THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 1

1 ¶ These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel beyond the Jordan in the desert, in the plain that stretches to the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2 (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadeshbarnea.)

3 And 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, in regard to everything that the LORD had commanded him to say to them;

4 This was after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived at Astaroth in Edrei:

5 Over the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to state this law, saying,

6 The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have stayed long enough on 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, in the hills, and in the valley, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and to Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.

8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD promised to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.

9 ¶ And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

11 (May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!)

12 How can I myself alone bear your troubles, and your burden, and your strife?

13 Choose wise and understanding men, according to your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

14 And you answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.

15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger who is with him.

17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; but you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and bring the cause that is too hard for you to me, and I will hear it.

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

19 ¶ And when we departed from Horeb, we went across all the great and terrible wilderness, which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

20 And I said to you, You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God has given to us.

21 Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has said to you; do not be afraid, or discouraged.

22 And you came near to me every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, and they will explore the land, and bring us word again as to what way we must go up, and into what cities we will come.

23 And the idea seemed good to me: and I chose twelve men from you, one from each tribe:

24 And they left and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

25 And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it back to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God gives us.

26 Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:

27 And you grumbled 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 hands of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28 Where would we be going? our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, The people are greater and taller than we are; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

29 Then I said to you, Do not be filled with dread, nor be afraid of them.

30 The LORD your God who goes before you, shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

31 And in the wilderness, where you have seen how that the LORD your God bore you, as a man bears his son, everywhere that you went, until you came into this place.

32 Yet in this thing you did not believe the LORD your God,

33 Who went before you on the way, to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, in fire by night, to show you what way you should go, and in a cloud by day.

34 And the LORD heard your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,

35 Surely not one of the men of this evil generation shall see that good land, which I promised your fathers to give you,

36 Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he will see it, and I will give to him the land that he has walked upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.

37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 Moreover your little ones, which you said would be a prey, and your children, who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they will go in there, and I will give it to them, and they will own 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, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when every man had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up onto the hill.

42 And the LORD said to me, Say to them, Do not go up, or fight; for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.

43 So I spoke to you; and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up onto the hill.

44 And the Amorites, who lived on that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even to Hormah.

45 And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not listen to your voice, or give ear to you.

46 So you remained in Kadesh for many days, the days that you remained there.