Joshua 23

Joshua’s Farewell Address

1 Now it came to pass, a long time after theLordhad given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshuawas old, advanced in age.

2 And Joshuacalled for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them:

“I am old, advanced in age.

3 You have seen all that theLordyour God has done to all these nations because of you, for theLordyour GodisHe who has fought for you.

4 See,I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward.

5 And theLordyour Godwill expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land,as theLordyour God promised you.

6 Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses,lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,

7 andlest yougo among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall notmake mention of the name of their gods, nor causeanyonetoswearbythem;you shall notserve them nor bow down to them,

8 but you shallhold fast to theLordyour God, as you have done to this day.

9 For theLordhas driven out from before you great and strong nations; butasforyou, no one has been able to stand against you to this day.

10 One man of you shall chase a thousand, for theLordyour GodisHe who fights for you,as He promised you.

11 Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love theLordyour God.

12 Or else, if indeed you dogo back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—andmake marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,

13 know for certain thattheLordyour God will no longer drive out these nations from before you.But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which theLordyour God has given you.

14 “Behold, this dayIamgoing the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls thatnot one thing has failed of all the good things which theLordyour God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.

15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which theLordyour God promised you, so theLordwill bring upon youall harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which theLordyour God has given you.

16 When you have transgressed the covenant of theLordyour God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then theanger of theLordwill burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

Joshua 24

The Covenant at Shechem

1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel toShechem andcalled for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and theypresented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says theLordGod of Israel:‘Your fathers,includingTerah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; andthey served other gods.

3 Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants andgave him Isaac.

4 To Isaac I gaveJacob and Esau. ToEsau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess,but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

5 Also I sent Moses and Aaron, andI plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.

6 ‘Then Ibrought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.

7 So they cried out to theLord; and He putdarkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. Andyour eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wildernessa long time.

8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan,and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you.

9 ThenBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, andsent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.

10 But I would not listen to Balaam;therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.

11 Thenyou went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. Andthe men of Jericho fought against you—alsothe Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand.

12 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you,alsothe two kings of the Amorites,butnot with your sword or with your bow.

13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, andcities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

14 “Now therefore, fear theLord, serve Him insincerity and in truth, andput away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River andin Egypt. Serve theLord!

15 And if it seems evil to you to serve theLord,choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whetherthe gods which your fathers served thatwereon the other side of the River, orthe gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.But as for me and my house, we will serve theLord.”

16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake theLordto serve other gods;

17 for theLordour GodisHe who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.

18 And theLorddrove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land.We also will serve theLord, for Heisour God.”

19 But Joshua said to the people,“You cannot serve theLord, for Heisaholy God. Heisa jealous God;He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

20 If you forsake theLordand serve foreign gods,then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve theLord!”

22 So Joshua said to the people, “Youarewitnesses against yourselves thatyou have chosen theLordfor yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “Wearewitnesses!”

23 “Now therefore,”hesaid,“put away the foreign gods whichareamong you, andincline your heart to theLordGod of Israel.”

24 And the peoplesaid to Joshua, “TheLordour God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

25 So Joshuamade a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinancein Shechem.

26 Then Joshuawrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he tooka large stone, andset it up thereunder the oak thatwasby the sanctuary of theLord.

27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall bea witness to us, forit has heard all the words of theLordwhich He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.”

28 SoJoshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

Death of Joshua and Eleazar

29 Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of theLord, died,beingone hundred and ten years old.

30 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance atTimnath Serah, whichisin the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

31 Israel served theLordall the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who hadknown all the works of theLordwhich He had done for Israel.

32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of groundwhich Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.

33 AndEleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hillbelongingtoPhinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

Deuteronomy 1

The Previous Command to Enter Canaan

1 Thesearethe words which Moses spoke to all Israelon this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2 Itiseleven days’journeyfrom Horeb by way of Mount Seirto Kadesh Barnea.

3 Now it came to passin the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the firstdayof the month,thatMoses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that theLordhad given him as commandments to them,

4 after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtarothin Edrei.

5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,

6 “TheLordour God spoke to usin Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt longenough at this mountain.

7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboringplacesin the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.

8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which theLordswore to your fathers—toAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’

Tribal Leaders Appointed

9 “AndI spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I alone am not able to bear you.

10 TheLordyour God has multiplied you,and here youaretoday, as the stars of heaven in multitude.

11 May theLordGod of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless youas He has promised you!

12 How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints?

13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.’

14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have toldusto doisgood.’

15 So I tookthe heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.

16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hearthecasesbetween your brethren, andjudge righteously between a man and hisbrother or the stranger who is with him.

17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, forthe judgmentisGod’s. The case that is too hard for you,bring to me, and I will hear it.’

18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “So we departed from Horeb,and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as theLordour God had commanded us. Thenwe came to Kadesh Barnea.

20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which theLordour God is giving us.

21 Look, theLordyour God has set the land before you; go upandpossessit,as theLordGod of your fathers has spoken to you;do not fear or be discouraged.’

22 “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’

23 “The plan pleased me well; soI took twelve of your men, one man fromeachtribe.

24 And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

25 They also tooksomeof the fruit of the land in their hands and broughtitdown to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘Itisagood land which theLordour God is giving us.’

26 “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of theLordyour God;

27 and youcomplained in your tents, and said, ‘Because theLordhates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying,“The peoplearegreater and taller than we; the citiesaregreat and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of theAnakim there.” ’

29 “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified,or afraid of them.

30 TheLordyour God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

31 and in the wilderness where you saw how theLordyour God carried you, as aman carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

32 Yet, for all that,you did not believe theLordyour God,

33 who went in the way before youto search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “And theLordheard the sound of your words, and was angry,and took an oath, saying,

35 ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,

36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, becausehe wholly followed theLord.’

37 TheLordwas also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there.

38 Joshua the son of Nun,who stands before you, he shall go in there.Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 ‘Moreover your little ones and your children, whoyou say will be victims, who todayhave no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

40 Butasforyou, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered and said to me,‘We have sinned against theLord; we will go up and fight, just as theLordour God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.

42 “And theLordsaid to me, ‘Tell them,“Do not go up nor fight, for Iamnot among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.”

43 So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, butrebelled against the command of theLord, andpresumptuously went up into the mountain.

44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased youas bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah.

45 Then you returned and wept before theLord, but theLordwould not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.

46 “So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spentthere.

Deuteronomy 2

The Desert Years

1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea,as theLordspoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.

2 “And theLordspoke to me, saying:

3 ‘You have skirted this mountainlong enough; turn northward.

4 And command the people, saying,“Youareabouttopass through the territory ofyour brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully.

5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give youanyof their land, no, not so much as one footstep,because I have given Mount Seir to Esauasa possession.

6 You shall buy 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 theLordyour God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness.These forty years theLordyour Godhasbeenwith you; you have lacked nothing.” ’

8 “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away fromElath and Ezion Geber, weturned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.

9 Then theLordsaid to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give youanyof their landasa possession, because I have givenAr tothe descendants of Lotasa possession.’ ”

10 (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall asthe Anakim.

11 They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

12 The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which theLordgave them.)

13 “ ‘Now rise and cross overthe Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered.

14 And the time we took to comefrom Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zeredwasthirty-eight years,until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp,just as theLordhad sworn to them.

15 For indeed the hand of theLordwas against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.

16 “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,

17 that theLordspoke to me, saying:

18 ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab.

19 Andwhenyou come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give youanyof the land of the people of Ammonasa possession, because I have given it tothe descendants of Lotasa possession.’ ”

20 (That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call themZamzummim,

21 a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But theLorddestroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place,

22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau,who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyedthe Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day.

23 Andthe Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)

24 “ ‘Rise, take your journey, andcross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your handSihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possessit,and engage him in battle.

25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shalltremble and be in anguish because of you.’

King Sihon Defeated

26 “And Isent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon,with words of peace, saying,

27 ‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left.

28 You 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 just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which theLordour God is giving us.’

30 “But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, fortheLordyour Godhardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, asitisthis day.

31 “And theLordsaid to me, ‘See, I have begun togive Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possessit,that you may inherit his land.’

32 Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz.

33 AndtheLordour God delivered him over to us; sowe defeated him, his sons, and all his people.

34 We took all his cities at that time, and weutterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining.

35 We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took.

36 From Aroer, whichison the bank of the River Arnon, andfromthe city thatisin the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us;theLordour God delivered all to us.

37 Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the RiverJabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, orwherever theLordour God had forbidden us.

Deuteronomy 3

King Og Defeated

1 “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan; andOg king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battleat Edrei.

2 And theLordsaid to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; you shall do to him as you did toSihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’

3 “So theLordour God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan, with all his people, and we attacked him until he had no survivors remaining.

4 And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities,all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

5 All these citieswerefortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns.

6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon kingof Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.

7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as booty for ourselves.

8 “And at that time we took theland from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites whowereon this side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to MountHermon

9 (the Sidonians callHermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),

10 all the cities of the plain, all Gilead, andall Bashan, as far as Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

11 “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant ofthe giants. Indeed his bedsteadwasan iron bedstead. (Isit not inRabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubitsisits length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.

The Land East of the Jordan Divided

12 “And thisland,whichwe possessed at that time,from Aroer, whichisby the River Arnon, and half the mountains of Gilead andits cities, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites.

13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, with all Bashan, was called the land of the giants.

14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob,as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, andcalled Bashan after his own name, Havoth Jair, to this day.)

15 “Also I gaveGilead to Machir.

16 And to the Reubenitesand the Gadites I gave from Gilead as far as the River Arnon, the middle of the river astheborder, as far as the River Jabbok,the border of the people of Ammon;

17 the plain also, with the Jordan astheborder, from Chinnerethas far as the east side of the Sea of the Arabah(the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.

18 “Then I commanded you at that time, saying: ‘TheLordyour God has given you this land to possess.All you men of valor shall cross over armed before your brethren, the children of Israel.

19 But your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall stay in your cities which I have given you,

20 until theLordhas givenrest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which theLordyour God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you mayreturn to his possession which I have given you.’

21 “AndI commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that theLordyour God has done to these two kings; so will theLorddo to all the kingdoms through which you pass.

22 You must not fear them, fortheLordyour God Himself fights for you.’

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

23 “ThenI pleaded with theLordat that time, saying:

24 ‘O LordGod, You have begun to show Your servantYour greatness and Your mighty hand, forwhat godistherein heaven or on earth who can doanythinglike Your works and Your mightydeeds?

25 I pray, let me cross over and seethe good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’

26 “But theLordwas angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So theLordsaid to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.

27 Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; beholditwith your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.

28 Butcommand Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.’

29 “So we stayed inthe valley opposite Beth Peor.

Deuteronomy 4

Moses Commands Obedience

1 “Now, O Israel, listen tothe statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which theLordGod of your fathers is giving you.

2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of theLordyour God which I command you.

3 Your eyes have seen what theLorddid atBaal Peor; for theLordyour God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor.

4 But you who held fast to theLordyour Godarealive today, every one of you.

5 “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as theLordmy God commanded me, that you should act accordingtothemin the land which you go to possess.

6 Therefore be careful to observethem;for thisisyour wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nationisa wise and understanding people.’

7 “Forwhat great nationistherethat hasGodsonear to it, as theLordour Godisto us, for whateverreasonwe may call upon Him?

8 And what great nationistherethat hassuchstatutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?

9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligentlykeep yourself, lest youforget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Andteach them to your children and your grandchildren,

10 especiallyconcerningthe day you stood before theLordyour God in Horeb, when theLordsaid to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, andthatthey may teach their children.’

11 “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

12 And theLordspoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form;youonlyhearda voice.

13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform,the Ten Commandments; andHe wrote them on two tablets of stone.

14 AndtheLordcommanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

Beware of Idolatry

15 “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw noform when theLordspoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

16 lest youact corruptly andmake for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure:the likeness of male or female,

17 the likeness of any animal thatison the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,

18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish thatisin the water beneath the earth.

19 Andtakeheed,lest youlift your eyes to heaven, andwhenyou see the sun, the moon, and the stars,all the host of heaven, you feel driven toworship them and serve them, which theLordyour God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.

20 But theLordhas taken you andbrought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to beHis people, an inheritance, as you are this day.

21 FurthermoretheLordwas angry with me for your sakes, and swore thatI would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which theLordyour God is giving you as an inheritance.

22 ButI must die in this land,I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possessthat good land.

23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of theLordyour God which He made with you,and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which theLordyour God has forbidden you.

24 FortheLordyour Godisa consuming fire,a jealous God.

25 “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, anddo evil in the sight of theLordyour God to provoke Him to anger,

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolongyourdays in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

27 And theLordwill scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where theLordwill drive you.

28 Andthere you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone,which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

29 But from there you will seek theLordyour God, and you will findHimif you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in thelatter days, when youturn to theLordyour God and obey His voice

31 (for theLordyour Godisa merciful God), He will not forsake you nordestroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

32 “Forask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, andaskfrom one end of heaven to the other, whetheranygreatthinglike this has happened, oranythinglike it has been heard.

33 Didanypeopleeverhear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

34 Or did Godevertry to goandtake for Himself a nation from the midst ofanothernation,by trials,by signs, by wonders, by war,by a mighty hand andan outstretched arm,and by great terrors, according to all that theLordyour God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 To you it was shown, that you might know that theLordHimselfisGod;thereisnone other besides Him.

36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.

37 And becauseHe loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; andHe brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power,

38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their landasan inheritance, asitisthis day.

39 Therefore know this day, and consideritin your heart, thattheLordHimselfisGod in heaven above and on the earth beneath;thereisno other.

40 You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolongyourdays in the land which theLordyour God is giving you for all time.”

Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

41 Then Mosesset apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,

42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

Introduction to God’s Law

44 Now thisisthe law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

45 Thesearethe testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt,

46 on this side of the Jordan,in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israeldefeated after they came out of Egypt.

47 And they took possession of his land and the landof Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, whowereon this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,

48 from Aroer, whichison the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is,Hermon),

49 and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below theslopes of Pisgah.

Deuteronomy 5

The Ten Commandments Reviewed

1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

2 TheLordour God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

3 TheLorddid not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those whoarehere today, all of us whoarealive.

4 TheLordtalked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.

5 I stood between theLordand you at that time, to declare to you the word of theLord; foryou were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain.Hesaid:

6 ‘IamtheLordyour God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likenessofanythingthatisin heaven above, or thatisin the earth beneath, or thatisin the water under the earth;

9 you shall notbow down to them nor serve them. For I, theLordyour God,ama jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourthgenerationsof those who hate Me,

10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

11 ‘You shall not take the name of theLordyour God in vain, for theLordwill not holdhimguiltless who takes His name in vain.

12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as theLordyour God commanded you.

13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

14 but the seventh dayistheSabbath of theLordyour God.Inityou shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger whoiswithin your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and theLordyour God brought you out from thereby a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore theLordyour God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as theLordyour God has commanded you,that your days may be long, and that it may be well withyou in the land which theLordyour God is giving you.

17 ‘You shall not murder.

18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.

19 ‘You shall not steal.

20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything thatisyour neighbor’s.’

22 “These words theLordspoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. AndHe wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

23 “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.

24 And you said: ‘Surely theLordour God has shown us His glory and His greatness, andwe have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet hestilllives.

25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us;if we hear the voice of theLordour God anymore, then we shall die.

26 For whoisthereof all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as wehave,and lived?

27 You go near and hear all that theLordour God may say, andtell us all that theLordour God says to you, and we will hear and doit.’

28 “Then theLordheard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and theLordsaid to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you.They are rightinall that they have spoken.

29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me andalways keep all My commandments,that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”

31 But as for you, stand here by Me,and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observethemin the land which I am giving them to possess.’

32 “Therefore you shall be careful to do as theLordyour God has commanded you;you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

33 You shall walk inall the ways which theLordyour God has commanded you, that you may liveandthatitmaybewell with you, andthatyou may prolongyourdays in the land which you shall possess.

Deuteronomy 6

The Greatest Commandment

1 “Now thisisthe commandment,andthesearethe statutes and judgments which theLordyour God has commanded to teach you, that you may observethemin the land which you are crossing over to possess,

2 that you may fear theLordyour God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life,and that your days may be prolonged.

3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observeit,that it may be well with you, and that you maymultiply greatlyas theLordGod of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

4 “Hear, O Israel: TheLordour God, theLordisone!

5 You shall love theLordyour God with all your heart,with all your soul, and with all your strength.

6 “Andthese words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Caution Against Disobedience

10 “So it shall be, when theLordyour God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful citieswhich you did not build,

11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—

12 thenbeware, lest you forget theLordwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

13 You shallfear theLordyour God and serve Him, andshall take oaths in His name.

14 You shall not go after other gods,the gods of the peoples whoareall around you

15 (fortheLordyour Godisa jealous Godamong you), lest the anger of theLordyour God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

16 “You shall not tempt theLordyour Godas you temptedHimin Massah.

17 You shalldiligently keep the commandments of theLordyour God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.

18 And youshall dowhatisright and good in the sight of theLord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which theLordswore to your fathers,

19 to cast out all your enemies from before you, as theLordhas spoken.

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘Whatisthemeaningofthe testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which theLordour God has commanded you?’

21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and theLordbrought us out of Egyptwith a mighty hand;

22 and theLordshowed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.

23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.

24 And theLordcommanded us to observe all these statutes,to fear theLordour God,for our good always, thatHe might preserve us alive, asitisthis day.

25 Thenit will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before theLordour God, as He has commanded us.’

Deuteronomy 7

A Chosen People

1 “When theLordyour God brings you into the land which you go topossess, and has cast out manynations before you,the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,

2 and when theLordyour God deliversthem over to you, you shall conquer themandutterly destroy them.You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods;so the anger of theLordwill be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

5 But thus you shall deal with them: you shalldestroy their altars, and break down theirsacredpillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

6 “For youarea holy people to theLordyour God;theLordyour God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

7 TheLorddid not set Hislove on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you werethe least of all peoples;

8 butbecause theLordloves you, and because He would keepthe oath which He swore to your fathers,theLordhas brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 “Therefore know that theLordyour God, HeisGod,the faithful Godwho keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not beslack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.

11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

Blessings of Obedience

12 “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that theLordyour God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

13 And He willlove you and bless you and multiply you;He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.

14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or femalebarren among you or among your livestock.

15 And theLordwill take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of theterrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will laythemon all those who hate you.

16 Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom theLordyour God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for thatwillbea snare to you.

17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’—

18 you shall not be afraid of them,butyou shallremember well what theLordyour God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which theLordyour God brought you out. So shall theLordyour God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

20 Moreover theLordyour God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.

21 You shall not be terrified of them; for theLordyour God, the great and awesome God,isamong you.

22 And theLordyour God will drive out those nations before youlittle by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field becometoonumerous for you.

23 But theLordyour God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.

24 AndHe will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven;no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

25 You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall notcovet the silver or goldthatison them, nor takeitfor yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for itisan abomination to theLordyour God.

26 Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it,for itisan accursed thing.

Deuteronomy 8

Remember the Lord Your God

1 “Every commandment which I command you todayyou must be careful to observe, that you may live andmultiply, and go in and possess the land of which theLordswore to your fathers.

2 And you shall remember that theLordyour Godled you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble youandtest you,to know whatwasin your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

3 So He humbled you,allowed you to hunger, andfed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shallnot live by bread alone; but man lives by everywordthat proceeds from the mouth of theLord.

4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son,sotheLordyour God chastens you.

6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of theLordyour God,to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

7 For theLordyour God is bringing you into a good land,a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;

8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stonesareiron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless theLordyour God for the good land which He has given you.

11 “Beware that you do not forget theLordyour God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,

12 lest—whenyou have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwellinthem;

13 andwhenyour herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

14 when your heart is lifted up, and youforget theLordyour God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

15 wholed you through that great and terrible wilderness,inwhichwerefiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water;who brought water for you out of the flinty rock;

16 who fed you in the wilderness withmanna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you,to do you good in the end—

17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

18 “And you shall remember theLordyour God,foritisHe who gives you power to get wealth,that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, asitisthis day.

19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget theLordyour God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them,I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

20 As the nations which theLorddestroys before you,so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of theLordyour God.