Historical Prologue

6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying,[fn] ‘You have stayed long enough[fn] at this mountain. 7 Turn now and move on,[fn] and go into the hill of the Amorites[fn] and to all of the neighboring regions[fn] in the Jordan Valley[fn] in the hill country and in the Negev and in the coastal area along the sea, into the land of the Canaanites[fn] and into the Lebanon, as far as the great river Euphrates. 8 Look, I have set the land before you;[fn] go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,[fn] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to them and to their offspring after them.’

9 “And I spoke to them at that time, saying,[fn] ‘I am not able to bear you alone. 10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and look; you are today as the stars of the heaven in number.[fn] 11 Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[fn] may he add to you as you are now a thousand times, and may he bless you just as he promised you.[fn] 12 How can I bear you by myself,[fn] your burden and your load and your strife? 13 Choose for yourselves wise and discerning and knowledgeable men[fn] for each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’

14 “And you answered me, and you said, ‘The thing you have said to do is good.’ 15 And so I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and then I appointed them as leaders over you as commanders of groups of thousands and commanders of groups of hundreds and commanders of groups of fifties and commanders of groups of tens as officials for your tribes. 16 And at that time I instructed your judges, saying, ‘hear out your fellow men,[fn] and then judge fairly[fn] between a man and between his brother and between his opponent who is a resident alien.[fn] 17 You must not be partial[fn] in your judgment;[fn] hear out the small person as also the great person; do not be intimidated by any person,[fn] because the judgment is God’s; and the case that is too difficult[fn] for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it out.’ 18 And so I instructed you at that time concerning all of the things that you should do.

19 “Then we set out from Horeb, and we went through the whole of that great and terrible desert that you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites[fn] as Yahweh our God had commanded us, and so we came up to Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to you, ‘You have reached[fn] the hill country of the Amorites[fn] that Yahweh our God is giving to us. 21 See, Yahweh your God has set before you the land; go up and possess it as Yahweh the God of your ancestors[fn] said to you; do not fear and do not be dismayed.’

22 “Then all of you approached me, and you said, ‘Let us send men before us,[fn] and let them explore the land for us, and let them bring back a report[fn] to us concerning the way that we should take[fn] and concerning the cities that we shall come to.’ 23 The plan was good in my opinion,[fn] and so I took from among you twelve men, one from each tribe.[fn] 24 And they set out[fn] and went up into the hill country,[fn] and they went up to the wadi[fn] of Eschol, and they spied out the land. 25 They took in their hands[fn] some of the fruit[fn] of the land, and they brought it down to us, and they brought to us back a report,[fn] and they said, ‘The land that Yahweh our God is giving to us is good.’ 26 But you were not willing to go up, and you rebelled against the command[fn] of Yahweh your God. 27 And you grumbled in your tents, and you said, ‘Because of the hatred of Yahweh toward us he has brought us out from the land of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Amorites[fn] to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt,[fn] saying,[fn] “The people are greater[fn] and taller than we are,[fn] and there are great fortified cities reaching up to heaven, and we saw the sons of the Anakites living there.” ’

29 “And so I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, and do not fear them. 30 Yahweh your God, who is going before you,[fn] will himself[fn] fight for you, just as[fn] he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and just as he did in the wilderness[fn] when[fn] you saw that[fn] Yahweh your God carried you, just as someone[fn] carries his son, all along the way that you traveled until you reached[fn] this place.’ 32 But through all of this you did not trust in Yahweh your God, 33 who goes[fn] before you[fn] on your[fn] way, seeking a place for your encampment, in fire at night and in a cloud by day, to show you the way that you should go.[fn]

34 “Then Yahweh heard the sound of your words, and he was angry, and he swore, saying,[fn] 35 ‘No one of these men[fn] of this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors,[fn] 36 except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; he himself[fn] shall see it, and to him I will give the land upon which he has trodden and to his sons[fn] because he followed Yahweh unreservedly.’[fn] 37 Even with me Yahweh was angry because of you, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua, the son of Nun, your assistant,[fn] will go there; encourage him because he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And your little children, who you thought shall become plunder, and your sons, who do not today know good or bad, shall themselves[fn] go there, and I will give it to them, and they shall take possession of it. 40 But you turn and set out in the direction of the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.’[fn]

41 “You replied and said to me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh, and now we will go up and fight according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us’; and so each man fastened on his battle gear,[fn] and you regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 So Yahweh said to me, ‘Say to them, “You shall not go up, and you shall not fight because I am not in your midst; you will be defeated before[fn] your enemies.” ’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you did not listen; you rebelled against the command of Yahweh;[fn] you behaved presumptuously, and you went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites living in the hill country went out to oppose you[fn] and chased you as a swarm of wild honey bees do; and so they beat[fn] you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 So you returned and wept before Yahweh;[fn] but Yahweh did not listen to your voice and did not pay any attention to you. 46 You stayed in Kadesh many days; such were the days that you stayed there.

2 “Then we turned and set out toward the wilderness[fn] in the direction of the Red Sea,[fn] as Yahweh told me, and we went around Mount Seir for many days. 2 Yahweh spoke to me, saying,[fn] 3 ‘Long enough you have been skirting this mountain; turn yourselves north, 4 and instruct[fn] the people, saying,[fn] “You are about to cross through the territory of your brothers, the descendants[fn] of Esau, who are living in Seir; they will be afraid of you, and so be very careful. 5 Do not get involved in battle[fn] with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot’s breadth[fn] of it; since I have given Mount Seir as a possession for Esau. 6 You shall buy food from them so that you may eat; and also you shall purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. 7 The fact of the matter is, Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work you have done;[fn] he knows your travels[fn] with respect to this great wilderness; forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.” ’ 8 And so we passed by our brothers, the descendants[fn] of Esau, who live in Seir, past the road of the Arabah,[fn] from Elath and Ezion Geber, and we turned and traveled along the route of the desert[fn] of Moab.

9 And Yahweh said to me, ‘You shall not attack Moab, and you shall not engage in war[fn] with them, for I will not give you any of his land as a possession; I have given Ar to the descendants[fn] of Lot as a possession.’ 10 (The Emim previously lived in it, a people large,[fn] numerous, and tall, like the Anakites. 11 They were reckoned also as Rephaim as the Anakites were; but the Moabites called them Emim. 12 The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the descendants[fn] of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from among themselves,[fn] as Israel did with respect to the land of their[fn] possession that Yahweh gave to them.) 13 So now arise and cross over the wadi[fn] of Zered yourselves; and so we crossed the wadi[fn] of Zered. 14 Now the length of time[fn] that we had traveled from Kadesh Barnea until the time when we crossed the wadi[fn] of Zered was thirty-eight years, until the perishing of all of that generation; that is, the men of war from the midst of the camp as Yahweh had sworn to them. 15 The hand of Yahweh was against them to root them out from the midst of the camp until they perished completely.

16 “And then[fn] when all the men of war[fn] had died[fn] from among the people, 17 Yahweh spoke to me, saying,[fn] 18 ‘You are about to cross over the boundary of Moab today[fn] at Ar. 19 When you approach the border of[fn] the Ammonites,[fn] you shall not harass them, and you shall not get involved in battle with them, for I have not given the land of the Ammonites[fn] to you as a possession; because I have given it to the descendants[fn] of Lot as a possession. 20 (It is also considered the land of Rephaim; Rephaim lived in it previously,[fn] and the Ammonites called them Zamzummim, 21 a people great and numerous and as tall as the Anakites; Yahweh destroyed them from before them,[fn] and they dispossessed them and settled in place of them, 22 just as he did for the descendants[fn] of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them[fn] and dispossessed them, and then they settled in their[fn] place up to this day. 23 And also the Avvites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and the Caphtorim, who came out from Caphtor, destroyed them and then settled in their place. 24 Arise,[fn] set out and cross over the wadi[fn] of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, the king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession of it, and engage with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to place the dread of you[fn] and the fear of you before[fn] the peoples under all the heavens. They will hear the report about you,[fn] and so they will shake and tremble because of you.’[fn]

26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness[fn] of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon; I sent terms of peace, saying,[fn] 27 ‘Let me cross through your land and only along the road[fn] I will go; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. 28 Food for money you shall sell me, so that I may eat, and water for money you will give to me, so that I may drink; just let me cross on foot. 29 Just as the descendants[fn] of Esau did for me, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.’ 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his territory because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and made him obstinate[fn] in order to give him[fn] into your hand, just as he has now done.[fn] 31 Yahweh said to me, ‘Look! I have begun to give over to you[fn] Sihon and his land; begin to take possession of his land.’[fn] 32 Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us for battle at Jahaz. 33 And so Yahweh our God gave him over to us,[fn] and we struck him down, and his sons[fn] and all of his people. 34 So we captured all of his cities at that time, and we destroyed each town of males and the women and the children; we did not leave behind a survivor. 35 We took only the livestock as spoil for ourselves,[fn] and also the booty of the cities that we had captured. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the wadi[fn] of Arnon and the city that was in the wadi[fn] on up to Gilead, there was not a city that was inaccessible to us; Yahweh our God gave everything[fn] to us.[fn] 37 Only the land of the Ammonites[fn] you did not approach, all along the whole upper region of the Jabbok River[fn] and the towns of the hill country, according to all that Yahweh our God had instructed.

3 “Then we turned, and we went up the road to Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us, he and all of his army for the battle at Edrei. 2 And Yahweh said to me, ‘You should not fear him, for I have given him and all of his army[fn] and his land into your hand. And so you will do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites,[fn] who was reigning in Heshbon.’ 3 And so Yahweh our God also gave Og the king of Bashan, and all of his army[fn] into our hand, and we struck him down until not a survivor remained to[fn] him. 4 And we captured all of his towns[fn] at that time; there was not a city that we did not take from them. 5 All of these were fortified towns with high walls, gates, and bars,[fn] apart from[fn] very many of the villages of the open country. 6 And so we destroyed them just as we had done to Sihon the king of Heshbon; we destroyed utterly each town of males, the women, and the little children. 7 But all of the livestock and the booty of the towns we kept as spoil for ourselves.[fn]

8 “And so we took at that time the land from the control of[fn] the two kings of the Amorites[fn] who were on the other side of the Jordan,[fn] from the wadi[fn] of Arnon up to Mount Hermon.[fn] 9 (The Sidonians called Hermon ‘Sirion,’ and the Amorites called it ‘Senir.’) 10 All of the towns of the plateau and the whole of Gilead and all of Bashan up to Salecah and Edrei, the towns of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og, king of Bashan, was left from the remnant of the Rephaim. Indeed, his bedstead—it was a bedstead of iron. It is in Rabbah of the Ammonites.[fn] Nine cubits is its length, and four cubits is its width according to the cubit of a man.)

12 And so we took possession of this land at that time, from Aroer, which is on the edge of the wadi[fn] of Arnon, and also half of the hill country of Gilead and its towns I gave to the Reubenites[fn] and to the Gadites.[fn] 13 And the remainder of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the whole region of Argo. All of that area of Bashan was called the land of the Rephaim. 14 Jair the descendant[fn] of Manasseh acquired the whole region of Argob, up to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and he called it,[fn] that is Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, as it still is today.[fn] 15 And also I gave Gilead to Makir. 16 And to the Reubenites[fn] and to the Gadites[fn] I gave, from Gilead up to the wadi[fn] of Arnon, the middle of the wadi[fn] as a boundary and up to the Jabbok River,[fn] the boundary of the Ammonites.[fn] 17 And the Jordan Valley[fn] with the Jordan River as its boundary, from Kinnereth[fn] up to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea,[fn] with the slopes of Pisgah toward the east.

18 “And I charged you all at that time when I said, “Yahweh has given you—to all of you—this land to possess. All the warriors[fn] shall cross over, ready to fight, before your brothers, the Israelites.[fn] 19 Only your wives and your little children and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock)[fn] must stay in your towns that I have given you, 20 until Yahweh shall give rest to your brothers as he did to you, and also they take possession of the land that Yahweh your God is giving to them beyond the Jordan; then they may return, each one to his possession that I have given to them. 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes see all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings; so Yahweh will do to all of the kingdoms where you are about to cross over to. 22 You shall not fear them, for Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you.

23 “And I pleaded with Yahweh at that time, saying, 24 ‘Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand, for what[fn] god is there in the heaven or on the earth who can do according to your works and according to your mighty deeds? 25 Let me cross over, please, and let me see the good land that is beyond the Jordan,[fn] this good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But Yahweh was very angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me, and Yahweh said, ‘Enough of that from you![fn] You shall not speak to me any longer about this matter! 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you[fn] toward the west, toward the north, and toward the east, and view[fn] the land with your eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan. 28 Now instruct Joshua and support him and encourage him because he himself[fn] will cross over before this people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.’ 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth Peor.