Study Desk

even though he always went ahead of you to find a place for you to camp. To show you the way, he went in front of you in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day.

But as for you people, turn around and go back into the desert on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.'

"But the Lord said to me, ‘Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.'

So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.

"So then, after we had stayed at Kadesh for a long time,

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.

We will pay for the food we eat and the water we drink. All we want to do is to pass through your country,

The Lord our God let us capture all the towns from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and the city in the middle of that valley, all the way to Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us.

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.'

Don't be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will fight for you.'

"No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the Lord our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help.

"When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain

that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all—whether man or woman,

Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship.

"Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord 's sight, and it will make him angry.

There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him.

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.

For the tribe of Reuben there was the city of Bezer, on the desert plateau; for the tribe of Gad there was Ramoth, in the territory of Gilead; and for the tribe of Manasseh there was Golan, in the territory of Bashan.

"‘Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.

Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, for I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.