Deuteronomy 3 EASY

1. Then we turned and we went along the road towards Bashan. Og, king of Bashan, marched out with his whole army to attack us at Edrei.

2. But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of him. I have given him to you with his whole army and his land. You must do the same thing to Og as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’

3. So the Lord our God put Og, king of Bashan, under our power, as well as his whole army. We killed them all so that we left no one alive.

4. Then we took all of his cities. We took power over all the cities in the region of Argob where King Og of Bashan ruled. There were 60 cities.

5. All the cities had high walls around them, with gates that the people locked. There were also very many villages which did not have walls around them.

6. We destroyed them completely as a gift to the Lord. We had done the same thing to the cities of Sihon, king of Heshbon. We destroyed every city and we killed all the men, women and children.

7. But we kept all the animals and the valuable things from the cities for ourselves.

8. So, at that time, we took power over all the land that the two Amorite kings, Og and Bashan, had ruled. Their land was east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon valley to Mount Hermon.

9. (The people from Sidon call Mount Hermon ‘Sirion’. The Amorites call it ‘Senir’.)

10. We took all their cities in the high, flat land and cities in the whole of Gilead and in Bashan. We went as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities that belonged to the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

11. Og, king of Bashan, was the only descendant of the Rephaites who had still been alive. He had an iron bed that is still in the Ammonites' town, Rabbah. It was 4 metres long and 2 metres wide.

12. When we had taken power over all that land, I gave some of it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. I gave them the land north of Aroer near the Arnon valley. I also gave them half of the hill country of Gilead and the cities there.

13. I gave the other part of Gilead to one half of the tribe of Manasseh. I also gave Og's kingdom, Bashan, to them. People called all the region of Argob in Bashan the land of the Rephaites.

14. Jair belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. He took power over all the region of Argob. He went as far as the borders of Geshur and Maakah. Then he gave his own name to that land. To this day, Bashan has the name ‘Jair's towns’.

15. I gave Gilead to Makir, who also belonged to the tribe of Manasseh.

16. As for the tribes of Reuben and Gad, I gave them land from Gilead to the Arnon valley. The middle of the valley was the border of their land. Their land went as far as the Jabbok valley, which is the border of the Ammonites' land.

17. The valley of the Jordan River was also a border of their land. It went from Lake Galilee as far as the Salt Sea, with Mount Pisgah to the east.

18. At that time I commanded you, ‘The Lord your God has given this land to you, for you to live in it. But all your soldiers must take their weapons and they must cross the Jordan River. You must go in front of the other Israelite tribes across the river.

19. But your wives, your children and your animals may stay here in the towns that I have given to you. I know that you have many animals.

20. Your men must fight to help the other Israelites until the Lord gives them a safe place to live. He has already given you a safe place to live. Now you must help the other Israelites to take the land which the Lord your God is giving to them. That land is on the other side of the Jordan River. When they take the land for themselves, you may return here to the land that I have given to you.’

21. At that time, I commanded Joshua, ‘You have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to those two kings, Sihon and Og. He will do the same thing to the kingdoms where you are going.

22. So do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God himself will fight to help you.’

23. At that time, I asked the Lord many times,

24. ‘Almighty Lord, I am your servant. You are showing me how great and how strong you are. There is no other god in heaven or on earth that can do the great things that you do.

25. Please let me go across the Jordan River! I want to see the good land over there. I want to see the beautiful hills and the mountains in Lebanon.’

26. But the Lord was angry with me, because of you. He would not answer my prayer. He said, ‘You have said enough! Do not speak to me about that any more.

27. Go up to the top of Mount Pisgah. Stand there and look all around, to the west, north, south and east. Look carefully at the land, because you will not go across the Jordan River.

28. Now you must tell Joshua what to do. Tell him to be brave and strong. He will lead my people across the river into the land that you see. He will help them to take the land for themselves.’

29. After that, we stayed in the valley near Beth-Peor.