Deuteronomy 1

1 These ben the wordis whiche Moyses spak to al Israel ouer Jordan, in the wildirnesse of the feeld, ayens the reed see, bitwix Pharan and Tophel and Laban and Asseroth, where is ful myche gold,

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.

2 by enleuene daies fro Oreb bi the weie of the hil of Seir, til to Cades Barne.

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

3 In the fortithe yeer, in the enleuenth monethe, in the firste dai of the monethe, Moises spak to the sones of Israel alle thingis whiche the Lord commandide to hym that he schulde seie to hem,

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;

4 after that he smoot Seon, kyng of Ammorreis, that dwellide in Esebon, and Og, the kyng of Basan, that dwelide in Asseroth and in Edray, ouer Jordan, in the lond of Moab.

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

5 And Moyses bigan to declare the lawe, and to seie,

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

6 Oure Lord God spak to vs in Oreb, and seide, It suffisith to you that ye han dwellid in this hil;

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

7 turne ye ayen, and come ye to the hil of Amorreis, and to othere placis that ben next it; to places of feeldis, and of hillis, and to lowere places ayens the south, and bisidis the brenke of the see, to the lond of Cananeys, and of Liban, `til to the greet flood Eufrates.

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.

8 Lo, `he seith, Y haue youe to you; entre ye, and `welde ye `that lond on which the Lord swoor to youre fadrys, Abraham, Ysaac, and Jacob, that he schulde yyue it to hem, and to her seed after hem.

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.

9 And Y seide to you in that time, Y may not aloone susteyne you, for youre Lord God hath multiplied you,

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

10 and ye ben ful many to dai, as the sterris of heuene;

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

11 the Lord God of youre fadris adde to this noumbre many thousyndis, and blesse you, as he spak.

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!

12 Y may not aloone susteyne youre causis, and birthun, and stryues; yyue ye of you men wise `in dyuyn thingis,

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

13 and witti `in mennus thingis worthi to be don, whose conuersacioun is preued in youre lynagis, that Y sette hem princes to you.

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

14 Thanne ye answeriden to me, The thing is good which thou wolt do.

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

15 And Y took of youre lynagis men wise and noble, `in vertues and kyn; and Y ordeynede hem princis, tribunes, and centuryouns, and quynquagenaries, and denys, whiche schulden teche you all thingis.

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.

16 And Y comaundide to hem, and seide, Here ye hem, and deme ye that that is iust, whether he be a citeseyn, whether a pilgrym.

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.

17 No difference schal be of persones; ye schulen here so a litil man, `that is, pore, as a greet man, nether ye schulen take the persoone of ony man, for it is the doom of God. That if ony thing semeth hard to you, telle ye to me, and Y schal here.

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.

18 And Y comaundide alle thingis whiche ye ouyten to do.

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

19 Forsothe we yeden forth fro Oreb, and passiden bi a feerdful deseert, and grettiste wildirnesse, which ye sien, bi the weye of the hil of Ammorrey, as oure Lord God comaundide to vs. And whanne we hadden come in to Cades Barne,

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.

20 Y seide to you, Ye ben comen to the hil of Ammorrey, which youre Lord God schal yyue to you;

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

21 se thou the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee; `stie thou, and welde it, as oure Lord God spak to thi fadris; `nyle thou drede, nether `drede thou in herte ony thing.

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.

22 And alle ye neiyiden to me, and ye seiden, Sende we men, that schulen biholde the lond, and telle to vs bi what weye we owen stie, and to whiche citees we owen to go.

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.

23 And whanne the word pleside to me, Y sente of you twelue men, of ech lynage oon.

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

24 And whanne thei hadden go, and hadden stied in to the hilli places, thei camen `til to the valei of Clustre; and whanne thei hadden biholde the lond,

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

25 thei token of the fruytis therof, to schewe the plentee, and brouyten `to vs, and seiden, The lond is good which oure Lord God schal yyue to vs.

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.

26 And ye `nolden stie, but ye weren vnbileueful to the word of oure Lord God.

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

27 And ye grutchiden in youre tabernaclis, and ye seiden, The Lord hatith vs, and herfor he ledde vs out of the lond of Egipt, that he schulde bitake vs in the hond of Ammorey, and schulde do awei vs.

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.

28 Whidur schulen we stie? the messangeris maden aferd oure herte, and seiden, A grettiste multitude is, and largere in stature than we; the citees ben greete, and wallid `til to the heuene; we sien there the sones of Enachym, that is, giauntis.

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.

29 And Y seide to you, `Nyle ye drede `with ynne, nether `drede withoutforth; the Lord God hym silf,

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

30 which is youre ledere, schal fiyte for you, as he dide in Egipt, while alle men sien.

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;

31 And ye sien in the wildirnesse, thi Lord God bar thee, as a man is wont to bere his litil sone, in al the weie bi which ye yeden til ye camen to this place.

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.

32 And sotheli nether so ye bileueden to youre Lord God, that yede bifor you in the weie,

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

33 and mesuride the place in which ye ouyten to sette tentis, and schewide in nyyt the weie to you bi fier, and in dai bi a piler of cloude.

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.

34 And whanne the Lord hadde herd the vois of youre wordis, he was wrooth,

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

35 and swoor, and seide, Noon of the men of this werste generacioun schal se the good lond, which Y bihiyte vndur an ooth to youre fadris,

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

36 outakun Caleph, the sone of Jephone; for he schal se it, and Y schal yyue to hym the lond on which he trad, and to hise sones, for he suede the Lord.

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.

37 Nether the indignacioun ayens the puple is wondirful, sithen the Lord was wrooth also to me for you, and seide,

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

38 Nether thou schalt entre thidur, but Josue, the sone of Nun, thi mynystre, he schal entre for thee; excyte and strengthe thou him, and he schal departe the lond bi lot to Israel.

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.

39 Youre litle children, of whiche ye seiden, that thei schulden be led prisoneris, and the sones that kunnen not to dai the diuersite of good and of yuel, thei schulen entre; and Y schal yyue to hem the lond, and thei schulen welde it.

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.

40 Sotheli turne ye ayen, and go ye in to the wildirnesse, bi the weie of the Reed See.

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

41 And ye answeriden to me, We synneden to the Lord; we schulen stie, and we schulen fiyte, as oure Lord God comaundide. And whanne ye weren arayed with armeris, and yeden `into the hil, the Lord seide to me,

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.

42 Seie thou to hem, `Nyle ye stye, nether fiyte ye, for Y am not with you, lest ye fallen bifor youre enemyes.

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.

43 Y spak, and ye herden not; but ye `weren aduersaries to the comaundement of the Lord, and bolnden with prijde, and stieden in to the hil.

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.

44 Therfor Ammorrey yede out, that dwellide in the hillis, and he cam ayens you, and pursuede you, as bees ben wont to pursue, and killide fro Seir til Horma. And whanne ye turneden ayen,

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.

45 and wepten bifor the Lord, he herde not you, nether wolde asente to youre vois;

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

46 therfor ye saten in Cades Barne bi myche tyme.

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