Study Desk

Under his command we will cross into the land of Canaan and go into battle, so that we can retain our property here east of the Jordan."

They said, "The Lord commanded you to distribute the land to the people of Israel by drawing lots. He also commanded you to give the property of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters.

The property of every Israelite will remain attached to his tribe.

and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.'

Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.'

"After we had passed through Moab, the Lord told us, ‘Now, start out and cross the Arnon River. I am placing in your power Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, along with his land. Attack him, and begin occupying his land.

"But King Sihon would not let us pass through his country. The Lord your God had made him stubborn and rebellious, so that we could defeat him and take his territory, which we still occupy.

"Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have made King Sihon and his land helpless before you; take his land and occupy it.'

Sihon came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Jahaz,

but the Lord our God put him in our power, and we killed him, his sons, and all his men.

"Next, we moved north toward the region of Bashan, and King Og came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Edrei.

But the Lord said to me, ‘Don't be afraid of him. I am going to give him, his men, and all his territory to you. Do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.'

"So the Lord also placed King Og and his people in our power, and we slaughtered them all.

At the same time we captured all his towns—there was not one that we did not take. In all we captured sixty towns—the whole region of Argob, where King Og of Bashan ruled.

(King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin, made of stone, was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.'

But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today.

Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol,

Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen.

He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it.