Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹“Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea, just as the LORD had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.

²“Then at last the LORD said to me,

³‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north.

⁴Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful.

⁵Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land.

⁶If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it.

⁷For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’

⁸“So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber. “Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab,

⁹the LORD warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”

¹⁰(A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants.

¹¹Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites.

¹²In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the LORD gave Israel their land.)

¹³Moses continued, “Then the LORD said to us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.’ So we crossed the brook.

¹⁴“Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the LORD had vowed would happen.

¹⁵The LORD struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.

¹⁶“When all the men of fighting age had died,

¹⁷the LORD said to me,

¹⁸‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar

¹⁹and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”

²⁰(That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites.

²¹They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land.

²²He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day.

²³A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)

²⁴Moses continued, “Then the LORD said, ‘Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land.

²⁵Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.’”

²⁶Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace:

²⁷‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side.

²⁸Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land.

²⁹The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.’

³⁰“But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.

³¹“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’

³²“Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz.

³³But the LORD our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people.

³⁴We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone — men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared.

³⁵We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.

³⁶“The LORD our God also helped us conquer Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and the town in the gorge, and the whole area as far as Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us.

³⁷However, we avoided the land of the Ammonites all along the Jabbok River and the towns in the hill country — all the places the LORD our God had commanded us to leave alone.

¹“Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his entire army attacked us at Edrei.

²But the LORD told me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, and I will give you all his land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’

³“So the LORD our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived.

⁴We conquered all sixty of his towns — the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest.

⁵These towns were all fortified with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time.

⁶We completely destroyed the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered — men, women, and children alike.

⁷But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.

⁸“So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River — all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon.

⁹(Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and the Amorites call it Senir.)

¹⁰We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the towns of Salecah and Edrei, which were part of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

¹¹(King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

¹²“When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Aroer along the Arnon Gorge, plus half of the hill country of Gilead with its towns.

¹³Then I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan — Og’s former kingdom — to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (This entire Argob region of Bashan used to be known as the land of the Rephaites.

¹⁴Jair, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the whole Argob region in Bashan, all the way to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. Jair renamed this region after himself, calling it the Towns of Jair, as it is still known today.)

¹⁵I gave Gilead to the clan of Makir.

¹⁶But I also gave part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The area I gave them extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge in the south to the Jabbok River on the Ammonite frontier.

¹⁷They also received the Jordan Valley, all the way from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea, with the Jordan River serving as the western boundary. To the east were the slopes of Pisgah.

¹⁸“At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: ‘Although the LORD your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them.

¹⁹Your wives, children, and numerous livestock, however, may stay behind in the towns I have given you.

²⁰When the LORD has given security to the rest of the Israelites, as he has to you, and when they occupy the land the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I have given you.’

²¹“At that time I gave Joshua this charge: ‘You have seen for yourself everything the LORD your God has done to these two kings. He will do the same to all the kingdoms on the west side of the Jordan.

²²Do not be afraid of the nations there, for the LORD your God will fight for you.’

²³“At that time I pleaded with the LORD and said,

²⁴‘O Sovereign LORD, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do?

²⁵Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’

²⁶“But the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more.

²⁷But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River.

²⁸Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’

²⁹So we stayed in the valley near Beth-peor.

¹“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

²Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you.

³“You saw for yourself what the LORD did to you at Baal-peor. There the LORD your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor.

⁴But all of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today — every one of you.

⁵“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

⁶Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’

⁷For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him?

⁸And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?

⁹“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

¹⁰Never forget the day when you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’

¹¹“You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness.

¹²And the LORD spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.

¹³He proclaimed his covenant — the Ten Commandments — which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets.

¹⁴It was at that time that the LORD commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹⁵“But be very careful! You did not see the LORD’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.

¹⁶So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form — whether of a man or a woman,

¹⁷an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky,

¹⁸a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea.

¹⁹And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars — all the forces of heaven — don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The LORD your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.

²⁰Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.

²¹“But the LORD was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession.

²²You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river.

²³So be careful not to break the covenant the LORD your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the LORD your God has forbidden this.

²⁴The LORD your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.

²⁵“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the LORD your God and will arouse his anger.

²⁶“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.

²⁷For the LORD will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.

²⁸There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone — gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

²⁹But from there you will search again for the LORD your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

³⁰“In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the LORD your God and listen to what he tells you.

³¹For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.

³²“Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before?

³³Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire — as you did — and survived?

³⁴Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.

³⁵“He showed you these things so you would know that the LORD is God and there is no other.

³⁶He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it.

³⁷Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.

³⁸He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.

³⁹“So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The LORD is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other.

⁴⁰If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

⁴¹Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River.

⁴²Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety.

⁴³These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.

⁴⁴This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites.

⁴⁵These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt,

⁴⁶and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt.

⁴⁷Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan — the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

⁴⁸So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion, also called Mount Hermon.

⁴⁹And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah.)

¹Moses called all the people of Israel together and said, “Listen carefully, Israel. Hear the decrees and regulations I am giving you today, so you may learn them and obey them!

²“The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai.

³The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.

⁴At the mountain the LORD spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire.

⁵I stood as an intermediary between you and the LORD, for you were afraid of the fire and did not want to approach the mountain. He spoke to me, and I passed his words on to you. This is what he said:

⁶“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

⁷“You must not have any other god but me.

⁸“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.

⁹You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected — even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

¹⁰But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

¹¹“You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

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

¹³You have six days each week for your ordinary work,

¹⁴but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do.

¹⁵Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

¹⁶“Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

¹⁷“You must not murder.

¹⁸“You must not commit adultery.

¹⁹“You must not steal.

²⁰“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

²¹“You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

²²“The LORD spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

²³“But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me.

²⁴They said, ‘Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live!

²⁵But now, why should we risk death again? If the LORD our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire.

²⁶Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive?

²⁷Go yourself and listen to what the LORD our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’

²⁸“The LORD heard the request you made to me. And he said, ‘I have heard what the people said to you, and they are right.

²⁹Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.

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

³¹But you stand here with me so I can give you all my commands, decrees, and regulations. You must teach them to the people so they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.’”

³²So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following his instructions in every detail.

³³Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy,

²and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the LORD your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life.

³Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴“Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

⁵And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

⁶And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.

⁷Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

⁸Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.

⁹Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰“The LORD your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build.

¹¹The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land,

¹²be careful not to forget the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

¹³You must fear the LORD your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.

¹⁴“You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations,

¹⁵for the LORD your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth.

¹⁶You must not test the LORD your God as you did when you complained at Massah.

¹⁷You must diligently obey the commands of the LORD your God — all the laws and decrees he has given you.

¹⁸Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

¹⁹You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the LORD said you would.

²⁰“In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the LORD our God has commanded us to obey?’

²¹“Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand.

²²The LORD did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people.

²³He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors.

²⁴And the LORD our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day.

²⁵For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the LORD our God has given us.’

¹“When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you.

²When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy.

³You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters,

⁴for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you.

⁵This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols.

⁶For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.

⁷“The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!

⁸Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

⁹Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.

¹⁰But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him.

¹¹Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

¹²“If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the LORD your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors.

¹³He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.

¹⁴You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young.

¹⁵And the LORD will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

¹⁶“You must destroy all the nations the LORD your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you.

¹⁷Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’

¹⁸But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt.

¹⁹Remember the great terrors the LORD your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The LORD your God will use this same power against all the people you fear.

²⁰And then the LORD your God will send terror to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!

²¹“No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the LORD your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God.

²²The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.

²³But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed.

²⁴He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.

²⁵“You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the LORD your God.

²⁶Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

¹“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

²Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

³Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

⁴For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.

⁵Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.

⁶“So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.

⁷For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.

⁸It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey.

⁹It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.

¹⁰When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

¹¹“But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.

¹²For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,

¹³and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!

¹⁴Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

¹⁵Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock!

¹⁶He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.

¹⁷He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’

¹⁸Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

¹⁹“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.

²⁰Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God.

¹“Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky!

²The people are strong and tall — descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’

³But recognize today that the LORD your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the LORD has promised.

⁴“After the LORD your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The LORD has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way.

⁵It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The LORD your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

⁶You must recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not — you are a stubborn people.

⁷“Remember and never forget how angry you made the LORD your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have been constantly rebelling against him.

⁸Even at Mount Sinai you made the LORD so angry he was ready to destroy you.

⁹This happened when I was on the mountain receiving the tablets of stone inscribed with the words of the covenant that the LORD had made with you. I was there for forty days and forty nights, and all that time I ate no food and drank no water.

¹⁰The LORD gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain.

¹¹“At the end of the forty days and nights, the LORD handed me the two stone tablets inscribed with the words of the covenant.

¹²Then the LORD said to me, ‘Get up! Go down immediately, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted gold and made an idol for themselves!’

¹³“The LORD also said to me, ‘I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.

¹⁴Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.’

¹⁵“So while the mountain was blazing with fire I turned and came down, holding in my hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.

¹⁶There below me I could see that you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had melted gold and made a calf idol for yourselves. How quickly you had turned away from the path the LORD had commanded you to follow!

¹⁷So I took the stone tablets and threw them to the ground, smashing them before your eyes.

¹⁸“Then, as before, I threw myself down before the LORD for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the LORD hated, provoking him to anger.

¹⁹I feared that the furious anger of the LORD, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me.

²⁰The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he wanted to destroy him, too. But I prayed for Aaron, and the LORD spared him.

²¹I took your sin — the calf you had made — and I melted it down in the fire and ground it into fine dust. Then I threw the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.

²²“You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.

²³And at Kadesh-barnea the LORD sent you out with this command: ‘Go up and take over the land I have given you.’ But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to put your trust in him or obey him.

²⁴Yes, you have been rebelling against the LORD as long as I have known you.

²⁵“That is why I threw myself down before the LORD for forty days and nights — for the LORD said he would destroy you.

²⁶I prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy them. They are your own people. They are your special possession, whom you redeemed from Egypt by your mighty power and your strong hand.

²⁷Please overlook the stubbornness and the awful sin of these people, and remember instead your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

²⁸If you destroy these people, the Egyptians will say, “The Israelites died because the LORD wasn’t able to bring them to the land he had promised to give them.” Or they might say, “He destroyed them because he hated them; he deliberately took them into the wilderness to slaughter them.”

²⁹But they are your people and your special possession, whom you brought out of Egypt by your great strength and powerful arm.’

¹“At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. Also make a wooden Ark — a sacred chest to store them in. Come up to me on the mountain,

²and I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the ones you smashed. Then place the tablets in the Ark.’

³“So I made an Ark of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first two. Then I went up the mountain with the tablets in my hand.

⁴Once again the LORD wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets and gave them to me. They were the same words the LORD had spoken to you from the heart of the fire on the day you were assembled at the foot of the mountain.

⁵Then I turned and came down the mountain and placed the tablets in the Ark of the Covenant, which I had made, just as the LORD commanded me. And the tablets are still there in the Ark.”

⁶(The people of Israel set out from the wells of the people of Jaakan and traveled to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar ministered as high priest in his place.

⁷Then they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbathah, a land with many brooks and streams.

⁸At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant, and to stand before the LORD as his ministers, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are their duties to this day.

⁹That is why the Levites have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The LORD himself is their special possession, as the LORD your God told them.)

¹⁰“As for me, I stayed on the mountain in the LORD’s presence for forty days and nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the LORD listened to my pleas and agreed not to destroy you.

¹¹Then the LORD said to me, ‘Get up and resume the journey, and lead the people to the land I swore to give to their ancestors, so they may take possession of it.’

¹²“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.

¹³And you must always obey the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.

¹⁴“Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD your God.

¹⁵Yet the LORD chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today.

¹⁶Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.

¹⁷“For the LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.

¹⁸He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.

¹⁹So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²⁰You must fear the LORD your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone.

²¹He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes.

²²When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!

¹“You must love the LORD your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands.

²Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the LORD your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm.

³They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land.

⁴They didn’t see what the LORD did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots — how he drowned them in the Red Sea as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!

⁵“Your children didn’t see how the LORD cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here.

⁶They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them.

⁷But you have seen the LORD perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!

⁸“Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter.

⁹If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants — a land flowing with milk and honey!

¹⁰For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden.

¹¹Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain —

¹²a land that the LORD your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!

¹³“If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the LORD your God and serve him with all your heart and soul,

¹⁴then he will send the rains in their proper seasons — the early and late rains — so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil.

¹⁵He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.

¹⁶“But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the LORD and serve and worship other gods.

¹⁷If you do, the LORD’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the LORD is giving you.

¹⁸“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.

¹⁹Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

²⁰Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

²¹so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

²²“Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the LORD your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.

²³Then the LORD will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land.

²⁴Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

²⁵No one will be able to stand against you, for the LORD your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.

²⁶“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!

²⁷You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.

²⁸But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the LORD your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

²⁹“When the LORD your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.

³⁰(These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley, near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.)

³¹For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it,

³²you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.

¹“These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live.

²“When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods — high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree.

³Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

⁴“Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods.

⁵Rather, you must seek the LORD your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes — the place where his name will be honored.

⁶There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks.

⁷There you and your families will feast in the presence of the LORD your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the LORD your God has blessed you.

⁸“Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please,

⁹because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession.

¹⁰But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the LORD your God is giving you. When he gives you rest from all your enemies and you’re living safely in the land,

¹¹you must bring everything I command you — your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow — to the designated place of worship, the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored.

¹²“You must celebrate there in the presence of the LORD your God with your sons and daughters and all your servants. And remember to include the Levites who live in your towns, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.

¹³Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you like.

¹⁴You may do so only at the place the LORD will choose within one of your tribal territories. There you must offer your burnt offerings and do everything I command you.

¹⁵“But you may butcher your animals and eat their meat in any town whenever you want. You may freely eat the animals with which the LORD your God blesses you. All of you, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you now eat gazelle and deer.

¹⁶But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

¹⁷“But you may not eat your offerings in your hometown — neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the firstborn of your flocks and herds, nor any offering to fulfill a vow, nor your voluntary offerings, nor your sacred offerings.

¹⁸You must eat these in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose. Eat them there with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns, celebrating in the presence of the LORD your God in all you do.

¹⁹And be very careful never to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

²⁰“When the LORD your God expands your territory as he has promised, and you have the urge to eat meat, you may freely eat meat whenever you want.

²¹It might happen that the designated place of worship — the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored — is a long way from your home. If so, you may butcher any of the cattle, sheep, or goats the LORD has given you, and you may freely eat the meat in your hometown, as I have commanded you.

²²Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you do now with gazelle and deer.

²³But never consume the blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the lifeblood with the meat.

²⁴Instead, pour out the blood on the ground like water.

²⁵Do not consume the blood, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what pleases the LORD.

²⁶“Take your sacred gifts and your offerings given to fulfill a vow to the place the LORD chooses.

²⁷You must offer the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat.

²⁸Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and pleasing to the LORD your God.

²⁹“When the LORD your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land,

³⁰do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’

³¹You must not worship the LORD your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.

³²“So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.

¹“Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles,

²and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’ — gods you have not known before —

³do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul.

⁴Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

⁵The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the LORD your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.

⁶“Suppose someone secretly entices you — even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend — and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’ — gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known.

⁷They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth.

⁸But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them.

⁹You must put them to death! Strike the first blow yourself, and then all the people must join in.

¹⁰Stone the guilty ones to death because they have tried to draw you away from the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.

¹¹Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and no one will act so wickedly again.

¹²“When you begin living in the towns the LORD your God is giving you, you may hear

¹³that scoundrels among you are leading their fellow citizens astray by saying, ‘Let us go worship other gods’ — gods you have not known before.

¹⁴In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you,

¹⁵you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock.

¹⁶Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the open square and burn it. Burn the entire town as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt.

¹⁷Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a large nation, just as he swore to your ancestors.

¹⁸“The LORD your God will be merciful only if you listen to his voice and keep all his commands that I am giving you today, doing what pleases him.

¹“Since you are the people of the LORD your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead.

²You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.

³“You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially unclean.

⁴These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

⁵the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

⁶“You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud,

⁷but if the animal doesn’t have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the hyrax. They chew the cud but do not have split hooves, so they are ceremonially unclean for you.

⁸And you may not eat the pig. It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses.

⁹“Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales.

¹⁰You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

¹¹“You may eat any bird that is ceremonially clean.

¹²These are the birds you may not eat: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

¹³the kite, the falcon, buzzards of all kinds,

¹⁴ravens of all kinds,

¹⁵the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds,

¹⁶the little owl, the great owl, the barn owl,

¹⁷the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, the cormorant,

¹⁸the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

¹⁹“All winged insects that walk along the ground are ceremonially unclean for you and may not be eaten.

²⁰But you may eat any winged bird or insect that is ceremonially clean.

²¹“You must not eat anything that has died a natural death. You may give it to a foreigner living in your town, or you may sell it to a stranger. But do not eat it yourselves, for you are set apart as holy to the LORD your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²²“You must set aside a tithe of your crops — one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year.

²³Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship — the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored — and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the LORD your God.

²⁴“Now when the LORD your God blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe.

²⁵If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place the LORD your God has chosen.

²⁶When you arrive, you may use the money to buy any kind of food you want — cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and celebrate with your household.

²⁷And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.

²⁸“At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year’s harvest and store it in the nearest town.

²⁹Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.

¹“At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.

²This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD’s time of release has arrived.

³This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites — not to the foreigners living among you.

⁴“There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

⁵You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.

⁶The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.

⁸Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.

⁹Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin.

¹⁰Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

¹¹There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

¹²“If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

¹³“When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed.

¹⁴Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you.

¹⁵Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.

¹⁶“But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you.

¹⁷In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.

¹⁸“You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

¹⁹“You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.

²⁰Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses.

²¹But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

²²Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.

²³But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.