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

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

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.

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

5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to announce these instructions, saying,

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

6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, 'You have lived long enough in this hill country.

The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, You have been long enough 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.

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 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.'

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 I spoke to you at that time, saying, 'I am not able to carry you myself alone.

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

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 given you increase, and now you are like the stars of heaven in number.

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!

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 But how can I myself alone carry your loads, your burdens, and your disputes?

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 Take wise men, understanding men, and men of good repute from each tribe, and I will make them heads over 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 You answered me and said, 'The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.'

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

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 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 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 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 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.'

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 I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

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

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.

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

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.'

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 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 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 The advice pleased me well; I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe.

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

24 They turned and went up into the hill country, came to the Valley of Eshkol, and scouted it.

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

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 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 Yet you refused to attack, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God.

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

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 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 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.'”

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 Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified, neither be afraid of them.

Then I said to you, Have no fear 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 you will be fighting for you, and will do such wonders as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

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 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 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe Yahweh your God,

But for all this, you had no faith in the Lord your 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 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 Yahweh heard the sound of your words and was angry; he swore and said,

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

35 'Surely not one of these men of this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors,

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

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 Also Yahweh was angry with me because of you, saying, 'You also will not go in there;

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

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 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 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 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 But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness along the way to the Sea of Reeds.'

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

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 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, 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 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.

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 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 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 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh did not listen to your voice, nor did he pay attention to you.

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 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, all the days that you stayed there.

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