3
We set off and went up the road towards Bashan. Og, king of Bashan, and his whole army came out to fight us at Edrei. But the Lord told me, “Don't be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, together with all his people and his land. Deal with him as you did with Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.”
So the Lord our God handed over to us Og, king of Bashan, and his whole army as well. We killed them and left no survivors. We also captured all his towns. There wasn't a single town among all the sixty that we didn't capture. This included the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All of these towns were fortified with high walls and gates with bars. There were many more villages as well, those that didn't have walls. We set them apart for destruction, just as we did to Sihon, king of Heshbon, killing all the men, women, and children of every city. But we took for ourselves all the livestock and plunder from the towns.
So in summary, at that time we took from the two Amorite kings the land east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley all the way to Mount Hermon. (Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians and Senir by the Amorites.) 10 The area included all the towns of the plain, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan, up to and including the towns of Salecah and Edrei in the kingdom of Og. 11 (Only Og, king of Bashan, was left of the race of the Rephaim. He had a bed made of iron that was nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It's still in the Ammonite town of Rabbah.)
12 This is when we took over the land. I assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the land to the north of the town of Aroer in the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. 13 I assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh the rest of Gilead, and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The whole region of Argob, all the territory of Bashan, was formerly called the land of the Rephaim.) 14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took over the whole region of Argob right up to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites and changed the name of Bashan to Havvoth-jair* after himself, which is still its name to this day. 15 I assigned the rest of Gilead to the descendants of Machir, 16 while I assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the area from Gilead to the Arnon Valley, the boundary line being the middle of the valley, all the way to the Jabbok River on the Ammonite border. 17 The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it to the west, from the Sea of Galilee to the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea). On the east lay the slopes of the Pisgah mountain range.
18 This was when I gave you these instructions: “The Lord your God has given you this country as yours to own. All your warriors are to cross over, ready for battle, leading your fellow Israelites. 19 However, your wives, your children, and your livestock (I know that you have plenty of livestock) can stay behind in the towns I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives victory to your fellow Israelites and they have peace, just as he has for you, after taking over the land that the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan. Then you can all return to the land I have given you to own.”
21 This was the time I ordered Joshua: “You've seen with your own eyes seen everything the Lord your God did to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms where you're going. 22 Don't be afraid of them, for the Lord your God himself will be fighting on your side.”
23 This was also the time I pleaded with the Lord, saying, 24 Lord God, you've really only just begun to show your power and greatness to me, your servant. What god in heaven or on earth has the incredible ability to do the mighty acts you do? 25 Please, let me cross over the Jordan and see the good land there, the beautiful hills, and the mountains of Lebanon!”
26 But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he refused to listen to me. “That's enough,” he told me. “Don't talk to me about this anymore. 27 Climb up to the top of Mount and look west, north, south, and east. Take a long look at the land with your own eyes, because you're not going to cross this Jordan. 28 Instead, put Joshua in charge because he's the one who will cross over, leading the people and helping them to take over the land that you see. Encourage him and support him.”
29 So we remained there in the valley near Beth-peor.
* 3:14 “Havvoth-jair” means “the villages of Jair.” 3:15 “The rest of”: supplied for clarity. 3:18 Referring to the trines of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.