< Deuteronomy 1 >

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain of the Jordan River valley over against Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
These [are] the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side Jordan in the desert towards the west near the Red Sea, between Pharan Tophol, and Lobon, and Aulon, and the gold works.
2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.
[It is] a journey of eleven days from Choreb to mount Seir as far as Cades Barne.
3 It happened in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the people of Israel, telling them all that Yahweh commanded him concerning them.
And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, Moses spoke to all the children of Israel, according to all things which the Lord commanded him for them:
4 This was after Yahweh had attacked Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth at Edrei.
after he had smitten Seon king of the Amorites who dwelt in Esebon, and Og the king of Basan who dwelt in Astaroth and in Edrain;
5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to announce these instructions, saying,
beyond Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,
6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, 'You have lived long enough in this hill country.
The Lord your God spoke to us in Choreb, saying, Let it suffice you to have dwelt [so long] in this mountain.
7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the places near there in the plain of the Jordan River valley, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Negev, and by the seashore—the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates.
Turn ye and depart and enter into the mountain of the Amorites, and [go] to all that dwell near about Araba, to the mountain and the plain and to the south, and the land of the Chananites near the sea, and Antilibanus, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Look, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their descendants after them.'
Behold, [God] has delivered the land before you; go in and inherit the land, which I sware to your fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob, to give it to them and to their seed after them.
9 I spoke to you at that time, saying, 'I am not able to carry you myself alone.
And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I shall not be able by myself to bear you.
10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and, look, you are today as the multitude of the stars of heaven.
The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, ye are to-day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11 May Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!
The Lord God of your fathers add to you a thousand-fold more than you are, and bless you as he has spoken to you.
12 But how can I myself alone carry your loads, your burdens, and your disputes?
How shall I alone be able to bear your labour, and your burden, and your gainsayings?
13 Take wise men, understanding men, and men of good repute from each tribe, and I will make them heads over you.'
Take to yourselves wise and understanding and prudent men for your tribes, and I will set your leaders over you.
14 You answered me and said, 'The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.'
And ye answered me and said, The thing which thou hast told us [is] good to do.
15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and men of good repute, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, tribe by tribe.
So I took of you wise and understanding and prudent men, and I set them to rule over you as rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and officers to your judges.
16 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, 'Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is with him.
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [causes] between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and [his] brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 You will not show partiality to anyone in a dispute; you will hear the small and the great alike. You will not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. The dispute that is too hard for you, you will bring to me, and I will hear it.'
Thou shalt not have respect to persons in judgment, thou shalt judge small and great equally; thou shalt not shrink from before the person of a man, for the judgment is God's; and whatsoever matter shall be too hard for you, ye shall bring it to me, and I will hear it.
18 I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
And I charged upon you at that time all the commands which ye shall perform.
19 We journeyed away from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness that you saw, on our way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea.
And we departed from Choreb, and went through all that great wilderness and terrible, which ye saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorite, as the Lord our God charged us, and we came as far as Cades Barne.
20 I said to you, 'You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God is giving to us.
And I said to you, Ye have come as far as the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God gives to you:
21 Look, Yahweh your God has set the land before you; go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; do not be afraid, neither be discouraged.'
behold, the Lord your God has delivered to us the land before you: go up and inherit it as the Lord God of your fathers said to you; fear not, neither be afraid.
22 Every one of you came to me and said, 'Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may search out the land for us, and bring us word about the way by which we should attack, and about the cities to which we will come.'
And ye all came to me, and said, Let us send men before us, and let them go up to the land for us; and let them bring back to us a report of the way by which we shall go up, and of the cities into which we shall enter.
23 The advice pleased me well; I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe.
And the saying pleased me: and I took of you twelve men, one man of a tribe.
24 They turned and went up into the hill country, came to the Valley of Eshkol, and scouted it.
And they turned and went up to the mountain, and they came as far as the valley of the cluster, and surveyed it.
25 They took some of the produce of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. They also brought us word and said, 'It is a good land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.'
And they took in their hands of the fruit of the land, and brought it to you, and said, The land is good which the Lord our God gives us.
26 Yet you refused to attack, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God.
Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the words of the Lord our God.
27 You complained in your tents and said, “It is because Yahweh hated us that he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.
And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Where can we go now? Our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, 'Those people are bigger and taller than we are; their cities are large and are fortified up to the heavens; moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.'”
Whither do we go up? and your brethren drew away your heart, saying, [It is a] great nation and populous, and mightier than we; and [there are] cities great and walled up to heaven: moreover we saw there the sons of the giants.
29 Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified, neither be afraid of them.
And I said to you, Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them;
30 Yahweh your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, like everything that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
the Lord your God who goes before your face, he shall fight against them together with you effectually, according to all that he wrought for you in the land of Egypt;
31 and also in the wilderness, where you have seen how Yahweh your God carried you, as a man carries his son, everywhere you went until you came to this place.'
and in this wilderness which ye saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorite; how the Lord thy God will bear thee as a nursling, as if any man should nurse his child, through all the way which ye have gone until ye came to this place.
32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe Yahweh your God,
And in this matter ye believed not the Lord our God,
33 who went before you on the way to find a place for you to make camp, in fire by night and in a cloud by day.
who goes before you in the way to choose you a place, guiding you in fire by night, shewing you the way by which ye go, and a cloud by day.
34 Yahweh heard the sound of your words and was angry; he swore and said,
And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and being greatly provoked he sware, saying,
35 'Surely not one of these men of this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors,
Not one of these men shall see this good land, which I sware to their fathers,
36 save Caleb son of Jephunneh; he will see it. To him I will give the land that he has stepped on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.'
except Chaleb the son of Jephonne, he shall see it; and to him I will give the land on which he went up, and to his sons, because he attended to the things of the Lord.
37 Also Yahweh was angry with me because of you, saying, 'You also will not go in there;
And the Lord was angry with me for your sake, saying, Neither shalt thou by any means enter therein.
38 Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, he will go in there; encourage him, for he will lead Israel to inherit it.
Joshua the son of Naue, who stands by thee, he shall enter in there; do thou strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover, your little children, the ones you said would be victims, who today have no knowledge of good or evil—they will go in there. To them I will give it, and they will possess it.
And every young child who this day knows not good or evil, —they shall enter therein, and to them I will give it, and they shall inherit it.
40 But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness along the way to the Sea of Reeds.'
And ye turned and marched into the wilderness, in the way by the Red Sea.
41 Then you answered and said to me, 'We have sinned against Yahweh; we will go up and fight, and we will follow all that Yahweh our God has commanded us to do.' Every man among you put on his weapons of war, and you were ready to attack the hill country.
And ye answered and said, We have sinned before the Lord our God; we will go up and fight according to all that the Lord our God has commanded us: and having taken every one his weapons of war, and being gathered together, ye went up to the mountain.
42 Yahweh said to me, 'Say to them, “Do not attack and do not fight, for I will not be with you, and you will be defeated by your enemies.'
And the Lord said to me, Tell them, Ye shall not go up, neither shall ye fight, for I am not with you; thus shall ye not be destroyed before your enemies.
43 I spoke to you in this way, but you did not listen. You rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh; you were arrogant and attacked the hill country.
And I spoke to you, and ye did not hearken to me; and ye transgressed the commandment of the Lord; and ye forced your way and went up into the mountain.
44 But the Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you like bees, and struck you down in Seir, as far as Hormah.
And the Amorite who dwelt in that mountain came out to meet you, and pursued you as bees do, and wounded you from Seir to Herma.
45 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh did not listen to your voice, nor did he pay attention to you.
And ye sat down and wept before the Lord our God, and the Lord hearkened not to your voice, neither did he take heed to you.
46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, all the days that you stayed there.
And ye dwelt in Cades many days, as many days as ye dwelt [there].

< Deuteronomy 1 >