Deuteronomy 1

Moses Talks to the Israelites

1 This is the message Moses gave to all the people of Israel in the desert east of the Jordan River. They were in the desert area near Suph, between Paran and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 (The trip from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the Mount Seir road takes eleven days.)3 Forty years after the Israelites had left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses told the people of Israel everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them.

4 This was after the Lord had defeated Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei.

5 Now the Israelites were east of the Jordan River in the land of Moab, and there Moses began to explain what God had commanded. He said:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Mount Sinai and said, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.7 Get ready, and go to the mountain country of the Amorites, and to all the places around there—the Jordan Valley, the mountains, the western hills, the southern area, the seacoast, the land of Canaan, and Lebanon. Go as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

8 See, I have given you this land, so go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord promised it to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants.”

Moses Appoints Leaders

9 At that time I said, “I am not able to take care of you by myself.10 The Lord your God has made you grow in number so that there are as many of you as there are stars in the sky.11 I pray that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, will give you a thousand times more people and do all the wonderful things he promised.12 But I cannot take care of your problems, your troubles, and your arguments by myself.

13 So choose some men from each tribe—wise men who have understanding and experience—and I will make them leaders over you.”

14 And you said, “That’s a good thing to do.”
15 So I took the wise and experienced leaders of your tribes, and I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over a thousand people, over a hundred people, over fifty people, and over ten people and made them officers over your tribes.16 Then I told your leaders, “Listen to the arguments between your people. Judge fairly between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner.17 When you judge, be fair to everyone; don’t act as if one person is more important than another, and don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision comes from God. Bring the hard cases to me, and I will judge them.”

18 At that time I told you everything you must do.

Spies Enter the Land

19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and went toward the mountain country of the Amorite people. We went through that large and terrible desert you saw, and then we came to Kadesh Barnea.20 I said to you, “You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites, to the land the Lord our God will give us.

21 Look, here it is! Go up and take it. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don’t be afraid and don’t worry.”

22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and tell us about the way we should go and the cities we will find.”
23 I thought that was a good idea, so I chose twelve of your men, one for each tribe.24 They left and went up to the mountains, and when they came to the Valley of Eshcol they explored it.

25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it down to us, saying, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”

Israel Refuses to Enter

26 But you refused to go. You would not obey the command of the Lord your God,27 but grumbled in your tents, saying, “The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to give us to the Amorites, who will destroy us.

28 Where can we go now? The spies we sent have made us afraid, because they said, ‘The people there are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are big, with walls up to the sky. And we saw the Anakites there!’ ”
29 Then I said to you, “Don’t be frightened; don’t be afraid of those people.30 The Lord your God will go ahead of you and fight for you as he did in Egypt; you saw him do it.

31 And in the desert you saw how the Lord your God carried you, like one carries a child. And he has brought you safely all the way to this place.”
32 But you still did not trust the Lord your God, even though

33 he had always gone before you to find places for you to camp. In a fire at night and in a cloud during the day, he showed you which way to go.
34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and made an oath, saying,35 “I promised a good land to your ancestors, but none of you evil people will see it.

36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it. I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on, because he followed the Lord completely.”
37 Because of you, the Lord was also angry with me and said, “You won’t enter the land either,

38 but your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to take the land for their own.
39 “Your little children that you said would be captured, who do not know right from wrong at this time, will go into the land. I will give the land to them, and they will take it for their own.

40 But you must turn around and follow the desert road toward the Red Sea.”

41 Then you said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord, but now we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” Then all of you put on weapons, thinking it would be easy to go into the mountains.

42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell the people, ‘You must not go up there and fight. I will not be with you, and your enemies will defeat you.’ ”
43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You would not obey the Lord’s command. You were proud, so you went on up into the mountains,44 and the Amorites who lived in those mountains came out and fought you. They chased you like bees and defeated you from Edom to Hormah.45 So you came back and cried before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to you; he refused to pay attention to you.46 So you stayed in Kadesh a long time.

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