And each of you take his censer, put incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the Lord: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron – each of you with his censer.”

But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”

“Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join with you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

And you may eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting.

Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced,

Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me.”

“You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,

Instruct these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in the land you are about to enter and possess.

Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard.

Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess.

So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that good land.

Now these are the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed

It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.

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.

Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people!

Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains,

For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it.