Deuteronomy 1

The Previous Command to Enter Canaan

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.2 It is eleven days journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them,4 after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,6 The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathersto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobto give to them and their descendants after them.

Tribal Leaders Appointed

9 And I spoke to you at that time, saying: I alone am not able to bear you.10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.11 May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!12 How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints?13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.14 And you answered me and said, The thing which you have told us to do is good.15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.16 Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him.17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any mans presence, for the judgment is Gods. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Israels Refusal to Enter the Land

19 So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea.20 And I said to you, You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.21 Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.22 And every one of you came near to me and said, Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.23 The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.24 And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.26 Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God;27 and you complained in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.29 Then I said to you, Do not be terrified, or afraid of them.30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.32 Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God,33 who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.

The Penalty for Israels Rebellion

34 And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying,35 Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord.37 The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, Even you shall not go in there.38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.39 Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.40 But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us. And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.42 And the Lord said to me, Tell them, Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.43 So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the Lord, and presumptuously went up into the mountain.44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah.45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.46 So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.

DEUTERONOMY 1

The Final Speeches //of Moses

1-5  t This book contains the speeches that Moses made while Israel was in the land of Moab, camped near the town of Suph in the desert east of the Jordan River. The town of Paran was in one direction from their camp, and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahabt were in the opposite direction.
Earlier, Moses had defeated the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. Moses had also defeated King Og of Bashan, who used to live in Ashtaroth for part of the year and in Edrei for the rest of the year.
Although it takes only eleven days to walk from Mount Sinait to Kadesh-Barnea by way of the Mount Seir Road, these speeches were not made until 40 years after Israel left Egypt.t

The First Speech: //Moses Reviews the Past

The [Lord]'s Command //at Mount Sinai

6 People of Israel, when we were in our camp at Mount Sinai, t the [Lord] our God told us:
You have stayed here long enough. 7 Leave this place and go into the land that belongs to the Amorites and their neighbors the Canaanites. This land includes the Jordan River valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Southern Desert, the Mediterranean seacoast, the Lebanon Mountains, and all the territory as far as the Euphrates River.

8 I give you this land, just as I promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now you must go and take the land.

Leaders Were Appointed

(Exodus 18.13-27)

Moses said:

9 Right after the [Lord] commanded us to leave Mount Sinai, t I told you:
Israel, being your leader is too big a job for one person. 10 The [Lord] our God has blessed us, and so now there are as many of us as there are stars in the sky. 11 God has even promised to bless us a thousand times more, and I pray that he will. 12 But I cannot take care of all your problems and settle all your arguments alone.

13 Each tribe must choose some experienced men who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will make those men the official leaders of their tribes.
14 You answered, “That's a good idea!” 15 Then I took these men, who were already wise and respected leaders, and I appointed them as your official leaders. Some of them became military officers in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10,

16 and others became judges. I gave these judges the following instructions:
When you settle legal cases, your decisions must be fair. It doesn't matter if the case is between two Israelites, or between an Israelite and a foreigner living in your community.

17 And it doesn't matter if one is helpless and the other is powerful. Don't be afraid of anyone! No matter who shows up in your court, God will help you make a fair decision.
If any case is too hard for you, bring the people to me, and I will make the decision.

18 After I gave these instructions to the judges, I taught you the [Lord]'s commands.

Men Were Sent //To Explore //the Hill Country

(Numbers 13.1-33)

Moses said to Israel:

20-21 and I told you, “We have reached the hill country. It belongs to the Amorites now, but the [Lord] our God is giving it to us. He is the same God our ancestors worshiped, and he has told us to go in and take this land, so don't hesitate and be afraid.”

22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Before we go into the land, let's send some men to explore it. When they come back, they can tell us about the towns we will find and what roads we should take to get there.”
23 It seemed like a good idea, so I chose twelve men, one from each tribe. 24 They explored the hill country as far as Bunch Valleyt

25 and even brought back some of the fruit. They said, “The [Lord] our God is giving us good land.”

Israel Refused //To Obey the [Lord]

(Numbers 14.1-45)

Moses said to Israel:

28 We are afraid, because the men who explored the land told us that the cities are large, with walls that reach to the sky. The people who live there are taller and stronger than we are, t and some of them are Anakim.t We have nowhere to go.”
29 Then I said, “Don't worry! 30 The [Lord] our God will lead the way. He will fight on our side, just as he did when we saw him do all those things to the Egyptians.

31 t And you know that the [Lord] has taken care of us the whole time we've been in the desert, just as you might carry one of your children.”
32  t But you still would not trust the [Lord],

33 even though he had always been with us in the desert. During the daytime, the [Lord] was in the cloud, leading us in the right direction and showing us where to camp. And at night, he was there in the fire.t

34  t You had made the [Lord] angry, and he said:
35 You people of this generation are evil, and I refuse to let you go into the good land that I promised your ancestors.

36 Caleb son of Jephunneh is the only one of your generation that I will allow to go in. He obeyed me completely, so I will give him and his descendants the land he explored.
37 The [Lord] was even angry with me because of you people, and he said, “Moses, I won't let you go into the land either.

38 Instead, I will let Joshuat your assistant lead Israel to conquer the land. So encourage him.”

39 Then the [Lord] spoke to you again:
People of Israel, you said that your innocent young children would be taken prisoner in the battle for the land. But someday I will let them go into the land, and with my help they will conquer it and live there.

40 Now, turn around and go back into the desert by way of Red Seat Road.

41 Then you told me, “We disobeyed the [Lord] our God, but now we want to obey him. We will go into the hill country and fight, just as he told us to do.” So you picked up your weapons, thinking it would be easy to take over the hill country.

42 But the [Lord] said, “Moses, warn them not to go into the hill country. I won't help them fight, and their enemies will defeat them.”
43 I told you what the [Lord] had said, but you paid no attention. You disobeyed him and went into the hill country anyway. You thought you were so great! 44 But when the Amorites in the hill country attacked from their towns, you ran from them as you would run from a swarm of bees. The Amorites chased your troops into Seirt as far as Hormah, killing them as they went.

45 Then you came back to the place of worship at Kadesh-Barnea and wept, but the [Lord] would not listen to your prayers.

Israel Spent Years //in the Desert

Moses said to Israel: