Deuteronomy

Israel Defeats Og, King of Bashan

On turning back, we went to Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people came out to fight us in Edrei.

Then the Lord said to me: “Do not be afraid because I am giving him into your hands together with his people and his land, that you may do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who lived in Heshbon.”

And the Lord gave Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people into our hands; and sparing no one, we killed everyone by the sword.

We took possession of all their cities; there was not one of them that escaped us. We captured the sixty cities: the whole of the Argob region—the kingdom of Og, in Bashan.

All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides the innumerable villages in the open fields.

We completely destroyed them for the honor of the Lord, killing all the people, as we had done with Sihon, the king of Heshbon: we wiped out all the cities, men, women, and children.

The only things we spared and kept for ourselves were the livestock and the plunder from the cities.

We took possession of the land occupied by the two Amorite kings, the land beyond the Jordan, from the brook of Arnon up to the Mount of Hermon

(the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion while the Amorites call it Senir.)

We captured all the cities on the plateau and all the land of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities in the kingdom of Og, in Bashan.

Og, the king of Bashan, was the last survivor in the race of the giants. His iron bed, which is four and a half meters long and two meters wide, can be seen in Rabbah, a city of the Ammonites.

First Distribution East of the Jordan

Then, we took possession of that land. I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad half of the mountains of Gilead with their cities, from Aroer situated at the edge of the brook of Arnon.

Jair, a son of Manasseh, took all the territories of Argob up to the boundaries of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He gave his name to these cities, which are still known as the villages of Jair today.

I gave part of Gilead to Machir.

¹⁶And to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, I gave the territory from Gilead up to the brook of Arnon (the boundary lies halfway along the brook) and up to the river Jabbok, the boundary of the territory of the sons of Ammon.

It is bounded by the Arabah in the west and the east by the Jordan and its banks, from Chinnereth up to the sea in the desert, known as the Salt Sea, at the foot of Mount Pisgah.

Then I gave you these orders: “The Lord, our God, has given you this land to own.

But only your women, your children, and your livestock, your numerous livestock, will remain in the cities I have given you.

All the strong men will go armed ahead of their Israelite brothers until the Lord gives them a place where they can rest as he has given you, and they too possess the land which I will give you on the other side of the Jordan. Then, each of you will return to his inheritance, which I have given you.”

I also gave the following order to Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes what the Lord has done with those two kings, and he will do the same to the kingdoms where you shall go.

Do not be afraid because the Lord will fight for you.”

Moses Will Not Enter Canaan

Then I asked the Lord:

“Lord God, you have begun to manifest your greatness and the power of your hand. For what can God in the heavens and on the earth do such works and deeds as you have done?

Do let me go and see that splendid land at the other side of the Jordan, those mountains without comparison, and Lebanon, too.”

But because of your fault, the Lord was angry with me and did not hear me. And the Lord said to me: “It is enough, speak no more of this to me,

but climb to the top of Mount Pisgah and from there look to the west and the north, to the south, and to the east. You shall see the land but not cross over the Jordan.

Give your orders to Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him because he will be the one to bring these people across and distribute to them the land which you see.”

We, then, remained in the valley opposite Beth-Peor.