דברים 1

1 אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל בעבר הירדן במדבר בערבה מול סוף בין פארן ובין תפל ולבן וחצרת ודי זהב׃

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].

2 אחד עשר יום מחרב דרך הר שעיר עד קדש ברנע׃

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.

3 ויהי בארבעים שנה בעשתי עשר חדש באחד לחדש דבר משה אל בני ישראל ככל אשר צוה יהוה אתו אלהם׃

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.

4 אחרי הכתו את סיחן מלך האמרי אשר יושב בחשבון ואת עוג מלך הבשן אשר יושב בעשתרת באדרעי׃

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].

5 בעבר הירדן בארץ מואב הואיל משה באר את התורה הזאת לאמר׃

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:

6 יהוה אלהינו דבר אלינו בחרב לאמר רב לכם שבת בהר הזה׃

“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.

7 פנו וסעו לכם ובאו הר האמרי ואל כל שכניו בערבה בהר ובשפלה ובנגב ובחוף הים ארץ הכנעני והלבנון עד הנהר הגדל נהר פרת׃

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.

8 ראה נתתי לפניכם את הארץ באו ורשו את הארץ אשר נשבע יהוה לאבתיכם לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב לתת להם ולזרעם אחריהם׃

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.’”

9 ואמר אלכם בעת ההוא לאמר לא אוכל לבדי שאת אתכם׃

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.

10 יהוה אלהיכם הרבה אתכם והנכם היום ככוכבי השמים לרב׃

Yahweh our God has caused us Israelis to now become as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11 יהוה אלהי אבותכם יסף עליכם ככם אלף פעמים ויברך אתכם כאשר דבר לכם׃

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.

12 איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם׃

But I certainly cannot [RHQ] (solve/deal with) all of your complaints/problems.

13 הבו לכם אנשים חכמים ונבנים וידעים לשבטיכם ואשימם בראשיכם׃

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.’

14 ותענו אתי ותאמרו טוב הדבר אשר דברת לעשות׃

Your ancestors replied, ‘What you have suggested is good for us to do.’

15 ואקח את ראשי שבטיכם אנשים חכמים וידעים ואתן אתם ראשים עליכם שרי אלפים ושרי מאות ושרי חמשים ושרי עשרת ושטרים לשבטיכם׃

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.

16 ואצוה את שפטיכם בעת ההוא לאמר שמע בין אחיכם ושפטתם צדק בין איש ובין אחיו ובין גרו׃

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.

17 לא תכירו פנים במשפט כקטן כגדל תשמעון לא תגורו מפני איש כי המשפט לאלהים הוא והדבר אשר יקשה מכם תקרבון אלי ושמעתיו׃

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.’

18 ואצוה אתכם בעת ההוא את כל הדברים אשר תעשון׃

At that time I also told you other things that you should do.”

19 ונסע מחרב ונלך את כל המדבר הגדול והנורא ההוא אשר ראיתם דרך הר האמרי כאשר צוה יהוה אלהינו אתנו ונבא עד קדש ברנע׃

“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.

20 ואמר אלכם באתם עד הר האמרי אשר יהוה אלהינו נתן לנו׃

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.

21 ראה נתן יהוה אלהיך לפניך את הארץ עלה רש כאשר דבר יהוה אלהי אבתיך לך אל תירא ואל תחת׃

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.’

22 ותקרבון אלי כלכם ותאמרו נשלחה אנשים לפנינו ויחפרו לנו את הארץ וישבו אתנו דבר את הדרך אשר נעלה בה ואת הערים אשר נבא אליהן׃

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.’

23 וייטב בעיני הדבר ואקח מכם שנים עשר אנשים איש אחד לשבט׃

I thought that it would be good to do that, so I chose twelve men, one man from each tribe.

24 ויפנו ויעלו ההרה ויבאו עד נחל אשכל וירגלו אתה׃

They went up into the hilly area as far as Eshcol Valley, and they explored all that area.

25 ויקחו בידם מפרי הארץ ויורדו אלינו וישבו אתנו דבר ויאמרו טובה הארץ אשר יהוה אלהינו נתן לנו׃

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.”

26 ולא אביתם לעלת ותמרו את פי יהוה אלהיכם׃

“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.

27 ותרגנו באהליכם ותאמרו בשנאת יהוה אתנו הוציאנו מארץ מצרים לתת אתנו ביד האמרי להשמידנו׃

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.

28 אנה אנחנו עלים אחינו המסו את לבבנו לאמר עם גדול ורם ממנו ערים גדלת ובצורת בשמים וגם בני ענקים ראינו שם׃

(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.’

29 ואמר אלכם לא תערצון ולא תיראון מהם׃

Then I said to your ancestors, ‘Do not be afraid (at all/even a little bit) [DOU] of those people!

30 יהוה אלהיכם ההלך לפניכם הוא ילחם לכם ככל אשר עשה אתכם במצרים לעיניכם׃

Yahweh our God will go ahead of you, and he will fight for you, just like you saw him do for you in Egypt

31 ובמדבר אשר ראית אשר נשאך יהוה אלהיך כאשר ישא איש את בנו בכל הדרך אשר הלכתם עד באכם עד המקום הזה׃

and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely here, like a man would carry his son. [SIM]’

32 ובדבר הזה אינכם מאמינם ביהוה אלהיכם׃

[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.

33 ההלך לפניכם בדרך לתור לכם מקום לחנתכם באש לילה לראתכם בדרך אשר תלכו בה ובענן יומם׃

34 וישמע יהוה את קול דבריכם ויקצף וישבע לאמר׃

Yahweh heard what they said, and he became angry. He solemnly declared,

35 אם יראה איש באנשים האלה הדור הרע הזה את הארץ הטובה אשר נשבעתי לתת לאבתיכם׃

‘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.’

36 זולתי כלב בן יפנה הוא יראנה ולו אתן את הארץ אשר דרך בה ולבניו יען אשר מלא אחרי יהוה׃

37 גם בי התאנף יהוה בגללכם לאמר גם אתה לא תבא שם׃

But because of [what] your ancestors [did], Yahweh was also angry with me. He said to me, ‘You also will not enter that land.

38 יהושע בן נון העמד לפניך הוא יבא שמה אתו חזק כי הוא ינחלנה את ישראל׃

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.’

39 וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה ובניכם אשר לא ידעו היום טוב ורע המה יבאו שמה ולהם אתננה והם יירשוה׃

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.

40 ואתם פנו לכם וסעו המדברה דרך ים סוף׃

But as for you, turn around and go back into the desert, toward the (Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba).’

41 ותענו ותאמרו אלי חטאנו ליהוה אנחנו נעלה ונלחמנו ככל אשר צונו יהוה אלהינו ותחגרו איש את כלי מלחמתו ותהינו לעלת ההרה׃

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.

42 ויאמר יהוה אלי אמר להם לא תעלו ולא תלחמו כי אינני בקרבכם ולא תנגפו לפני איביכם׃

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.”’

43 ואדבר אליכם ולא שמעתם ותמרו את פי יהוה ותזדו ותעלו ההרה׃

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.

44 ויצא האמרי הישב בהר ההוא לקראתכם וירדפו אתכם כאשר תעשינה הדברים ויכתו אתכם בשעיר עד חרמה׃

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].

45 ותשבו ותבכו לפני יהוה ולא שמע יהוה בקלכם ולא האזין אליכם׃

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].

46 ותשבו בקדש ימים רבים כימים אשר ישבתם׃

So we stayed there at Kadesh-Barnea for a long time.”