"The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb. He said, "You have been at this mountain long enough.

Break camp, get going, and proceed to the hill country of the Amorites and all the nearby places in the Arabah desert, the highlands, the foothills, the Negev, the coastal plains, all of the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

The LORD your God greatly multiplied your numbers, and today you are like the stars in the sky.

May the LORD, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times more, and may he bless you, as he promised you.

You answered by saying that this plan is a good thing.

When you hold a hearing, don't be partial in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.'

"Then we set out from Horeb and walked through that vast and dreadful desert, where you observed the road to the Amorite hill country. Just as the LORD our God ordained for us, we finally arrived at Kadesh-barnea.

I told you at that time, "You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is about to give us.

Look! The LORD your God has given the land that lies before you. Go and possess it, just as the LORD God of your ancestors commanded you. Don't be afraid or discouraged.'

Because this suggestion seemed good to me, I chose twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

They hand-picked some of the fruit of the land, brought it down to us, and gave a report that said, "The land which the LORD is about to give us is good.'"

"However, your ancestors didn't go up. Instead, they rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

The LORD your God is the One who will be going ahead of you. He'll fight for you just as he did in Egypt before your eyes.

But despite this, you didn't trust in the LORD your God,

"I swear that not one man of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors,

"You responded to me and said, "We have sinned against the LORD. We will now go up and fight according to what the LORD our God commanded.' So each man put on his weapon for battle and recklessly started out for the hill country."

Indeed, the LORD your God blessed all the works of your hands. He knows about your travels through this vast desert. The LORD your God was with you these past 40 years, so that you didn't lack anything.

Now get going and cross the Wadi Zered.' And so we crossed the Wadi Zered.

Get ready and set out for the Wadi Arnon. Look! I've given into your control Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, along with his land. Prepare to take possession by provoking him to war.

as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for me, as did the Moabites who live in Ar. I'll pass through, until I will have crossed the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is about to give us.'

But King Sihon of Heshbon did not allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God had hardened his spirit and made him arrogant, in order to deliver him into your control today.

The LORD our God delivered him to us, so we attacked him, his son, and his whole army.

From Aroer on the edge of Arnon Valley and from the town all the way to Gilead, there was no city that was too strong for us the LORD our God delivered them all to us.

You did not encroach onto Ammonite land, the banks of the Wadi Jabbok, the towns in the hill country, and all the other places that were forbidden by the LORD our God."

"So the LORD our God also delivered into our control King Og of Bashan, along with his whole army. We attacked him until there were no survivors.

"Of the land that we captured at that time, I've given its towns to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad from Aroer near the Wadi Arnon to half of the hill country of Gilead.

And I've given Gilead to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad as far as the Arnon Valley, designating the middle of the valley as its boundary, including up to the Jabbok River as a boundary with the Ammonites.

"Then I commanded you at that time, "The Lord your God gave you this land as a possession. Those equipped for battle every man a warrior will cross before your fellow Israelis.

until the LORD grants rest to your fellow Israelis like you. When they take possession of the territory that the LORD your God is about to give them on the other side of the Jordan River, then each of you may return to the territory that I've allotted for you.'

"I also charged Joshua at that time, "You witnessed everything that the LORD your God did to the two kings. Indeed, the LORD will do this to all the kingdoms which you are about to enter.

You are not to fear them, because the LORD your God will fight for you.'"

"LORD God, you've begun to show your greatness and your strong power to your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can equal your works and mighty deeds?

Let me cross over that I may see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River the good hill country as well as Lebanon.'

"Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the ordinances that I'm teaching you to observe so you may live and go in to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is about to give you.

Do not add or subtract a thing to what I'm commanding you. Observe the commands of the LORD your God.

You saw with your own eyes what he did in Baal Peor. The LORD your God exterminated from among you every man who followed Baal of Peor.

But all of you who are clinging to the LORD your God are alive today.

See! I taught you the statutes and the ordinances, just as the LORD God commanded. Therefore, observe them when you enter the land you are about to possess.

For what great nation has a god so near like the LORD our God whenever we call on him?

The day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God in Horeb, the LORD told me, "Gather the people before me so they may hear my words, learn to revere me the whole time that they live in the land, and teach them to their children.'"

the LORD your God spoke from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you saw no form; there was only a voice.

"Therefore, for your own sake, be very careful, since you did not see any form on the day that the LORD your God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire.

Do not gaze toward the heavens and observe the sun, the moon, the stars the entire array of the sky with the intent to worship and serve what the LORD your God gave every nation.

"But the LORD was angry with me because of you. So he swore that I'll never cross the Jordan River to enter the good land that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance.

I'm going to die in this land and I won't cross the Jordan River, but you're about to cross over to possess that good land.

Be careful! Otherwise, you will forget the covenant of the LORD your God, who established that covenant with you. Don't make carved images of any likeness in violation of everything that you were commanded by the LORD your God.

Indeed, the LORD your God is a consuming fire. He is a jealous God."

"After you've borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God, you will provoke him to anger.

Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among the nations, and you'll be fewer in number in the nations where the LORD your God will drive you.

If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.

In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice.

For God is compassionate. The LORD your God won't fail you. He won't destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors."

"Indeed, ask from one end of the heavens to the other about days of old, before your time, when God created mankind on the earth. Did we ever have anything as great as this, or ever hear of anything like it?

Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of a fire just as you did, and survived it?

Or has any god ever taken for himself one nation out from another nation with testings, signs, wonders, wars, awesome power, and magnificent, terrifying deeds as the LORD your God did in Egypt before your eyes?

"You have been shown this in order to know that "the LORD is God' and there is no one like him.

"May you acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in the heavens above and over the earth below there is no other God.

May you observe his statutes and keep his commands that I'm giving you today, so that life may go well for you and for your descendants after you. That way, you'll live a long life in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you permanently."

Bezer in the desert plain for the descendants of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the descendants of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the descendants of Manasseh.

Moses called all of Israel together and told them: "Listen, Israel! Today I'm going to announce God's laws and regulations so that you will learn them and take care to obey them.

When the LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb,

""I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery.

You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the guilt of parents on children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

""You are not to misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who misuses his name.

""Observe the Sabbath day, maintaining its holiness, just as the LORD your God commanded.

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You are not to do any work neither you, your son, nor your daughter, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys, nor any of your livestock, nor any foreigner who lives among you, so that your male and female servants may rest as you do.

You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out from there with great power and a show of force. Therefore, the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

""Honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God commanded you, so that you will live long and things will go well for you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

"The LORD our God truly has displayed his glory and power, for we heard him from out of the fire today. We have witnessed how God spoke to human beings, yet they lived.

Now therefore, why should we die? This great fire will consume us. If we continue to listen to the voice of the LORD our God any longer, we'll die.

For what mortal man has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire like we did, and lived?

As for you, go near and listen to everything that the LORD our God will say to you, then repeat it to us, and we'll listen and obey.'

"The LORD heard what you said. He told me: "I've heard what this people said. Everything they said was good.

You must be careful to do what the LORD your God commanded you, turning neither to the left nor to the right.

You are to walk in every pathway that the LORD your God commanded you, so that life may go well for you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land that you will possess.'"

so that you, your children, and your grandchildren may fear the LORD your God. Keep all his decrees and commandments that I'm giving you every day of your life, so you may live a long time.

Listen, Israel! Be careful to obey, so that life may go well for you and that you may increase greatly. Just as the LORD God of your ancestors told you, you'll have a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Listen, Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

You are to love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Teach them repeatedly to your children. Talk about them while sitting in your house or walking on the road, and as you lie down or get up.

"When the LORD your God brings you to the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he will give you large and beautiful cities that you didn't build,

houses filled with every good thing that you didn't supply, wells that you didn't dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant. When you eat and are satisfied,

be careful not to forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and slavery.

Fear the LORD your God, serve him, and make your oaths in his name.

For the LORD your God who is among you is a jealous God. He will turn his anger against you and destroy you from the surface of the land."

"Don't test the LORD your God like you did in Massah.

Be sure to observe the commands of the LORD your God, his testimonies and his decrees that he gave you.

Do what is good and right in the LORD's sight so it may go well with you. Then you'll enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God promised to your ancestors,

"When your son asks you in the future, "What is the meaning of the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?'

Then the LORD commanded us to observe all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God for our own good, so that he may keep us alive as we are today.

It will be credited as righteousness for us, if we're careful to obey the entire Law in the presence of the LORD our God, as he commanded.'"

"When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, he will drive out many nations before you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations who are more numerous and stronger than you.

So when the LORD your God delivers them to you and you have defeated them, then utterly destroy them. You are not to make any covenant with them nor be gracious to them.

This is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire,

because you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God chose you to be his people, his treasured possession from all the nations on the face of the earth."

Know that the LORD your God is God, the trusted God who faithfully keeps his covenant to the thousandth generation of those who love him and obey his commands.

"If you pay attention to these laws and obey them, then the LORD your God will continue his covenant of gracious love with you that he promised with an oath to your ancestors.

You are to utterly destroy everyone whom the LORD your God will deliver to you. Don't have pity on them nor serve their gods. Otherwise, they will become a snare for you."

But you mustn't fear them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.

Your eyes saw the great trials, the signs and wonders, and the awesome power with which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the people whom you fear.