< Deuteronomy 1 >
1 These bee the wordes which Moses spake vnto all Israel, on this side Iorden in the wildernesse, in the plaine, ouer against the red Sea, betweene Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.
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 eleuen dayes iourney from Horeb vnto Kadesh-barnea, by the way of mout Seir.
(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by the road that passes Mount Seir.)
3 And it came to passe in the first day of the eleuenth moneth, in the fourtieth yeere that Moses spake vnto the children of Israel according vnto all that the Lord had giuen him in commandement vnto 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 that he had slaine Sihon the king of the Amorites which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, which dwelt at Ashtaroth in 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 Iorden in the lande of Moab began Moses to declare this lawe, 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 spake vnto vs in Horeb, saying, Ye haue dwelt long ynough in this mount,
The Lord our God told us at Horeb: “You have remained here beside this mountain for long enough.
7 Turne you and depart, and goe vnto the mountaine of the Amorites, and vnto all places neere thereunto in the plaine, in the mountaine, or in the valley: both Southwarde, and to the Sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and vnto Lebanon: euen vnto the great riuer, the riuer Perath.
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 Beholde, I haue set the land before you: go in and possesse that land which the Lord sware vnto your fathers, Abraham, Izhak, and Iaakob, to giue vnto them and to their seede 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 spake vnto you the same time, saying, I am not able to beare you my selfe alone:
That's when I told you, “I can't take responsibility for all of you by myself.
10 The Lord your God hath multiplied you: and beholde, ye are this day as the starres of heauen in nomber:
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 (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many moe as ye are, and blesse you, as he hath promised you)
May the Lord, the God of your forefathers, multiply you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised.
12 Howe can I alone beare your combrance and your charge, and your strife?
But how can I take on all your troubles, burdens, and arguments just by myself?
13 Bring you men of wisedome and of vnderstanding, and knowen among your tribes, and I will make them rulers ouer 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 Then ye answered me and said, The thing is good that thou hast commanded vs to doe.
You replied to me, saying, “Your proposal is a good one.”
15 So I tooke the chiefe of your tribes wise and knowen men, and made them rulers ouer you, captaines ouer thousands, and captaines ouer hundreds, and captaines ouer fiftie, and captaines ouer tenne, and officers among 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 charged your iudges that same time, saying, Heare the controuersies betweene your brethren, and iudge righteously betweene euery man and his brother, and the stranger that 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 Ye shall haue no respect of person in iudgement, but shall heare the small aswell as the great: yee shall not feare the face of man: for the iudgement is Gods: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring vnto me, and I will heare 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 Also I commanded you the same time all the things which ye should doe.
This was also the time I instructed you about everything you had to do.
19 Then we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wildernesse (as yee haue seene) by the way of the mountaine of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded vs: 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 saide vnto you, Yee are come vnto the mountaine of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doeth giue vnto vs.
I explained to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to us.
21 Beholde, the Lord thy God hath layde the land before thee: go vp and possesse it, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath saide vnto thee: feare not, neither be discouraged.
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 Then ye came vnto me euery one, and said, We wil send men before vs, to search vs out the land and to bring vs word againe, what way we must go vp by, and vnto what cities 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 So the saying pleased me well, and I tooke twelue men of you, of euery tribe one.
It seemed like a good plan to me, so I chose twelve of your men, one from each tribe.
24 Who departed, and went vp into the mountaine, and came vnto the riuer Eshcol, and searched out the land.
They set off and went up into the hill country as far as the Valley of Eshcol, exploring the land.
25 And tooke of the fruite of the land in their hands, and brought it vnto vs, and brought vs worde againe, and sayd, It is a good land, which the Lord our God doeth giue vs.
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 Notwithstanding, ye would not go vp, but were disobedient vnto the commandement of the Lord your God,
But you didn't want to go. You rebelled against the instructions of the Lord your God.
27 And murmured in your tentes, and sayd, Because the Lord hated vs, therefore hath hee brought vs out of the land of Egypt, to deliuer vs into the hand of the Amorites, and to destroy vs.
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 vp? our brethren haue discouraged our hearts, saying, The people is greater, and taller then we: the cities are great and walled vp to heauen: and moreouer we haue seene the sonnes of the Anakims 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 But I sayd vnto you, Dread not, nor be afrayd of them.
So I told you, “Don't be frightened or scared of them!
30 The Lord your God, who goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did vnto 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 wildernesse, where thou hast seene how the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doeth beare his sonne, in all the way which ye haue gone, vntill ye came vnto 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 Yet for all this ye did not beleeue the Lord 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 to pitch your tentes in, in fire by night, that ye might see what way to goe, and in a cloude 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 Then the Lord heard the voyce of your wordes, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
When the Lord heard what you were saying, he got angry and swore an oath:
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this froward generation, see that good land, which I sware to giue vnto your fathers,
“Not a single one of this evil generation will see the good land I promised to give your forefathers,
36 Saue Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh: he shall see it, and to him will I giue the land that he hath troden vpon, and to his children, because he hath constantly followed the Lord.
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 the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not goe in thither,
The Lord also got angry with me because of you. He told me, “Even you won't enter the country.
38 But Ioshua the sonne of Nun which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: incourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherite it.
However, Joshua, son of Nun, your assistant, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will help Israel to occupy the land.
39 Moreouer, your children, which ye sayd should be a praye, and your sonnes, which in that day had no knowledge betweene good and euill, they shall go in thither, and vnto them wil I giue it, and they shall possesse 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 as for you, turne backe, and take your iourney into the wildernesse 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 ye answered and sayd vnto me, We haue sinned against the Lord, we wil go vp, and fight, according to all that the Lord our God hath commanded vs: and ye armed you euery man to the warre, and were ready to goe vp into the mountaine.
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 But the Lord said vnto me, Say vnto them, Goe not vp, neither fight, (for I am not among you) least ye fall 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 when I told you, ye would not heare, but rebelled against the commandement of the Lord, and were presumptuous, and went vp into the mountaine.
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 Then the Amorites which dwelt in that mountaine came out against you, and chased you (as bees vse to doe) and destroied you in Seir, euen vnto 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 when ye came againe, ye wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not heare your voyce, nor incline his eares vnto 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 ye abode in Kadesh a long time, according to the time that ye had remained before.
You stayed there in Kadesh for a long time.