Study Desk

Where can we go now? The men we sent have frightened us with their report. They said, "The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big and have walls as high as the sky. And we saw giants there!"'

"The Lord said to me, ‘Don't bother the Moabites. Don't start a war against them. I will not give you any of their land. They are the descendants of Lot, and I gave them the city of Ar.'"

(In the past, the Emites lived in Ar. They were strong people, and there were many of them. They were very tall, like the Anakites.

The Lord had opposed those men until they were all dead and gone from our camp.

You will be just across from the Ammonites. Don't bother them or fight with them, because I will not give you their land. They are descendants of Lot, and I have given that land to them.'"

There were many Rephaites, and they were very strong and tall like the Anakites. But the Lord helped the Ammonites destroy them. The Ammonites took that land and live there now.

Today I will make all people everywhere afraid of you. They will hear the news about you, and they will be afraid and shake with fear.'

All these cities were very strong. They had high walls, gates, and strong bars on the gates. There were also many towns that did not have walls.

"So we took that land to be ours. I gave part of this land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. I gave them the land from Aroer in the Arnon Valley to the hill country of Gilead with the cities in it. They got half of the hill country of Gilead.

Obey these laws carefully. This will show the people of the other nations that you are wise and sensible. They will hear about these laws and say, ‘Truly, the people of this great nation are wise and sensible.'

Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Horeb. The Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people together to listen to what I have to say. Then they will learn to respect me as long as they live on earth. And they will teach these things to their children.'

Moses gave these teachings, laws, and rules to the people after they came out of Egypt.

He gave them these laws while they were on the east side of the Jordan River, in the valley across from Beth Peor. They were in the land of Sihon, the Amorite king who lived at Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites had defeated Sihon when they came out of Egypt.

They said, ‘The Lord our God has shown us his Glory and his greatness! We heard him speak from the fire. We have seen today that it is possible to continue living even after God speaks to us.

but you stand here near me. I will tell you all the commands, laws, and rules that you must teach them. They must do these things in the land that I am giving them to live in.'

"In the future, your children might ask you, ‘The Lord our God gave you teachings, laws, and rules. What do they mean?'

If you do, they will turn your children away from following me. Then your children will serve other gods, and the Lord will be very angry with you. He will quickly destroy you!

You must destroy all the people the Lord your God helps you defeat. Don't feel sorry for them, and don't worship their gods! They will trap you—they will ruin your life.

He will help you defeat their kings. You will kill them, and the world will forget they ever lived. No one will be able to stop you. You will destroy them all!

The people there are tall and strong. They are the Anakites. You know about them. You heard our spies say, ‘No one can win against the Anakites.'