Numbers 32:20 - Deuteronomy 7:26

Common English Bible

²⁰ Moses said to them, “Do this and fight before the Lord in war. ²¹ All of you who are equipped for war, cross the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him ²² and the land is subdued in the Lord’s presence. Then you may return innocently before the Lord and Israel, and this land will be your property before the Lord. ²³ But if you don’t do this, you’ve sinned against the Lord. Know that your sin will find you. ²⁴ So build towns for your children and walled enclosures for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

²⁵ The Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my master has commanded. ²⁶ Our children, wives, livestock, and all of our animals will remain in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ But your servants, everyone equipped for war before the Lord, will go over to do battle as my master said.”

²⁸ Moses made demands for them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, Nun’s son, and to the leaders of the households of the Israelite tribes. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each equipped for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. ³⁰ If, however, they don’t cross with you, equipped for war, they will take possession of property with you in the land of Canaan.”

³¹ The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “We’ll do just as the Lord has spoken to your servants. ³² We’ll cross into the land of Canaan before the Lord, equipped for war. But the property we inherit will be across the Jordan.”

Territory of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh

³³ So Moses gave to them—to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s son—the kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, including the land, its cities, and the territory surrounding the land’s cities. ³⁴ The Gadites built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities and walled enclosures for flocks. ³⁷ The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. They named the cities that they built. ³⁹ The descendants of Machir, Manasseh’s son, went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir, Manasseh’s son, and he lived there. ⁴¹ Manasseh’s son Jair went and captured their villages and named them Havvoth-jair.^{[a] 42} Nobah went and captured Kenath and its surrounding villages. He renamed it Nobah after himself.

March out of Egypt and through the sea

33 These were the stages by which the Israelites marched when they left the land of Egypt, according to their military units under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ² Moses recorded the points of departure for each stage of the march at the Lord’s command. These are the stages of their march according to their points of departure.

³ They marched from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month.^[b] On the day after the Passover the Israelites went out defiantly^[c] in the sight of all the Egyptians, ⁴ while the Egyptians were burying their oldest males, whom the Lord had killed. The Lord also executed judgments against their gods. ⁵ The Israelites marched from Rameses and they camped at Succoth. ⁶ They marched from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ⁷ They marched from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. ⁸ They marched from Pi-hahiroth and they crossed through the sea toward the desert.

March through the southern desert

March through the Transjordan region

Divine instruction about the land

⁵⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: ⁵¹ Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² you will drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. You will destroy all their carved figures. You will also destroy all their cast images. You will eliminate all their shrines. ⁵³ You will take possession of the land and live in it, because I’ve given the land to you to possess. ⁵⁴ You will divide up the land by lot according to your clans. To the large you will make its inheritance large, and to the small you will make its inheritance small. To whomever the lot falls, that place will be his. You will inherit land according to your ancestral tribes. ⁵⁵ But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those you allow to remain will prick your eyes and be thorns in your side. They will harass you in the land in which you are living. ⁵⁶ Then what I intended to do to them, I’ll do to you.

Boundaries of the land of Canaan

34 The Lord said to Moses: ² Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance. The land of Canaan according to its boundaries:

¹³ Moses commanded the Israelites: This is the land that you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes, ¹⁴ because the tribe of Reuben by their households and the tribe of Gad by their households, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance. ¹⁵ The two and a half tribes have taken their inheritance across the Jordan at Jericho toward the east.

Appointment of leaders to assign the inheritance

¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁷ These are the names of the men who will assign the inheritance of the land: Eleazar the priest and Joshua, Nun’s son. ¹⁸ You will also take one chief from each tribe to apportion the land. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, Jephunneh’s son; ²⁰ from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel, Ammihud’s son; ²¹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad, Chislon’s son; ²² from the tribe of the Danites, a chief, Bukki, Jogli’s son; ²³ from Joseph’s descendants: of the tribe of the Manassites, a chief, Hanniel, Ephod’s son; ²⁴ and from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a chief, Kemuel, Shiphtan’s son; ²⁵ from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a chief, Elizaphan, Parnach’s son; ²⁶ from the tribe of the Issacharites, a chief, Paltiel, Azzan’s son; ²⁷ from the tribe of the Asherites, a chief, Ahihud, Shelomi’s son; ²⁸ from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a chief, Pedahel, Ammihud’s son.

²⁹ These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance of the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Cities and pastures of the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Moab plains by the Jordan across from Jericho: ² Command the Israelites that they give cities from their inherited property to the Levites in which to live. You will also give the Levites pastures around their cities. ³ The cities will be theirs in which to live. Their pastures will be for their cattle, their possessions, and all their animals. ⁴ The pastures of the cities that you must give to the Levites will extend from the wall of the city outward for one thousand five hundred feet in all directions. ⁵ You will measure outside the city on the east side three thousand feet, on the south side three thousand feet, on the west side three thousand feet, and on the north side three thousand feet, with the city in the middle. These will be their cities’ pastures.

⁶ Six of the cities that you give to the Levites will be refuge cities. You will allow the person who kills someone to flee there. In addition to these you will give them forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight, along with their pastures. ⁸ As for the cities that you give from the property of the Israelites, you will take more from the larger tribes and less from the smaller. Each in proportion to its inheritance will give cities to the Levites.

Refuge cities

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁰ Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ identify for yourselves cities to be refuge cities, where a person who kills someone by accident may flee. ¹² The cities will be for you a place of refuge from the close relative of the dead. The person who killed someone may not be put to death until he stands before the community for judgment. ¹³ You will establish six refuge cities for yourselves. ¹⁴ You will establish three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be the refuge cities. ¹⁵ These six cities will be refuge for Israelites, immigrants, and temporary residents, as a place to flee for anyone who kills a person by accident.

¹⁶ But if someone strikes a person with an iron object and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must definitely be put to death. ¹⁷ If someone strikes another with a stone in hand that could cause death and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must definitely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if someone strikes with a wood object in hand that could cause death, he is a murderer. The murderer must definitely be put to death. ¹⁹ The close relative responsible for the blood^[f] of the dead is the one who will put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he will execute him. ²⁰ If in hatred someone hits another or throws something at him with premeditation, he will be put to death. ²¹ Or if in hostility someone strikes another with his hand and he dies, the one who struck is a murderer and he will be put to death. The close relative will put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² But if suddenly and without hostility someone hits another or throws any object at him without premeditation, ²³ or accidentally drops any stone on him that could cause death and he dies—even though they weren’t enemies and no evil was intended— ²⁴ then the community must come to a verdict between the killer and the close relative in accordance with these case laws. ²⁵ The community will protect the killer from the hand of the close relative and return him to the refuge city where he fled. He will live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. ²⁶ But if the killer ever goes outside the boundaries of the refuge city where he fled ²⁷ and the close relative finds him outside the boundary of his refuge city and kills him, he will not be responsible for his blood. ²⁸ The killer must live in his refuge city until the high priest’s death. After the high priest’s death the killer may return to the land he owns.

²⁹ These will be the regulations and case laws for all time in all your settlements.

³⁰ Anyone who kills another will be executed on the evidence of witnesses. But one witness alone cannot testify against a person for a death sentence. ³¹ You may not accept a ransom for the life of a killer, who is guilty of a capital crime, for he must definitely be put to death. ³² You may not accept a ransom for someone who has fled to his refuge city so that he can return and live in the land before the priest’s death. ³³ You may not pollute the land in which you live, for the blood pollutes the land. There can be no recovery^[g] for the land from the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ You will not make the land in which you live unclean, the land in the middle of which I reside, for I the Lord reside among the Israelites.

Inheritance of Zelophehad’s daughters

36 The leaders of the households of the clans of Gilead, Machir’s son and Manasseh’s grandson, of Joseph’s clans, approached and spoke before Moses and the chiefs, who were the leaders of the Israelite households. ² They said, “The Lord commanded my master to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. But my master was also commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ If they are married to someone from another Israelite tribe, their inheritance will be taken away from our household and given to another tribe into which they marry. Then it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ⁴ At the Israelite Jubilee, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they married. Then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”

⁵ Then Moses commanded the Israelites according to the Lord’s word: “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants are correct in what they’re saying. ⁶ This is the word that the Lord commands to Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry whomever seems best to them, but they may only marry into one of the clans of their ancestral tribe, ⁷ so that the inheritance of the Israelites doesn’t transfer from one tribe to another. The Israelites will each retain the tribal inheritance of his ancestral tribe. ⁸ Every daughter who inherits land from an Israelite tribe must marry into one of the clans of her father’s tribe. In this way each Israelite will own the land of his ancestors. ⁹ An inheritance of land may not be transferred from one tribe to another, for the Israelite tribes will each retain its own inheritance.”

¹⁰ Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad’s daughters, married their cousins. ¹² They married into the clan of Manasseh, Joseph’s son. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.

Conclusion

¹³ These are the commandments and the case laws that the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

The first heading: Introducing Deuteronomy

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan River, in the desert, on the plain across from Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. (² It is eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea along the Mount Seir route.) ³ It was in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses spoke to the Israelites precisely what the Lord had commanded him for them. (⁴ This was after the defeat of Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and Og, Bashan’s king, who ruled in Ashtaroth and^[h] Edrei.) ⁵ Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Instruction. He said the following:

Leaving Mount Horeb

⁶ At Horeb, the Lord our God told us: You’ve been at this mountain long enough. ⁷ Get going! Enter the hills of the Amorites and the surrounding areas in the desert, the highlands, the lowlands, the arid southern region, and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites—and the Lebanon range, all the way to the great Euphrates River. ⁸ Look, I have laid the land before you. Go and possess the land that I^[i] promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants after them.

⁹ At that same time, I told you: I can’t handle all of you by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied your number—you are now as countless as the stars in the sky. ¹¹ May the Lord, your ancestors’ God, continue to multiply you—a thousand times more! And may God bless you, just as he promised. ¹² But how can I handle all your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself? ¹³ Now, for each of your tribes, choose wise, discerning, and well-regarded individuals. I will appoint them as your leaders.

¹⁴ You answered me: “What you have proposed is a good idea.”

¹⁵ So I took leading individuals from your tribes, people who were wise and well-regarded, and I set them up as your leaders. There were commanders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, as well as officials for each of your tribes.

¹⁶ At that same time, I commanded your judges: Listen to your fellow tribe members and judge fairly, whether the dispute is between one fellow tribe member or between a tribe member and an immigrant. ¹⁷ Don’t show favoritism in a decision. Hear both sides out, whether the person is important or not. Don’t be afraid of anyone because the ruling belongs to God. Any dispute that is too difficult for you to decide, bring to me and I will take care of it.

¹⁸ So at that time, I commanded you concerning everything you were to do.

The spy disaster

¹⁹ We left Horeb and journeyed through that vast and terrifying desert you saw, on the way to the hills of the Amorites, exactly as the Lord our God commanded us. Then we arrived at Kadesh-barnea. ²⁰ I said to you: You have come to the hills of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to us. ²¹ Look! The Lord your God has laid out the land before you. Go up and take it, just as the Lord, your ancestors’ God, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be frightened!

²² Then all of you approached me, saying, “Let’s send spies ahead of us—they can check out the land for us. Then they can return with word about the route we should use and bring a report about the cities that we’ll be entering.”

²³ This idea seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe. ²⁴ These set out and went up into the hills, going as far as the Cluster^[j] ravine. They walked all around that area. ²⁵ They took some of the land’s fruit and then came back down to us. They reported to us: “The land that the Lord our God is giving to us is wonderful!” ²⁶ But you weren’t willing to go up. You rejected the Lord your God’s instruction. ²⁷ You complained in your tents, saying things like, “The Lord hates us! That’s why he brought us out of Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us! ²⁸ What are we doing? Our brothers have made our hearts sick by saying, ‘People far stronger and much taller than we live there, and the cities are huge, with walls sky-high! Worse still, we saw the descendants of the Anakites there!’”

²⁹ But I said to you: Don’t be terrified! Don’t be afraid of them! ³⁰ The Lord your God is going before you. He will fight for you just as he fought for you in Egypt while you watched, ³¹ and as you saw him do in the desert. Throughout your entire journey, until you reached this very place, the Lord your God has carried you just as a parent carries a child.

³² But you had no faith in the Lord your God about this matter, ³³ even though he went ahead of you, scouting places where you should camp, in fire by night, so you could see the road you were taking, and in cloud during the daytime.

³⁴ The Lord heard what you said. He was angry and he swore: ³⁵ Not even one of these people—this wicked generation!—will see the wonderful land that I promised to give to your ancestors. ³⁶ The only exception is Caleb, Jephunneh’s son. He will see it. I will give the land he walked on to him and his children for this reason: he was completely devoted to the Lord.

(³⁷ The Lord was even angry with me because of what you did. “You won’t enter the land either,” God said. ³⁸ “But Nun’s son Joshua, your assistant, will enter it. Strengthen him because he’s the one who will help Israel inherit the land.”)

³⁹ Now as for your toddlers, those you said would be taken in war, and your young children who don’t yet know right and wrong—they will enter the land. I will give it to them. They will possess it! ⁴⁰ But you all must now turn around. Head back toward the wilderness along the route of the Reed Sea.^[k]

⁴¹ You replied to me: “We’ve sinned against the Lord! We will go up! We will fight, just as the Lord our God commanded.” Each one of you grabbed your weapons. You thought it would be easy^[l] to go up into the hills. ⁴² But the Lord told me: Tell them: Don’t go up! Don’t fight because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.

⁴³ I reported this to you but you wouldn’t listen. You disobeyed the Lord’s instruction. Hotheadedly, you went up into the hills. ⁴⁴ And the Amorites who lived in those hills came out to meet you in battle. They chased you like bees give chase! They gave you a beating from Seir all the way to Hormah. ⁴⁵ When you came back, you cried before the Lord, but he wouldn’t respond to your tears or give you a hearing.

⁴⁶ And so you stayed in Kadesh-barnea for quite some time.

Journeys in Transjordan

2 Next, we turned around and headed back toward the wilderness along the Reed Sea^[m] road, exactly as the Lord instructed me. We traveled all around Mount Seir for a long time.

² Eventually the Lord said: ³ You’ve been traveling around this mountain long enough. Head north. ⁴ Command the people as follows: You are about to enter into the territory of your relatives who live in Seir: Esau’s descendants. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves most carefully. ⁵ Don’t fight with them because I will not give the tiniest parcel of their land to you. I have given Mount Seir to Esau’s family as their property. ⁶ Of course you may buy food from them with money so you can eat, and also water with money so you can drink.

⁷ No doubt about it: the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done. He watched over your journey through that vast desert. Throughout these forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You haven’t needed a thing.

⁸ So we passed through the territory of our relatives who live in Seir, Esau’s descendants, leaving the desert road from Elath and from Ezion-geber. Next we turned and went along the Moab wilderness route. ⁹ The Lord said to me: Don’t aggravate Moab. Don’t fight them in battle because I won’t give any part of their land to you as your own. I have given Ar to Lot’s descendants as their property.

(¹⁰ Now the Emim^[n] had lived there before. They were big and numerous and tall—just like the Anakim. ¹¹ Most people thought the Emim were Rephaim, like the Anakim were. But the Moabites called them “Emim.” ¹² Additionally, the Horim^[o] had lived in Seir previously, but Esau’s descendants took possession of their area, eliminating them altogether and settling in their place. That is exactly what Israel did in the land it took possession of, which the Lord gave to them.)

¹³ “So then, get going. Cross the Zered ravine.”

So we crossed the Zered ravine.

¹⁴ It took us a total of thirty-eight years to go from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered ravine. It was at that point that the last of the previous generation, every one of fighting age in the camp, had died, just as the Lord had sworn about them. ¹⁵ In fact, the Lord’s power was against them, to rid the camp of them, until they were all gone.

¹⁶ Now as soon as all those of fighting age had died, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me: ¹⁸ Today you are crossing through the territory of Moab and Ar ¹⁹ and you will come close to the Ammonites. Don’t aggravate them. Don’t fight with them because I won’t give any part of the Ammonites’ land to you as your own. I’ve given it to Lot’s descendants as their property.

²⁰ Now people thought that land was Rephaim territory as well. The Rephaim had lived there previously. But the Ammonites called them “Zamzummim.”^{[p] 21} They were large, numerous, and tall, just like the Anakim. But the Lord completely destroyed the Zamzummim before the Ammonites, and they took possession of that area, settling in their place. ²² That is exactly what God did for Esau’s descendants, who live in Seir, when he completely destroyed the Horites in their presence, and they took possession of the Horites’ area, settling in their place to this very day. ²³ The Avvim,^[q] who had lived in settlements around Gaza, were completely destroyed by the Caphtorim, who had come from Caphtor. They replaced the Avvim there.

Victories in Transjordan

²⁴ “So get going. Cross the Arnon ravine. I have handed Sihon the Amorite king of Heshbon and his land over to you. It’s time to possess the area! It’s time to fight him in battle! ²⁵ Starting right now, I am making everyone everywhere afraid of you and scared of you. Once they hear news of you, they will be shaking and worrying because of you.”

²⁶ I then sent messengers from the Kedemoth desert to Sihon, Heshbon’s king, with words of peace: ²⁷ “Please let us^[r] pass through your land. We promise to stay on the road. We won’t step off it, right or left. ²⁸ Please sell us food for money so we can eat; sell us water for money so we can drink. Let us pass through on foot— ²⁹ just as Esau’s descendants who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me—until we cross the Jordan River into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.”

³⁰ But Sihon, Heshbon’s king, wasn’t willing to let us pass through his land because the Lord your God had made his spirit hard and his heart inflexible so that God could hand him over to you, which is exactly how it happened. ³¹ The Lord said to me: Look! Right now I’m laying Sihon and his land before you. It’s time to take possession of his land!

³² Sihon and all his forces came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ³³ But the Lord our God gave him to us. We struck him down, along with his sons, and all his forces. ³⁴ At that time, we captured all of Sihon’s cities, and we placed every town—men, women, and children—under the ban.^[s] We left no survivors. ³⁵ The only things we kept for ourselves were the animals and the plunder from the towns we had taken. ³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Ravine, to the town that is in the valley there,^[t] even as far as Gilead, there wasn’t a city that could resist us. The Lord our God laid everything out before us. ³⁷ But you didn’t go near the Ammonite lands or hillside cities alongside the Jabbok River, in compliance with all^[u] that the Lord our God had commanded.

3 Next we turned and went up along the road to Bashan. Og, Bashan’s king, came out with all his forces to meet us in battle at Edrei. ² The Lord said to me: Don’t be afraid of him! I have handed him, all his forces, and his land over to you. Do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.

³ And so the Lord our God also handed Og, Bashan’s king, along with his forces, over to us. We struck them down until no survivor was left. ⁴ We also captured all of Og’s towns at that time. There wasn’t a single city that we didn’t take from them—a total of sixty towns, the entire region of Argob, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ Each of these towns was fortified with high walls, double gates, and crossbars. Outside the towns there were also a great number of villages.^{[v] 6} We placed them under the ban, just as we did with Sihon, Heshbon’s king. Every town—men, women, and children—was under the ban.^{[w] 7} The only things we kept for ourselves were the animals and the plunder from the towns.

⁸ So at that time, we took the land that had belonged to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, all the way from the Arnon Ravine to Mount Hermon (⁹ Sidonians call Hermon “Sirion,” but the Amorites call it “Senir”), ¹⁰ including all the towns on the plateau, in the regions of Gilead and Bashan, and all the way to Salecah and Edrei—all the towns that belonged to Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

(¹¹ By the way, Bashan’s King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron. Isn’t it still in the Ammonite town of Rabbah? By standard measurements, it was thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide.)

¹² So this is the land we possessed at that time. I gave some of it, from Aroer, which is beside the Arnon River, up through half of the Gilead highlands, along with its cities, to the Reubenites and the Gadites. ¹³ The rest of the Gilead region and all of Bashan, Og’s kingdom, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh.

(Now the whole Argob area, including all of Bashan, was often called Rephaim Country. ¹⁴ Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, took possession of the entire Argob region, as far as the border with the Geshurites and the Maacathites. He named the Bashan area after himself, Jair’s Settlement. That’s what it’s still called today.)

¹⁵ I also gave Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ To the Reubenites and the Gadites, I gave land from the Gilead, as far as the Arnon River—the middle of the river being the boundary line—to the Jabbok River, which is the boundary line with the Ammonites. ¹⁷ Also the desert plain, with the Jordan River as the boundary, from the Galilee Sea^[x] down to the desert sea (the Dead Sea^[y]) below the slopes of Mount Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸ Then I commanded you: Although the Lord your God has given you this land to possess, you must now cross over before the rest of your Israelite relatives as a fighting force ready for battle! ¹⁹ However, your wives, children, and herds—I know you have lots of herds!—may remain in the towns that I have given to you. ²⁰ Once the Lord settles your relatives, as you have been settled, and they also possess the land that the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan River, each of you can return to the property that I have given to you.

²¹ It was at that same time that I commanded Joshua: You saw everything that the Lord your God did to these two kings. That is exactly what the Lord will do to all the kingdoms where you’re going! ²² Don’t be afraid of them because the Lord your God is the one who will be fighting for you.

Moses’ prayer

²³ It was also at that same time that I begged the Lord: ²⁴ Please, Lord God! You have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. What god in heaven or on earth can act as you do or can perform your deeds and powerful acts? ²⁵ Please let me cross over the Jordan River so I can see the wonderful land that lies beyond it: those beautiful highlands, even the Lebanon region.

²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you! He wouldn’t listen to me. He said to me: That’s enough from you! Don’t ever ask me about this again! ²⁷ Go up to the top of Mount Pisgah. Look west, north, south, and east. Have a good look, but you will not cross the Jordan River. ²⁸ Instead, command Joshua, strengthen him, and encourage him because he’s the one who will cross the river before this people. He’s the one who will make sure they inherit the land you will see.

²⁹ After that, we stayed in the valley across from Beth-peor.

The events at Mount Horeb

4 Now, Israel, in light of all that, listen to the regulations and the case laws that I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and possess the land that the Lord, your ancestors’ God, is giving to you. ² Don’t add anything to the word that I am commanding you, and don’t take anything away from it. Instead, keep the commands of the Lord your God that I am commanding all of you.

³ You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did concerning the Baal of Peor. The Lord your God destroyed everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, ⁴ but all of you who stayed true to the Lord your God are alive today. ⁵ So pay attention! I am teaching all of you the regulations and the case laws exactly as the Lord my God commanded me. You must do these in the land you are entering to possess. ⁶ Keep them faithfully because that will show your wisdom and insight to the nations who will hear about all these regulations. They will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and insightful people!” ⁷ After all, is there any great nation that has gods^[z] as close to it as the Lord our God is close to us whenever we call to him? ⁸ Or does any great nation have regulations and case laws as righteous as all this Instruction that I am setting before you today?

⁹ But be on guard and watch yourselves closely so that you don’t forget the things your eyes saw and so they never leave your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren. ¹⁰ Remember that^[aa] day when you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me: “Gather the people to me. I will declare my words to them so that they will learn to fear me every day of their lives on the fertile land, and teach their children to do the same.” ¹¹ Then you all came close and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was blazing with fire up to the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick smoke! ¹² The Lord spoke to you out of the very fire itself. You heard the sound of words, but you didn’t see any form. There was only a voice. ¹³ The Lord declared his covenant to you, which he commanded you to do—the Ten Commandments^[ab]—and wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ At that time, the Lord commanded me to teach you all the regulations and the case laws that you must keep in the land that you are entering to possess.

¹⁵ So watch your conduct closely, because you didn’t see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the very fire itself. ¹⁶ Don’t ruin everything and make an idol for yourself: a form of any image, any likeness—male or female— ¹⁷ or any likeness whatsoever, whether of a land animal, a bird that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ an insect that crawls on the earth, or a fish that lives in the sea. ¹⁹ Don’t look to the skies, to the sun or the moon or the stars, all the heavenly bodies, and be led astray, worshipping and serving them. The Lord your God has granted these things to all the nations who live under heaven. ²⁰ But the Lord took you and brought you out of that iron furnace, out of Egypt, so that you might be his own treasured people, which is what you are right now.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me because of your deeds and swore that I couldn’t cross the Jordan River or enter the wonderful land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. ²² I will die here in this land. I won’t cross the Jordan River. But you will, and you will take possession of that wonderful land. ²³ So all of you, watch yourselves! Don’t forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you by making an idol or an image of any kind or anything the Lord your God forbids, ²⁴ because the Lord your God is an all-consuming fire. He is a passionate God.

Warnings and teachings about future disobedience

²⁵ Once you have had children and grandchildren and have grown old on the land, if you ruin things by making an idol, in any form whatsoever, and do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and anger him, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth as my witnesses against you today: You will definitely disappear—and quickly—from the land that you are crossing over the Jordan River to possess. You won’t extend your time there but will instead be totally destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the nations. Only a very few of you will survive in the countries where the Lord will drag you. ²⁸ There you will worship other^[ac] gods, made of wood and stone by human hands—gods that cannot see, listen, eat, or smell. ²⁹ You will seek the Lord your God from there, and you will find him^[ad] if you seek him with all your heart and with all your being. ³⁰ In your distress, when all these things happen to you in the future, you will return to the Lord your God and you will obey his voice, ³¹ because the Lord your God is a compassionate God. He won’t let you go, he won’t destroy you, and he won’t forget the covenant that he swore to your ancestors.

³² Now look into it: into days long past, before your time—all the way back to the day God first created human beings on earth, from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything this amazing ever happened? Has anything like it ever been heard of before? ³³ Has any people ever listened to a god’s voice speaking out of fire, as each of you have, and survived? ³⁴ Or has any god ever tried to take one nation out of another nation using tests, miracles, wonders, war, a strong hand and outstretched arm, or awesome power like all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt while you watched? ³⁵ You were shown these things so that you would know this: The Lord is the only God. There’s no other god except him. ³⁶ From heaven he made you hear his voice in order to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire. You heard his words from that very fire. ³⁷ And because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, God brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his own great power, ³⁸ in order to remove larger and stronger nations from before you and bring you into their land, giving it to you as an inheritance. That’s where things stand right now. ³⁹ Know then today and keep in mind that the Lord is the only God in heaven above or on earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep the Lord’s regulations and his commandments. I’m commanding them to you today for your well-being and for the well-being of your children after you, so that you may extend your time on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you forever.

Cities of refuge

⁴¹ Then Moses set aside three cities on the eastern side of the Jordan River ⁴² so that anyone who killed someone accidentally and without prior hatred could flee to one of these cities and be safe: ⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

The second heading: Recounting the Horeb covenant

⁴⁴ Now this is the Instruction that Moses set before the Israelites. ⁴⁵ These are the laws and the regulations and the case laws that Moses spoke to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁶ This took place across the Jordan River, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, whom Moses and the Israelites defeated when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of Og, Bashan’s king—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan River to the east— ⁴⁸ from Aroer, which is on the banks of the Arnon River, all the way to Mount Sion,^[ae] also known as Hermon, ⁴⁹ and all the desert regions across the Jordan River, on the east, down to the Dead Sea, beneath the slopes of Mount Pisgah.

Ten Commandments

5 Moses called out to all Israel, saying to them: “Israel! Listen to the regulations and the case laws that I’m recounting in your hearing right now. Learn them and carefully do them. ² The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Horeb. ³ The Lord didn’t make this covenant with our ancestors but with us—all of us who are here and alive right now. ⁴ The Lord spoke with you face-to-face on the mountain from the very fire itself. ⁵ At that time, I was standing between the Lord and you, declaring to you the Lord’s word, because you were terrified of the fire and didn’t go up on the mountain.”

The Lord said:

²² Those are the words the Lord spoke to your entire assembly with a loud voice while on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick smoke. He added no more. God wrote them on two stone tablets, then gave them to me.

Moses’ intercessory role

²³ Now once you heard the voice from the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, you came to me—more specifically, all the chiefs of your tribes and your elders came— ²⁴ and you said: “Look here! The Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness. We’ve heard his voice come out of the very fire itself. We’ve seen firsthand that God can speak to a human being and they can survive! ²⁵ But why should we die? Surely this massive fire will consume us! If we hear any more of the Lord our God’s voice, we will die. ²⁶ Is there anyone who has heard the living God’s voice speaking out of the very fire itself, like we have, and survived? ²⁷ You go and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us all that the Lord our God speaks to you. We’ll listen and we’ll do it.”

²⁸ The Lord heard what you said, when you said this to me. The Lord then told me: I heard what the people said when they spoke with you. Everything they suggest is good. ²⁹ If only their minds were like this: always fearing me and keeping all my commandments so that things would go well for them and their children forever! ³⁰ Go and tell them: You may go back to your tents. ³¹ But you, Moses, must stay here with me. I will tell you all the commandments,^[ai] the regulations, and the case laws that you must teach the Israelites to do in the land that I am giving them to possess.

³² So you must carefully do exactly what the Lord your God commands you. Don’t deviate even a bit! ³³ You must walk the precise path that the Lord your God indicates for you so that you will live, and so that things will go well for you, and so you will extend your time on the land that you will possess.

The great commandment

6 Now these are the commandments, the regulations, and the case laws that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you to follow in the land you are entering to possess, ² so that you will fear the Lord your God by keeping all his regulations and his commandments that I am commanding you—both you and your sons and daughters—all the days of your life and so that you will lengthen your life. ³ Listen to them, Israel! Follow them carefully so that things will go well for you and so that you will continue to multiply exactly as the Lord, your ancestors’ God, promised you, in a land full of milk and honey.

⁴ Israel, listen! Our God is the Lord! Only the Lord!^[aj]

⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. ⁶ These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. ⁷ Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. ⁸ Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol.^{[ak] 9} Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates.

¹⁰ Now once the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to you—a land that will be full of large and wonderful towns that you didn’t build, ¹¹ houses stocked with all kinds of goods that you didn’t stock, cisterns that you didn’t make, vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant—and you eat and get stuffed, ¹² watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³ Revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take your solemn pledges in his name! ¹⁴ Don’t follow other gods, those gods of the people around you— ¹⁵ because the Lord your God, who is with you and among you, is a passionate God. The Lord your God’s anger will burn against you, and he will wipe you off the fertile land. ¹⁶ Don’t test the Lord your God the way you frustrated him at Massah. ¹⁷ You must carefully follow the Lord your God’s commands along with the laws and regulations he has given you. ¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight so that things will go well for you and so you will enter and take possession of the wonderful land that the Lord swore to your ancestors, ¹⁹ and so the Lord will drive out all your enemies from before you, just as he promised.

The next generation

²⁰ In the future, your children will ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws,^[al] the regulations, and the case laws that the Lord our God commanded you?” ²¹ Tell them: We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² Before our own eyes, the Lord performed great and awesome deeds of power^[am] against Egypt, Pharaoh, and his entire dynasty. ²³ But the Lord brought us out from there so that he could bring us in, giving us the land that he swore to our ancestors. ²⁴ Then the Lord commanded us to perform all these regulations, revering the Lord our God, so that things go well for us always and so we continue to live, as we’re doing right now. ²⁵ What’s more, we will be considered righteous if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as he commanded us.

Dealing with foreign worship

7 Now once the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, and he drives out numerous nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: seven nations that are larger and stronger than you— ² once the Lord your God lays them before you, you must strike them down, placing them under the ban.^[an] Don’t make any covenants with them, and don’t be merciful to them. ³ Don’t intermarry with them. Don’t give your daughter to one of their sons to marry, and don’t take one of their daughters to marry your son, ⁴ because they will turn your child away from following me so that they end up serving other gods. That will make the Lord’s anger burn against you, and he will quickly annihilate you.

⁵ Instead, this is what you must do with these nations: rip down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their sacred poles,^[ao] and burn their idols ⁶ because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God chose you to be his own treasured people beyond all others on the fertile land. ⁷ It was not because you were greater than all other people that the Lord loved you and chose you. In fact, you were the smallest of peoples! ⁸ No, it is because the Lord loved you and because he kept the solemn pledge he swore to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand and saved you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. ⁹ Know now then that the Lord your God is the only true God! He is the faithful God, who keeps the covenant and proves loyal to everyone who loves him and keeps his commands—even to the thousandth generation! ¹⁰ He is the God who personally repays anyone who hates him, ultimately destroying that kind of person. The Lord does not waste time with anyone who hates him; he repays them personally. ¹¹ So make sure you carefully keep the commandment, the regulations, and the case laws that I am commanding you right now.

¹² If you listen to these case laws and follow them carefully, the Lord your God will keep the covenant and display the loyalty that he promised your ancestors. ¹³ He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your wombs and the fruit of your fertile land—all your grain, your wine, your oil, and the offspring of your cattle and flocks—upon the very fertile land that he swore to your ancestors to give to you. ¹⁴ You will be more blessed than any other group of people. No one will be sterile or infertile—not among you or your animals. ¹⁵ The Lord will remove all sickness from you. As for all those dreadful Egyptian diseases you experienced, the Lord won’t put them on you but will inflict them on all who hate you. ¹⁶ You will destroy all the peoples that the Lord your God is handing over to you. Show them no pity. And don’t serve their gods because that would be a trap for you.

Against power and lack of trust

¹⁷ If you happen to think to yourself, These nations are greater than we are; how can we possibly possess their land? ¹⁸ don’t be afraid of them! Remember, instead, what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: ¹⁹ the great trials that you saw with your own eyes, the signs and wonders, and the strong hand and outstretched arm the Lord your God used to rescue you. That’s what the Lord your God will do to any people you fear. ²⁰ The Lord your God will send terror^[ap] on them until even the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed. ²¹ Don’t dread these nations because the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is with you and among you. (²² The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you bit by bit. You won’t be able to finish them off quickly; otherwise, the wild animals would become too much for you to handle.) ²³ The Lord your God will lay these nations before you, throwing them into a huge panic until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe their names out from under the skies. No one will be able to stand before you; you will crush them.

²⁵ Burn the images of their gods. Don’t desire the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, or you will be trapped by it. That is detestable to the Lord your God. ²⁶ Don’t bring any detestable thing into your house, or you will be placed under the ban too, just like it is! You must utterly detest these kinds of things, despising them completely, because they are under the ban.