- And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them, after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelled in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelled at Ashtaroth in Edrei. On this side of Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, The Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying, You have dwelled long enough in this mount. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places near unto it — in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the seaside — to the land of the Canaanites and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
- And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you. How can I myself alone bear your weight, and your burden, and your strife? Take wise and understanding men, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And you answered me and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief of your tribes — wise men, and known — and made them heads over you: captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him. You shall not respect persons in judgment, but you shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
- And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness — which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites — as the Lord our God commanded us, and we came to Kadesh-Barnea. And I said unto you, You have come unto the mountain of the Amorites which the Lord our God does give unto us. Behold, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and possess it as the Lord God of your fathers has said unto you. Fear not, neither be discouraged. And you came near unto me, every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased me well. And I took twelve men of you — one of a tribe — and they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. And 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 does give us. Notwithstanding, you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God. And you murmured in your tents and said, Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we. The cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
- Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen that the Lord your God bore you as a man does bear his son — in all the way that you went until you came into this place. Yet in this thing you did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in a cloud by day. And the Lord heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I swore to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord. Also, the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there, but Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover, your little ones whom you said should be a prey, and your children who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in there. And unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. Then you 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 when you had girded on every man his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the hill. And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight — for I am not among you — lest you be smitten before your enemies. So I spoke unto you and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites who dwelled in that mountain came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice, nor give ear unto you. So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that you remained there.
- Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke unto me. And we went around Mount Seir many days. And the Lord spoke unto me, saying, You have gone around this mountain long enough; turn northward, and command the people, saying, You are to pass through the borders of your brethren, the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you. Take good heed unto yourselves therefore. Meddle not with them, for I will not give you of their land — no, not so much as a foot breadth — because I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. You shall buy food of them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the works of your hand. He knows your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. And when we passed by from our brethren, the children of Esau who dwelled in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Ezion-Geber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle, for I will not give you of their land for a possession because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. The Emim dwelled therein in times past — a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim, who also were accounted giants as the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also dwelled in Seir previously, but the children of Esau succeeded them when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelled in their stead, as Israel did unto the land of his possession which the Lord gave unto them. Now rise up, said I, and get yourselves over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. And the space in which we came from Kadesh-Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord swore unto them. For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host until they were consumed.
- So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, that the Lord spoke unto me, saying, You are to pass over through Ar, the border of Moab, this day. And when you come near, opposite the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them; for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
- That also was accounted a land of giants. Giants dwelled therein in old time, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they succeeded them and dwelled in their stead, as he did to the children of Esau who dwelled in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. And they succeeded them and dwelled in their stead, even unto this day. And the Avvim, who dwelled in Hazerim even unto Azzah, the Caphtorim who came forth out of Caphtor destroyed them, and dwelled in their stead.
- Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.
- And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway. I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. I will only pass through on my feet — as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did unto me — until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God gives us. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for he hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that the Lord your God might deliver him into your hand, as he has done this day. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the Lord our God delivered him before us, and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city; we left none to remain. Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us. The Lord our God delivered all unto us. Only unto the land of the children of Ammon you came not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatever the Lord our God forbade us.
- Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not, for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand. And you shall do unto him as you did unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelled at Heshbon. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people. And we smote him until none was left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them, sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides unwalled towns a great many. And we utterly destroyed them as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. But all the cattle and the spoil of the cities we took for a prey to ourselves.
- And we took at that time, out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites, the land that was on this side of Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto Mount Hermon — which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir — all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnant of giants. 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.
- And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh, all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the borders of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and called them after his own name, Bashan-Havoth-Jair, unto this day. And I gave Gilead unto Machir. And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon, half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; the plain also, and Jordan, and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdoth-Pisgah eastward.
- And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God has given you this land to possess it. You shall pass over armed before your brethren, the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war. But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle — for I know that you have much cattle — shall abide in your cities which I have given you until the Lord has given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God has given them beyond Jordan. And then shall you return every man unto his possession which I have given you. And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done unto these two kings. So shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms where you passed. You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God, he shall fight for you.
- And I implored the Lord at that time, saying, O Lord God, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what God is there in Heaven or in earth that can do according to your works and according to your might? I urge you, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that beautiful mountain, and Lebanon. But the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and would not hear me. And the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice you. Speak no more unto me of this matter. Go up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with your eyes. For you shall not go over this Jordan. But 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 you shall see. So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-Peor.
THE FIFTH BOOK OF MOSES CALLED
DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 1
These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel on this side of Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab (there are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh-Barnea).