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Giovedi, 25 aprile 2024 - San Marco ( Letture di oggi)

Deuteronomy 3


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1'We then turned on Bashan and invaded that. And Og king of Bashan marched out against us, he andal his people, to give battle at Edrei.2Yahweh said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have put him at your mercy, him, al his people andhis country. You will treat him as you treated Sihon king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon."3So, Yahweh our God put Og king of Bashan at our mercy too, with al his people. We beat him sothoroughly that nobody was left.4That was when we captured al his towns; there was not a town of theirs we did not take: sixty towns,the whole confederation of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan,5all of them fortresses defended by high wal s and fortified with gates and bars, not to mention thePerizzite towns, which were very numerous.6We laid them under the curse of destruction as we had done Sihon king of Heshbon, laying al thesetowns under the curse of destruction: men, women and children-7but we seized the livestock and spoils of the towns as booty for ourselves.8'Thus, by then we had taken the country of the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, stretching fromthe Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon9(the Sidonians call Hermon 'Sirion' and the Amorites cal it 'Senir'):10al the towns of the tableland, all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, the capital citiesof Og in Bashan.11(Og king of Bashan was the last survivor of the Rephaim; his bed was the iron bed that can be seen atRabbah-of-the-Ammonites, nine cubits long and four wide, according to the human cubit.)12'Then we took possession of this country, from Aroer on the Wadi Arnon. To the Reubenites andGadites I gave half the highlands of Gilead with its towns.13To the half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and the whole of Bashan, Og's kingdom. (Thewhole confederation of Argob and the whole of Bashan is cal ed the country of the Rephaim.14Since Jair son of Manasseh occupied the whole confederation of Argob as far as the frontiers of theGeshurites and Maacathites, after him Bashan is called the Encampments of Jair even today.)15To Machir I gave Gilead.16To the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the region from Gilead to the Wadi Arnon, the middle of theravine marking the boundary, and up as far as the Jabbok, the ravine marking the frontier of the Ammonites.17The Arabah and the Jordan serve as frontiers from Chinnereth down to the Sea of the Arabah (theSalt Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.18'I then gave you this order: "Yahweh your God has given you this country to be yours. Armed, everyone of you fit to fight must go ahead of your brothers the Israelites.19Only your wives, your children and your flocks (you have many flocks, I know) must stay behind in thetowns which I have given you,20until Yahweh has brought your brothers to rest as he has already brought you, and they too possessthe territory which Yahweh your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan; after that, you can go home,each to the domain I have given you."21I then gave Joshua this order, "You can see for yourself everything that Yahweh our God has done tothese two kings; Yahweh will do the same to al the kingdoms through which you pass.22Do not be afraid of them: Yahweh your God himself is fighting for you."23'I then pleaded with Yahweh.24"My Lord Yahweh," I said, "now that you have begun to reveal your greatness and your power to yourservant with works and mighty deeds no God in heaven or on earth can rival,25may I not go across and see this fine country on the other side of the Jordan, that fine upland countryand the Lebanon?"26But, because of you, Yahweh was angry with me and would not listen. "Enough!" he said, "Do notmention this subject again!27Climb to the top of Pisgah; turn your eyes to the west, the north, the south, the east. Look wel , foracross this Jordan you shall not go.28Give Joshua your instructions; encourage him, strengthen him; for he wil be the one to cross at thehead of this people; he wil be the one to bring them into possession of the country which you will see."29'We then stayed in the val ey, close to Beth-Peor.'