Deuteronomy 1

1 These are the words which Moses said to all Israel on the far side of Jordan, in the waste land in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran on the one side, and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other.

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.

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

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

3 Now in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses gave to the children of Israel all the orders which the Lord had given him for them;

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.

4 After he had overcome Sihon, king of the Amorites, ruling in Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, ruling in Ashtaroth, at Edrei:

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.

5 On the far side of Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses gave the people this law, saying,

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

6 The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, You have been long enough in this mountain:

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

7 Make a move now, and go on your way into the hill-country of the Amorites and the places near it, in the Arabah and the hill-country and in the lowlands and in the South and by the seaside, all the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

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.

8 See, all the land is before you: go in and take for yourselves the land which the Lord gave by an oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their seed after them.

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.”

9 At that time I said to you, I am not able to undertake the care of you by myself;

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

10 The Lord your God has given you increase, and now you are like the stars of heaven in number.

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

11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times greater in number than you are, and give you his blessing as he has said!

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

12 How is it possible for me by myself to be responsible for you, and undertake the weight of all your troubles and your arguments?

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

13 Take for yourselves men who are wise, far-seeing, and respected among you, from your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

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

14 And you made answer and said to me, It is good for us to do as you say.

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

15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and respected, and made them rulers over you, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds and captains of fifties and captains of tens, and overseers of your tribes.

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.

16 And at that time I gave orders to your judges, saying, Let all questions between your brothers come before you for hearing, and give decisions uprightly between a man and his brother or one from another nation who is with him.

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.

17 In judging, do not let a man's position have any weight with you; give hearing equally to small and great; have no fear of any man, for it is God who is judge: and any cause in which you are not able to give a decision, you are to put before me and I will give it a hearing.

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.”

18 And at that time I gave you all the orders which you were to do.

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

19 Then we went on from Horeb, through all that great and cruel waste which you saw, on our way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as the Lord gave us orders; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

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,

20 And I said to you, You have come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.

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

21 See now, the Lord your God has put the land into your hands: go up and take it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has said to you; have no fear and do not be troubled.

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.”

22 And you came near to me, every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us to go through the land with care and give us an account of the way we are to go and the towns to which we will come.

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.”

23 And what you said seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from among you, one from every tribe;

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

24 And they went up into the hill-country and came to the valley of Eshcol, and saw what was there.

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

25 And taking in their hands some of the fruit of the land, they came down again to us, and gave us their account, saying, It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.

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.”

26 But going against the order of the Lord your God, you would not go up:

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

27 And you made an angry outcry in your tents, and said, In his hate for us the Lord has taken us out of the land of Egypt, to give us up into the hands of the Amorites for our destruction.

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.

28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts feeble with fear by saying, The people are greater and taller than we are, and the towns are great and walled up to heaven; and more than this, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

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.’”

29 Then I said to you, Have no fear of them.

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

30 The Lord your God who goes before you will be fighting for you, and will do such wonders as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

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

31 And in the waste land, where you have seen how the Lord was supporting you, as a man does his son, in all your journeying till you came to this place.

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.”

32 But for all this, you had no faith in the Lord your God,

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

33 Who goes before you on your way, looking for a place where you may put up your tents, in fire by night, lighting up the way you are to go, and in a cloud by day.

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.

34 And the Lord, hearing your words, was angry, and said with an oath,

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

35 Truly, not one of this evil generation will see that good land which I said I would give to your fathers,

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

36 But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he will see it; and to him and to his children I will give the land over which his feet have gone, because he has been true to the Lord with all his heart.

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.”

37 And, in addition, the Lord was angry with me because of you, saying, You yourself will not go into it:

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

38 Joshua, the son of Nun, your servant, he will go into the land: say to him that he is to be strong, for he will be Israel's guide into their heritage.

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

39 And your little ones, who, you said, would come into strange hands, your children, who now have no knowledge of good or evil, they will go into that land, and to them I will give it and it will be theirs.

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.

40 But as for you, go back, journeying into the waste land by the way of the Red Sea.

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

41 Then you said to me, We have done evil against the Lord, we will go up to the attack, as the Lord our God has given us orders. And arming yourselves every one, you made ready to go up without care into the hill-country.

“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.

42 And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Do not go up to the attack; for I am not among you, and you will be overcome by those who are against you.

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.”

43 This I said to you, but you gave no attention and went against the orders of the Lord, and in your pride went up into the hill-country.

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.

44 And the Amorites who were in the hill-country came out against you and put you to flight, rushing after you like bees, and overcame you in Seir, driving you even as far as Hormah.

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.

45 And you came back, weeping before the Lord; but the Lord gave no attention to your cries and did not give ear to you.

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

46 So you were kept waiting in Kadesh for a long time.

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