Chapter 1
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness , in the Arabah opposite Suf, between Paran , Tophel , Laban , Hazeroth , and Dizahab .
2 It is eleven days ’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.
3 In the fortieth year , in the eleventh month , on the first day of the month , Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD ", usually pronounced Yahweh). had given him in commandment to them ,
4 after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon , and Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth , at Edrei.
5 Beyond the Jordan , in the land of Moab , Moses began to declare this law , saying,
6 " The LORD our God " (Elohim). spoke to us in Horeb , saying , ‘ You have lived long enough at 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 Arabah , in the hill country , in the lowland , in the South , by the seashore , in the land of the Canaanites , and in Lebanon as far as the great river , the river Euphrates .
8 Behold , ", means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. I have set the land before you . Go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers— to Abraham, to Isaac , and to Jacob — to give to them and to their offspring after them .’"
9 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 today as the stars of the sky for multitude .
11 May the LORD , the 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 problems, your burdens , and your strife ?
13 Take wise men of understanding who are respected amongst your tribes , and I will make them heads over you ."
14 You answered me , and said , " The thing which you have spoken is good to do ."
15 So I took the heads of your tribes , wise and respected men , and made them heads over you , captains of thousands, captains of hundreds , captains of fifties , captains of tens , and officers , according to your tribes .
16 I commanded your judges at that time , saying, " Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him .
17 You shall not show partiality in judgement; you shall hear the small and the great alike . You shall not be afraid of the face of man , for the judgement is God ’s. The case that is too hard for you , you shall bring to me , and I will hear it ."
18 I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do .
19 We travelled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw , by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us ; and we came to Kadesh Barnea.
20 I said to you , " You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God gives to us .
21 Behold , the LORD your God has set the land before you . Go up , take possession , as the LORD the God of your fathers has spoken to you . Don’t be afraid , neither be dismayed ."
22 You came near to me , everyone of you , and said , " Let ’s send men before us , that they may search the land for us , and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up , and the cities to which we shall come ."
23 The thing pleased me well . I took twelve of your men , one man for every tribe .
24 They turned and went up into the hill country , and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out .
25 They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us , and brought us word again , and said , " It is a good land which the LORD our God gives to us ."
26 Yet you wouldn’t go up , but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God .
27 You murmured in your tents, and said , " Because the LORD hated 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 are we going up ? Our brothers have made our heart melt , saying, ‘ The people are greater and taller than we . The cities are great and fortified up to the sky . Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there !’"
29 Then I said to you , "Don’t be terrified . Don’t be afraid of them .
30 The LORD your God , who goes 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 you have seen how that 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 in this thing you didn’t believe the LORD your God ,
33 who went before you on the way , to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in : in fire by night , to show you by what way you should go , and in the cloud by day .
34 The LORD heard the voice of your words and was angry , and swore , saying ,
35 " Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers,
36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh . He shall see it . I will give the land that he has trodden on to him 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 Joshua the son of Nun , who stands before you , shall go in there . Encourage him , for he shall cause Israel to inherit it .
39 Moreover your little ones , whom you said would be captured or killed, your children , who today have no knowledge of good or evil , shall go in there . I will give it to them , and they shall possess it .
40 But as for you , turn , and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to 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 ." Every man of you put on his weapons of war , and presumed to go up into the hill country .
42 The LORD said to me , "Tell them , ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight ; for I am not amongst you , lest you be struck before your enemies.’"
43 So I spoke to you , and you didn’t listen ; but you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD , and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country .
44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country , came out against you and chased you as bees do , and beat you down in Seir , even to Hormah .
45 You returned and wept before the LORD , but the LORD didn’t listen to your voice , nor turn his ear to you .
46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days , according to the days that you remained .