Deu 1:1-4:43 | ESV | STEP | These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness , in the Arabah opposite Suph , between Paran and Tophel , Laban , Hazeroth , and Dizahab .

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in ^athe Arabah opposite ^bSuph, between ^cParan and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to ^dKadesh-barnea. 3 ^eIn the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after ^fhe had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ^gOg the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in ^hEdrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, ⁱin the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ^j‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to ^kthe hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in ^lthe Arabah, ^min the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and ⁿby the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, ^oto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

9 “At that time ^pI said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, ^qyou are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 ^rMay the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, ^sas he has promised you! 12 ^tHow can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 ^uChoose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, ^vand set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ^wjudge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 ^xYou shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for ^ythe judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall ^zbring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “Then we set out from Horeb and ^aawent through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And ^abwe came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. ^acDo not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and ^adI took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And ^aethey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And ^afyou murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord ^aghated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, ^ahto give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? ^aiOur brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ^aj“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ^akthe sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you ^alwill himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God ^amcarried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word ^anyou did not believe the Lord your God, 33 ^aowho went before you in the way ^apto seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ^aq‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 ^arexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me ^asthe Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 ^atJoshua the son of Nun, ^auwho stands before you, he shall enter. ^avEncourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for ^awyour little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today ^axhave no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, ^ayturn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered me, ^az‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, ^ba‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, ^bbfor I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and ^bcpresumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 ^bdThen the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you ^beas bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as ^bfHormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So ^bgyou remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

Deuteronomy 2

The Wilderness Years

1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^bhas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^bilong enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^bjyour brothers, the people of Esau, ^bkwho live in Seir; and ^blthey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^bmI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 ^bnYou shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^boHe knows your going through this great wilderness. ^bpThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So ^bqwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ^brthe Arabah road from ^bsElath and ^btEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the Lord said to me, ^bu‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^bvAr to ^bwthe people of Lot for a possession.’ 10 ( ^bxThe Emim formerly lived there, ^bya people great and many, and tall ^bzas the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^caRephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 ^cbThe Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^ccas Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over ^cdthe brook Zered.’ So we went over ^cethe brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving ^cfKadesh-barnea until we crossed ^cgthe brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^chuntil the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^cido not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^cjthe sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20 (It is also counted as a land of ^ckRephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 ^cla people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, ^{▼▼Hebrew them} and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^cnthe Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23 As for ^cothe Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^cpGaza, ^cqthe Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^crgo over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^csHeshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ^ctcontend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put ^cuthe dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

The Defeat of King Sihon

26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^cvKedemoth to Sihon the king of ^cwHeshbon, ^cxwith words of peace, saying, 27 ^cy‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. 28 ^czYou shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, 29 ^daas the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ 30 But ^dbSihon the king of ^dcHeshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^ddhardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. 31 And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ 32 Then ^deSihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 And ^dfthe Lord our God gave him over to us, and ^dgwe defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)} every ^dicity, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 ^djFrom Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from ^dkthe city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. ^dlThe Lord our God gave all into our hands. 37 Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river ^dmJabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

Deuteronomy 3

The Defeat of King Og

1 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And ^dnOg the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at ^doEdrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to ^dpSihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, ^dqand we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, ^drthe whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And ^dswe devoted them to destruction, ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse} as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every ^ducity, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call ^dvHermon ^dwSirion, while the Amorites call it ^dxSenir), 10 all the cities of the ^dytableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as ^dzSalecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For ^eaonly Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of ^ebthe Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in ^ecRabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the ^eecommon cubit. ^{▼▼Hebrew cubit of a man})

12 “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning ^egat Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with ^ehits cities. 13 ^eiThe rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, ^ejall the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of ^ekRephaim. 14 ^elJair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of ^emthe Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages ^enafter his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 To Machir ^eoI gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites ^epand the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, ^eqthe border of the Ammonites; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from ^erChinnereth as far as ^esthe Sea of the Arabah, ^etthe Salt Sea, under ^euthe slopes of Pisgah on the east.

18 “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. ^evAll your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19 Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock ^ew(I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20 ^exuntil the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21 And I commanded ^eyJoshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is ^ezthe Lord your God who fights for you.’

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

23 “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant ^fayour greatness and your mighty hand. For ^fbwhat god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see ^fcthe good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and ^fdLebanon.’ 26 But ^fethe Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ^ff‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 ^fgGo up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But ^fhcharge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29 So we remained in ^fithe valley opposite Beth-peor.

Deuteronomy 4:1-43

Moses Commands Obedience

1 “And now, O Israel, listen to ^fjthe statutes and the rules ^{▼▼Or just decrees; also verses 5, 8, 14, 45} that I am teaching you, and do them, ^flthat you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 ^fmYou shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did ^fnat Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 ^foKeep them and do them, for ^fpthat will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For ^fqwhat great nation is there that has ^fra god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so ^fsrighteous as all this law that I set before you today?

9 ^ft“Only take care, and ^fukeep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. ^fvMake them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how on ^fwthe day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ^fx‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, ^fyso that they may learn to fear ^fzme all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11 And ^gayou came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while ^gbthe mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then ^gcthe Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, ^gdbut saw no form; ^gethere was only a voice. 13 ^gfAnd he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, ^ggthe Ten Commandments, ^{▼▼Hebrew words} ^giand he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And ^gjthe Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 ^gk“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since ^glyou saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware ^gmlest you act corruptly ^gnby making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, ^gothe likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see ^gpthe sun and the moon and the stars, ^gqall the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and ^grbrought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, ^gsto be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, ^gtthe Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; ^guI must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of ^gvthat good land. 23 ^gwTake care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and ^gxmake a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For ^gythe Lord your God is a consuming fire, ^gza jealous God.

25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, ^haif you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and ^hbby doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I ^hccall heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord ^hdwill scatter you among the peoples, ^heand you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And ^hfthere you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, ^hgthat neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 ^hhBut from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you ^hiin the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is ^hja merciful God. ^hkHe will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

The Lord Alone Is God

32 “For ^hlask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 ^hmDid any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, ^hnby signs, by wonders, and ^hoby war, ^hpby a mighty hand and ^hqan outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, ^hrthat you might know that the Lord is God; ^hsthere is no other besides him. 36 ^htOut of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and ^huyou heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because ^hvhe loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them ^{▼▼Hebrew his offspring after him} and brought you out of Egypt ^hxwith his own presence, by his great power, 38 ^hydriving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that ^hzthe Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; ^iathere is no other. 40 ^ibTherefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, ^icthat it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

Cities of Refuge

41 Then Moses ^idset apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, 42 that ^iethe manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: 43 ^ifBezer in the wilderness on the ^igtableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.