It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished."

and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live.

Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance.

But the Israelites killed many of the enemy in battle and occupied their land from the Arnon River north to the Jabbok, that is, to the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strongly defended.

"After we had passed through Moab, the LORD told us, 'Now, start out and cross the Arnon River. I am placing in your power Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, along with his land. Attack him, and begin occupying his land.

"Then I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace:

We will pay for the food we eat and the water we drink. All we want to do is to pass through your country,

"But King Sihon would not let us pass through his country. The LORD your God had made him stubborn and rebellious, so that we could defeat him and take his territory, which we still occupy.

Sihon came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Jahaz,

As you advance, he will surely drive out the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. You will know that the living God is among you

Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the east side of the Jordan. They fought you, but I gave you victory over them. You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced.

But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you, and in this way I rescued you from Balak.

As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it.

But the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the Israelites victory over Sihon and his army. So the Israelites took possession of all the territory of the Amorites who lived in that country.

So it was the LORD, the God of Israel, who drove out the Amorites for his people, the Israelites.

"You let them conquer nations and kingdoms, lands that bordered their own. They conquered the land of Heshbon, where Sihon ruled, and the land of Bashan, where Og was king.

They conquered the land of Canaan; you overcame the people living there. You gave your people the power to do as they pleased with the people and kings of Canaan.

He destroyed many nations and killed powerful kings:

He gave their lands to his people; he gave them to Israel.

He killed powerful kings; his love is eternal;

Sihon, king of the Amorites; his love is eternal;

He gave their lands to his people; his love is eternal;

But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there.

Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River."

So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, "That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall,

and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them."

Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!'

(A mighty race of giants called the Emim used to live in Ar. They were as tall as the Anakim, another race of giants.

Like the Anakim they were also known as Rephaim; but the Moabites called them Emim.

(King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin, made of stone, was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

"Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky.

But now you will see for yourselves that the LORD your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised.

At this time Joshua went and destroyed the race of giants called the Anakim who lived in the hill country---in Hebron, Debir, Anab, and in all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them and their cities.

None of the Anakim were left in the land of Israel; a few, however, were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

The three famous soldiers forced their way through the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he would not drink it; instead he poured it out as an offering to the LORD

Joab's brother Abishai (their mother was Zeruiah) was the leader of "The Famous Thirty." He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and became famous among "The Thirty."

Benaiah son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel was another famous soldier; he did many brave deeds, including killing two great Moabite warriors. He once went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

Those were the brave deeds of Benaiah, who was one of "The Thirty."

Their roots and branches are withered and dry.

So now, just as straw and dry grass shrivel and burn in the fire, your roots will rot and your blossoms will dry up and blow away, because you have rejected what the LORD Almighty, Israel's holy God, has taught us.

The LORD Almighty says, "The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them.