¹These 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 .

²It is eleven days ’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.

³In 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 had given him in commandment to them ,[#1:3 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name.]

⁴after 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.

⁵Beyond the Jordan , in the land of Moab , Moses began to declare this law , saying,

⁶“The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb , saying , ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain .[#1:6 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “” (Elohim).]

⁷Turn , 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 .

⁸Behold , 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 .’”[#1:8 “Behold”, from “”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.; #1:8 or, seed]

⁹I spoke to you at that time , saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone .

¹⁰The LORD your God has multiplied you , and behold , you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude .

¹¹May 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 !

¹²How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens , and your strife ?

¹³Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes , and I will make them heads over you .”

¹⁴You answered me , and said , “The thing which you have spoken is good to do .”

¹⁵So 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 .

¹⁶I 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 .

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

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

¹⁹We traveled 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.

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

²¹Behold , 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 .”

²²You 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 .”

²³The thing pleased me well . I took twelve of your men , one man for every tribe .

²⁴They turned and went up into the hill country , and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out .

²⁵They 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 .”

²⁶Yet you wouldn’t go up , but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God .

²⁷You 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 .

²⁸Where 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 !’”

²⁹Then I said to you , “Don’t be terrified . Don’t be afraid of them .

³⁰The 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 ,

³¹and 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 .”

³²Yet in this thing you didn’t believe the LORD your God ,

³³who 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 .

³⁴The 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,

³⁶except 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 .”

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

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

³⁹Moreover 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 .

⁴⁰But as for you , turn , and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Suf.”

⁴¹Then 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 .

⁴²The LORD said to me , “Tell them , ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight ; for I am not among you , lest you be struck before your enemies.’”

⁴³So 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 .

⁴⁴The 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 .

⁴⁵You returned and wept before the LORD , but the LORD didn’t listen to your voice , nor turn his ear to you .

⁴⁶So you stayed in Kadesh many days , according to the days that you remained .