Echoes from The Wilderness

1 These are the words which Moshe spake unto all Isra’el beyond the Yarden in the wilderness, in the ‘Aravah over against Suf, between Pa’ran, and Tofel, and Lavan, and Hatzerot, and Di-Zahab. ²It is eleven days’ journey from Horev by the way of mount Se’ir unto Kadesh-Barnea. ³And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moshe spake unto the children of Isra’el, according unto all that Yehovah had given him in commandment unto them; ⁴after he had smitten Sichon the king of the Emori, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ‘Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in ‘Ashtarot, at Edre’i. ⁵Beyond the Yarden, in the land of Mo’av, began Moshe to declare this law, saying, ⁶Yehovah our God spake unto us in Horev, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain: ⁷turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Emori, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the ‘Aravah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Kena’ani, and L’vanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Yehovah sware unto your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitz’chak, and to Ya’akov, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

⁹And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: ¹⁰Yehovah your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. ¹¹Yehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you! ¹²How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? ¹³Take you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. ¹⁴And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. ¹⁵So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. ¹⁶And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him. ¹⁷Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it. ¹⁸And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

¹⁹And we journeyed from Horev, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Emori, as Yehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-Barnea. ²⁰And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Emori, which Yehovah our God giveth unto us. ²¹Behold, Yehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Yehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed. ²²And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come. ²³And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe: ²⁴and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came unto the valley of Eshkol, and spied it out. ²⁵And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Yehovah our God giveth unto us.

²⁶Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yehovah your God: ²⁷and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Yehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Emori, to destroy us. ²⁸Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the ‘Anakim there. ²⁹Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. ³⁰Yehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Yehovah thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place. ³²Yet in this thing ye did not believe Yehovah your God, ³³who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.

³⁴And Yehovah heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, ³⁵Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, ³⁶save Kalev the son of Y’funeh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Yehovah. ³⁷Also Yehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither: ³⁸Y’hoshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage thou him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ³⁹Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. ⁴⁰But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Suf’.

⁴¹Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Yehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country. ⁴²And Yehovah said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. ⁴³So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of Yehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country. ⁴⁴And the Emori, that dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah. ⁴⁵And ye returned and wept before Yehovah; but Yehovah hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you. ⁴⁶So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

2

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Suf, as Yehovah spake unto me; and we compassed mount Se’ir many days. ²And Yehovah spake unto me, saying, ³Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. ⁴And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of ‘Esav, that dwell in Se’ir; and they will be afraid of you. Take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore; ⁵contend not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given mount Se’ir unto ‘Esav for a possession. ⁶Ye shall purchase food of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. ⁷For Yehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. ⁸So we passed by from our brethren the children of ‘Esav, that dwell in Se’ir, from the way of the ‘Aravah from Eilat and from Etzyon-Gever.

And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Mo’av. ⁹And Yehovah said unto me, vex not Mo’av, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given ‘Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. ¹⁰(The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the ‘Anakim: ¹¹these also are accounted Refa’im, as the ‘Anakim; but the Mo’avim call them Emim. ¹²The Horim also dwelt in Se’ir aforetime, but the children of ‘Esav succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Isra’el did unto the land of his possession, which Yehovah gave unto them). ¹³Now rise up, and get you over the Vadi Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. ¹⁴And the days in which we came from Kadesh-Barnea, until we were come over the Vadi Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Yehovah sware unto them. ¹⁵Moreover the hand of Yehovah was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

¹⁶So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, ¹⁷that Yehovah spake unto me, saying, ¹⁸Thou art this day to pass over Ar, the border of Mo’av: ¹⁹and when thou comest nigh over against the children of ‘Ammon, vex them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of ‘Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. ²⁰(That also is accounted a land of Refa’im: Refa’im dwelt therein aforetime; but the ‘Ammoni call them Zamzumim, ²¹a people great, and many, and tall, as the ‘Anakim; but Yehovah destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead; ²²as he did for the children of ‘Esav, that dwell in Se’ir, when he destroyed the Horim from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day: ²³And the ‘Avim, that dwelt in villages as far as ‘Azah, the Kaftorim, that came forth out of Kaftor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.) ²⁴Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Sichon the Emori, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. ²⁵This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

²⁶And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of K’demot unto Sichon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither unto the right hand nor to the left. ²⁸Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet; ²⁹as the children of ‘Esav that dwell in Se’ir, and the Mo’avim that dwell in ‘Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over the Yarden into the land which Yehovah our God giveth us. ³⁰But Sichon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as at this day. ³¹And Yehovah said unto me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sichon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. ³²Then Sichon came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Yahatz. ³³And Yehovah our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. ³⁴And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining: ³⁵only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken. ³⁶From ‘Aro’er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even unto Gil’ad, there was not a city too high for us; Yehovah our God delivered up all before us: ³⁷only to the land of the children of ‘Amon thou camest not near; all the side of the Yabok River, and the cities of the hill-country, and wheresoever Yehovah our God forbade us.

3

Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and ‘Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edre’i. ²And Yehovah said unto me, Fear him not; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sichon king of the Emori, who dwelt at Heshbon. ³So Yehovah our God delivered into our hand ‘Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

⁴And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them; threescore cities, all the region of Argov, the kingdom of ‘Og in Bashan. ⁵All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many. ⁶And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sichon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. ⁷But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves. ⁸And we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Emori that were beyond the Yarden, from the valley of the Arnon unto mount Hermon; ⁹(which Hermon the Tzidonim call Siryon, and the Emori call it S’nir); ¹⁰all the cities of the plain, and all Gil’ad, and all Bashan, unto Salkhah and Edre’i, cities of the kingdom of ‘Og in Bashan. ¹¹(For only ‘Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Refa’im; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of ‘Amon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)

¹²And this land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites: ¹³and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. ¹⁴Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.) ¹⁵And I gave Gilead unto Machir. ¹⁶And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border thereof, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; ¹⁷the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. ¹⁸And I commanded you at that time, saying, Jehovah your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of valor. ¹⁹But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (I know that ye have much cattle), shall abide in your cities which I have given you, ²⁰until Jehovah give rest unto your brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth them beyond the Jordan: then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you. ²¹And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall Jehovah do unto all the kingdoms whither thou goest over. ²²Ye shall not fear them; for Jehovah your God, he it is that fighteth for you.