Deuteronomy 1
New King James Version
The Previous Command to Enter Canaan
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel (A)on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the [a]plain opposite [b]Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir (B)to Kadesh Barnea. 3 Now it came to pass (C)in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them, 4 (D)after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth (E)in[c] Edrei.
5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God spoke to us (F)in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long (G)enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the [d]plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord [e]swore to your fathers—to (H)Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’
Tribal Leaders Appointed(I)
9 “And (J)I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I [f]alone am not able to bear you. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, (K)and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. 11 (L)May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you (M)as He has promised you! 12 (N)How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? 13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them [g]heads over you.’ 14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ 15 So I took (O)the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and [h]made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and (P)judge righteously between a man and his (Q)brother or the stranger who is with him. 17 (R)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for (S)the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, (T)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land(U)
19 “So we departed from Horeb, (V)and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then (W)we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; (X)do not fear or be discouraged.’
22 “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’
23 “The plan pleased me well; so (Y)I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 (Z)And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a (AA)good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
26 (AB)“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; 27 and you (AC)complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord (AD)hates 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 can we go up? Our brethren have [i]discouraged our hearts, saying, (AE)“The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the (AF)Anakim there.” ’
29 “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, (AG)or afraid of them. 30 (AH)The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a (AI)man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet, for all that, (AJ)you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 (AK)who went in the way before you (AL)to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.
The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion(AM)
34 “And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, (AN)and took an oath, saying, 35 (AO)‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I [j]swore to give to your fathers, 36 (AP)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because (AQ)he [k]wholly followed the Lord.’ 37 (AR)The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there. 38 (AS)Joshua the son of Nun, (AT)who stands before you, he shall go in there. (AU)Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 (AV)‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who (AW)you say will be victims, who today (AX)have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 (AY)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, (AZ)‘We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.
42 “And the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them, (BA)“Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’ 43 So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but (BB)rebelled against the command of the Lord, and (BC)presumptuously[l] went up into the mountain. 44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you (BD)as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
46 (BE)“So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:1 Heb. arabah
- Deuteronomy 1:1 One LXX ms., Tg., Vg. Red Sea
- Deuteronomy 1:4 LXX, Syr., Vg. and; cf. Josh. 12:4
- Deuteronomy 1:7 Heb. arabah
- Deuteronomy 1:8 promised
- Deuteronomy 1:9 am not able to bear you by myself
- Deuteronomy 1:13 rulers
- Deuteronomy 1:15 appointed
- Deuteronomy 1:28 Lit. melted
- Deuteronomy 1:35 promised
- Deuteronomy 1:36 fully
- Deuteronomy 1:43 willfully
Devarim 1
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 These are the devarim (words) which Moshe spoke unto kol Yisroel on the far side of the Yarden in the midbar, in the Aravah opposite Suf between Paran, and Tophel, and Lavan, and Chatzerot, and Di-Zahav.
2 (There is eleven days’ journey from Chorev unto Kadesh-Barnea by way of Mount Seir.)
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moshe spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, according unto all that Hashem had given him in commandment unto them,
4 After he had slain Sichon Melech HaEmori, which dwelt in Cheshbon, and Og Melech HaBashan, which dwelt in Ashtarot at Edre’i;
5 On the far side of the Yarden, in Eretz Moav, began Moshe to expound this torah, saying,
6 Hashem Eloheinu spoke unto us in Chorev, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough at this mountain;
7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the Har HaEmori (hill country of the Amorites), and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Aravah, in the hills, in the Shefelah, and in the Negev, and by the seacoast, to the Eretz HaKena’ani (Land of the Canaanites), and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 See, I have set ha’aretz (the land) before you; go in and possess ha’aretz which Hashem swore unto Avoteichem, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, to give unto them and to their zera after them.
9 And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear the burden of you by myself alone;
10 Hashem Eloheichem hath multiplied you, and, see, ye are today as numerous as the kokhavei HaShomayim.
11 (Hashem Elohei Avoteichem increase you a thousand times over and bless you, as He hath promised you!)
12 How can I myself alone bear your problems, and your massa and your strife?
13 Take you anashim chachamim, men of wisdom and understanding, who are known among your tribes, and I will set them over you.
14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is tov for us to do.
15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, anashim chachamim, men of understanding, and made them heads over you, over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens, shoterim among your tribes.
16 And I charged your shofetim at that time, saying, Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the ger that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in mishpat but ye shall hear the katon as well as the gadol; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the mishpat is Elohim’s: and the case that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
19 And when we departed from Chorev, we went through all that great and terrible midbar, which ye saw on the way to the Har HaEmori, just as Hashem Eloheinu commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-Barnea.
20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the Har HaEmori which Hashem Eloheinu doth give unto us.
21 See, Hashem Eloheicha hath set ha’aretz before thee; go up and possess it, as Hashem Elohei Avoteicha hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send anashim ahead of us, and they shall spy out ha’aretz, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what towns we shall come.
23 And the proposal pleased me well; and I took Shneym Asar, (Twelve) of you, one of each shevet (tribe);
24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came unto the Eshkol Valley, and explored it.
25 And they took of the pri ha’aretz in their hands, brought it down unto us, brought us word, and said, It is a tovah ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheinu doth give us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Hashem Eloheichem;
27 And ye murmured in your oholim, and said, Because Hashem hated us, He hath brought us forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim, to deliver us into the hand of HaEmori, to destroy us.
28 Where shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged levavenu (our hearts), saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to Shomayim; moreover we have seen the Bnei Anakim there.
29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30 Hashem Eloheichem which goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Mitzrayim before your eyes;
31 And in the midbar, where thou hast seen how that Hashem Eloheicha did bear thee, as a man doth carry his ben, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32 Yet in this thing ye were not ma’aminim (believers) in Hashem Eloheichem,
33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in eish by lailah, to show you by what way ye should go, and in an anan (cloud) by day.
34 And Hashem heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and on oath, said,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this dor harah see ha’aretz hatovah, which I swore to give unto Avoteichem.
36 Except Kalev ben Yephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give ha’aretz that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Hashem.
37 Also Hashem was angry with me because of you, saying, Thou also shalt not go in there.
38 But Yehoshua ben Nun, the one assisting thee, he shall go in there; encourage him, for he shall cause Yisroel to inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said would be taken captive, and your children, which as yet do not have knowledge between tov and rah, they shall go in there, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
40 But as for you, turn, take your journey into the midbar by the way of the Yam Suf.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Hashem; we will go up and fight, according to all that Hashem Eloheinu did command us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye made light of going up into the hill country.
42 And Hashem said unto me, Say unto them. Go not up, neither fight; for I am not in your midst; lest ye be struck down before your enemies.
43 So I spoke unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of Hashem, and went presumptuously up into the hill country.
44 And HaEmori, which dwelt in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Chormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before Hashem; but Hashem would not listen to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46 That is why ye abode in Kadesh as long as ye did.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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