1 These are the messages that Mosheh (Moses) spoke to Yisrael (Israel) back when they were in the wilderness on the eastern side of the Yorden (Jordan) river, in the desert plain opposite Suf between Paran and Tofel, Lavan, Hatserot, and Di-Zahav. 2 (It takes eleven days to walk from Horev (Mt. Sinai) to Kadesh-Barnea via Mt. Seir.) 3 Forty years after the Israelis had left Egypt Mosheh passed on to them everything that Yahweh had instructed him 4 after he’d defeated the Amorite King Sihon who lived at Heshbon, and Bashan King Og who lived at Ashtarot in Edrei.[ref] 5 On the eastern side of the Yorden river in the Moav (Moab) region, Mosheh began explaining those instructions, saying,

6 “Our God Yahweh spoke to us at Horev, saying: You’ve camped here long enough at this mountain. 7 Now, pack up and travel to the Amorite hill country and the surrounding areas and the river plain, the lowlands and the southern wilderness, the coastal plain, all of Canaan, and Lebanon as far north-east as the Euphrates river. 8 Listen, that area of land ahead of you, I’ve given to you. Go ahead and take possession that land that Yahweh promised to your ancestors Avraham (Abraham), Yitshak (Isaac), and Yakov (Jacob). He promised to give it to them and to their descendants.”

9 Then Mosheh said, “I told you at that time that I wasn’t able to govern all of you by myself 10 because your god Yahweh has multiplied you, and wow, now you’re as numerous as the stars in the sky. 11 May your ancestors’ god Yahweh increase you all a thousand times more and bless you all as he’s promised 12 but how could I possibly bear all your loads and burdens and disputes by myself? 13 So nominate some men from your tribes who I can appoint as your leaders—men who’re sensible and wise, and respected by the people, 14 and your parents agreed with that suggestion. 15 So I took those wise, respected men and appointed them to be your leaders—leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. I also appointed some as your tribal officials. 16 Then I instructed your new leaders telling them to listen carefully to both sides of disputes and make fair and honest judgements in conflicts involving either Israelis or foreigners. 17 Don’t show partiality when you’re making a judgement—treat important people just the same as the others. Don’t worry about what people will think because fair judgement is a godly activity. And if any matter is too difficult, bring it to me for a decision. 18 I also gave you all other instructions at that time.

19 “Then we left Horev (Mt. Sinai) and went through that wide and dangerous wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as our god Yahweh had instructed us, eventually arriving at Kadesh-Barnea. 20 Then I told you all, ‘You’ve all come to the Amorite hill country, which our god Yahweh is giving us. 21 Look, your god Yahweh has given you[fn] the land that’s in front of you, so go ahead and take possession of it as Yahweh, your ancestors’ god has told you. Don’t be afraid and don’t be discouraged.’ 22 Then you all approached me and suggested, ‘We should send some men ahead of us to scout out the place, and they can return and tell us the best way to get inside those cities.’ 23 That sounded good to me, so I took one man from each of the twelve tribes 24 and they went up into the hill country as far as the Eshkol valley, and the scouted it out. 25 They picked some fruit from there and brought it back to us, and reported that the land that our god Yahweh is giving us was very good.

26 “But your parents were unwilling to proceed and rebelled against your god Yahweh’s command.[ref] 27 So you all grumbled in your tents, saying that it was because Yahweh hated us that he brought us out of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to be destroyed. 28 You said that you all didn’t want to enter because the people were so tall and strong and their cities were fortified and powerful with very high walls around them.

29 “Then I told your parents, ‘Don’t be terrified or afraid of them. 30 Your god Yahweh who goes ahead of you, he’ll fight for you just like everything you saw him do in Egypt 31 and in the wilderness, where you saw how your god Yahweh carried you like a father carries his son—getting you through that difficult region until you all eventually arrived here.’[ref] 32 However, you all didn’t believe your god Yahweh[ref] 33 who had gone ahead of you to find a good place for you all to make your camp—using ifire at night to show you all the way, and cloud in the daytime.

34 “Yahweh heard those complaints and got angry and made this promise,[ref] 35 ‘None of the men of this evil generation will get to enter the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors 36 apart from Yefunneh’s son Kalev (Caleb)—he can enter it and I’ll give him and his sons the land that he scouted out because he followed Yahweh whole-heartedly.’ 37 Yahweh was also angry at me because of you all, and told me that I also wouldn’t be able to enter, 38 but that Nun’s son Yehoshua who was standing there in front of me, would be the one to lead Yisrael to possess the land.

39 “Your children that you thought would be taken captive, and your young sons who don’t yet know right from wrong, they’ll be the ones to enter the land, and I’ll give it to them, and it’ll become theirs. 40 But you yourselves need to turn around and go back into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.

41 “but they all answered and admitted, ‘Yes, we’ve sinned against Yahweh, but now we’ll fix that by going in to fight and do everything that our god Yahweh has commanded us.’ So every man strapped on his weapons—now thinking it would be easy to take over the hill country.

42 “But Yahweh told me to warn them not to go ahead and fight because he wouldn’t help them, and so they’d end up being defeated by their enemies if they proceeded. 43 So I told your parents that, but they wouldn’t listen—they rebelled against Yahweh and arrogantly marched up into the hill country 44 where the Amorites who lived there came out against them, and chased them like bees and made the warriors scatter in Seir as far as Haremah. 45 So your parents returned and wept in front of Yahweh, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. 46 So that’s why we stayed at Kadesh-Barnea for as long as we all did.

2 “Then we turned and went back into the wilderness towards the Red Sea as Yahweh had told us to do, and we spent a long time wandering around Mt. Seir.[ref]

2 “Then Yahweh told me, 3 ‘You’ve all been wandering around this hilly area for long enough—now turn and go towards the north 4 and tell the people, “You’ll all be crossing the border into Seir where your relatives, Esau’s descendants, live. They’ll be afraid of you but you’ll all need to stay very alert.[ref] 5 Don’t attack them because I won’t give you any of their land—not even a footprint size piece because I’ve given Mt. Seir to Esau as their inheritance. 6 Any food or drink you get from them must be paid for with cash 7 because your god Yahweh has blessed all of your labour—he’s always been aware of your travel through that vast wilderness. Your god Yahweh has helped you for those forty years so you’ve all had everything you need.” ’

8 “So we passed by our relatives, Esau’s descendants who live in Seir. We travelled along the Yorden valley plain from Eilat and Estyon-Gever, then north through the Moav wilderness. 9 Then Yahweh told me, ‘Don’t aggrevate Moav, and don’t attack them, because I won’t give you any of their land because I’ve given Ar to the sons of Lot, as a possession.’ ”[ref]

10 (The Emites had lived their previously—there were many of them, and they were tall and strong like the Anakites. 11 People also call both the Emites and the Anakites, Refa’ites but the people of Moav call them Emites. 12 The Horites had previously lived in Seir, but Esau’s descendants had killed them and taken over their land, just like the Israelis did later in the land that Yahweh had given them to possess.)

13 “Then we crossed the Zered brook as Yahweh had told us to do. 14 It had been thirty-eight years since we first left Kadesh-Barnea until we cross the Zered brook, once that generation of warriors had died off, just as Yahweh had told them.[ref] 15 What’s more, Yahweh had opposed them, so he’d caused them to die.

16 “After all the enlistment-aged men had died, 17 Yahweh told me, 18 ‘Today you must travel through the Moav region, near Ar, 19 and when you approach the Ammonite region, don’t irritate or fight them because I won’t give you any of their land because I’ve given it to Lot’s descendants as a possession.’ ”[ref]

20 (Also, it’s regarded as the land of the Refa’ites, who the Ammonites call the Zamzummites, who lived there in the past. 21 They were as numerous, and as tall and strong as the Anakites, but Yahweh destroyed them in advance of the Anakites who then dispossessed them and lived in their place. 22 He had done the same thing for Esau’s descendants who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites ahead of them, and they took over their land and still live there to this day. 23 Also the Avvites who lived in villages as far south as Azzah (Gaza) were destroyed by the Kaftorites who came from Crete, and then lived in their place.)

24 “Yahweh had told us, ‘Get ready now and go through the Arnon river valley. I’ll help you defeat the Amorite King Sihon from Heshbon. Attack him and begin to take over his land. 25 Beginning today, I’ll make everyone, everywhere afraid of you. Everyone who hears about you will be terrified and keep their distance from you.’

26 “Then from the Kedemot wilderness, I sent messengers to King Sihon at Heshbon with an offer of peace, 27 ‘Please let us travel through your country. We’ll stay on the road 28 if you’d be able to just sell us some food and water, then we could just walk right through 29 until we cross the Yorden river into the land that our god Yahweh is giving us. Easu’s descendants at Seir allowed us through, as did the Moabites at Ar.’

30 “However, Heshbon’s King Sihon wouldn’t let us go through his country because your god Yahweh had hardened his spirit and made him stubborn so that you could take his land, which we still have to this day.

31 “Yahweh told me, ‘Listen, I’ve begun to give Sihon and his land to you, so enter it and take it. 32 Then King Sihon and all his warriors came out against us at Yahats, 33 but our god Yahweh helped us to defeat him, and we killed Sihon and his son, and all his people. 34 We captured all his cities at that time, and completely destroyed men, women and children in every city, leaving no survivors. 35 Only the cattle were taken as plunder for ourselves, along with the goods in the cities we captured. 36 Our god Yahweh helped us to capture all their towns from Aroer in the south at the edge of the Arnon River valley, to the Gilead region in the north—none of their city walls were too high for us. 37 However, you didn’t go near the Ammonite region, the Yabok river area, the hill country towns, or any other place where our god Yahweh told us not to go.

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.

4 “Now Yisrael, listen to the instructions and regulations that I’ll teach you so that you’ll all go and possess the land that Yahweh, the god of your ancestors, is giving you, and live there. 2 Don’t add or subtract from what I tell you, because you all need to follow the instructions from your god Yahweh that I’m telling you.[ref] 3 You’ve all seen for yourselves what your god Yahweh did at Beyt-Peor, when he destroyed all the men who worshipped Baal there.[ref] 4 ◙

5 ◙ 6 ◙ 7 ◙ 8 ◙

9 ◙ 10 ◙

11 [ref]◙ 12 ◙ 13 [ref]◙ 14 [ref]◙