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.
This is the record of what Moses told all the Israelites during their time in the desert to the east of the Jordan. They were in the Arabah near Suph, between Paran on the one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by the road that passes 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;
On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, Moses recounted to the Israelites everything that the Lord had instructed him to tell 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 happened after he defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and then at Edrei after he defeated Og king of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth.
5 On the far side of Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses gave the people this law, saying,
Speaking on the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain these instructions, saying:
6 The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, You have been long enough in this mountain:
The Lord our God told us at Horeb: “You have remained here beside this mountain for 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.
Continue your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and all their neighbors, into the Jordan Valley, into the hill country, into the foothills, into the Negev, and along the coast to the country of the Canaanites up 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.
Look, I'm giving this land to you. Go and take ownership of the land that the Lord promised he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants who would follow them.”
9 At that time I said to you, I am not able to undertake the care of you by myself;
That's when I told you, “I can't take responsibility for all of you by myself.
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 increased your numbers so much that today there are as many of you as there are 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 forefathers, multiply you a thousand times 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 take on all your troubles, burdens, and arguments just 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.
You must choose for yourselves wise, experienced men with good judgment from each of your tribes, and I will put them in charge as your leaders.”
14 And you made answer and said to me, It is good for us to do as you say.
You replied to me, saying, “Your proposal is a good one.”
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 summoned your tribal leaders, men with good judgment, and put them in charge of you, as commanders and officials for your tribes. Some were responsible for thousands, some for hundreds, some for fifties, and some for tens.
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 the same time I gave strict instructions to your judges: “Hear the cases brought between your brothers, and make sure you are fair when you judge between a man and his brother or a foreigner living among you.
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.
Don't show any favoritism when you judge—treat the powerful and the common people just the same. Don't let anyone intimidate you, because judgment is done on God's behalf. Bring me any case that is too hard for you, and I will hear it.”
18 And at that time I gave you all the orders which you were to do.
This was also the time I instructed you about everything you had 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.
Following the orders of the Lord our God, we left Horeb and set off towards the hill country of the Amorites, passing through the whole of the large and terrifying desert that you yourselves have experienced. 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 explained to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to 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.
Look, the Lord your God has given you the land! Go and take ownership of the land as the Lord, the God of your forefathers, has told you. Don't be frightened or terrified.”
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 you all came to me and suggested, “Let's send men on ahead to explore the land and report back to us about what route to take and which towns we'll come across.”
23 And what you said seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from among you, one from every tribe;
It seemed like a good plan to me, so I chose twelve of your men, 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 set off and went up into the hill country as far as the Valley of Eshcol, exploring 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 brought back some of the country's fruit, carrying it down to us, and gave us the report: “The Lord our God is giving us good land.”
26 But going against the order of the Lord your God, you would not go up:
But you didn't want to go. You rebelled against the instructions 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 complained while you were in your tents and said, “It's because the Lord hates us that he led us out of Egypt in order to hand us over to the Amorites to be wiped out.
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 are we going? Our brothers terrified us because they told us: ‘The people are bigger and taller than us; the towns are large, with high walls that reach the sky. We even saw the descendants of the giant Anak there!’”
29 Then I said to you, Have no fear of them.
So I told you, “Don't be frightened or scared 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 leads your way will fight for you in the same way 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.
He did the same in the desert—you saw how the Lord your God carried you like a father carries his son during your whole journey until you arrived here.”
32 But for all this, you had no faith in the Lord your God,
Despite all this, you didn't 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 led you on the journey, present in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, looking to find a place for you to camp and to show you the way to go.
34 And the Lord, hearing your words, was angry, and said with an oath,
When the Lord heard what you were saying, he got angry and swore an oath:
35 Truly, not one of this evil generation will see that good land which I said I would give to your fathers,
“Not a single one of this evil generation will see the good land I promised to give your forefathers,
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 he explored, because he was completely committed to the Lord.”
37 And, in addition, the Lord was angry with me because of you, saying, You yourself will not go into it:
The Lord also got angry with me because of you. He told me, “Even you won't enter the country.
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.
However, Joshua, son of Nun, your assistant, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will help Israel to occupy 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.
Your small children that you claimed would become prisoners, your children who at the time didn't know good from evil, they will be the ones to enter the land that I will give them, and they will occupy it.
40 But as for you, go back, journeying into the waste land by the way of the Red Sea.
But now turn around and head back into the desert on the road that leads 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.
But you answered and told me, “We have sinned against the Lord! We will go and we will fight and we will do everything the Lord our God has ordered us to do.” Then you all picked up your weapons and prepared for battle thinking it would be easy to go and fight in 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 instructed me, “Order them not to go and fight because I won't be with you to prevent you from being defeated 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.
I told you this, but you refused to listen. You defied the instructions of the Lord and arrogantly went to fight in 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 living there in the hills came and attacked you. They chased after you like a swarm of bees, killing you all the way from Seir 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.
You came back to camp and wept before the Lord, but he refused to listen to what you said or to pay attention to you.
46 So you were kept waiting in Kadesh for a long time.
You stayed there in Kadesh for a long time.
