Deuteronomy

These are the words [1] Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan River, in the Arabah, near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

It takes eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea by the route of Mount Seir.

In the fortieth year after leaving Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites, telling them everything the LORD had commanded him to say.

This happened after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth, whom he defeated at Edrei.

East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

"The LORD our God said to us at Mount Sinai, 'You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

Break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and all the surrounding areas, in the Arabah, the mountains, the western foothills, the Negev, and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

Look, I have placed the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.'"

"At that time I said to you, 'I cannot carry the burden of leading you all by myself.

The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

May the LORD, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times over and bless you just as he promised!

But how can I bear your troubles, your heavy burdens, and your disputes all by myself?

Choose wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them as your leaders.'"

"You answered me, 'What you propose is a good idea.'

"So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and as tribal officials.

I charged your judges at that time, saying: 'Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother, or a foreign resident.

Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgement belongs to God. Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.'

And at that time I commanded you everything you were to do."

"Then, just as the LORD our God commanded us, we set out from Mount Sinai and went through all that huge and terrifying wilderness you saw, heading toward the hill country of the Amorites until we reached Kadesh Barnea.

Then I told you, 'You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

Look, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.'"

"Then all of you came to me and said, 'Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we should take and the towns we will encounter.'

"The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe.

They set off and went into the hill country, reaching the Valley of Eshkol and exploring it.

They took some of the fruit of the land with them, brought it down to us, and reported, 'It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.'"

"But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

You grumbled in your tents and said, 'the LORD hates us; he brought us out of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.

Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt with fear by saying, "The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls reaching to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there."'"

"Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.

The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your very eyes,

and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.'"

"In spite of this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

who went ahead of you on your journey to find a place for you to camp, appearing in a fire at night to show you the way and in a cloud by day."

"When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:

'Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,

except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.'"

"Because of you the LORD became angry with me also and said, 'You shall not enter it either.

But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad, they will enter the land. I will give it to them, and they will take possession of it.

But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.'"

"Then you replied, 'We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God commanded us.' So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

"But the LORD said to me, 'Tell them: Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.'"

"So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the LORD's command and arrogantly marched up into the hill country.

The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.

You came back and wept before the LORD, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you.

And so you stayed in Kadesh many days, all the time you spent there.