Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power – to him should go the right of the firstborn.

Be careful not to say, “My own ability and skill have gotten me this wealth.”

You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, even as he has to this day.

“O, Lord God, you have begun to show me your greatness and strength. (What god in heaven or earth can rival your works and mighty deeds?)

Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it.

There you will worship gods made by human hands – wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?”

Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications.

Stand aside and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

He is the one you should praise; he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen.

then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days.

The Lord will cause your enemies who attack you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions.

At that time I instructed you as follows: “The Lord your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites equipped for battle.

You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living.

He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them.

What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there.”

May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor, and may his horns be those of a wild ox; with them may he gore all peoples, all the far reaches of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.