So they came near and carried them away in their tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had spoken.

“When a garment has a diseased infection in it, whether a wool or linen garment,

You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness.

“‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time.

Moreover, you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God he will bear responsibility for his sin,

I will lay your cities waste and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas.

So Moses numbered all the firstborn males among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him.

This is the way it used to be continually: The cloud would cover it by day, and there was a fiery appearance by night.

Then I said to you, “You have come to the Amorite hill country which the Lord our God is about to give us.

I thought this was a good idea, so I sent twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

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

I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, and shattered them before your very eyes.

The heavens – indeed the highest heavens – belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.

Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you left Egypt.

“I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed.

Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.

But the Israelites did not conquer the Geshurites and Maacathites; Geshur and Maacah live among Israel to this very day.

My countrymen who accompanied me frightened the people, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God.

So the Israelites assigned to the Levites by lot these cities and their grazing areas, as the Lord had instructed Moses.

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them.