Deuteronomy 2:24–4:46

²⁴‘Rise ye, journey and pass over the brook Arnon; see, I have given into thy hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land; begin to possess, and stir up thyself against him in battle. ²⁵This day I begin to put thy dread and thy fear on the face of the peoples under the whole heavens, who hear thy fame, and have trembled and been pained because of thee.

²⁶‘And I send messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth, unto Sihon king of Heshbon,—words of peace—saying, ²⁷Let me pass over through thy land; in the several ways I go; I turn not aside—right or left— ²⁸food for money thou dost sell me, and I have eaten; and water for money thou dost give to me, and I have drunk; only, let me pass over on my feet,— ²⁹as the sons of Esau who are dwelling in Seir, and the Moabites who are dwelling in Ar, have done to me—till that I pass over the Jordan, unto the land which Jehovah our God is giving to us.

³⁰‘And Sihon king of Heshbon hath not been willing to let us pass over by him, for Jehovah thy God hath hardened his spirit, and strengthened his heart, so as to give him into thy hand as at this day.

³¹‘And Jehovah saith unto me, See, I have begun to give before thee Sihon and his land; begin to possess—to possess his land.

³²‘And Sihon cometh out to meet us, he and all his people, to battle to Jahaz; ³³and Jehovah our God giveth him before us, and we smite him, and his sons, and all his people; ³⁴and we capture all his cities at that time, and devote the whole city, men, and the women, and the infants—we have not left a remnant; ³⁵only, the cattle we have spoiled for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we have captured.

³⁶‘From Aroer, which is by the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which is by the brook, even unto Gilead there hath not been a city which is too high for us; the whole hath Jehovah our God given before us.

³⁷‘Only, unto the land of the sons of Ammon thou hast not drawn near, any part of the brook Jabbok, and cities of the hill-country, and anything which Jehovah our God hath not commanded.

Chapter 3

¹‘And we turn, and go up the way to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan cometh out to meet us, he and all his people, to battle, to Edrei.

²‘And Jehovah saith unto me, Fear him not, for into thy hand I have given him, and all his people, and his land, and thou hast done to him as thou hast done to Sihon king of the Amorite who is dwelling in Heshbon.

³‘And Jehovah our God giveth into our hands also Og king of Bashan, and all his people, and we smite him till there hath not been left to him a remnant; ⁴and we capture all his cities at that time, there hath not been a city which we have not taken from them, sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵All these are cities fenced with high walls, two-leaved doors and bar, apart from cities of villages very many; ⁶and we devote them, as we have done to Sihon king of Heshbon, devoting every city, men, the women, and the infants; ⁷and all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we have spoiled for ourselves.

⁸‘And we take, at that time, the land out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorite, which is beyond the Jordan, from the brook Arnon unto mount Hermon; ⁹(Sidonians call Hermon, Sirion; and the Amorites call it Senir,) ¹⁰all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, ¹¹for only Og king of Bashan had been left of the remnant of the Rephaim; lo, his bedstead is a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits its length, and four cubits its breadth, by the cubit of a man.

¹²‘And this land we have possessed, at that time; from Aroer, which is by the brook Arnon, and the half of mount Gilead, and its cities, I have given to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite; ¹³and the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I have given to the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, to all that Bashan, called the land of Rephaim.

¹⁴‘Jair son of Manasseh hath taken all the region of Argob, unto the border of Geshuri, and Maachathi, and calleth them by his own name, Bashan-Havoth-Jair, unto this day. ¹⁵And to Machir I have given Gilead.

¹⁶‘And to the Reubenite and to the Gadite I have given from Gilead even unto the brook Arnon, the middle of the valley and the border, even unto Jabbok the brook, the border of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁷and the plain, and the Jordan, and the border, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, the salt sea, under the springs of Pisgah, at the sun -rising.

¹⁸‘And I command you, at that time, saying, Jehovah your God hath given to you this land to possess it; armed ye pass over before your brethren the sons of Israel, all the sons of might. ¹⁹Only, your wives, and your infants, and your cattle—I have known that ye have much cattle—do dwell in your cities which I have given to you, ²⁰till that Jehovah give rest to your brethren like yourselves, and they also have possessed the land which Jehovah your God is giving to them beyond the Jordan, then ye have turned back each to his possession, which I have given to you.

²¹‘And Jehoshua I have commanded at that time, saying, Thine eyes are seeing all that which Jehovah your God hath done to these two kings—so doth Jehovah to all the kingdoms whither thou are passing over; ²²fear them not, for Jehovah your God, He is fighting for you.

²³‘And I entreat for grace unto Jehovah, at that time, saying, ²⁴Lord Jehovah, Thou—Thou hast begun to shew Thy servant Thy greatness, and Thy strong hand; for who is a God in the heavens or in earth who doth according to Thy works, and according to Thy might? ²⁵Let me pass over, I pray Thee, and see the good land which is beyond the Jordan, this good hill-country, and Lebanon.

²⁶‘And Jehovah sheweth himself wroth with me, for your sake, and hath not hearkened unto me, and Jehovah saith unto me, Enough for thee; add not to speak unto Me any more about this thing: ²⁷go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with thine eyes—for thou dost not pass over this Jordan; ²⁸and charge Jehoshua, and strengthen him, and harden him, for he doth pass over before this people, and he doth cause them to inherit the land which thou seest.

²⁹‘And we dwell in a valley over-against Beth-Peor.

Chapter 4

¹‘And now, Israel, hearken unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that ye live, and have gone in, and possessed the land which Jehovah God of your fathers is giving to you. ²Ye do not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor diminish from it, to keep the commands of Jehovah your God which I am commanding you.

³‘Your eyes are seeing that which Jehovah hath done in Baal-Peor, for every man who hath gone after Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed him from thy midst; ⁴and ye who are cleaving to Jehovah your God, are alive, all of you, to-day.

⁵‘See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as Jehovah my God hath commanded me—to do so, in the midst of the land whither ye are going in to possess it; ⁶and ye have kept and done them (for it is your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Only, a people wise and understanding is this great nation.

⁷‘For which is the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Jehovah our God, in all we have called unto him? ⁸and which is the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?

⁹‘Only, take heed to thyself, and watch thy soul exceedingly, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from thy heart, all days of thy life; and thou hast made them known to thy sons, and to thy sons’ sons.

¹⁰‘The day when thou hast stood before Jehovah thy God in Horeb—in Jehovah’s saying unto me, Assemble to Me the people, and I cause them to hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they are alive on the ground, and their sons they teach;— ¹¹and ye draw near and stand under the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire unto the heart of the heavens—darkness, cloud, yea, thick darkness:

¹²‘And Jehovah speaketh unto you out of the midst of the fire; a voice of words ye are hearing and a similitude ye are not seeing, only a voice; ¹³and He declareth to you His covenant, which He hath commanded you to do, the Ten Matters, and He writeth them upon two tables of stone.

¹⁴‘And me hath Jehovah commanded at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land whither ye are passing over to possess it; ¹⁵and ye have been very watchful of your souls, for ye have not seen any similitude in the day of Jehovah’s speaking unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female— ¹⁷a form of any beast which is in the earth—a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens— ¹⁸a form of any creeping thing on the ground—a form of any fish which is in the waters under the earth;

¹⁹‘And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.

²⁰‘And you hath Jehovah taken, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people—an inheritance, as at this day.

²¹‘And Jehovah hath shewed himself wroth with me because of your words, and sweareth to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going in unto the good land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee—an inheritance; ²²for I am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, and ye are passing over, and have possessed this good land.

²³‘Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God,…