We have obtained moderate-resolution (R ∼ 3000) spectra of the Orion bar and Orion S regions at J (1.25 µm), H (1.64 µm), and K (2.2 µm). Towards the bar, the observations reveal a large number of H 2 emission lines that, when compared to model predictions of Draine & Bertoldi (1996), are indicative of a high-density photodissociation region (PDR) (n H = 10 6 cm −3 , χ = 10 5 , T 0 = 1000 K) rather than shocked material. Behind the bar into the molecular cloud, the H 2 spectrum again matches well with that predicted for a dense PDR (n H = 10 6 cm −3 ) but with a lower temperature (T 0 = 500 K) and UV field strength (χ = 10 4 ). The H 2 spectrum and stratification of near-IR emission lines (O I, H I, [Fe II], [Fe III], H 2 ) near Orion S imply the presence of a dense PDR with an inclined geometry in this region as well (n H = 10 6 cm −3 , χ = 10 5 , T 0 = 1500 K). The extinction measurements towards the bar (A K ∼ 2.6) and Orion S (A K ∼ 2.1) H 2 emission regions are much larger than expected from either face-on (A K ∼ 0.1) or edge-on (A K ∼ 1) homogeneous PDRs, indicating that clumps may significantly affect the structure of the PDRs.In addition, we have observed the strongest ∼ 30 near-IR He I emission lines, many of which have not been detected previously. There is good agreement between most observed and theoretical He I line ratios, while a few transitions with upper levels of n 3 P (particularly 4 3 P − 3 3 S 1.2531 µm) are enhanced over strengths expected from collisional excitation. This effect is possibly due to opacity in the UV series n 3 P − 2 3 S. We also detect several near-IR [Fe II] and [Fe III] transitions with line ratios indicative of low densities (n e ∼ 10 3 -10 4 cm −3 ), whereas recent observations of optical [Fe II] emission imply the presence of high-density gas (n e ∼ 10 6 cm −3 ). These results are