Deuteronomy 3 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

Israel wins the battle over Og

1 Next, we turned and went up along the road towards Bashan. Og marched out with his whole army. They fought against us at Edrei. Og was the king of Bashan. 2 The LORD said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of Og. I have handed him over to you. I have also handed over his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon. Sihon was the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.’ 3 So the LORD our God also handed Og, the king of Bashan, and his whole army over to us. We struck them down. We didn’t leave any of them alive. 4 At that time we took all his cities. There were 60 of them. We took the whole area of Argob. That was Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 5 All those cities had high walls around them. The city gates were made secure with heavy metal bars. There were also large numbers of villages that didn’t have walls. 6 We completely destroyed them. We did to them just as we had done to Sihon, the king of Heshbon. We destroyed all their cities. We destroyed the men, women and children. 7 But we kept for ourselves the livestock and everything else we took from their cities. 8 So at that time we took the territory east of the River Jordan. We captured it from those two Amorite kings. The territory goes all the way from the River Arnon valley to Mount Hermon. 9 Hermon is called Sirion by the people of Sidon. The Amorites call it Senir. 10 We captured all the towns on the high plains. We took the whole land of Gilead. And we captured the whole land of Bashan as far away as Salekah and Edrei. Those were towns that belonged to Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 Og, the king of Bashan, was the only Rephaite left. His bed was decorated with iron. It was more than 4.5 metres long and 2 metres wide. It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.

Moses divides up the land

12 I divided up the land we took over at that time. I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory north of Aroer by the River Arnon valley. It includes half of the hill country of Gilead together with its towns. 13 I gave the rest of Gilead to half of the tribe of Manasseh. I also gave them the whole land of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. The whole area of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites. 14 Jair took the whole area of Argob. He was from the family line of Manasseh. Argob goes all the way to the border of the people of Geshur and Maakah. It was named after Jair. So Bashan is called Havvoth Jair to this very day. 15 I gave Gilead to Makir. 16 But I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory that reaches from Gilead down to the River Arnon valley. It goes all the way to the River Jabbok. The Jabbok is the northern border of Ammon. The middle of the River Arnon valley is its southern border. 17 The western border of Reuben and Gad is the River Jordan in the Arabah Valley. It reaches from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It runs below the slopes of Pisgah. 18 Here is the command I gave at that time to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. I said, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land as your very own. But all your strong men must be prepared for battle. They must cross over ahead of the rest of the Israelites. 19 But your wives and children can stay in the towns I’ve given you. You can keep your livestock there too. I know you have a lot of livestock. 20 The LORD has given you peace and rest. Then let your families and livestock stay in those towns until the LORD gives peace and rest to the other tribes. And let your families stay until the other tribes have taken over the land the LORD your God is giving them. That land is across the River Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the land I’ve given you as your very own.’

The Lord will not allow Moses to cross the River Jordan

21 At that time I gave Joshua a command. I said, ‘Your own eyes have seen everything the LORD your God has done to Sihon and Og. He will do the same thing to all the kingdoms in the land where you are going. 22 Don’t be afraid of them. The LORD your God himself will fight for you.’ 23 At that time I made my appeal to the LORD. I said, 24 ‘LORD and King, you have begun to show me how great you are. You have shown me how strong your hand is. You do great works and mighty acts. There isn’t any god in heaven or on earth who can do what you do. 25 Let me go across the River Jordan. Let me see the good land beyond it. I want to see that fine hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But the LORD was angry with me because of what you did. He wouldn’t listen to me. ‘That is enough!’ the LORD said. ‘Do not speak to me any more about this matter. 27 Go up to the highest slopes of Pisgah. Look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes. But you are not going to go across this River Jordan. 28 So appoint Joshua as the new leader. Help him to be brave. Give him hope and strength. He will take these people across the Jordan. You will see the land. But he will lead them into it to take it as their own.’ 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.