Deuteronomy 1

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

2 It is eleven days journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.

3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, according to all that Jehovah had given him in commandment to them,

4 after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,

6 Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough at this mountain.

7 Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and to all the places near thereto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

8 Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.

9 And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone.

10 Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

11 Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as ye are, and bless you, as he has promised you!

12 How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

13 Take for you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.

14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou have spoken is good to do.

15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.

16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner who is with him.

17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment. Ye shall hear the small and the great alike. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you ye shall bring to me, and I will hear it.

18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

19 And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us, and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

20 And I said to you, Ye have come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God gives to us.

21 Behold, Jehovah thy God has set the land before thee. Go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, has spoken to thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed.

22 And ye came near to me, all of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.

23 And the thing pleased me well. And I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe.

24 And they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Jehovah our God gives to us.

26 Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God.

27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

29 Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

30 Jehovah your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

31 and in the wilderness, where thou have seen how that Jehovah thy God bore thee, as a man bears his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came to this place.

32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,

33 who went before you in the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.

34 And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,

35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers,

36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and I will give to him the land that he has trodden upon, and to his sons, because he has wholly followed Jehovah.

37 Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shall not go in there.

38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before thee, he shall go in there. Encourage thou him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 Moreover your little ones, who ye said would be a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it.

40 But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

41 Then ye answered and said to me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.

42 And Jehovah said to me, Say to them, Do not go up, neither fight, for I am not among you, lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

43 So I spoke to you, and ye did not hearken, but ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.

44 And the Amorites, who dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.

45 And ye returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah did not hearken to your voice, nor gave ear to you.

46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that ye abode there.