Deuteronomy 1

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

These [are] the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side Jordan in the desert towards the west near the Red Sea, between Pharan Tophol, and Lobon, and Aulon, and the gold works.

2 It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.

[It is] a journey of eleven days from Choreb to mount Seir as far as Cades Barne.

3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

And it came to pass in the forties year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, Moses spoke to all the children of Israel, according to all things which the Lord commanded him for them:

4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

after he had struck Seon king of the Amorites who lived in Esebon, and Og the king of Basan who lived in Astaroth and in Edrain;

5 On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

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

6 The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

The Lord your God spoke to us in Choreb, saying, Let it suffice you to have lived [so long] in this mountain.

7 Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.

Turn you and depart and enter into the mountain of the Amorites, and [go] to all that dwell near about Araba, to the mountain and the plain and to the south, and the land of the Chananites near the sea, and Antilibanus, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

8 See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

Behold, [God] has delivered the land before you; go in and inherit the land, which I sware to your fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob, to give it to them and to their seed after them.

9 At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.

And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I shall not be able by myself to bear you.

10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars of heaven for multitude.

11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.

The Lord God of your fathers add to you a thousand-fold more than you are, and bless you as he has spoken to you.

12 But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself?

How shall I alone be able to bear your labor, and your burden, and your gainsayings?

13 Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

Take to yourselves wise and understanding and prudent men for your tribes, and I will set your leaders over you.

14 And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”

And you answered me and said, The thing which you have told us [is] good to do.

15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.

So I took of you wise and understanding and prudent men, and I set them to rule over you as rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and officers to your judges.

16 At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.

And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [causes] between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and [his] brother, and the stranger that is with him.

17 Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

You shall not have respect to persons in judgment, you shall judge small and great equally; you shall not shrink from before the person of a man, for the judgment is God's; and whatever matter shall be too hard for you, you shall bring it to me, and I will hear it.

18 And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.

And I charged upon you at that time all the commands which you shall perform.

19 And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,

And we departed from Choreb, and went through all that great wilderness and terrible, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorite, as the Lord our God charged us, and we came as far as Cades Barne.

20 I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

And I said to you, You have come as far as the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God gives to you:

21 See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

behold, the Lord your God has delivered to us the land before you: go up and inherit it as the Lord God of your fathers said to you; fear not, neither be afraid.

22 Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”

And you all came to me, and said, Let us send men before us, and let them go up to the land for us; and let them bring back to us a report of the way by which we shall go up, and of the cities into which we shall enter.

23 The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

And the saying pleased me: and I took of you twelve men, one man of a tribe.

24 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land.

And they turned and went up to the mountain, and they came as far as the valley of the cluster, and surveyed it.

25 They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

And they took in their hands of the fruit of the land, and brought it to you, and said, The land is good which the Lord our God gives us.

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the words of the Lord our God.

27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated.

And you murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

Whither do we go up? and your brethren drew away your heart, saying, [It is a] great nation and populous, and mightier than we; and [there are] cities great and walled up to heaven: moreover we saw there the sons of the giants.

29 So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them!

And I said to you, Fear not, neither be you afraid of them;

30 The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt

the Lord your God who goes before your face, he shall fight against them together with you effectually, according to all that he wrought for you in the land of Egypt;

31 and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”

and in this wilderness which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorite; how the Lord your God will bear you as a nursling, as if any man should nurse his child, through all the way which you have gone until you came to this place.

32 But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

And in this matter you believed not the Lord our God,

33 who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.

who goes before you in the way to choose you a place, guiding you in fire by night, showing you the way by which you go, and a cloud by day.

34 When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,

And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and being greatly provoked he sware, saying,

35 “Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

Not one of these men shall see this good land, which I sware to their fathers,

36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”

except Chaleb the son of Jephonne, he shall see it; and to him I will give the land on which he went up, and to his sons, because he attended to the things of the Lord.

37 The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.

And the Lord was angry with me for your sake, saying, Neither shall you by any means enter therein.

38 Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land.

Joshua the son of Naue, who stands by you, he shall enter in there; do you strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.

And every young child who this day knows not good or evil, —they shall enter therein, and to them I will give it, and they shall inherit it.

40 But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

And you turned and marched into the wilderness, in the way by the Red Sea.

41 “We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

And you answered and said, We have sinned before the Lord our God; we will go up and fight according to all that the Lord our God has commanded us: and having taken every one his weapons of war, and being gathered together, you went up to the mountain.

42 But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”

And the Lord said to me, Tell them, You shall not go up, neither shall you fight, for I am not with you; thus shall you not be destroyed before your enemies.

43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

And I spoke to you, and you did not listen to me; and you transgressed the commandment of the Lord; and you forced your way and went up into the mountain.

44 Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.

And the Amorite who lived in that mountain came out to meet you, and pursued you as bees do, and wounded you from Seir to Herma.

45 And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

And you sat down and wept before the Lord our God, and the Lord listened not to your voice, neither did he take heed to you.

46 For this reason you stayed in Kadesh for a long time—a very long time.

And you lived in Cades many days, as many days as you lived [there].