Study Desk

They went into the hill country as far as Eshcol Valley and explored it.

They brought us back some fruit they found there, and reported that the land which the Lord our God was giving us was very fertile.

Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!'

"Then the Lord said to all of us, ‘Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land—the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it.

Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom.

They were as tall as the Anakim. There were many of them, and they were a mighty race. But the Lord destroyed them, so that the Ammonites took over their land and settled there.

The Lord had done the same thing for the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in the hill country of Edom. He destroyed the Horites, so that the Edomites took over their land and settled there, where they still live.

The land along the Mediterranean coast had been settled by people from the island of Crete. They had destroyed the Avvim, the original inhabitants, and had taken over all their land as far south as the city of Gaza.)

Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, took the entire region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of Geshur and Maacah. He named the villages after himself, and they are still known as the villages of Jair.)

Help the other Israelites until they occupy the land that the Lord is giving them west of the Jordan and until the Lord lets them live there in peace, as he has already done here for you. After that, you may return to this land that I have assigned to you.'

Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!'

about the day you stood in the presence of the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same.'

It was after they had come out of Egypt and were in the valley east of the Jordan River, opposite the town of Bethpeor, that he gave them these laws. This was in the territory that had belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in the town of Heshbon. Moses and the people of Israel defeated him when they came out of Egypt.

They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the other Amorite king who lived east of the Jordan.

"When the Lord heard this, he said to me, ‘I have heard what these people said, and they are right.

If only they would always feel this way! If only they would always honor me and obey all my commands, so that everything would go well with them and their descendants forever.

But you, Moses, stay here with me, and I will give you all my laws and commands. Teach them to the people, so that they will obey them in the land that I am giving them.'

because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once.

The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed.

He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone.