Deuteronomy 1

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain, opposite to Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

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 There are 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 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Jehovah had given him in command to 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 smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth [and] 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 this side the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to unfold this law, saying,

Speaking on the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain these instructions, saying:

6 Jehovah our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have stayed long enough in this mountain.

The Lord our God told us at Horeb: “You have remained here beside this mountain for long enough.

7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and unto all the neighbouring places in the plain, in the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south, and by the seaside, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, unto 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 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them 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 And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone.

That's when I told you, “I can't take responsibility for all of you by myself.

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

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 Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as he hath said unto you!

May the Lord, the God of your forefathers, multiply you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised.

12 How can I myself alone sustain your wear, and your burden, and your strife?

But how can I take on all your troubles, burdens, and arguments just by myself?

13 Provide you wise and understanding and known men, according to your tribes, that I may make them your chiefs.

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 ye answered me, and said, The thing that thou hast spoken is good [for us] to do.

You replied to me, saying, “Your proposal is a good one.”

15 So I took the chiefs of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them chiefs over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers for 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 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and him also that sojourneth 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 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment: ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the matter that is too hard for you shall ye bring to me, that I may hear it.

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

This was also the time I instructed you about everything you had to do.

19 And we departed from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw, on the way to the mountain of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God had commanded us; 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 unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God giveth us.

I explained to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to us.

21 Behold, Jehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Jehovah the God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

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 ye came near to me all of you, and said, We will send men before us, who shall examine the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and of the cities to which we shall 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 the matter was good in mine eyes; and I took twelve men of you, one man for a tribe.

It seemed like a good plan to me, so I chose twelve of your men, one from each tribe.

24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

They set off and went up into the hill country as far as the Valley of Eshcol, exploring the land.

25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hand, and brought it down unto us, and brought us answer, and said, The land is good that Jehovah our God hath given 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 ye would not go up, and rebelled against the word of Jehovah your God;

But you didn't want to go. You rebelled against the instructions of the Lord your God.

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

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 Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, [They are] a people greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover 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 And I said unto you, Be not afraid, neither fear them;

So I told you, “Don't be frightened or scared of them!

30 Jehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that 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 wilderness where thou hast seen that Jehovah thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye 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 In this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,

Despite all this, you didn't trust the Lord your God,

33 who went in the way before you, to search you out a place for your encamping, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in the 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 Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying,

When the Lord heard what you were saying, he got angry and swore an oath:

35 None among these men, this evil generation, shall in any wise see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers!

“Not a single one of this evil generation will see the good land I promised to give your forefathers,

36 Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah.

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 Also Jehovah was angry with me on your account, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.

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, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

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, of whom ye said, They shall be a prey, and your children, who this day know neither good nor evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

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 ye, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness 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 — And ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God hath commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and ye would go presumptuously up the hill.

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 Jehovah said to me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

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 And I spoke unto you, but ye would not hear, and ye rebelled against the word of Jehovah, and acted presumptuously, and went up the hill.

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 Amorite that dwelt on that hill came out against you, and chased you, like as bees do, and cut you in pieces in Seir, 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 ye returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah would not listen to your voice, nor give ear unto 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 And ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode [there].

You stayed there in Kadesh for a long time.