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,
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 by enleuene daies fro Oreb bi the weie of the hil of Seir, til to Cades Barne.
(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by the road that passes Mount Seir.)
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,
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 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.
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 And Moyses bigan to declare the lawe, and to seie,
Speaking on the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain these instructions, 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 told us at Horeb: “You have remained here beside this mountain for long enough.
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.
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 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.
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 Y seide to you in that time, Y may not aloone susteyne you, for youre Lord God hath multiplied you,
That's when I told you, “I can't take responsibility for all of you by myself.
10 and ye ben ful many to dai, as the sterris of heuene;
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 youre fadris adde to this noumbre many thousyndis, and blesse you, as he spak.
May the Lord, the God of your forefathers, multiply you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised.
12 Y may not aloone susteyne youre causis, and birthun, and stryues; yyue ye of you men wise `in dyuyn thingis,
But how can I take on all your troubles, burdens, and arguments just by myself?
13 and witti `in mennus thingis worthi to be don, whose conuersacioun is preued in youre lynagis, that Y sette hem princes to 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 Thanne ye answeriden to me, The thing is good which thou wolt do.
You replied to me, saying, “Your proposal is a good one.”
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 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 Y comaundide to hem, and seide, Here ye hem, and deme ye that that is iust, whether he be a citeseyn, whether a pilgrym.
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 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.
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 Y comaundide alle thingis whiche ye ouyten to do.
This was also the time I instructed you about everything you had 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,
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 Y seide to you, Ye ben comen to the hil of Ammorrey, which youre Lord God schal yyue to you;
I explained to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to 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.
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 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.
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 whanne the word pleside to me, Y sente of you twelue men, of ech lynage oon.
It seemed like a good plan to me, so I chose twelve of your men, one from each 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,
They set off and went up into the hill country as far as the Valley of Eshcol, exploring the land.
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.
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 And ye `nolden stie, but ye weren vnbileueful to the word of oure Lord God.
But you didn't want to go. You rebelled against the instructions of the Lord your God.
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.
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 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? 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 Y seide to you, `Nyle ye drede `with ynne, nether `drede withoutforth; the Lord God hym silf,
So I told you, “Don't be frightened or scared 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 leads your way will fight for you in the same way you saw him do for you in Egypt.
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.
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 And sotheli nether so ye bileueden to youre Lord God, that yede bifor you in the weie,
Despite all this, you didn't trust 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 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 whanne the Lord hadde herd the vois of youre wordis, he was wrooth,
When the Lord heard what you were saying, he got angry and swore 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,
“Not a single one of this evil generation will see the good land I promised to give your forefathers,
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.
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 Nether the indignacioun ayens the puple is wondirful, sithen the Lord was wrooth also to me for you, and seide,
The Lord also got angry with me because of you. He told me, “Even you won't enter the country.
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.
However, Joshua, son of Nun, your assistant, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will help Israel to occupy the land.
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.
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 Sotheli turne ye ayen, and go ye in to the wildirnesse, bi the weie of the Reed See.
But now turn around and head back into the desert on the road that leads to 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,
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 Seie thou to hem, `Nyle ye stye, nether fiyte ye, for Y am not with you, lest ye fallen bifor youre enemyes.
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 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.
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 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,
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 wepten bifor the Lord, he herde not you, nether wolde asente to youre vois;
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 therfor ye saten in Cades Barne bi myche tyme.
You stayed there in Kadesh for a long time.
