The Amorites who lived in the hill country came out to engage you in battle. They pursued you like bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah.

When you come to the Ammonites, don't harass or provoke them to war, for I won't give any part of Ammonite land to you, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their property.

It was the same for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete, destroyed them and settled there in their place.)

"Sihon came out to meet us, including his entire army, at the battle of Jahaz.

"We set out and went up along the road to Bashan. Then King Og of Bashan came out to meet us he and his whole army for a battle at Edrei.

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.

These are the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that Moses declared to the Israelis when they came out of Egypt.

When you heard the voice from the darkness while the mountain was blazing, all the leaders and elders of your tribes came to me and said:

"Remember and don't ever forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the desert. From the day that you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place you have been rebelling against the LORD.

"At that time, the LORD told me, "Chisel two tablets of stone for yourself just like the first ones, and then come up to me on the mountain. Also make for yourself a wooden chest.

what he did for you in the desert until you came to this place;

that worthless men have come from among you to entice those who live in the towns. They may say, "Let's go and serve other gods that you haven't known.'

so the descendants of Levi who have no tribal allotment as you do foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come, eat, and be satisfied. That way, the LORD your God shall bless you in everything you do."

"When you have come to the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, and you have taken possession of it, and have settled in it, then you will say, "I will appoint a king over me like all the nations around me.'

"Any descendant of Levi who wishes to do so may come from any city or part of Israel where he resides to the place that the LORD will choose.

Whenever a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the oracle does not come about or the word is not fulfilled, then the LORD has not spoken it. The prophet will have spoken presumptuously, so you need not fear him."

"When you attack a city and have to fight against it for many days, don't destroy its trees by cutting them down with an ax. You may eat from them, but you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human beings, that you would come and attack them?

because they didn't come to meet you with food and water along the way as you were coming out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Beor's son Balaam from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.

"When there is a conflict between individuals, let them come to court to judge the case, decide who is innocent, and condemn the guilty person.

Moreover, all these blessings will come upon you in abundance, if you obey the LORD your God:

"But if you don't obey the LORD your God and faithfully carry out all his commands and statutes that I'm giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you:

The LORD will change the rain on your land to powder and dust. It will come down from the sky until you are exterminated."

All these curses will come upon you and will overwhelm you until you are exterminated, because you didn't obey the LORD your God to keep his commands and statutes, which he had commanded you.

Then you reached this place, where King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan had come out to meet and fight with us, but we defeated them.

"Then the generation to come your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the LORD will inflict on it.

Then, when many evils and troubles will have come upon them, this song will serve as a witness against them, since their descendants won't fail to sing it. I know the plan that they are devising even before I bring them into the land that I promised them by an oath."

because I know that after my death, you'll surely act wickedly and turn from the road that I've instructed you. As a result, evil will fall on you in days to come, because you'll act wickedly in the sight of the LORD, causing him to become angry due to your behavior."

So Moses and Nun's son Joshua came and recited all the words of this song while the people were assembled.

He said: "The LORD came from Sinai. Rising from Seir upon us, he shone forth from Mount Paran, accompanied by a myriad of his holy ones, with flaming fire from his right hand for them.

He chose the best part for himself, when the leader's portion was assigned. He came at the head of the people, carrying out the LORD'S justice and his ordinances concerning Israel."