“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.’

They left and went up into the hill country and came to the Valley of Eshcol, scouting the land.

They took some of the fruit from the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us back a report: ‘The land the Lord our God is giving us is good.’

You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘The Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they would destroy us, because He hated us.

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.

Then the Amorites who lived there came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir as far as Hormah.

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.

They were also regarded as Rephaim, like the Anakim, though the Moabites called them Emim.

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

a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. The Lord destroyed the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they drove them out and settled in their place.

This was just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and have lived in their place until now.

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.’

until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they also take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession that I have given you.

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.’

“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

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.’

These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,

across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt.

They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east,

“The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.

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.’

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.

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

“The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go down immediately from here. For your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast image for themselves.’

The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people.

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.’

But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.

and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made. And they have remained there, as the Lord commanded me.”

They traveled from there to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.

Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to give their fathers.’

what He did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and He destroyed them completely;

“But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer,

be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’

You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable thing, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you.

But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

the camel, the hare, and the hyrax,
though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves—
they are unclean for you;

All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.

When the Lord your God blesses you as He has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

“Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you.

You must abide by the instruction they give you and the verdict they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you.

“The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the Lord’s fire offerings; that is their inheritance.

They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.

Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well.

Then everyone else will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything evil like this among you.

When the officers have finished addressing the army, they will appoint military commanders to lead it.

so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will break its neck there by the stream.

Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name, and they are to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

They will declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see it.

Lord, forgive Your people Israel You redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.’ Then they will be absolved of responsibility for bloodshed.

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn’t listen to them even after they discipline him,

They will say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn’t obey us. He’s a glutton and a drunkard.’

He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying: “I didn’t find any evidence of your daughter’s virginity,” but here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ They will spread out the cloth before the city elders.

They will also fine him 100 silver shekels and give them to the young woman’s father, because that man gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She will remain his wife; he cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.

If a man encounters a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, takes hold of her and rapes her, and they are discovered,

This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.

“If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the guilty.

They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not fear God.

“When you have finished paying all the tenth of your produce in the third year, the year of the tenth, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

“The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you from one direction but flee from you in seven directions.

Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by Yahweh’s name, and they will stand in awe of you.

You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will be taken prisoner.

They will eat the offspring of your livestock and your land’s produce until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish.

They will besiege you within all your gates until your high and fortified walls, that you trust in, come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your gates throughout the land the Lord your God has given you.

He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you.

Then people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which He had made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

They began to worship other gods, bowing down to gods they had not known—gods that the Lord had not permitted them to worship.

The Lord uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and threw them into another land where they are today.’

Gather the people—men, women, children, and foreigners living within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law.

The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon commit adultery with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, ‘Haven’t these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?’

I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

When I bring them into the land I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising Me and breaking My covenant.

And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.”

His people have acted corruptly toward Him;
this is their defect—they are not His children
but a devious and crooked generation.

Remember the days of old;
consider the years long past.
Ask your father, and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will teach you.

They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;
they enraged Him with detestable practices.

They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to gods they had not known,
new gods that had just arrived,
which your fathers did not fear.

He said: “I will hide My face from them;
I will see what will become of them,
for they are a perverse generation—
unfaithful children.

They have provoked My jealousy
with their so-called gods;
they have enraged Me with their worthless idols.
So I will provoke their jealousy
with an inferior people;
I will enrage them with a foolish nation.

They will be weak from hunger,
ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;
I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs,
as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.

If only they were wise, they would figure it out;
they would understand their fate.

He will say: “Where are their gods,
the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?

For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Indeed He loves the people.
All Your holy ones are in Your hand,
and they assemble at Your feet.
Each receives Your words.

He said about his father and mother,
“I do not regard them.”
He disregarded his brothers
and didn’t acknowledge his sons,
for they kept Your word
and maintained Your covenant.

They will teach Your ordinances to Jacob
and Your instruction to Israel;
they will set incense before You
and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

Lord, bless his possessions,
and accept the work of his hands.
Smash the loins of his adversaries and enemies,
so that they cannot rise again.

They summon the peoples to a mountain;
there they offer acceptable sacrifices.
For they draw from the wealth of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.