Deuteronomy 1
1 These are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that Jehovah had given him in commandment unto them;4 after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,6 Jehovah our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain:7 turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9 And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:10 Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.11 Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him.17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.19 And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God giveth unto us.21 Behold, Jehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.23 And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:24 and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Jehovah our God giveth unto us.
26 Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God:27 and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.28 Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.30 Jehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,31 and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Jehovah thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place.32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,36 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah.37 Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither:38 Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage thou him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.39 Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.42 And Jehovah said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.43 So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.44 And the Amorites, that dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah.45 And ye returned and wept before Jehovah; but Jehovah hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you.46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
Deuteronomy 1
The Covenant Setting
1 This is whatt Moses said to the assembly of Israelt in the Transjordaniant wastelands, the arid country oppositet Suph,s betweent Parans and Tophel,s Laban,s Hazeroth,s and Di Zahabs2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journeys from Horebs to Kadesh Barneas by way of Mount Seir.s3 However, it was not untilt the first day of the eleventh months of the fortieth years that Moses addressed the Israelites just ast the Lord had instructed him to do.4 This took place after the defeatt of King Sihons of the Amorites, whose capital wast in Heshbon,s and King Og of Bashan, whose capital wast in Ashtaroth,s specifically in Edrei.s
5 So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words:t
Events at Horeb
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayedt in the area of this mountain long enough.7 Get up now,t resume your journey, heading fort the Amorite hill country, to all its areast including the arid country,t the highlands, the Shephelah,ts the Negev,s and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates.8 Look! I have already given the land to you.t Go, occupy the territory that I,t the Lord, promisedt to give to your ancestorst Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.”t9 I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself.10 The Lord your God has increased your populationt to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky.t11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing yout just as he said he would!12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife?13 Select wise and practicalt men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.”14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good.15 So I choset as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials.16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that theyt should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizenst and judge fairly,t whether between one citizen and anothert or a citizen and a resident foreigner.t
17 Theyt must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowlyt and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.
Instructions at Kadesh Barnea
18 So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do.19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea.20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the Amorite hill country which the Lord our God is about to givet us.21 Look, het has placed the land in front of you!t Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”22 So all of you approached me and said, “Let’s send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there.”23 I thought this was a good idea,t so I sentt twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.24 They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley,ts which they scouted out.
25 Then they tookt some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”
Disobedience at Kadesh Barnea
26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God.t27 You complained among yourselves privatelyt and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us!28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our couraget by describing people who are more numeroust and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heavent itself! Moreover, they said they sawt Anakitests there.”29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrifiedt of them!30 The Lord your God is about to got ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egyptt31 and in the desert, where you saw himt carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.”32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God,
33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
Judgment at Kadesh Barnea
34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow:t35 “Not a single persont of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors!36 The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh;s he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.”t37 As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, “You also will not be able to go there.38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant,t will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land.t39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way,t and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad,s will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it.
40 But as for you,t turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.”t
Unsuccessful Conquest of Canaan
41 Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country.42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’”43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lordt and recklessly went up to the hill country.44 The Amorite inhabitants of that areat confrontedt you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah.s45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but het paid no attention to you whatsoever.t
46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time.t