Deuteronomy 1:1–46
1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordana—that is, in the Arabahb—opposite Suph, between Paranc and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horebd to Kadesh Barneae by the Mount Seirf road.)g
3 In the fortieth year,h on the first day of the eleventh month,i Moses proclaimedj to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihonk king of the Amorites,l who reigned in Heshbon,m and at Edrei had defeated Ogn king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.o
5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab,p Moses began to expound this law, saying:
6 The Lord our God said to usq at Horeb,r “You have stayed long enoughs at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites;t go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah,u in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negevv and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanitesw and to Lebanon,x as far as the great river, the Euphrates.y 8 See, I have given you this landz.a Go in and take possession of the land the Lord sworeb 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 burdenc for me to carry alone.d 10 The Lord your God has increasede your numbersf so that today you are as numerousg as the stars in the sky.h 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increasei you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!j 12 But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?k 13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected menl 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 tookm the leading men of your tribes,n wise and respected men,o and appointed them to have authority over you—as commandersp of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.q 16 And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judger fairly,s whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.t 17 Do not show partialityu in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone,v for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.”w 18 And at that time I told you everything you were to do.x
19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amoritesy through all that vast and dreadful wildernessz that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.a 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 possessionb of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid;c do not be discouraged.”d
22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spye out the landf 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 selectedg twelve of you, one man from each tribe. 24 They left and went up into the hill …
Deuteronomy 2:1–37
2 Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea,a w as the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.x
2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 “You have made your way around this hill country long enough;y now turn north. 4 Give the people these orders:z ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau,a who live in Seir.b They will be afraidc 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.d 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 watchede over your journey through this vast wilderness.f These forty yearsg the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.h
8 So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned fromi the Arabahj road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber,k and traveled along the desert road of Moab.l
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 Arm to the descendants of Lotn as a possession.”
10 (The Emiteso used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.p 11 Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites,q but the Moabites called them Emites. 12 Horitesr 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 dids in the land the Lord gave them as their possession.)
13 And the Lord said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.t” So we crossed the valley.
14 Thirty-eight yearsu passed from the time we left Kadesh Barneav until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generationw of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.x 15 The Lord’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminatedy 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.z 19 When you come to the Ammonites,a do not harass them or provoke them to war,b 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.c”
20 (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites,d 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.e 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,f 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 Avvitesg who lived in villages as far as Gaza,h the Caphtoritesi coming out from Caphtorb j destroyed them and settled in their place.)
Defeat of Sihon King of Heshbon
24 “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge.k See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite,l king of Heshbon, and
Deuteronomy 3:1–20
3 Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashann with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.o 2 The Lord said to me, “Do not be afraidp 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,q leaving no survivors.r 4 At that time we took all his cities.s There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdomt in Bashan.u 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 destroyeda them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroyingb v every city—men, women and children. 7 But all the livestockw and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.
8 So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amoritesx the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.y 9 (Hermon is called Sirionz by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)a 10 We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salekahb and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 (Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites.c His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide.c It is still in Rabbahd 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 Aroere 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.f (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.g 14 Jair,h a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites;i it was namedj after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.d) 15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.k 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,l which is the border of the Ammonites. 17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah,m from Kinnerethn to the Sea of the Arabaho (that is, the Dead Seap), below the slopes of Pisgah.
18 I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has givenq 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.r 19 However, your wives,s your children and your livestockt (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.”