Study Desk

And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest.

They said, "Sir, the Lord instructed you to divide the land by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the Lord to give the grant of land owned by our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.'

except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.'

Moses 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.

"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.'

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

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

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

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

But 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.'

"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.

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

(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.)

And 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.

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

It 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.

Remember 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.

"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.

He 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.