Deuteronomy 1
1 In this book is written what Moses/I said to the Israeli people. He/I told them these things when they/we were in the desert, on the east side of the Jordan [River]. They/We had set up our tents near [a place named] Suph, between Paran [town on the one side of the river] and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab [towns on the other side of the river].
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.
2 To walk from Sinai [Mountain] to the Kadesh-Barnea [oasis], people usually travel for only eleven days, going by way of the hilly area named Edom.
It is eleven days journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
3 Forty years after (the Israelis/we) left Egypt, in the middle of January, Moses/I told the Israeli people everything that Yahweh had commanded him/me to tell them.
And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, according to all that Jehovah had given him in commandment to them,
4 This was after they/we had defeated Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who lived in Heshbon [city], and Og, the king of the Bashan [region] who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei [towns].
after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.
5 Moses/I told them these things while the people were in the Moab region, on the east side of the Jordan [River]. He/I (explained to them/enabled them to understand) God’s laws. This is what he/I said to them:
Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,
6 “Yahweh our God said to us when we were at Sinai [Mountain], ‘You have stayed for a very long time at [the bottom of] this mountain.
Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough at this mountain.
7 So now continue traveling. Go to the hilly area where the Amor people-group lives and to the nearby areas—to the Jordan [River] Valley, to the hilly region, to the western (foothills/hills at the bottom of the mountains), to the desert area to the south, to the [Mediterranean] Seacoast, to all of Canaan land, to the Lebanon [Mountains], and [northeast] to the great Euphrates River.
Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and to all the places near thereto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Note that I will give that land to you. I, Yahweh, promised to your ancestors Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that I would give it to them and to their descendants. So now go and occupy it.’”
Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.
9 Moses/I also said to the people, “When [we were still at Sinai Mountain], I told your ancestors ‘It is a very big burden/responsibility for me to govern all of you. So I cannot do it by myself.
And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone.
10 Yahweh our God has caused us Israelis to now become as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11 And I hope/desire that Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped], will cause us to become 1,000 times as numerous as we are now and that he will bless us just like he promised to do.
Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as ye are, and bless you, as he has promised you!
12 But I certainly cannot [RHQ] (solve/deal with) all of your complaints/problems.
How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?
13 So choose some men from your tribes who are wise and who have good sense and who are respected. Then I will appoint them to be your leaders.’
Take for you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
14 Your ancestors replied, ‘What you have suggested is good for us to do.’
And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou have spoken is good to do.
15 So I took the wise and respected men [that your ancestors chose] from your tribes, and I appointed them to be your leaders. I appointed some to (rule/have authority) over 1,000 people, some to have authority over 100 people, some to have authority over 50 people, and some to have authority over ten people. I also appointed other officers from throughout your tribes.
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.
16 I instructed/told your leaders, ‘Listen to the disputes that occur among your people. Judge each dispute, including disputes between close relatives and quarrels between your people and people from other countries who live among you.
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner who is with him.
17 You must (be impartial/not favor one person more than another); you must treat poor people and important people equally. You must not worry about what anyone will think [about how you decide matters], because you will decide matters as God [wants you to]. If any quarrel/dispute is very difficult and you are unable to decide it, bring it to me, and I will decide.’
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment. Ye shall hear the small and the great alike. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you ye shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
18 At that time I also told you other things that you should do.”
And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
19 “Then, just like Yahweh our God commanded us, we left Sinai [Mountain] and went through that huge desert that was very (dangerous/difficult to travel through), on the road to the hilly area where the Amor people-group live. We arrived at Kadesh-Barnea.
And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us, and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
20 I said to your ancestors, ‘We have now come to the hilly area where the Amor people-group live. This is part of the area that Yahweh our God, the one whom our ancestors [worshiped], is giving to us.
And I said to you, Ye have come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God gives to us.
21 Note that Yahweh our God is giving this land to us. So go and occupy it as he commanded. Do not be (at all/even a little bit) afraid.’
Behold, Jehovah thy God has set the land before thee. Go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, has spoken to thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed.
22 But all of your ancestors came to me and said, ‘Before we go, we should [first] send some men there to explore the land, in order that they can return and tell us which will be the best road to go there and what kind of towns are there.’
And ye came near to me, all of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.
23 I thought that it would be good to do that, so I chose twelve men, one man from each tribe.
And the thing pleased me well. And I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe.
24 They went up into the hilly area as far as Eshcol Valley, and they explored all that area.
And they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.
25 They picked some of the fruit that they found there and brought it to us. They reported that the land that Yahweh our God was giving to us is very good/fertile.”
And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Jehovah our God gives to us.
26 “But your ancestors refused to go [and conquer that land]. They rebelled against what Yahweh our God had commanded them to do, and they would not go into that land.
Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God.
27 Your ancestors [stayed] in their tents and complained saying ‘Yahweh hates us. So he has brought us here from Egypt just to allow the Amor people-group to destroy us.
And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 (Why should we go there?/We do not want to go there.) [RHQ] The men whom we sent there have caused us to become very discouraged/afraid. They have told us that the people there are much stronger and taller than we are and that there are extremely high [HYP] walls around their towns. Also they reported that they saw [giants there that are] descendants of Anak.’
Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
29 Then I said to your ancestors, ‘Do not be afraid (at all/even a little bit) [DOU] of those people!
Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30 Yahweh our God will go ahead of you, and he will fight for you, just like you saw him do for you in Egypt
Jehovah your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
31 and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely here, like a man would carry his son. [SIM]’
and in the wilderness, where thou have seen how that Jehovah thy God bore thee, as a man bears his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came to this place.
32 [I reminded them that] he always went ahead of them while they traveled [in the desert]. He directed them by [a pillar of] fire during the night and a [pillar of] cloud during the day. He showed them places to set up their tents. But in spite of what I said, your ancestors would not trust Yahweh our God.
Yet in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,
who went before you in the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 Yahweh heard what they said, and he became angry. He solemnly declared,
And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,
35 ‘Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, will enter the land. He has obeyed me completely. So I will give to him and to his descendants [some of] the land that he explored. He is the only one of all you people who will enter that land. None of these evil people will ever see that good land which I solemnly promised to give to your ancestors.’
Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers,
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and I will give to him the land that he has trodden upon, and to his sons, because he has wholly followed Jehovah.
37 But because of [what] your ancestors [did], Yahweh was also angry with me. He said to me, ‘You also will not enter that land.
Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shall not go in there.
38 Joshua, the son of Nun, who is your helper, will enter it. Encourage him, because he is the one who will enable you Israeli people to occupy that land.’
Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before thee, he shall go in there. Encourage thou him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Then Yahweh said to all of us, ‘You said that your children would be captured by your enemies. Because they are very young, they do not yet know what is good and what is evil. But they are the ones to whom I will give that land, and they will enter it and occupy it.
Moreover your little ones, who ye said would be a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it.
40 But as for you, turn around and go back into the desert, toward the (Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba).’
But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
41 Then your ancestors replied, ‘We have sinned; we have disobeyed Yahweh. So we will go and attack [the people who live in] that land, just like Yahweh our God commanded us to do.’ And each of their men put on his weapons, and they thought that it would be easy to invade the hilly region.
Then ye answered and said to me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.
42 But Yahweh said to me, ‘Tell them, “Do not go up there and attack those people, because I will not go with you. If you go, your enemies will defeat you.”’
And Jehovah said to me, Say to them, Do not go up, neither fight, for I am not among you, lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43 So I told that to your ancestors, but they would not heed what I said. They [again] rebelled against what Yahweh commanded them to do. Their soldiers proudly/arrogantly marched up into that hilly region.
So I spoke to you, and ye did not hearken, but ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.
44 Then the men of the Amor people-group who lived in that region came out [of their towns] and attacked those soldiers. They pursued your ancestors’ soldiers like [a swarm of] bees pursues people, and they pursued them [south] from the Edom area and defeated them at Hormah [city].
And the Amorites, who dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.
45 So your ancestors went back [to Kadesh-Barnea] and cried out to request Yahweh [to help them], but he did not heed them. He did not pay any attention to them [DOU].
And ye returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah did not hearken to your voice, nor gave ear to you.
46 So we stayed there at Kadesh-Barnea for a long time.”
So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that ye abode there.
