himself, calling it the Towns of Jair, as it is still known today.)
15
I gave Gilead to the clan of Makir.
16
But I also gave part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The area I gave them extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge in the south to the Jabbok River on the Ammonite frontier.
17
They also received the Jordan Valley, all the way from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea, with the Jordan River serving as the western boundary. To the east were the slopes of Pisgah.
18
'At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: 'Although the LORD your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them.
19
Your wives, children, and numerous livestock, however, may stay behind in the towns I have given you.
20
When the LORD has given security to the rest of the Israelites, as he has to you, and when they occupy the land the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I have given you.'
21
'At that time I gave Joshua this charge: 'You have seen for yourself everything the LORD your God has done to these two kings. He will do the same to all the kingdoms on the west side of the Jordan.
22
Do not be afraid of the nations there, for the LORD your God will fight for you.'
23
'At that time I pleaded with the LORD and said,
24
O Sovereign LORD, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do?
25
Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.'
26
'But the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. 'That's enough!' he declared. 'Speak of it no more.
27
But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River.
28
Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.'
29
So we stayed in the valley near Beth-peor.
Chapter 4
1 'And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
3
'You saw for yourself what the LORD did to you at Baal-peor. There the LORD your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor.
4
But all of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today--every one of you.
5
'Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
6
Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, 'How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!'
7
For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him?
8
And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9
'But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
10
Never forget the day when you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, 'Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.'
11
'You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness.
12
And the LORD spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn't see his form; there was only a voice.
13
He proclaimed his covenant--the Ten Commandments--which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets.
14
It was at that time that the LORD commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
15
'But be very careful! You did not see the LORD's form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.
16
So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form--whether of a man or a woman,
17
an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky,
18
a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea.
19
And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars--all the forces of heaven--don't be seduced into worshiping them. The LORD your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.
20
Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.
21
'But the LORD was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession.
22
You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river.
23
So be careful not to break the covenant the LORD your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the LORD your God has forbidden this.
24
The LORD your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.
25
'In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the LORD your God and will arouse his anger.
26
'Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.
27
For the LORD will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.
28
There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone--gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
29
But from there you will search again for the LORD your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
30
'In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the LORD your God and listen to what he tells you.
31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.
32
'Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before?
33
Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire--as you did--and survived?
34
Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.
35
'He showed you these things so you would know that the LORD is God and there is no other.
36
He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it.
37
Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.
38
He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.
39
'So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The LORD is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other.
40
If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.'
41
Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River.
42
Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety.
43
These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
44
This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites.
45
These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt,
46
and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt.
47
Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan--the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.
48
So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion, also called Mount Hermon.
49
And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah.)
Chapter 5
1 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said, 'Listen carefully, Israel. Hear the decrees and regulations I am giving you today, so you may learn them and obey them!
2
'The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai.
3
The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.
4
At the mountain the LORD spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire.
5
I stood as an intermediary between you and the LORD, for you were afraid of the fire and did not want to approach the mountain. He spoke to me, and I passed his words on to you. This is what he said:
6
'I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
7
'You must not have any other god but me.
8
'You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
9
You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
10
But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
11
'You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
12
'Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
13
You have six days each week for your ordinary work,
14
but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do.
15
Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.
16
'Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
17
'You must not murder.
18
'You must not commit adultery.
19
'You must not steal.
20
'You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
21
'You must not covet your neighbor's wife. You must not covet your neighbor's house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.
22
'The LORD spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
23
'But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me.
24
They said, 'Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live!
25
But now, why should we risk death again? If the LORD our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire.
26
Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive?
27
Go yourself and listen to what the LORD our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.'
28
'The LORD heard the request you made to me. And he said, 'I have heard what the people said to you, and they are right.
29
Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.
30
Go and tell them, 'Return to your tents.'
31
But you stand here with me so I can give you all my commands, decrees, and regulations. You must teach them to the people so they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.''
32
So Moses told the people, 'You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following his instructions in every detail.
33
Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
English Standard Version
Chapter 1
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’
9
“At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself.
10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.
11
May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!
12
How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?
13
Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’
14
And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’
15
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.
16
And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him.
17
You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
18
And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
19
“Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea.
20
And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
21
See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
22
Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’
23
The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.
24
And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
25
And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’
26
“Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.
27
And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28
Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’
29
Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them.
30
The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
31
and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’
32
Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God,
33
who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.
34
“And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore,
35
‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,
36
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’
37
Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there.
38
Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39
And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
40
But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’
41
“Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country.
42
And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’
43
So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.
44
Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.
45
And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you.
46
So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.
Chapter 2
1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the LORD said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.
9
And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’
10
(The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.
11
Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
12
The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.)
13
‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered.
14
And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
15
For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.
16
“So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people,
17
the LORD said to me,
18
‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
19
And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’
20
(It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—
21
a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
22
as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day.
23
As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)
24
‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle.
25
This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
26
“So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,
27
‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left.
28
You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot,
29
as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving to us.’
30
But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.
31
And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’
32
Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz.
33
And the LORD our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people.
34
And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors.
35
Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured.
36
From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The LORD our God gave all into our hands.
37
Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the LORD our God had forbidden us.
Chapter 3
1 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
12
“When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities.
13
The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim.
14
Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.)
15
To Machir I gave Gilead,
16
and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites;
17
the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
18
“And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel.
19
Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you,
20
until the LORD gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the LORD your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’
21
And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing.
22
You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.’
23
“And I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying,
24
‘O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?
25
Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’
26
But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.
27
Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.
28
But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’
29
So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
Chapter 4
1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
9
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—
10
how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’
11
And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
12
Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
13
And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
14
And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
15
“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
16
beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17
the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,
18
the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
19
And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
20
But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
21
Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
22
For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land.
23
Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.
24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25
“When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger,
26
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
27
And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
28
And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29
But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30
When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.
31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
32
“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.
33
Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
34
Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35
To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.
36
Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
37
And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,
38
driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,
39
know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
40
Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
41
Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,
42
that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life:
43
Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
44
This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.
45
These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
46
beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.
47
And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;
48
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),
49
together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
Chapter 5
1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6
“‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7
“‘You shall have no other gods before me.
8
“‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
9
You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
10
but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11
“‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
12
“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
13
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16
“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
17
“‘You shall not murder.
18
“‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19
“‘And you shall not steal.
20
“‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21
“‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
22
“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
23
And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.
24
And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.
25
Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die.
26
For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived?
27
Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28
“And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.
29
Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!
30
Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”
31
But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’
32
You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33
You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
New International Version
Chapter 1
1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan--that is, in the Arabah--opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)
3
In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.
4
This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.
5
East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:
6
The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
7
Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.
8
See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the LORD swore he would give to your fathers--to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and to their descendants after them.'
9
At that time I said to you, 'You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone.
10
The LORD your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
11
May the LORD, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!
12
But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?
13
Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.'
14
You answered me, 'What you propose to do is good.'
15
So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you--as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.
16
And I charged your judges at that time, 'Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.
17
Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.'
18
And at that time I told you everything you were to do.
19
Then, as the LORD our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.
20
Then I said to you, 'You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
21
See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.'
22
Then all of you came to me and said, 'Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.'
23
The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe.
24
They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol and explored it.
25
Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, 'It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.'
26
But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.
27
You grumbled in your tents and said, 'The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.
28
Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.''
29
Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.
30
The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,
31
and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.'
32
In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God,
33
who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.
34
When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:
35
No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,
36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.'
37
Because of you the LORD became angry with me also and said, 'You shall not enter it, either.
38
But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.
39
And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad--they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.
40
But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.'
41
Then you replied, 'We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God commanded us.' So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.
42
But the LORD said to me, 'Tell them, 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.''
43
So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the LORD's command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country.
44
The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.
45
You came back and wept before the LORD, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you.
46
And so you stayed in Kadesh many days--all the time you spent there.
Chapter 2
1 Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the LORD had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.
2
Then the LORD said to me,
3
You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.
4
Give the people these orders: 'You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.
5
Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.
6
You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.''
7
The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.
8
So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.
9
Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.'
10
(The Emites used to live there--a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.
11
Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.
12
Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the LORD gave them as their possession.)
13
And the LORD said, 'Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.' So we crossed the valley.
14
Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
15
The LORD's hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.
16
Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,
17
the LORD said to me,
18
Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.
19
When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.'
20
(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21
They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.
22
The LORD had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.
23
And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)
24
Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.
25
This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.'
26
From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying,
27
Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.
28
Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot--
29
as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us--until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.'
30
But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.
31
The LORD said to me, 'See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.'
32
When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz,
33
the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.
34
At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them--men, women and children. We left no survivors.
35
But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.
36
From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
37
But in accordance with the command of the LORD our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.
Chapter 3
1 Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 The LORD said to me, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.'
3
So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors.
4
At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them--the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan.
5
All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.
6
We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city--men, women and children.
7
But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.
8
So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.
9
(Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)
10
We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salekah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
11
(Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
12
Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns.
13
The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.
14
Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.)
15
And I gave Gilead to Makir.
16
But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites.
17
Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
18
I commanded you at that time: 'The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites.
19
However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you,
20
until the LORD gives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.'
21
At that time I commanded Joshua: 'You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going.
22
Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.'
23
At that time I pleaded with the LORD:
24
Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?
25
Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan--that fine hill country and Lebanon.'
26
But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. 'That is enough,' the LORD said. 'Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.
27
Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.
28
But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.'
29
So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.
Chapter 4
1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.
3
You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,
4
but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today.
5
See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.
6
Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'
7
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?
8
And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
10
Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, 'Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.'
11
You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
12
Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.
13
He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.
14
And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
15
You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
16
so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
17
or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,
18
or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
19
And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
20
But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.
21
The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance.
22
I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.
23
Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25
After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time--if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and arousing his anger,
26
I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.
27
The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
28
There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30
When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.
32
Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
33
Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?
34
Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
35
You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.
36
From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.
37
Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,
38
to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.
39
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.
40
Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.
41
Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,
42
to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life.
43
The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
44
This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.
45
These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt
46
and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.
47
They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.
48
This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),
49
and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah.
Chapter 5
1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our ancestors that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:
6
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
7
You shall have no other gods before me.
8
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
9
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
10
but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
12
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
13
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14
but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.
15
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
16
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
17
You shall not murder.
18
You shall not commit adultery.
19
You shall not steal.
20
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.'
22
These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
23
When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me.
24
And you said, 'The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.
25
But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.
26
For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?
27
Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey.'
28
The LORD heard you when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, 'I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.
29
Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
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The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® Copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible Copyright© 1960 - 2020 by The Lockman Foundation.
Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.