Deuteronomy 3Next we turned and went up along the road to Bashan. Og, Bashan's king, came out with all his forces to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2The LORD said to me: Don't be afraid of him! I have handed him, all his forces, and his land over to you. Do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.
3And so the LORD our God also handed Og, Bashan's king, along with his forces, over to us. We struck them down until no survivor was left. 4We also captured all of Og's towns at that time. There wasn't a single city that we didn't take from them--a total of sixty towns, the entire region of Argob, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5Each of these towns was fortified with high walls, double gates, and crossbars. Outside the towns there were also a great number of villages.o 6We placed them under the ban, just as we did with Sihon, Heshn's king. Every town--men, women, and children--was under the ban.p 7The only things we kept for ourselves were the animals and the plunder from the towns.
8So at that time, we took the land that had belonged to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, all the way from the Arnon Ravine to Mount Hermon (9Sidonians call Hermon "Sirion," but the Amorites call it "Senir"), 10including all the towns on the plateau, in the regions of Gilead and Bashan, and all the way to Salecah and Edrei--all the towns that belonged to Og's kingdom in Bashan.
(11By the way, Bashan's King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His bed was made of iron. Isn't it still in the Ammonite town of Rabbah? By standard measurements, it was thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide.)
12So this is the land we possessed at that time. I gave some of it, from Aroer, which is beside the Arnon River, up through half of the Gilead highlands, along with its cities, to the Reubenites and the Gadites. 13The rest of the Gilead region and all of Bashan, Og's kingdom, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh.
(Now the whole Argob area, including all of Bashan, was often called Rephaim Country. 14Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, took possession of the entire Argob region, as far as the border with the Geshurites and the Maacathites. He named the Bashan area after himself, Jair's Settlement. That's what it's still called today.)
15I also gave Gilead to Machir. 16To the Reubenites and the Gadites, I gave land from the Gilead, as far as the Arnon River--the middle of the river being the boundary line--to the Jabbok River, which is the boundary line with the Ammonites. 17Also the desert plain, with the Jordan River as the boundary, from the Galilee Seaq down to the desert sea (the Dead Sear ) below the slopes of Mount Pisgah on the east.
18Then I commanded you: Although the LORD your God has given you this land to possess, you must now cross over before the rest of your Israelite relatives as a fighting force ready for battle! 19However, your wives, children, and herds--I know you have lots of herds!--may remain in the towns that I have given to you. 20Once the LORD settles your relatives, as you have been settled, and they also possess the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan River, each of you can return to the property that I have given to you.
21It was at that same time that I commanded Joshua: You saw everything that the LORD your God did to these two kings. That is exactly what the LORD will do to all the kingdoms where you're going! 22Don't be afraid of them because the LORD your God is the one who will be fighting for you.
Moses' prayer
23It was also at that same time that I begged the LORD: 24Please, LORD God! You have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. What god in heaven or on earth can act as you do or can perform your deeds and powerful acts? 25Please let me cross over the Jordan River so I can see the wonderful land that lies beyond it: those beautiful highlands, even the Lebanon region.
26But the LORD was angry with me because of you! He wouldn't listen to me. He said to me: That's enough from you! Don't ever ask me about this again! 27Go up to the top of Mount Pisgah. Look west, north, south, and east. Have a good look, but you will not cross the Jordan River. 28Instead, command Joshua, strengthen him, and encourage him because he's the one who will cross the river before this people. He's the one who will make sure they inherit the land you will see.
29After that, we stayed in the valley across from Beth-peor.
The events at Mount Horeb
Deuteronomy 4Now, Israel, in light of all that, listen to the regulations and the case laws that I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and possess the land that the LORD, your ancestors' God, is giving to you. 2Don't add anything to the word that I am commanding you, and don't take anything away from it. Instead, keep the commands of the LORD your God that I am commanding all of you.
3You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did concerning the Baal of Peor. The LORD your God destroyed everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4but all of you who stayed true to the LORD your God are alive today. 5So pay attention! I am teaching all of you the regulations and the case laws exactly as the LORD my God commanded me. You must do these in the land you are entering to possess. 6Keep them faithfully because that will show your wisdom and insight to the nations who will hear about all these regulations. They will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and insightful people!"7After all, is there any great nation that has godss as close to it as the LORD our God is close to us whenever we call to him? 8Or does any great nation have regulations and case laws as righteous as all this Instruction that I am setting before you today?
9But be on guard and watch yourselves closely so that you don't forget the things your eyes saw and so they never leave your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren. 10Remember thatt day when you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me: "Gather the people to me. I will declare my words to them so that they will learn to fear me every day of their lives on the fertile land, and teach their children to do the same."11Then you all came close and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was blazing with fire up to the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick smoke! 12The LORD spoke to you out of the very fire itself. You heard the sound of words, but you didn't see any form. There was only a voice. 13The LORD declared his covenant to you, which he commanded you to do--the Ten Commandmentsu --and wrote them on two stone tablets. 14At that time, the LORD commanded me to teach you all the regulations and the case laws that you must keep in the land that you are entering to possess.
15So watch your conduct closely, because you didn't see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the very fire itself. 16Don't ruin everything and make an idol for yourself: a form of any image, any likeness--male or female--17or any likeness whatsoever, whether of a land animal, a bird that flies in the sky, 18an insect that crawls on the earth, or a fish that lives in the sea. 19Don't look to the skies, to the sun or the moon or the stars, all the heavenly bodies, and be led astray, worshipping and serving them. The LORD your God has granted these things to all the nations who live under heaven. 20But the LORD took you and brought you out of that iron furnace, out of Egypt, so that you might be his own treasured people, which is what you are right now.
21The LORD was angry with me because of your deeds and swore that I couldn't cross the Jordan River or enter the wonderful land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22I will die here in this land. I won't cross the Jordan River. But you will, and you will take possession of that wonderful land. 23So all of you, watch yourselves! Don't forget the covenant that the LORD your God made with you by making an idol or an image of any kind or anything the LORD your God forbids, 24because the LORD your God is an all-consuming fire. He is a passionate God.
Warnings and teachings