Deuteronomy 2–4

Wanderings in the Wilderness

Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea,^a as the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.^b

Then the Lord said to me, “You have made your way around this hill country long enough;^c now turn north. Give the people these orders:^d ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau,^e who live in Seir.^f They will be afraid^g of you, but be very careful. 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.^h You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ”

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watchedⁱ over your journey through this vast wilderness.^j These forty years^k the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.^l

So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from^m the Arabahⁿ road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber,^o and traveled along the desert road of Moab.^p

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^q to the descendants of Lot^r as a possession.”

(The Emites^s used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.^t Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites,^u but the Moabites called them Emites. Horites^v 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^w in the land the Lord gave them as their possession.)

And the Lord said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.^x” So we crossed the valley.

Thirty-eight years^y passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea^z until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation^a of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.^b The Lord’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated^c them from the camp.

Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died, the Lord said to me, “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.^d When you come to the Ammonites,^e do not harass them or provoke them to war,^f 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.^g”

(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites,^h who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.ⁱ The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place. The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir,^j when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day. And as for the Avvites^k who lived in villages as far as Gaza,^l the Caphtorites^m coming out from Caphtorⁿ destroyed them and settled in their place.)

Defeat of Sihon King of Heshbon

“Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge.^a See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite,^b king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage^c him in battle. This very day I will begin to put the terror^d and fear^e of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble^f and be in anguish because of you.”

From the Desert of Kedemoth^g I sent messengers to Sihon^h king of Heshbon offering peaceⁱ and saying, “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.^j Sell us food to eat^k and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot^l— 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.” But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord^m your God had made his spirit stubbornⁿ and his heart obstinate^o in order to give him into your hands,^p as he has now done.

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.”^q

When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle^r at Jahaz, the Lord our God delivered^s him over to us and we struck him down,^t together with his sons and his whole army. At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed^u them—men, women and children. We left no survivors. But the livestock^v and the plunder^w from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves. From Aroer^x on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead,^y not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave^z us all of them. But in accordance with the command of the Lord our God,^a you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites,^b neither the land along the course of the Jabbok^c nor that around the towns in the hills.

Defeat of Og King of Bashan

Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan^a with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.^b The Lord said to me, “Do not be afraid^c 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.”

So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down,^d leaving no survivors.^e At that time we took all his cities.^f There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom^g in Bashan.^h All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroyingⁱ every city—men, women and children. But all the livestock^j and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.

So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites^k the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.^l (Hermon is called Sirion^m by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)ⁿ We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salekah^o and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. (Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites.^p His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is still in Rabbah^q of the Ammonites.)

Division of the Land

Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer^a by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh.^b (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.^c Jair,^d a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites;^e it was named^f after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.) And I gave Gilead to Makir.^g 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,^h which is the border of the Ammonites. Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah,ⁱ from Kinnereth^j to the Sea of the Arabah^k (that is, the Dead Sea^l), below the slopes of Pisgah.

I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given^m 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.ⁿ However, your wives,^o your children and your livestock^p (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, until the Lord gives rest to all your people 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.”

Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan

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. Do not be afraid^a of them;^b the Lord your God himself will fight^c for you.”

At that time I pleaded^d with the Lord: “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness^e and your strong hand. For what god^f is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works^g you do?^h Let me go over and see the good landⁱ beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.^j”

But because of you the Lord was angry^k with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah^l and look west and north and south and east.^m Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to crossⁿ this Jordan.^o But commission^p Joshua, and encourage^q and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across^r and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.” So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.^s

Obedience Commanded

Now, Israel, hear the decrees^a and laws I am about to teach^b you. Follow them so that you may live^c and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add^d to what I command you and do not subtract^e from it, but keep^f the commands^g of the Lord your God that I give you.

You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor.^h The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

See, I have taughtⁱ you decrees and laws^j as the Lord my God commanded^k me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering^l to…