Read Parshat Devarim in English

These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel beyond the Jordan; in the wilderness, in the Arabah, over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

It is eleven days journey from Horeb unto Kadesh-barnea by the way of mount Seir.

And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them;

after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei;

beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, took Moses upon him to expound this law, saying:

The Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: “Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain;

turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore; the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.’’

And I spoke unto you at that time, saying: “I am not able to bear you myself alone;

the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. --

The Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as He hath promised you!--

How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

Get you, from each one of your tribes, wise men, and understanding, and full of knowledge, and I will make them heads over you.’’

And ye answered me, and said: “The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.’’

So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and full of knowledge, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, tribe by tribe.

And I charged your judges at that time, saying: “Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.’’

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

And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and dreadful wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

And I said unto you: “Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God giveth unto us.

Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.’’

And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said: “Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us back word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.’’

And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe;

and they turned and went up into the mountains, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us back word, and said: “Good is the land which the Lord our God giveth unto us.’’

Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God;

and ye murmured in your tents, and said: “Because the Lord hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying: The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.’’

Then I said unto you: “Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

The Lord your God who goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place.

Yet in this thing ye do not believe the Lord your God,

Who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.’’

And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying:

'Surely there shall not one of these men, even this evil generation, see the good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers,

save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children; because he hath wholly followed the Lord.’’

Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying: Thou also shalt not go in thither;

Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither; encourage thou him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’’

Then ye answered and said unto me: “We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.’’ And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and deemed it a light thing to go up into the hill-country.

And the Lord said unto me: “Say unto them: Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.’’

So I spoke unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.

And the Amorites, that dwell in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah.

And ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you.

So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days. {S}

And the Lord spoke unto me, saying:

'Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn you northward.

And command thou the people, saying: Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you; take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore;

contend not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

Ye shall purchase food of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.

For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; He hath known thy walking through this great wilderness; these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.’’

So we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah, from Elath and from Ezion-geber. {S} And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

And the Lord said unto me: “Be not at enmity with Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. --

The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim;

these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.

And in Seir dwelt the Horites aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the Lord gave unto them. --

Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered.’’ And we went over the brook Zered.

And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation, even the men of war, were consumed from the midst of the camp, as the Lord swore unto them.

Moreover the hand of the Lord was against them, to discomfit them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, {S}

that the Lord spoke unto me saying:

'Thou art this day to pass over the border of Moab, even Ar;

and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, harass them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. --

That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead;

as He did for the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day;

and the Avvim, that dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, that came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead. --

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of Arnon; behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who, when they hear the report of thee, shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.’’

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying:

'Let me pass through thy land; I will go along by the highway, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.

Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet;

as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us.’’

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. {S}

And the Lord said unto me: “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before thee; begin to possess his land.’’

Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Jahaz.

And the Lord our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones; we left none remaining;

only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken.

From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even unto Gilead, there was not a city too high for us: the Lord our God delivered up all before us.

Only to the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill-country, and wheresoever the Lord our God forbade us.

Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edrei.

And the Lord said unto me: “Fear him not; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’’

So the Lord our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people; and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

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

All these were fortified cities, with high walls, gates, and bars; beside the unwalled towns a great many.

And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones.

But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves.

And we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of Arnon unto mount Hermon--

which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir--

all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. --

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. --

And this land we took in possession at that time; from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites;

and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob--all that Bashan is called the land of Rephaim.

Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day. --

And I gave Gilead unto Machir.

And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley for a border; even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

the Arabah also, the Jordan being the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.

And I commanded you at that time, saying: “The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it; ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of valour.

But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle--I know that ye have much cattle--shall abide in your cities which I have given you;

until the Lord give rest unto your brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God giveth them beyond the Jordan; then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.

And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying: “Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings; so shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou goest over.

Ye shall not fear them; for the Lord your God, He it is that fighteth for you.’’ {S}