Deuteronomy 1
New Catholic Bible
Moses’ First Address[a]
Chapter 1
Introduction.[b] 1 These are the words that Moses spoke to the whole of Israel on the desert side of the Jordan, in the Arabah,[c] opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 This was an eleven days’ journey from Horeb[d] to Kadesh-barnea by way of the highlands of Seir.
3 On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them.[e] 4 This was after he had killed Sihon, the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.[f]
Command to Leave Horeb. 5 On the eastern side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, 6 The Lord, our God, spoke to us at Horeb, saying, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Go and proceed into the hill country of the Amorites, into all the territory neighboring the Arabah, into the hill country and the lowlands, into the Negeb and the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have given you the land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord promised he would give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants after them.”
Appointment of Leaders. 9 At that time I said to you, “I am not able to carry the burden of leading you all by myself. 10 The Lord, your God, has multiplied you and now you are as numerous as the stars in the heavens. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, multiply you a thousand times over and bless you, as he has promised you. 12 How can I handle your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? 13 Choose some wise, prudent, and respected men from your tribesmen, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”
14 They answered, saying, “It would be good to do what you suggested.” 15 So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them your leaders, captains of the thousands, and captains of the hundreds, and captains of the fifties and the tens, as your tribal officials. 16 At that time I instructed your judges, “Listen to the disputes among your brethren and judge them justly, whether between a man and his fellow countryman or even the foreigner who is with him.[g] 17 Do not show partiality in judging; listen to both the lowly and the great. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case that is too difficult for you and I will hear it.” 18 At that time I instructed you concerning everything that you were to do.
19 Twelve Explorers. Then, as the Lord, our God, had commanded us, we set out from Horeb. We passed through the great and terrible wilderness that you have seen up into the hill country of the Amorites, coming to Kadesh-barnea. 20 I said to you, “Come up into the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord, our God, is giving to us. 21 Look! The Lord, your God, has given the land to you. Go up and take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has instructed you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
22 All of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead of ourselves to explore the land. They can bring a report back to us as to which way we should travel and as to what cities we will encounter.”
23 This seemed to be a very good idea to me. I chose twelve of your men, one from each tribe. 24 They left and went up into the hill country and reached the Valley of Eshcol which they explored. 25 They gathered some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, reporting, “The land that the Lord, our God, has given us is good.”
26 The People Rebel. But you were unwilling to go up. You defied the command of the Lord, your God. 27 You complained in your tents and said, “It is because the Lord hates us that he brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they might destroy us. 28 Why should we go up? Our brothers have frightened us by saying, ‘The people are larger and taller than we are. The cities have great walls that reach up into the heavens. Moreover, there are the sons of the Anakim,[h] we have seen them there.’ ”
29 But I said to them, “Do not be afraid of them! 30 The Lord, your God, marches before you. He will fight for you, just as he did on your behalf in Egypt, as you yourselves have seen. 31 You saw how the Lord, your God, carried you all throughout your journey in the wilderness, just as a man carries his son, until you arrived in this place.” 32 Yet, in spite of this, you did not trust the Lord, your God. 33 He went ahead of you on your journey, as fire by night to search out a place for you to pitch your tents and as cloud by day to show you the path by which you should travel.
34 When the Lord heard your words, he became angry and swore, 35 “Not one of these men from this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your fathers 36 except for Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his children the land upon which he has set foot, for he has wholeheartedly followed the Lord.”
37 The Lord grew angry with me because of you and said, “You are not going to enter it either. 38 Joshua, the son of Nun, who assists you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will bring Israel in to inherit it. 39 Furthermore, your children whom you said would be taken captive, those who do not yet know the difference between good and evil, they will enter it. I will give it to them, and they will take possession of it. 40 But as for you, turn back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
41 Then you replied and said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight as the Lord, our God, has commanded us.” So every one of you put on your weapons, thinking it would be easy to go up into the hill country.
42 The Lord said to me, “Say to them, ‘Do not go up, nor fight. Otherwise you will be slain by your enemies.’ ” 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen to me. You defied the command of the Lord and arrogantly went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who dwell in that hill country came out against you and chased you like bees, beating you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 You came back and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not pay attention to your voice nor give ear to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh for a long time, all the days that you spent there.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:1 As it reflects on its past, Israel understands how everything has come to it from God.
- Deuteronomy 1:1 The reflections are put on the lips of Moses and presented as his spiritual testament. In them reference is made to many incidents already recounted, especially in Numbers.
- Deuteronomy 1:1 Arabah: the depression between the Red Sea and the southern stretches of the Jordan. Suph: the Suphah of Num 21:14. Dizahab: the modern el-Dhaibet. The Desert of Paran: the modern Gebel-et-Tih (see Num 10:12). Laban and Hazeroth: see Num 33:17-20. Tophel: perhaps the modern et-Tafileh.
- Deuteronomy 1:2 Horeb or Sinai; Seir: in the Negeb or desert in southern Palestine. Kadesh-barnea: in southern Palestine, the modern Am Qedeis.
- Deuteronomy 1:3 The date given is that of the death of Moses and his farewell address.
- Deuteronomy 1:4 See chapters 2–3; Num 21:21-35.
- Deuteronomy 1:16 A foreigner can have a permanent residence among the Israelites; he is free but cannot possess property; his situation is precarious, but there are many laws that protect him. The Israelite view of foreigners is already a positive step in the direction of universalism.
- Deuteronomy 1:28 Anakim: ancient inhabitants of Palestine whom legend transformed into terrifying giants (see Deut 2:10-11).
Deuteronomy 1
Easy-to-Read Version
Moses Talks to the Israelites
1 These are the commands that Moses gave the Israelites while they were in the Jordan Valley, in the desert east of the Jordan River. This was across from Suph, between the desert of Paran and the cities Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 The trip from Mount Horeb through the mountains of Seir to Kadesh Barnea takes only eleven days. 3 But it was 40 years from the time the Israelites left Egypt until the time they came to this place. On the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year, Moses spoke to the people and told them everything the Lord commanded. 4 This was after he defeated Sihon and Og. (Sihon was the king of the Amorites and lived in Heshbon. Og was the king of Bashan and lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.) 5 The Israelites were in Moab on the east side of the Jordan River when Moses began to explain what God had commanded:
6 “At Mount Horeb the Lord our God spoke to us. He said, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Go to the hill country where the Amorites live and to all the neighboring areas in the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western slopes, the Negev, and the seacoast. Go throughout the land of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 Look, I am giving you this land. Go and take it. It is the land that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to them and to their descendants.’
Moses Chooses Leaders
9 “At that time I told you, ‘I can’t take care of you by myself. 10 And now, there are even more of you. The Lord your God has added more and more people, so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, give you 1000 times more people than you are now! May he bless you as he promised. 12 But I cannot take care of you and solve all your arguments by myself. 13 So choose some men from each tribe, and I will make them leaders over you. Choose wise men with experience who understand people.’
14 “And you said, ‘That is a good thing to do.’
15 “So I took the wise, experienced men you chose from your tribes, and I made them your leaders. In this way I gave you leaders over 1000 people, over 100 people, over 50 people, and over 10 people. I also gave you officers for each of your tribes.
16 “At that time I told these judges, ‘Listen to the arguments between your people. Be fair when you judge each case. It doesn’t matter if the problem is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner. You must judge each case fairly. 17 You must treat everyone the same when you judge. You must listen carefully to everyone—whether they are important or not. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision is from God. But if there is a case too hard for you to judge, bring it to me and I will judge it.’ 18 At that same time I also told you everything you must do.
The Spies Go to Canaan
19 “So we obeyed the Lord our God. We left Mount Horeb and went to the hill country of the Amorites. You remember that big, terrible desert that we walked through. We came as far as Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, ‘You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites. The Lord our God will give us this country. 21 Look, there it is! Go up and take the land for your own. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don’t be afraid or worry about anything.’
22 “But all of you came to me and said, ‘Let’s send some men to look at the land first. They can spy out the land and come back and tell us the way we should go and which cities we will come to.’
23 “I thought that was a good idea. So I chose twelve men from among you, one man from each tribe. 24 Then they left and went up to the hill country. They came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it back to us. They told us about the land and said, ‘The Lord our God is giving us a good land.’
26 “But you refused to go into the land. You refused to obey the Lord your God. 27 You went to your tents and began to complain. You said, ‘The Lord hates us! He brought us out of the land of Egypt just to let the Amorites destroy us. 28 Where can we go now? The men we sent have frightened us with their report. They said, “The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big and have walls as high as the sky. And we saw giants[a] there!”’
29 “So I said to you, ‘Don’t be upset or afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God is in front, leading you. He will fight for you just as he did in Egypt. 31 You saw what happened in the desert. You saw how the Lord your God carried you like a man carries his child. He brought you safely all the way to this place.’
32 “But you didn’t trust the Lord your God then either. 33 But he was always in front, going ahead to find a place for you to camp. At night, he was in the fire that showed you where to go. And during the day, he was in the cloud.
People Not Allowed to Enter Canaan
34 “The Lord heard what you said, and he was angry. He made a vow. He said, 35 ‘Not one of you evil people who are alive now will go into the good land that I promised to your ancestors. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see that land. I will give Caleb the land he walked on, and I will give that land to his descendants, because he did all that I, the Lord, commanded.’
37 “The Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, you cannot enter the land, either. 38 But your helper, Joshua son of Nun, will go into the land. Encourage Joshua, because he will lead the Israelites to take the land for their own. 39 You thought your little children would be taken by your enemies. But those children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will go into the land. I will give it to them. Your children will take the land for their own. 40 But you—you must turn around, take the road to the Red Sea and go back into the desert.’
41 “Then you said, ‘Moses, we sinned against the Lord, but now we will do what the Lord our God commanded us before—we will go and fight.’
“Then each of you put on your weapons. You thought it would be easy to go and take the hill country. 42 But the Lord said to me, ‘Tell the people not to go up there and fight, because I will not be with them. Their enemies will defeat them!’
43 “I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You refused to obey the Lord’s command. You thought you could use your own power, so you went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived there came out like a swarm of bees and chased you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you came back crying to the Lord for help, but the Lord refused to listen to you. 46 So you stayed at Kadesh for such a long time.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:28 giants Literally, “Anakites,” descendants of Anak, a family famous for tall and powerful fighting men. See Num. 13:33.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International