The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Chapter 1 -

(Exodus 33:1–6)

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb

(a)

to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:(b)

The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills,(c) in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.

See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

Moses Appoints Leaders

(Exodus 18:13–27)

At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.

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 fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.

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

Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”

So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.

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

Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.

Twelve Spies Sent Out

(Numbers 13:1–33)

And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,

I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”

The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land.

They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

Israel’s Rebellion

(Numbers 14:1–12)

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

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 hand of the Amorites to be annihilated.

Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them!

The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt

and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”

But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.

Israel’s Penalty

(Numbers 14:20–35)

When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,

“Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”

The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.

Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land.

And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.

But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.(d)”

The Defeat at Hormah

(Numbers 14:40–45)

“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”

So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.

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

For this reason you stayed in Kadesh for a long time—a very long time.

Footnotes

(a)1:2 That is, Mount Sinai, or possibly a mountain in the range containing Mount Sinai; also in verses 6 and 19

(b)1:5 Note that Deuteronomy 1:6 through Deuteronomy 4:40 may be presented as a continuous section of unbroken speech by Moses. In place of multiple levels of nested quotes, this section has been set apart with a double space.

(d)1:40 Or the Sea of Reeds

(Exodus 33:1–6)

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.

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

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

(a)

had given him in commandment to them,

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.

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

“The LORD our God

(b)

spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain.

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.

Behold,(c) 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

(d)

after them.’”

Moses Appoints Leaders

(Exodus 18:13–27)

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.

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.

You 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.”

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

Twelve Spies Sent Out

(Numbers 13:1–33)

We 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.

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

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.”

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.”

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

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

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.”

Israel’s Rebellion

(Numbers 14:1–12)

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

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.

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!’”

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

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,

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.”

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

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.

Israel’s Penalty

(Numbers 14:20–35)

The LORD heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying,

“Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers,

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.”

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

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

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.

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

The Defeat at Hormah

(Numbers 14:40–45)

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.

The 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.’”

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.

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.

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

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

Footnotes

(a)1:3 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “LORD” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name.

(b)1:6 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

(c)1:8 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.

(d)1:8 or, seed