These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

Appoint for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will make them your leaders.

Do not show partiality when deciding a case; listen to small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.

At that time I commanded you about all the things you were to do.

“We then set out from Horeb and went across all the great and terrible wilderness you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,

“Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.’

The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt.

And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place.

‘None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the Lord completely.’

“The Lord was angry with me also because of you and said: ‘You will not enter there either.

Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.

Your little children, whom you said would be plunder, your sons who don’t know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it.

“You answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ Then each of you put on his weapons of war and thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.

Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

Don’t fight with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even an inch of it, because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession.

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you this past 40 years, and you have lacked nothing.’

The Lord said to me, ‘Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.’”

Indeed, the Lord’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp until they had all perished.

“When all the fighting men had died among the people,

When you get close to the Ammonites, don’t show any hostility to them or fight with them, for I will not give you any of the Ammonites’ land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.’”

Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.’

‘Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left.

So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz.

The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army.

At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors.

But you did not go near the Ammonites’ land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River, the cities of the hill country, or any place that the Lord our God had forbidden.

“Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan came out against us with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.

But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’

So the Lord our God also handed over Og king of Bashan and his whole army to us. We struck him until there was no survivor left.

We captured all his cities at that time. There wasn’t a city that we didn’t take from them: 60 cities, the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

All these were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a large number of rural villages.

But we took all the livestock and the spoil from the cities as plunder for ourselves.

all the cities of the plateau, Gilead, and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og. The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.

“I commanded you at that time: The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your fighting men will cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers the Israelites.

But your wives, young children, and livestock—I know that you have a lot of livestock—will remain in the cities I have given you

“I commanded Joshua at that time: Your own eyes have seen everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter.

Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west, north, south, and east, and see it with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.

But commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit this land that you will see.’

But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people before Me, and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’

When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the array of heaven—do not be led astray to bow down and worship them. The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.

The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you.

There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.

When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him.

He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.

Keep His statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.

Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully.

He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.

You are to labor six days and do all your work,

All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.

But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.

For who out of all mankind has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived?

Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you can tell us everything the Lord our God tells you; we will listen and obey.’

If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commands always, so that they and their children will prosper forever.

But you stand here with Me, and I will tell you every command—the statutes and ordinances—you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.’

Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.

Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and wipe you off the face of the earth.

by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.

Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household,

The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today.

Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

“The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

But He directly pays back and destroys those who hate Him. He will not hesitate to directly pay back the one who hates Him.

“If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep His covenant loyalty with you, as He swore to your fathers.

He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your descendants, and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you.

You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock.

The Lord will remove all sickness from you; He will not put on you all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.

You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:

the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you fear.

The Lord your God will also send the hornet against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish.

The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you.

The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.

You must burn up the carved images of their gods. Don’t covet the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God.

You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;

a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.

When you eat and are full, you will praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.

If you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will perish.

Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.

But understand that today the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will devastate and subdue them before you. You will drive them out and destroy them swiftly, as the Lord has told you.

When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.’

“So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.

Then I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights; I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and provoking Him to anger.

Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, ‘Because the Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’

I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.’