Open English Translation DEU Chapter 3

3 “Then we turned and went towards the Bashan region but King Og came out with all his warriors to battle against us at Edrei, 2 but Yahweh told me, ‘Don’t be afraid of him, because I’ve given him and all his people and his land over to you, and you’ll do the same to him that you did to the Amorite King Sihon who lived at Heshbon.’

3 “So our god Yahweh also helped us defeat Bashan’s King Og and all his people, and we killed them all leaving no survivors. 4 We captured all sixty of King Og’s cities in the Argov region of Bashan, 5 even though they were all fortified with high walls and gates with bars. In addition, there were many rural villages. 6 We completely destroyed them like we’d done to Heshbon’s King Sihon—men, women, and children, 7 but we plundered all the cattle and the spoil from the cities for ourselves.

8 So at that time, we took the land from two of the Amorite kings across on the eastern side of the Yorden, from the Arnon River in the south, up to Mt. Hermon in the north 9 (called Mt. Shiryon by the Sidonians, and Mt. Senir by the Amorites). 10 We captured all the cities on the plain and all of the Gilead region, as well as Bashan as far east as Salekah and Edrei cities, which also belonged to Og’s kingdom.” 11 (Bashan’s King Og was the last king who was a descendant of the Refaites. His bed (in Rabbah in the Ammonite region) was made out of iron and was four metres long and two metres wide.)

12 “So we captured that land at that time—from Aroer by the Arnon river, and half of the hill country of Gilead including its cities. I allocated those areas to the tribes of Reuven and Gad. 13 Then the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan which had been Og’s kingdom, I allocated to half of the tribe of Menashsheh.”

(That whole area is called the land of the Refaites. 14 Menashsheh’s son Yair had captured the Argov region as far as the borders with the Geshurites and Maacatites, renaming Bashan to Havvot-Yair as it’s still called to this day.)

15 “Then I allocated Gilead to Makir (a clan descended from Menashsheh), 16 and I gave the southern part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuven and Gad, extending from the Arnon river (with the middle of it being the boundary) to the Yabbok river which borders against the Ammonites. 17 The border extends from the plain along the east side of the Yorden valley, from Lake Kinneret in the north to the Arabah lake (the Salt Sea or Dead Sea) in the south and to the slopes of Mt. Pisgah on the east.

18 “Then at that time, I commanded you saying, ‘Your god Yahweh has given this land to you to possess it, however your brave warriors must cross over with the other Israeli tribes to help them conquer the western lands.[ref] 19 Leave your wives and children and cattle (yes, I know you have many cattle) back here in the cities that I’ve given you 20 until Yahweh gives peace to your brother tribes like you have here. Once they’ve taken possession of the land that your god Yahweh is given them across the river, then you’ll all be able to return her to your own inheritance that I’ve allocated to you.’

21 “I also instructed Yehoshua (Joshua) at that time, saying, ‘You’ve seen everything that your god Yahweh has done to those two kings. Yahweh will do similar things to all the kingdoms that you’ll be passing through over there. 22 Don’t be afraid of them, because your god Yahweh will be the one fighting for you all.

23 “At that time, I pleaded with Yahweh, 24 ‘My master Yahweh, you’ve begun to show your servant your greatness and your power. What other god in heaven or on earth is there that does works as great and powerful as what you’ve done? 25 Please let me cross the Yorden river and see the good land that’s on the other side—that good hill country, and the Lebanon region.’

26 “But Yahweh was angry at me because of what your parents had done, and he wouldn’t listen to me. Instead, Yahweh told me, ‘Enough from you—don’t talk to me about that again! 27 Go up to the top of Mt. Pisgah and look out towards the west and the north and the south and the east. Yes, look with your eyes, because you won’t be crossing this river. 28 Instruct Yehoshua and encourage him and strengthen him, because he’s the one who’ll lead the people across, and he’ll lead them to inherit the land that you’ll see.’ 29 So we remained in the Yorden river valley opposite Beyt-Peor.