Look, he<n id="1" /> has placed the land in front of you!<n id="2" /> Go up, take possession of it, just as the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!&#8221;

So all of you approached me and said, &#8220;Let&#8217;s send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there.&#8221;

The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh;<n id="1" /> he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.&#8221;<n id="2" />

just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the <sc>Lordsc> our God is giving us.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">At that time I instructed you as follows: &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> your God has given you this land for your possession. You warriors are to cross over before your fellow Israelites<n id="1" /> equipped for battle.

You must fight<n id="1" /> until the <sc>Lordsc> gives your countrymen victory<n id="2" /> as he did you and they take possession of the land that the <sc>Lordsc> your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own territory that I have given you.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances<n id="1" /> I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of your ancestors,<n id="2" /> is giving you.

But the <sc>Lordsc> became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he<n id="1" /> is about to give you.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind<n id="1" /> on the earth, and ask<n id="2" /> from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then when the <sc>Lordsc> your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you &#8211; a land with large, fine cities you did not build,

<t /><p class="bodytext">When the <sc>Lordsc> your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you &#8211; Hittites,<n id="1" /> Girgashites,<n id="2" /> Amorites,<n id="3" /> Canaanites,<n id="4" /> Perizzites,<n id="5" /> Hivites,<n id="6" /> and Jebusites,<n id="7" /> seven<n id="8" /> nations more numerous and powerful than you &#8211;

<t /><p class="bodytext">You must keep carefully all these commandments<n id="1" /> I am giving<n id="2" /> you today so that you may live, increase in number,<n id="3" /> and go in and occupy the land that the <sc>Lordsc> promised to your ancestors.<n id="4" />

Do not think to yourself after the <sc>Lordsc> your God has driven them out before you, &#8220;Because of my own righteousness the <sc>Lordsc> has brought me here to possess this land.&#8221; It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you.

And when he<n id="1" /> sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, &#8220;Go up and possess the land I have given you,&#8221; you rebelled against the <sc>Lordsc> your God<n id="2" /> and would neither believe nor obey him.

or what he did to Dathan and Abiram,<n id="1" /> sons of Eliab the Reubenite,<n id="2" /> when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp<n id="3" /> and swallowed them, their families,<n id="4" /> their tents, and all the property they brought with them.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now pay attention to all the commandments<n id="1" /> I am giving<n id="2" /> you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed,<n id="3" />

For the land where you are headed<n id="1" /> is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand<n id="2" /> like a vegetable garden.

Then the anger of the <sc>Lordsc> will erupt<n id="1" /> against you and he will close up the sky<n id="2" /> so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed<n id="3" /> from the good land that the Lord<n id="4" /> is about to give you.

Nobody will be able to resist you; the <sc>Lordsc> your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.p>

When the <sc>Lordsc> your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.<n id="1" />