Deuteronomy 3-4

New Living Translation

Victory over Og of Bashan

3 “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^[a] 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.^[b] It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

Land Division East of the Jordan

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,^[c] 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,^[d] 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.’

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

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.

Moses Urges Israel to Obey

4 “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,^[e] 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^[f]—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.

A Warning against Idolatry

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.

There Is Only One God

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^[g] 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.”

Eastern Cities of Refuge

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.

Introduction to Moses’ Second Address

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,^[h] also called Mount Hermon. ⁴⁹ And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea,^[i] below the slopes of Pisgah.)