The Bible - New International Version

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's staff was among them.

7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.

9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord 's presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff.

10 The Lord said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die."

11 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.

12 The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!

13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?"

18 The Lord said to Aaron, "You, your sons and your father's family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood.

2 Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony.

3 They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the Tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.

4 They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the Tent of Meeting-all the work at the Tent-and no one else may come near where you are.

5 "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.

6 I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the Tent of Meeting.

7 But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death."

8 Then the Lord said to Aaron, "I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share.

9 You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

10 Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.

11 "This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

12 "I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest.

13 All the land's firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

14 "Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours.

15 The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.

16 When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.

17 "But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord .

18 Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours.

19 Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring."

20 The Lord said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.

21 "I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting.

22 From now on the Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die.

23 It is the Levites who are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting and bear the responsibility for offenses against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites.

24 Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord . That is why I said concerning them: 'They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.' "

25 The Lord said to Moses,

26 "Speak to the Levites and say to them: 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord 's offering.

27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.

28 In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord 's portion to Aaron the priest.

29 You must present as the Lord 's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.'

30 "Say to the Levites: 'When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress.

31 You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting.

32 By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.' "

19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

2 "This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.

3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.

5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned-its hide, flesh, blood and offal.

6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.

7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening.

8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

9 "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.

10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.

11 "Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.

12 He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.

13 Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the Lord 's tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

14 "This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days,

15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.

16 "Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

17 "For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them.

18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death.

19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean.

20 But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord . The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean.

21 This is a lasting ordinance for them. "The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.

22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening."

20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.

3 They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord !

4 Why did you bring the Lord 's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here?

5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"

6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

7 The Lord said to Moses,

8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord 's presence, just as he commanded him.

10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"

11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he showed himself holy among them.

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us.

15 Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

16 but when we cried out to the Lord , he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. "Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.

17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory."

18 But Edom answered: "You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword."

19 The Israelites replied: "We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot-nothing else."

20 Again they answered: "You may not pass through." Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army.

21 Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.

22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.

23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

24 "Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.

26 Remove Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there."

27 Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.

28 Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,

29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them.

2 Then Israel made this vow to the Lord : "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities."

3 The Lord listened to Israel's plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.

4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;

5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"

6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.

7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

8 The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."

9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

10 The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.

11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise.

12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.

13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says: "?Waheb in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon

15 and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab."

16 From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."

17 Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! Sing about it,

18 about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank- the nobles with scepters and staffs." Then they went from the desert to Mattanah,

19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

21 Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:

22 "Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway until we have passed through your territory."

23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel.

24 Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified.

25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements.

26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

27 That is why the poets say: "Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt; let Sihon's city be restored.

28 "Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon's heights.

29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 "But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba."

31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

32 After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there.

33 Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.

34 The Lord said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."

35 So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.

22 Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.

2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,

3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

4 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,

5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land. Balak said: "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.

6 Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed."

7 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

8 "Spend the night here," Balaam said to them, "and I will bring you back the answer the Lord gives me." So the Moabite princes stayed with him.

9 God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?"

10 Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

11 'A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight them and drive them away.' "

12 But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed."

13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak's princes, "Go back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you."

14 So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

15 Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first.

16 They came to Balaam and said: "This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me,

17 because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me."

18 But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.

19 Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the Lord will tell me."

20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you."

21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides.

25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord , she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.

26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.

27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord , she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.

28 Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."

30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.

31 Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

32 The angel of the Lord asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.

33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."

34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord , "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back."

35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory.

37 Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn't you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?"

38 "Well, I have come to you now," Balaam replied. "But can I say just anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth."

39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth.

40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and gave some to Balaam and the princes who were with him.

41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he saw part of the people.

23 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."

2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height.

4 God met with him, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram."

5 The Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."

6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the princes of Moab.

7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle: "Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.'

8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?

9 From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!"

11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!"

12 He answered, "Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?"

13 Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me."

14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there."

16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."

17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"

18 Then he uttered his oracle: "Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.

19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

20 I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

21 "No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.

22 God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.

23 There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!'

24 The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims."

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

26 Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?"

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there."

28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

29 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."

30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times, but turned his face toward the desert.

2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him

3 and he uttered his oracle: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,

4 the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

5 "How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!

6 "Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord , like cedars beside the waters.

7 Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water. "Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted.

8 "God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. They devour hostile nations and break their bones in pieces; with their arrows they pierce them.

9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse them? "May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!"

10 Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times.

11 Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded."

12 Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,

13 'Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord -and I must say only what the Lord says'?

14 Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come."

15 Then he uttered his oracle: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,

16 the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

17 "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.

18 Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong.

19 A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city."

20 Then Balaam saw Amalek and uttered his oracle: "Amalek was first among the nations, but he will come to ruin at last."

21 Then he saw the Kenites and uttered his oracle: "Your dwelling place is secure, your nest is set in a rock;

22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive."

23 Then he uttered his oracle: "Ah, who can live when God does this?

24 Ships will come from the shores of Kittim; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin."

25 Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went his own way.

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women,

2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods.

3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the Lord 's anger burned against them.

4 The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord , so that the Lord 's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."

5 So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor."

6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand

8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them-through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;

9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

10 The Lord said to Moses,

11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.

12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him.

13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites."

14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.

15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

16 The Lord said to Moses,

17 "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them,

18 because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor."

26 After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest,

2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families-all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel."

3 So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said,

4 "Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the Lord commanded Moses." These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

5 The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were: through Hanoch, the Hanochite clan; through Pallu, the Palluite clan;

6 through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Carmi, the Carmite clan.

7 These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.

8 The son of Pallu was Eliab,

9 and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah's followers when they rebelled against the Lord .

10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign.

11 The line of Korah, however, did not die out.

12 The descendants of Simeon by their clans were: through Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; through Jamin, the Jaminite clan; through Jakin, the Jakinite clan;

13 through Zerah, the Zerahite clan; through Shaul, the Shaulite clan.

14 These were the clans of Simeon; there were 22,200 men.

15 The descendants of Gad by their clans were: through Zephon, the Zephonite clan; through Haggi, the Haggite clan; through Shuni, the Shunite clan;

16 through Ozni, the Oznite clan; through Eri, the Erite clan;

17 through Arodi, the Arodite clan; through Areli, the Arelite clan.

18 These were the clans of Gad; those numbered were 40,500.

19 Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan.

20 The descendants of Judah by their clans were: through Shelah, the Shelanite clan; through Perez, the Perezite clan; through Zerah, the Zerahite clan.

21 The descendants of Perez were: through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Hamul, the Hamulite clan.

22 These were the clans of Judah; those numbered were 76,500.

23 The descendants of Issachar by their clans were: through Tola, the Tolaite clan; through Puah, the Puite clan;

24 through Jashub, the Jashubite clan; through Shimron, the Shimronite clan.

25 These were the clans of Issachar; those numbered were 64,300.

26 The descendants of Zebulun by their clans were: through Sered, the Seredite clan; through Elon, the Elonite clan; through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.

27 These were the clans of Zebulun; those numbered were 60,500.

28 The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were:

29 The descendants of Manasseh: through Makir, the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead); through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.

30 These were the descendants of Gilead: through Iezer, the Iezerite clan; through Helek, the Helekite clan;

31 through Asriel, the Asrielite clan; through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;

32 through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan; through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.

33 (Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.)

34 These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.

35 These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; through Beker, the Bekerite clan; through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.

36 These were the descendants of Shuthelah: through Eran, the Eranite clan.

37 These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.

38 The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were: through Bela, the Belaite clan; through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;

39 through Shupham, the Shuphamite clan; through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.

40 The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were: through Ard, the Ardite clan; through Naaman, the Naamite clan.

41 These were the clans of Benjamin; those numbered were 45,600.

42 These were the descendants of Dan by their clans: through Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These were the clans of Dan:

43 All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.

44 The descendants of Asher by their clans were: through Imnah, the Imnite clan; through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan; through Beriah, the Beriite clan;

45 and through the descendants of Beriah: through Heber, the Heberite clan; through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.

46 (Asher had a daughter named Serah.)

47 These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53,400.

48 The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were: through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; through Guni, the Gunite clan;

49 through Jezer, the Jezerite clan; through Shillem, the Shillemite clan.

50 These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400.

51 The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

52 The Lord said to Moses,

53 "The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.

54 To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.

55 Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe.

56 Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups."

57 These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan; through Kohath, the Kohathite clan; through Merari, the Merarite clan.

58 These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram;

59 the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.

60 Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire.)

62 All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.

63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai.

65 For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

27 The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They approached

2 the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly, and said,

3 "Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korah's followers, who banded together against the Lord , but he died for his own sin and left no sons.

4 Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father's relatives."

5 So Moses brought their case before the Lord

6 and the Lord said to him,

7 "What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and turn their father's inheritance over to them.

8 "Say to the Israelites, 'If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter.

9 If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers.

10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers.

11 If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to be a legal requirement for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.' "

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites.

13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,

14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes." (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

15 Moses said to the Lord ,

16 "May the Lord , the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community

17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord 's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd."

18 So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.

19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.

20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.

21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord . At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in."

22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.

23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

28 The Lord said to Moses,

2 "Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: 'See that you present to me at the appointed time the food for my offerings made by fire, as an aroma pleasing to me.'

3 Say to them: 'This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the Lord : two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day.

4 Prepare one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight,

5 together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives.

6 This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire.

7 The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the Lord at the sanctuary.

8 Prepare the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you prepare in the morning. This is an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord .

9 " 'On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil.

10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

11 " 'On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

12 With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil;

13 and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire.

14 With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin ; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year.

15 Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the Lord as a sin offering.

16 " 'On the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord 's Passover is to be held.

17 On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast.

18 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

19 Present to the Lord an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

20 With each bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;

21 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

22 Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.

23 Prepare these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering.

24 In this way prepare the food for the offering made by fire every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the Lord ; it is to be prepared in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

25 On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

26 " 'On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the Lord an offering of new grain during the Feast of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

27 Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the Lord .

28 With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;

29 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

30 Include one male goat to make atonement for you.

31 Prepare these together with their drink offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.

29 " 'On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.

2 As an aroma pleasing to the Lord , prepare a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

3 With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths ;

4 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

5 Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.

6 These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are offerings made to the Lord by fire-a pleasing aroma.

7 " 'On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.

8 Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

9 With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths;

10 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth.

11 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

12 " 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days.

13 Present an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the Lord , a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

14 With each of the thirteen bulls prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with each of the two rams, two-tenths;

15 and with each of the fourteen lambs, one-tenth.

16 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

17 " 'On the second day prepare twelve young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

18 With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

19 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

20 " 'On the third day prepare eleven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

21 With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

22 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

23 " 'On the fourth day prepare ten bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

24 With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

25 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

26 " 'On the fifth day prepare nine bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

27 With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

28 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

29 " 'On the sixth day prepare eight bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

30 With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

31 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

32 " 'On the seventh day prepare seven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

33 With the bulls, rams and lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

34 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

35 " 'On the eighth day hold an assembly and do no regular work.

36 Present an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the Lord , a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

37 With the bull, the ram and the lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified.

38 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

39 " 'In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, prepare these for the Lord at your appointed feasts: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings. ' "

40 Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord commanded him.

30 Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: "This is what the Lord commands:

2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.

3 "When a young woman still living in her father's house makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge

4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.

5 But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

6 "If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself

7 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand.

8 But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.

9 "Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

10 "If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath

11 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand.

12 But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her.

13 Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.

14 But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them.

15 If, however, he nullifies them some time after he hears about them, then he is responsible for her guilt."

16 These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living in his house.

31 The Lord said to Moses,

2 "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people."

3 So Moses said to the people, "Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the Lord 's vengeance on them.

4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel."

5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel.

6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man.

8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba-the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.

10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.

11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,

12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army-the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds-who returned from the battle.

15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them.

16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord 's people.

17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,

18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

19 "All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives.

20 Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood."

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, "This is the requirement of the law that the Lord gave Moses:

22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead

23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.

24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp."

25 The Lord said to Moses,

26 "You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured.

27 Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community.

28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats.

29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord 's part.

30 From the Israelites' half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord 's tabernacle."

31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep,

33 72 ,000 cattle,

34 61 ,000 donkeys

35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep,

37 of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;

38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;

39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;

40 16,000 people, of which the tribute for the Lord was 32.

41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord 's part, as the Lord commanded Moses.

42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men-

43 the community's half-was 337,500 sheep,

44 36,000 cattle,

45 30,500 donkeys

46 and 16,000 people.

47 From the Israelites' half, Moses selected one out of every fifty persons and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord 's tabernacle.

48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army-the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds-went to Moses

49 and said to him, "Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.

50 So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired-armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces-to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord ."

51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold-all the crafted articles.

52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels.

53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.

54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord .

32 The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock.

2 So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and said,

3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon-

4 the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel-are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock.

5 If we have found favor in your eyes," they said, "let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan."

6 Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, "Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here?

7 Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them?

8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land.

9 After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them.

10 The Lord 's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath:

11 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-

12 not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.'

13 The Lord 's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

14 "And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel.

15 If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the desert, and you will be the cause of their destruction."

16 Then they came up to him and said, "We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children.

17 But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land.

18 We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance.

19 We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan."

20 Then Moses said to them, "If you will do this-if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle,

21 and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him-

22 then when the land is subdued before the Lord , you may return and be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord .

23 "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord ; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

24 Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised."

25 The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, "We your servants will do as our lord commands.

26 Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead.

27 But your servants, every man armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the Lord , just as our lord says."

28 Then Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and to the family heads of the Israelite tribes.

29 He said to them, "If the Gadites and Reubenites, every man armed for battle, cross over the Jordan with you before the Lord , then when the land is subdued before you, give them the land of Gilead as their possession.

30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must accept their possession with you in Canaan."

31 The Gadites and Reubenites answered, "Your servants will do what the Lord has said.

32 We will cross over before the Lord into Canaan armed, but the property we inherit will be on this side of the Jordan."

33 Then Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan-the whole land with its cities and the territory around them.

34 The Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran as fortified cities, and built pens for their flocks.

37 And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh and Kiriathaim,

38 as well as Nebo and Baal Meon (these names were changed) and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

39 The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it and drove out the Amorites who were there.

40 So Moses gave Gilead to the Makirites, the descendants of Manasseh, and they settled there.

41 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, captured their settlements and called them Havvoth Jair.

42 And Nobah captured Kenath and its surrounding settlements and called it Nobah after himself.

33 Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

2 At the Lord 's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:

3 The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out boldly in full view of all the Egyptians,

4 who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods.

5 The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Succoth.

6 They left Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert.

7 They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol.

8 They left Pi Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the desert, and when they had traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.

9 They left Marah and went to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

10 They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

12 They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

13 They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

14 They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

15 They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.

16 They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

17 They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

18 They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

19 They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

20 They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

21 They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

22 They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

24 They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

25 They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

26 They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

27 They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

28 They left Terah and camped at Mithcah.

29 They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.

30 They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

31 They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

32 They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

33 They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

34 They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

35 They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

36 They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.

37 They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.

38 At the Lord 's command Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor, where he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.

39 Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

41 They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

42 They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

43 They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

44 They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.

45 They left Iyim and camped at Dibon Gad.

46 They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

47 They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.

48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

49 There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.

50 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses,

51 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,

52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

54 Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.

55 " 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.' "

34 The Lord said to Moses,

2 "Command the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries:

3 " 'Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern boundary will start from the end of the Salt Sea,

4 cross south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,

5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea.

6 " 'Your western boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.

7 " 'For your northern boundary, run a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor

8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad,

9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

10 " 'For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham.

11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Kinnereth.

12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. " 'This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.' "

13 Moses commanded the Israelites: "Assign this land by lot as an inheritance. The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes,

14 because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.

15 These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho, toward the sunrise."

16 The Lord said to Moses,

17 "These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

18 And appoint one leader from each tribe to help assign the land.

19 These are their names: Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah;

20 Shemuel son of Ammihud, from the tribe of Simeon;

21 Elidad son of Kislon, from the tribe of Benjamin;

22 Bukki son of Jogli, the leader from the tribe of Dan;

23 Hanniel son of Ephod, the leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;

24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan, the leader from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph;

25 Elizaphan son of Parnach, the leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

26 Paltiel son of Azzan, the leader from the tribe of Issachar;

27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, the leader from the tribe of Asher;

28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, the leader from the tribe of Naphtali."

29 These are the men the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

35 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses,

2 "Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.

3 Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for their cattle, flocks and all their other livestock.

4 "The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend out fifteen hundred feet from the town wall.

5 Outside the town, measure three thousand feet on the east side, three thousand on the south side, three thousand on the west and three thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.

6 "Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.

7 In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands.

8 The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few."

9 Then the Lord said to Moses:

10 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,

11 select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.

12 They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.

13 These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.

14 Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.

15 These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

16 " 'If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

17 Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

18 Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

19 The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies

21 or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

22 " 'But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally

23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him,

24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.

25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

26 " 'But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled

27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.

28 The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.

29 " 'These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.

30 " 'Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

31 " 'Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.

32 " 'Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

33 " 'Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord , dwell among the Israelites.' "

36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families.

2 They said, "When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

3 Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away.

4 When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our forefathers."

5 Then at the Lord 's command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: "What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right.

6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad's daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their father.

7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers.

8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father's tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.

9 No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits."

10 So Zelophehad's daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses.

11 Zelophehad's daughters-Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah-married their cousins on their father's side.

12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father's clan and tribe.

13 These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Deuteronomy

1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan-that is, in the Arabah-opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)

3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.

4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:

6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers-to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-and to their descendants after them."

9 At that time I said to you, "You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone.

10 The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky.

11 May the Lord , the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!

12 But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?

13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you."

14 You answered me, "What you propose to do is good."

15 So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you-as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.

16 And I charged your judges at that time: Hear the disputes between your brothers and judge fairly, whether the case is between brother Israelites or between one of them and an alien.

17 Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.

18 And at that time I told you everything you were to do.

19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful desert that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.

20 Then I said to you, "You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.

21 See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord , the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

22 Then all of you came to me and said, "Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to."

23 The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe.

24 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it.

25 Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, "It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us."

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.

27 You grumbled in your tents and said, "The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.

28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.' "

29 Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.

30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,

31 and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."

32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God,

33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:

35 "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers,

36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."

37 Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, "You shall not enter it, either.

38 But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad-they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.

40 But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea. "

41 Then you replied, "We have sinned against the Lord . We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us." So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

42 But the Lord said to me, "Tell them, 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.' "

43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord 's command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country.

44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.

45 You came back and wept before the Lord , but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you.

46 And so you stayed in Kadesh many days-all the time you spent there.

2 Then we turned back and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea, as the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.

2 Then the Lord said to me,

3 "You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.

4 Give the people these orders: 'You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.

5 Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.

6 You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.' "

7 The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

8 So we went on past our brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

9 Then the Lord said to me, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession."

10 (The Emites used to live there-a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.

11 Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

12 Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their possession.)

13 And the Lord said, "Now get up and cross the Zered Valley." So we crossed the valley.

14 Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.

15 The Lord 's hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.

16 Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,

17 the Lord said to me,

18 "Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.

19 When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot."

20 (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

21 They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.

22 The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

23 And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)

24 "Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you."

26 From the desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying,

27 "Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot-

29 as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us-until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us."

30 But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

31 The Lord said to me, "See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land."

32 When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz,

33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.

34 At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them-men, women and children. We left no survivors.

35 But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.

36 From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them.

37 But in accordance with the command of the Lord our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.

3 Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.

2 The Lord said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."

3 So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors.

4 At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them-the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan.

5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.

6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city-men, women and children.

7 But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.

8 So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.

9 (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)

10 We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan.

11 (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns.

13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.

14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair. )

15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.

16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites.

17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ), below the slopes of Pisgah.

18 I commanded you at that time: "The Lord your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites.

19 However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you,

20 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the Lord your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you."

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: "You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going.

22 Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you."

23 At that time I pleaded with the Lord :

24 "O Sovereign Lord , you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?

25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan-that fine hill country and Lebanon."

26 But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. "That is enough," the Lord said. "Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.

27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.

28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see."

29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

4 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord , the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

3 You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,

4 but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.

6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."

11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.

14 And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,

16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,

17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,

18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.

19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars-all the heavenly array-do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

21 The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance.

22 I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.

23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden.

24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time-if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and provoking him to anger,

26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.

28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.

31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?

34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.

36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.

37 Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,

38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,

42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if he had unintentionally killed his neighbor without malice aforethought. He could flee into one of these cities and save his life.

43 The cities were these: Bezer in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.

45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt

46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.

47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

48 This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),

49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

5 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.

2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

3 It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

4 The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.

5 (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord , because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

6 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

7 "You shall have no other gods before me.

8 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.

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

14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 "You shall not murder.

18 "You shall not commit adultery.

19 "You shall not steal.

20 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

21 "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leading men of your tribes and your elders came to me.

24 And you said, "The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.

25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.

26 For what mortal man has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey."

28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me, "I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.

29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

30 "Go, tell them to return to their tents.

31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess."

32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

33 Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,

2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord , the God of your fathers, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you-a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,

11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant-then when you eat and are satisfied,

12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord , who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;

15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

16 Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.

17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

18 Do what is right and good in the Lord 's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers,

19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

20 In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?"

21 tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

22 Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders-great and terrible-upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household.

23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.

24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.

25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

7 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations-the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you-

2 and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.

3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord 's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.

6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land-your grain, new wine and oil-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.

14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.

15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

17 You may say to yourselves, "These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?"

18 But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.

19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.

20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.

21 Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

22 The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.

23 But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

24 He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them.

25 The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.

26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers.

2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord .

4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering him.

7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land-a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills;

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

9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,

13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,

14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.

16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."

18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

9 Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.

2 The people are strong and tall-Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?"

3 But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

4 After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.

5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

7 Remember this and never forget how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord .

8 At Horeb you aroused the Lord 's wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you.

9 When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.

10 The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.

12 Then the Lord told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made a cast idol for themselves."

13 And the Lord said to me, "I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!

14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they."

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.

16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you.

17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

18 Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord 's sight and so provoking him to anger.

19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord , for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.

20 And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.

21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

22 You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.

23 And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him.

24 You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.

25 I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights because the Lord had said he would destroy you.

26 I prayed to the Lord and said, "O Sovereign Lord , do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.

28 Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, 'Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.'

29 But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm."

10 At that time the Lord said to me, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest.

2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest."

3 So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.

4 The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.

5 Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.

6 (The Israelites traveled from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.

7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.

8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord , to stand before the Lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today.

9 That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.)

10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.

11 "Go," the Lord said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them."

12 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

13 and to observe the Lord 's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.

16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

21 He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.

22 Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11 Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

2 Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;

3 the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;

4 what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them.

5 It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place,

6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them.

7 But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.

8 Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,

9 and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden.

11 But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven.

12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today-to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul-

14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.

15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.

17 Then the Lord 's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.

18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,

21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

22 If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow-to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him-

23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea.

25 No man will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-

27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;

28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses.

30 As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, west of the road, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.

31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there,

32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

12 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord , the God of your fathers, has given you to possess-as long as you live in the land.

2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.

3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.

4 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.

5 But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;

6 there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

7 There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

8 You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit,

9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.

10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.

11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name-there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord .

12 And there rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

13 Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.

14 Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

15 Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.

16 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

17 You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.

18 Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns-and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to.

19 Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

20 When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, "I would like some meat," then you may eat as much of it as you want.

21 If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.

22 Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat.

23 But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

24 You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord .

26 But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place the Lord will choose.

27 Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat.

28 Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

29 The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,

30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same."

31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

13 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder,

2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them,"

3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.

5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known,

7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other),

8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him.

9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

12 If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in

13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known),

14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,

15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.

16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt.

17 None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the Lord will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers,

18 because you obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.

14 You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead,

2 for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

3 Do not eat any detestable thing.

4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.

6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.

7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you.

8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales.

10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

11 You may eat any clean bird.

12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,

13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon,

14 any kind of raven,

15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,

17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,

18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

19 All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you; do not eat them.

20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.

21 Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.

23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.

24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away),

25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose.

26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice.

27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns,

29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

15 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord 's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.

3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,

5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.

6 For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.

9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.

10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free.

13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.

14 Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

16 But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you,

17 then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.

18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

19 Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.

20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.

21 If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.

22 You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.

23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

16 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.

2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.

3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste-so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.

4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you

6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.

7 Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.

8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the Lord your God and do no work.

9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.

10 Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.

11 And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.

12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.

13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

14 Be joyful at your Feast-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

15 For seven days celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the Lord empty-handed:

17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.

19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,

22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the Lord your God hates.

17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.

2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,

3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky,

4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,

5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.

6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.

8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge-whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults-take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.

9 Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.

10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do.

11 Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.

12 The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the Lord your God must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.

13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.

14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,"

15 be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.

16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, "You are not to go back that way again."

17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.

19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees

20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

18 The priests, who are Levites-indeed the whole tribe of Levi-are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the Lord by fire, for that is their inheritance.

2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.

3 This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the jowls and the inner parts.

4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,

5 for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord 's name always.

6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose,

7 he may minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord .

8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,

11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord , and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.

13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.

15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."

17 The Lord said to me: "What they say is good.

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.

20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."

21 You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord ?"

22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

19 When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses,

2 then set aside for yourselves three cities centrally located in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

3 Build roads to them and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills a man may flee there.

4 This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life-one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought.

5 For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life.

6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought.

7 This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

8 If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land he promised them,

9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today-to love the Lord your God and to walk always in his ways-then you are to set aside three more cities.

10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

11 But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,

12 the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.

13 Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.

14 Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime,

17 the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time.

18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother,

19 then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.

20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you.

21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army.

3 He shall say: "Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them.

4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

5 The officers shall say to the army: "Has anyone built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may dedicate it.

6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it.

7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her."

8 Then the officers shall add, "Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too."

9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.

11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you.

12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.

13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.

14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies.

15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.

17 Completely destroy them-the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-as the Lord your God has commanded you.

18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?

20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

21 If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.

3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke

4 and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck.

5 The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.

6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,

7 and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.

8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord , and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man." And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

9 So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord .

10 When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives,

11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.

12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails

13 and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.

14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,

16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.

17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.

18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,

19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.

20 They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard."

21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree,

23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

22 If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him.

2 If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is, take it home with you and keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back to him.

3 Do the same if you find your brother's donkey or his cloak or anything he loses. Do not ignore it.

4 If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.

5 A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.

6 If you come across a bird's nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.

7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

8 When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.

9 Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.

10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.

11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

12 Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.

13 If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her

14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,"

15 then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate.

16 The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her.

17 Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town,

18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him.

19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found,

21 she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.

22 If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her,

24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death-the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die.

26 Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor,

27 for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,

29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

30 A man is not to marry his father's wife; he must not dishonor his father's bed.

23 No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord .

2 No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord , even down to the tenth generation.

3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord , even down to the tenth generation.

4 For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you.

5 However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

6 Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.

7 Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as an alien in his country.

8 The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord .

9 When you are encamped against your enemies, keep away from everything impure.

10 If one of your men is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp and stay there.

11 But as evening approaches he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.

12 Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself.

13 As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.

14 For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

15 If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master.

16 Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.

17 No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute.

18 You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God to pay any vow, because the Lord your God detests them both.

19 Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest.

20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.

21 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.

22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty.

23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.

24 If you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket.

25 If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.

24 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house,

2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man,

3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies,

4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord . Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

5 If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

6 Do not take a pair of millstones-not even the upper one-as security for a debt, because that would be taking a man's livelihood as security.

7 If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.

8 In cases of leprous diseases be very careful to do exactly as the priests, who are Levites, instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them.

9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.

10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge.

11 Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you.

12 If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession.

13 Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.

14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.

15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.

18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.

21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.

22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

25 When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.

2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves,

3 but he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes.

4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.

6 The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me."

8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her,"

9 his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line."

10 That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

11 If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts,

12 you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.

13 Do not have two differing weights in your bag-one heavy, one light.

14 Do not have two differing measures in your house-one large, one small.

15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

16 For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.

17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.

18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.

19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

26 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,

2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name

3 and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us."

4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.

6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.

7 Then we cried out to the Lord , the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.

8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.

9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;

10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O Lord , have given me." Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him.

11 And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

13 Then say to the Lord your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.

14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me.

15 Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."

16 The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.

17 You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him.

18 And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands.

19 He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

27 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: "Keep all these commands that I give you today.

2 When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.

3 Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord , the God of your fathers, promised you.

4 And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster.

5 Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool upon them.

6 Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.

7 Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God.

8 And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up."

9 Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all Israel, "Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God.

10 Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today."

11 On the same day Moses commanded the people:

12 When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.

13 And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.

14 The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:

15 "Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol-a thing detestable to the Lord , the work of the craftsman's hands-and sets it up in secret." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

16 "Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

17 "Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

18 "Cursed is the man who leads the blind astray on the road." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

20 "Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

21 "Cursed is the man who has sexual relations with any animal." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

22 "Cursed is the man who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

23 "Cursed is the man who sleeps with his mother-in-law." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

24 "Cursed is the man who kills his neighbor secretly." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

25 "Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

26 "Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.

10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord , and they will fear you.

11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity-in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground-in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20 The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.

21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.

22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.

23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.