Deuteronomy 1-3

Deuteronomy 1

¹These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

²It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.

³And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

⁴after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei:

⁵beyond Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

⁶The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain:

⁷turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

⁸Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

⁹And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

¹⁰The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

¹¹The LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!

¹²How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

¹³Take you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.

¹⁴And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.

¹⁵So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.

¹⁶And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

¹⁷Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.

¹⁸And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

¹⁹And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

²⁰And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God giveth unto us.

²¹Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

²²And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.

²³And the thing pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:

²⁴and they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

²⁵And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God giveth unto us.

²⁶Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:

²⁷and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

²⁸Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fenced up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

²⁹Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

³⁰The LORD your God who goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

³¹and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place.

³²Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,

³³who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.

³⁴And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,

³⁵Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,

³⁶save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children: because he hath wholly followed the LORD.

³⁷Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither:

³⁸Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage thou him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

³⁹Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

⁴⁰But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

⁴¹Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the mountain.

⁴²And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

⁴³So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and were presumptuous, and went up into the mountain.

⁴⁴And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah.

⁴⁵And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you.

⁴⁶So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

Deuteronomy 2

¹Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.

²And the LORD spake unto me, saying,

³Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.

⁴And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:

⁵contend not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on: because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

⁶Ye shall purchase food of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.

⁷For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand: he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

⁸So we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

⁹And the LORD said unto me, Vex not Moab, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.

¹⁰(The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim:

¹¹these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.

¹²The Horites also dwelt in Seir aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.)

¹³Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.

¹⁴And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as the LORD sware unto them.

¹⁵Moreover the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

¹⁶So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,

¹⁷that the LORD spake unto me, saying,

¹⁸Thou art this day to pass over Ar, the border of Moab:

¹⁹and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, vex them not, nor contend with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession: because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

²⁰(That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim;

²¹a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:

²²as he did for the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:

²³and the Avvim which dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)

²⁴Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

²⁵This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

²⁶And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

²⁷Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the highway, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.

²⁸Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet;

²⁹as the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.

³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as at this day.

³¹And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.

³²Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Jahaz.

³³And the LORD our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

³⁴And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining:

³⁵only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken.

³⁶From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even unto Gilead, there was not a city too high for us: the LORD our God delivered up all before us:

³⁷only to the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wheresoever the LORD our God forbade us.

Deuteronomy 3

¹Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edrei.

²And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

³So the LORD our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

⁴And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them; threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

⁵All these were cities fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside the unwalled towns a great many.

⁶And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones.

⁷But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves.

⁸And we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, from the valley of Arnon unto mount Hermon;

⁹(which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir;)

¹⁰all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

¹¹(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)

¹²And this land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites:

¹³and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim.

¹⁴Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.)

¹⁵And I gave Gilead unto Machir.

¹⁶And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border thereof; even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

¹⁷the Arabah also, and Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.

¹⁸And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of valour.

¹⁹But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;

²⁰until the LORD give rest unto your brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God giveth them beyond Jordan: then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.

²¹And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou goest over.

²²Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you.

²³And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,

²⁴O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy mighty acts?

²⁵Let me go over, I pray thee, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.

²⁶But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

²⁷Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

²⁸But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

²⁹So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.