Deuteronomy 1
1 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.
These are the words which Moses spoke to all of Israel, across the Jordan, in the plain of the wilderness opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth, where gold is very plentiful,
2 [It is] a journey of eleven days from Choreb to mount Seir as far as Cades Barne.
eleven days from Horeb, by way of Mount Seir as far as Kadesh-barnea.
3 And it came to pass in the forties 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:
In the fortieth year, on the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses told the sons of Israel all that the Lord had instructed him. And so he spoke to them,
4 after he had struck Seon king of the Amorites who lived in Esebon, and Og the king of Basan who lived in Astaroth and in Edrain;
after he had struck down Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, who resided at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,
5 beyond Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,
across the Jordan in the land of Moab. And so, Moses began to explain the law, and to say:
6 The Lord your God spoke to us in Choreb, saying, Let it suffice you to have lived [so long] in this mountain.
“The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying: ‘You have remained long enough on this mountain.
7 Turn you 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.
Turn back and go to the mountain of the Amorites, and to the other places which are near it: the plains as well as the mountainous regions, and the low-lying places opposite the south and along the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river Euphrates.’
8 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.
‘Lo,’ he said, ‘I have delivered it to you. Enter and possess that which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their offspring after them.’
9 And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I shall not be able by myself to bear you.
And I said to you, at that time:
10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars of heaven for multitude.
‘I alone am not able to sustain you. For the Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and you are today like the stars of heaven, very many.
11 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.
May the Lord, the God of your fathers, add to this number many thousands more, and may he bless you, just as he has said.
12 How shall I alone be able to bear your labour, and your burden, and your gainsayings?
Alone, I do not have the strength to endure your arbitrations and judgments and disputes.
13 Take to yourselves wise and understanding and prudent men for your tribes, and I will set your leaders over you.
Offer, from among you, wise and experienced men, those whose conversation has been proven within your tribes, so that I may appoint them as your rulers.’
14 And you answered me and said, The thing which you have told us [is] good to do.
Then you responded to me: ‘What you intend to do is a good thing.’
15 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.
And so, I took from your tribes men, wise and noble, and I appointed them as rulers, as tribunes and centurions, and as leaders over fifty and over ten, who would teach you each thing.
16 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.
And I instructed them, saying: ‘Listen to them, and judge what is just, whether he is one of your citizens or a sojourner.
17 You shall not have respect to persons in judgement, you shall judge small and great equally; you shall not shrink from before the person of a man, for the judgement is God's; and whatever matter shall be too hard for you, you shall bring it to me, and I will hear it.
There shall be no favoritism to any persons. So you shall listen to the little as well as to the great. And you shall not accept anyone’s reputation, for this is the judgment of God. But if anything seems difficult to you, then refer it to me, and I will hear it.’
18 And I charged upon you at that time all the commands which you shall perform.
And I instructed you in all that you were obliged to do.
19 And we departed from Choreb, and went through all that great wilderness and terrible, which you 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.
Then, setting out from Horeb, we crossed through a terrible and great wasteland, which you saw along the way of the mountain of the Amorite, just as the Lord our God had instructed us. And when we had arrived at Kadesh-barnea,
20 And I said to you, You have come as far as the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God gives to you:
I said to you: ‘You have arrived at the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God will give to us.
21 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.
Gaze upon the land that the Lord your God gives to you. Ascend and possess it, just as the Lord our God has spoken to your fathers. Do not be afraid, and do not become terrified by anything.’
22 And you 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.
And you all approached me and said: ‘Let us send men who may consider the land, and who may report as to the way by which we ought to ascend, and as to which cities we ought to travel.’
23 And the saying pleased me: and I took of you twelve men, one man of a tribe.
And since the word was pleasing to me, I sent from among you twelve men, one from each tribe.
24 And they turned and went up to the mountain, and they came as far as the valley of the cluster, and surveyed it.
These, when they had set out and had ascended the mountains, arrived as far as the valley of the cluster of grapes. And having considered the land,
25 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.
having taken from its fruits in order to show its fertility, they brought these to us, and they said: ‘The land that the Lord our God will give to us is good.’
26 Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the words of the Lord our God.
Yet you were not willing to go there. Instead, being incredulous to the word of the Lord our God,
27 And you 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.
you murmured in your tents, and you said: ‘The Lord hates us, and therefore he has led us away from the land of Egypt, so that he might deliver us into the hand of the Amorite and destroy us.
28 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.
To where should we ascend? The messengers have terrified our heart by saying: “The multitude is very great, and taller than us. And the cities are great, and the walls extend even to the sky. We have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’
29 And I said to you, Fear not, neither be you afraid of them;
And I said to you: ‘Do not be apprehensive, nor should you fear them.
30 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;
The Lord God himself, who is your leader, will fight on your behalf, just as he did in Egypt in the sight of all.
31 and in this wilderness which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorite; how the Lord your God will bear you as a nursling, as if any man should nurse his child, through all the way which you have gone until you came to this place.
And in the wilderness (as you yourselves saw), the Lord your God carried you, like a man who is accustomed to carrying his little son, along all the way that you walked, until you arrived at this place.’
32 And in this matter you believed not the Lord our God,
And yet, despite all of this, you did not believe the Lord your God,
33 who goes before you in the way to choose you a place, guiding you in fire by night, showing you the way by which you go, and a cloud by day.
who went before you on the way, and who marked out the place where you should pitch your tents, showing you the way by fire in the night, and by a pillar of cloud in the day.
34 And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and being greatly provoked he sware, saying,
And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, becoming angry, he swore and said:
35 Not one of these men shall see this good land, which I sware to their fathers,
‘None of the men of this wicked generation will see the good land, which I have promised by oath to your fathers,
36 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.
except Caleb the son of Jephuneh. For he himself will see it, and I will give the land on which he has walked to him and to his sons, because he has followed the Lord.’
37 And the Lord was angry with me for your sake, saying, Neither shall you by any means enter therein.
Neither is his indignation with the people a wonder, since the Lord also became angry with me because of you, and so he said: ‘Neither will you enter into that place.
38 Joshua the son of Naue, who stands by you, he shall enter in there; do you strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
But Joshua, the son of Nun, your minister, shall himself enter on your behalf. Exhort and strengthen this man, and he himself shall divide the land by lot to Israel.
39 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.
Your little ones, about whom you said that they would be led away as captives, and your sons, who to this day are ignorant of the difference between good and evil, they shall enter. And I will give the land to them, and they will possess it.
40 And you turned and marched into the wilderness, in the way by the Red Sea.
But as for you, turn back and go out to the wilderness, by way of the Red Sea.’
41 And you 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, you went up to the mountain.
And you responded to me: ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will ascend and fight, just as the Lord our God has instructed.’ And having been equipped with weapons, when you were setting out for the mountain,
42 And the Lord said to me, Tell them, You shall not go up, neither shall you fight, for I am not with you; thus shall you not be destroyed before your enemies.
the Lord said to me: ‘Say to them: Do not ascend and do not fight. For I am not with you. Otherwise, you may fall in the sight of your enemies.’
43 And I spoke to you, and you did not listen to me; and you transgressed the commandment of the Lord; and you forced your way and went up into the mountain.
I spoke, and you did not listen. But, opposing the order of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you ascended onto the mountain.
44 And the Amorite who lived in that mountain came out to meet you, and pursued you as bees do, and wounded you from Seir to Herma.
And so, having gone forth, the Amorite, who was living in the mountains, came against you and pursued you, just as a swarm of bees would do. And he struck you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.
45 And you sat down and wept before the Lord our God, and the Lord listened not to your voice, neither did he take heed to you.
And when you returned and were weeping in the sight of the Lord, he would not hear you, nor was he willing to agree to your voice.
46 And you lived in Cades many days, as many days as you lived [there].
Therefore, you camped at Kadesh-barnea for a long time.”
