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Deuteronomy 3

1“We turned and went up by the Bashan route. Og king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, for battle at Edrei. 2Yahweh told me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, because I have given him, all his people, and his land into your hand. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’ 3So Yahweh our God also gave Og king of Bashan and all his people into our hand. We struck him until we left him no survivor. 4At that time we captured all his towns. There was not a town we did not take from them—sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. 5All these were fortified towns, with high walls, double doors, and bars, besides very many unwalled settlements. 6We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, devoting every town to destruction—men, women, and little ones. 7But all the livestock and the spoil of the towns we took as plunder for ourselves.

8“At that time we took the land from the hand of the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon. 9The Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir. 10We took all the towns of the plateau, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan. 11For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Look, his bed was a bed of iron—is it not in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon?—nine cubits long and four cubits wide, by the cubit of a man.

12“We took possession of this land at that time. I gave the Reubenites and Gadites the territory from Aroer on the Wadi Arnon, with half the hill country of Gilead and its towns. 13The rest of Gilead and all Bashan, Og's kingdom, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. The whole region of Argob, all that Bashan, is called a land of Rephaim. 14Jair son of Manasseh took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He called Bashan after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day. 15I gave Gilead to Machir. 16To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Wadi Arnon, with the middle of the wadi as the boundary, and as far as the Wadi Jabbok, the boundary of the sons of Ammon. 17I also gave the Arabah, with the Jordan as the boundary, from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

18“At that time I commanded you: ‘Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess. All your fighting men must cross over armed before your brothers, the sons of Israel. 19Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock—I know you have much livestock—must stay in the towns I have given you, 20until Yahweh gives your brothers rest as he has given you, and they too possess the land Yahweh your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession, which I have given you.’ 21At that time I commanded Joshua: ‘Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings. Yahweh will do the same to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22Do not be afraid of them, because Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you.’

23“At that time I pleaded with Yahweh: 24‘Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand. What god in heaven or on earth can do deeds and mighty acts like yours? 25Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26But Yahweh was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. Yahweh told me, ‘Enough from you! Do not speak to me again about this matter. 27Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift your eyes west, north, south, and east. Look with your eyes, because you will not cross this Jordan. 28Command Joshua, strengthen him, and make him resolute, because he will cross before this people and cause them to inherit the land you see.’ 29So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.”

Translation notes 5

3:1–7 — Towns and destruction. Sixty towns, their fortifications, and the many unwalled settlements are explicit. The killing of men, women, and little ones is retained alongside the different treatment of livestock and spoil. “Devote to destruction” represents the same term used in 2:34.

3:9–11 — Hermon; iron bed. The mountain's alternate names are preserved. Og's bed is described as iron and measured in cubits; a couch or funerary object has also been proposed. The draft retains the stated material and dimensions without converting them into an exact modern length or treating the bed as a measurement of Og's own height.

3:12–17 — Possessions and boundaries. The tribal territories and place names are retained even where the boundary syntax is compressed. “With the middle of the wadi as the boundary” and “with the Jordan as the boundary” make the geographical relation explicit. The text does not provide coordinates for every site.

3:18–22 — Brothers; rest. The eastern tribes' fighting men must help their brothers take possession before returning. Wives, little ones, and livestock stay behind. Rest here concerns settlement and security in the promised possession; the word does not by itself import every later theological use of rest.

3:23–29 — Lord Yahweh; Moses' exclusion. Lord is a title distinct from the divine name Yahweh. Moses calls himself God's servant in this appeal. The text repeats his exclusion because of the people and directs him to strengthen Joshua. The draft does not alter the appeal or its refusal to make this account identical to another narrative.