Deuteronomy 1:6-Deuteronomy 3:29 - Historical Prologue
6 The LORD our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount; 7 turn and take your journey and go to the mount of the Amorite and unto all the places nearby, in the plain, in the hills, and in the valleys and to the Negev and by the sea side to the land of the Canaanite and unto Lebanon unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have given the land in your presence; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give unto them and to their seed after them.
9 And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone; 10 the LORD your God has multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11 Let the LORD God of your fathers add upon you a thousand times so many more as ye are and bless you, as he has promised! 12 How can I myself alone bear your troubles and your burdens and your strife? 13 Give me from among you, of your tribes, wise and understanding and expert men, and I will make them the head over you.
14 And ye answered me and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.
15 So I took the principals of your tribes, wise men and experts, and made them princes over you, princes over thousands and princes over hundreds and princes over fifties and princes over tens and officers among your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him. 17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorite, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. 20 Then I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorite, which the LORD our God gives unto us. 21 Behold, the LORD thy God has given the land before thee; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers has said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you and said, We will send men before us, and they shall spy us out the land and bring us word again by what way we must go up and into what cities we shall come. 23 And the saying seemed good unto me, and I took twelve men of you, one of each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the mountain and came unto the valley of Eshcol and spied out the land. 25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down unto us and brought us word again and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God gives us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God; 27 and ye murmured in your tents and said, Because the LORD hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite, to destroy us. 28 Where shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, This people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did with you in Egypt before your eyes; 31 and in the wilderness thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place. 32 Yet with all this ye did not believe in the LORD your God, 33 who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents, with fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and with a cloud by day.
34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words and was angry and swore, saying, 35 Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his sons, because he has perfectly followed the LORD.
37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou shalt not go in there either. 38 But Joshua, the son of Nun, who stands before thee, he shall go in there; encourage him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, whom ye said should be a prey and your children who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in there, and unto them will I give it, and they shall inherit it. 40 But as for you, return and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God has commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the mountain.
42 And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not among you, lest ye be smitten before your enemies. 43 So I spoke unto you, and ye would not hear but were rebels against the word of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. 44 And the Amorite, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. 45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. 46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
1 Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD had said unto me; and we went around Mount Seir many days 2 until the LORD spoke unto me, saying, 3 Ye have gone around this mountain long enough; return unto the Aquilon. 4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren, the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you; take care unto yourselves, therefore; 5 do not seek a fight with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth because I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for an inheritance. 6 Ye shall buy food from them for money that ye may eat, and ye shall also buy water from them for money that ye may drink. 7 For the LORD thy God has blessed thee in all the works of thy hand; he knows thy walking through this great wilderness; these forty years the LORD thy God has been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
8 And when we passed by our brethren, the sons of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land for a possession because I have given Ar unto the sons of Lot for an inheritance.
10 (The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many and tall as the Anakims, 11 which also were accounted giants as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. 12 The Horims also dwelt in Seir before time, but the sons of Esau inherited from them, and they destroyed them from before them and dwelt in their stead as Israel did in the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.)
13 Now rise up, said I, and pass the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the days in which we came from Kadeshbarnea until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty-eight years until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the camp, as the LORD swore unto them. 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the camp until they were consumed.
16 So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people 17 that the LORD spoke unto me, saying, 18 Thou art to pass the border of Moab today unto Ar, 19 and when thou comest near over against the sons of Ammon, do not distress them nor meddle with them, for I will not give thee of the land of the sons of Ammon any possession because I have given it unto the sons of Lot for an inheritance.
20 (That also was accounted a land of giants; giants dwelt therein in another time, and the Ammonites called them Zamzummims, 21 a people great and many and tall as the Anakims; whom the LORD destroyed before the Ammonites; and they inherited from them and dwelt in their stead, 22 as he did to the sons of Esau who dwelt in Seir when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they inherited from them and dwelt in their stead even unto this day. 23 And the Avims who dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Gaza, the Caphtorims, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their stead.)
24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass the river Arnon; behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land; begin, take possession and contend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee.
26 And I sent ambassadors out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27 Let me pass through thy land; I will go along by the high way; I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. 28 Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; I will only pass through on my feet 29 (as the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites, who dwell in Ar, did unto me) until I shall pass the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives us. 30 But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him, for the LORD thy God had hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate that he might deliver him into thy hand as until this day.
31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee; begin, take possession that thou may inherit his land. 32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. 33 But the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we took all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed all the cities, the men and the women and the little ones; we left none to remain. 35 We took only the beasts for a prey unto ourselves and the spoil of the cities which we took. 36 From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river even unto Gilead, there was not one city escaped us; the LORD our God delivered all of them before us. 37 Only unto the land of the sons of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto any place that the LORD our God forbade us.
1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into thy hand, and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. 3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. 4 And we took all his cities at that time there was not a city which we did not take from them, sixty cities, all the region of Argob, of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars besides a great many unwalled towns. 6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon, king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the beasts and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.
8 And we also took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side of the Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto Mount Hermon 9 (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion and the Amorites call it Shenir) and 10 all the cities of the plain and all Gilead and all Bashan unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 For only Og, king of Bashan, had remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon? Nine cubits was the length thereof and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
12 And this land, which we inherited at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half of Mount Gilead and the cities thereof, I gave unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. 13 And the rest of Gilead and all Bashan (fertile ground), being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh: all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. 14 Jair, the son of Manasseh, took all the country of Argob unto the border of Geshuri and Maachathi and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day. 15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir. 16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon, half the valley for a border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the sons of Ammon, 17 the plain also and the Jordan and the border thereof from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward.
18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it; ye shall pass armed before your brethren, the sons of Israel, all that are valiant. 19 Only your wives and your little ones and your livestock (for I know that ye have much livestock) shall abide in your cities which I have given you 20 until the LORD has given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also inherit the land which the LORD your God has given them beyond the Jordan; then shall ye return each man unto his possession, which I have given you.
21 And I also commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done unto these two kings, so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms where thou passest. 22 Ye shall not fear them, for the LORD your God, he shall fight for you.
23 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,