Deuteronomy 3; Deuteronomy 4

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Deuteronomy 3

1 Next we turned and followed the road that goes to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and all his troops came to fight us at Edrei.
2 The LORD said to me, "Don't be afraid of him. I'll hand him, all his troops, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon."
3 So the LORD our God also handed King Og of Bashan and all his troops over to us. We defeated him, leaving no survivors.
4 At that time we captured all of his cities. There wasn't a city we didn't take. We captured a total of 60 cities--the whole territory of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5 All of these cities were fortified with high walls and double-door gates with bars across the gates. We also captured a large number of unwalled villages.
6 We claimed them all for God, destroying every city, including men, women, and children--as we did to King Sihon of Heshbon.
7 However, we did loot the cities, taking all of the cattle and goods.
8 We took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon.
9 (The Sidonians call Mount Hermon by the name Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir.)
10 We took all of the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as Salcah and Edrei, cities of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
11 (Of the Rephaim only King Og of Bashan was left. His bed was made of iron and was more than 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
12 At that time we took possession of this land. I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad the land north of Aroer near the Arnon Valley and half of the mountain region of Gilead with its cities.
13 I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan ruled by Og to half of the tribe of Manasseh. (The whole territory of Argob in Bashan used to be called the land of the Rephaim.
14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole territory of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites. The settlements in Bashan he named Havvoth Jair after himself. This is still their name today.)
15 I gave Gilead to Machir.
16 I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad some of Gilead from the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley is the border) to the Jabbok River, which is the border of Ammon.
17 Their land included the plains around the Jordan River. The western border was the river, from the Sea of Galilee to the Sea of the Plains (the Dead Sea), which is near Mount Pisgah on the east.
18 I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh this command: "The LORD your God has given you this land so that you can take possession of it. All your soldiers must be ready for battle when they cross [the Jordan River] ahead of the other Israelites.
19 I know you have a lot of livestock. Your wives, children, and livestock must stay here in the cities that I gave you.
20 Your soldiers will go with the other Israelites until they take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then they will have a place to rest as you have. After that each of you may go back to the land I gave you."
21 I also gave Joshua this command: "You have seen with your own eyes everything that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all of the kingdoms on the other side [of the Jordan River] where you're going.
22 Don't be afraid of them, because the LORD your God himself will fight for you."
23 Then I pleaded with the LORD:
24 "Almighty LORD, you have [only] begun to show me how great and powerful you are. What kind of god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and the mighty acts you have done?
25 Please let me go over and see the beautiful land on the other side of the Jordan River--those beautiful mountains in Lebanon."
26 The LORD was angry with me because of you, so he wouldn't listen to me. He said, "That's enough out of you! Don't talk to me anymore about this.
27 Go to the top of Mount Pisgah, and look west, north, south, and east. You may look at the land, but you will never cross the Jordan River.
28 Give instructions to Joshua. Encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people across [the Jordan River], and he will help them take possession of the land you see."
29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Deuteronomy 4

1 Israel, listen to the laws and rules I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you will live and be able to enter and take possession of the land that the LORD God of your ancestors is giving you.
2 Never add anything to what I command you, or take anything away from it. Then you will be able to obey the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.
3 With your own eyes you saw what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal while you were at Peor.
4 But you were loyal to the LORD your God and are still alive today.
5 I have taught you laws and rules as the LORD my God commanded me. You must obey them when you've entered the land and taken possession of it.
6 Faithfully obey these laws. This will show the people of the world your wisdom and insight. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, "What wise and insightful people there are in this great nation!"
7 What great nation ever had their gods as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we pray to him?
8 Or what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as all these teachings I am giving you today?
9 However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you don't forget the things which you have seen with your own eyes. Don't let them fade from your memory as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
10 Never forget the day you stood in front of the LORD your God at Mount Horeb. The LORD had said to me, "Assemble the people in front of me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on earth, and they will teach their children the same thing."
11 So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, which was on fire with flames shooting into the sky. It was dark, cloudy, and gloomy.
12 The LORD spoke to you from the fire. You heard a voice speaking but saw no one. There was only a voice.
13 The LORD told you about the terms of his promise, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to do. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets.
14 The LORD also commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey after you cross [the Jordan River] and take possession of the land.
15 You didn't see the LORD the day he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb. So be very careful
16 that you don't become corrupt and make your own carved idols. Don't make statues that represent men or women,
17 any animal on earth, any creature with wings that flies,
18 any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water.
19 Don't let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky--the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. The LORD your God has given them to all people everywhere.
20 But you are the people the LORD brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.
21 The LORD was angry with me because of you. So the LORD your God took an oath that I wouldn't cross the Jordan River and enter the good land he is giving you as your property.
22 I'm going to die in this land and not cross the Jordan River, but you're going to go across and take possession of that good land.
23 Be careful that you don't forget the promise that the LORD your God made to you. Don't make your own carved idols or statues that represent anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24 The LORD your God is a raging fire, a God who does not tolerate rivals.
25 Even when you have children and grandchildren and have grown old in that land, don't become corrupt and make carved idols or statues that represent anything. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today: If you do this thing that the LORD your God considers evil, making him furious,
26 you will quickly disappear from the land you're going to possess on the other side of the Jordan River. You won't live very long there. You'll be completely wiped out.
27 The LORD will scatter you among the people of the world, and only a few of you will be left among the nations where the LORD will force you to live.
28 There you will worship wooden and stone gods made by human hands. These gods can't see, hear, eat, or smell.
29 But if you look for the LORD your God when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30 When you're in distress and all these things happen to you, then you will finally come back to the LORD your God and obey him.
31 The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.
32 Search the distant past, long before your time. Start from the very day God created people on earth. Search from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened before, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
33 Have any [other] people ever heard God speak from a fire and lived? You did!
34 Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? The LORD your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you.
35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God. There is no other god.
36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire.
37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power.
38 He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.
39 Remember today, and never forget that the LORD is God in heaven above and here on earth. There is no other god.
40 Obey his laws and commands which I'm giving you today. Then things will go well for you and your descendants. You will live for a long time in the land. The LORD your God is giving you the land for as long as you live.
41 Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River.
42 Those who unintentionally killed someone whom they had never hated could flee to one of these cities and save their lives.
43 The cities were Bezer on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
44 This is what Moses taught the people of Israel.
45 These are the commandments, laws, and rules Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt.
46 He gave these to the people when they were east of the Jordan River in the valley near Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses and Israel defeated him after they left Egypt.
47 They took possession of his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were east of the Jordan River.
48 This land went from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Siyon (that is, Mount Hermon).
49 It included all the plains on the east side of the Jordan River as far as the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.