1 These be the words which Moses spake to all Israel over (the) Jordan, in the wilderness of the field, (over) against the Red Sea, betwixt Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, where is full much gold, (These be the words which Moses spoke to all Israel, east of the Jordan River, in the wilderness, in the field opposite the Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds, between Paran on one side, and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other,)

² by eleven days journey from Horeb by the way of the hill of Seir, till to Kadeshbarnea. (eleven days journey from Mount Sinai, by way of the hill country of Seir, or of Edom, unto Kadeshbarnea.)

³ In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, in the first day of the month, Moses spake to the sons of Israel all things which the Lord commanded to him that he should say to them, (In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the Israelites all the things which the Lord commanded to him that he should say to them,)

⁴ after that he had smitten, or killed, Sihon, the king of Amorites, that dwelled in Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, that dwelled in Ashtaroth, and in Edrei,

⁵ over (the) Jordan (east of the Jordan River), in the land of Moab. And Moses began to declare the law, and to say,

⁶ Our Lord God spake to us in Horeb, and said, It sufficeth to you that ye have dwelled in this hill; (The Lord our God spoke to us on Mount Sinai, and said, It now sufficeth for you that ye have stayed on this mountain long enough;)

⁷ turn ye again, and come ye to the hill (country) of (the) Amorites, and to (the) other places that be next to it; and to the places of fields, and of hills, and to [the] lower places against the south, and beside the brink of the sea, to the land of Canaanites, and of Lebanon, till to the great flood Euphrates (unto the great Euphrates River).

⁸ Lo, he saith, I have given to you that land; enter ye, and have it in possession, on which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he should give that land to them, and to their seed after them.

⁹ And I said to you in that time, I may not alone sustain you, (And I said to you at that time, I cannot carry all of you by myself,)

¹⁰ for your Lord God hath multiplied you, and ye be full many today, as the stars of heaven; (for the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and today, ye be as many as the stars in the heavens;)

¹¹ (may) the Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands, and bless you, as he spake (as he said he would do).

¹² I may not alone sustain, or bear, your causes, and your burdens, and (your) strives;

¹³ give ye of you men wise, and witting, whose conversation is proved in your lineages, that I set them princes to you. (choose ye wise men from among you, with knowledge, or understanding, whose lives, or reputation, is proven among your tribes, so that I can make them your leaders.)

¹⁴ Then ye answered to me, (and said,) The thing is good which thou wilt do.

¹⁵ And I took of your lineages men wise, and noble; and I ordained them to be your princes, your tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans, which shall teach you all things. (And so I took from your tribes wise and noble men; and I ordained them to be your leaders, yea, your tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans, and they shall be your authorities.)

¹⁶ And I commanded to them, and said, Hear ye the people, and deem ye that that is just, whether he be a citizen, or a pilgrim. (And I commanded to them, and said, Listen ye to the people, and judge ye them justly, or rightly, whether they be citizens, or foreigners.)

¹⁷ No difference shall be in doom of persons; ye shall hear so a little man, that is, poor, as a great man, neither ye shall take heed to the person of any man, for it is the doom of God. That if anything seemeth hard to you, tell ye that to me, and I shall hear it. (No difference shall be in the judging of persons; ye shall hear the poor, just like the rich, nor shall ye take heed of anyone’s rank, or status, for judgement cometh from God. And if anything seemeth hard to you, tell ye that to me, and I shall hear it.)

¹⁸ And I commanded (to you) all things which ye ought to do.

¹⁹ Forsooth we went forth from Horeb, and passed by a fearedful desert, and greatest wilderness, which ye saw, by the way of the hill of Amorites, as our Lord God commanded to us. And when we had come into Kadeshbarnea, (And we went forth from Mount Sinai, and passed through a fearful desert, yea, a great and a vast wilderness, which ye saw, by way of the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded to us. And when we had come to Kadeshbarnea,)

²⁰ I said to you, Ye be come to the hill (country) of (the) Amorites, which your Lord God shall give to you;

²¹ see thou, Israel, the land that the Lord God shall give to thee; go thou up, and wield it, as our Lord God spake to thy fathers; dread thou not, neither in thine heart be thou anything aghast (fear thou not, nor let thy hearts be afraid of anything).

²² And all (of) ye nighed to me, and ye said, Send we men, that shall behold the land (who shall spy out the land), and shall tell us by what way we ought to go up thither, and to which cities we ought to go.

²³ And when the word pleased to me, I sent of you twelve men, of each lineage one. (And I agreed, and I sent out twelve men of you, one from each tribe.)

²⁴ And when they had gone forth, and had gone up into the hilly places, they came unto the valley of Cluster; and when they had beheld the land, (And when they had gone forth, and had gone up into the hill country, they came to the Eshcol Valley; and when they had spied out the land,)

²⁵ they took (some) of the fruits thereof, to show the plenty of it, and they brought those fruits to us, and said, The land is good that our Lord God shall give to us.

²⁶ And ye would not go up thither, but ye were unbelieveful to the word of our Lord God. (But ye would not go up there, for ye did not believe the word of the Lord our God.)

²⁷ And ye grouched in your tabernacles, and ye said, The Lord hateth us, and therefore he led us out of the land of Egypt, that he should betake us in the hand of Amorites, and do away us. (And ye grumbled in your tents, and ye said, The Lord hateth us, and so he led us out of the land of Egypt, so that he could deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, and do us away.)

²⁸ Whither shall we ascend? the messengers made afeared our heart, and said, A greatest multitude is, and larger in stature than we; the cities be great, and walled till to heaven; we saw there the sons of Anakim, that is, giants. (Why should we go up there? the messengers made our hearts afraid when they said, There is a great multitude there, and they be larger in stature than us, and the cities be great, and walled unto the heavens; yea, they said, We saw the sons of the Anakim, that is, the sons of the giants, there!)

²⁹ And I said to you, Have ye no dread (Do not ye be afraid), nor be ye aghast;

³⁰ the Lord God himself, which is your leader (who is your leader), shall fight for you, as he did in Egypt, while all men saw (it).

³¹ And ye saw in the wilderness, thy Lord God bare thee, as a man is wont to bear his little son, in all the way by which ye went, till ye came to this place. (And ye saw in the wilderness, how the Lord thy God carried thee, like a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way by which ye went, until ye came to this place.)

³² And soothly neither so ye believed to your Lord God, (But still ye would not trust the Lord your God,)

³³ that went before you in the way (who went before you on the way), and measured the place in which ye ought to set your tents, and he showed in the night the way to you by fire, and in the day by a pillar of cloud.

³⁴ And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was wroth, and swore, and said, (And when the Lord heard what you said, he was angry, and swore, and said,)

³⁵ None of the men of this worst generation shall see the good land, which I promised under an oath to your fathers,

³⁶ except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; forsooth he shall see it, and I shall give to him the land upon which he hath trodden, and to his sons, for he followed the Lord.

³⁷ Neither the Lord’s indignation against the people is to be marveled (at), since the Lord was wroth also to me for you, and said, Neither thou shalt enter thither, (Nor was the Lord’s anger against the people to be marveled at, since, because of you, he was also angry at me, and said, Nor shalt thou enter in there either,)

³⁸ but Joshua, the son of Nun, thy servant, he shall enter into that land for thee; excite, and strengthen thou him, and he shall part the land by lot to Israel (encourage thou him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel).

³⁹ Your little children, of which ye said, that they should be led prisoners, and the sons that know not today the diversity of good and of evil, they shall enter thither; and I shall give to them the land, and they shall wield it. (Your little children, of whom ye said, that they would be led away as prisoners, and thy sons and daughters who know not today the diversity of good and evil, they shall enter in there; yea, I shall give the land to them, and they shall take it.)

⁴⁰ Soothly turn ye again, and go ye into the wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea. (So now turn ye around, and go ye back to the wilderness, by way of the Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds.)

⁴¹ And ye answered to me, We have sinned to the Lord; we shall go up, and we shall fight, as our Lord God commanded. And when ye were arrayed with armours, and went into the hill, (And ye answered to me, and said, We have sinned against the Lord; but now we shall go up, and we shall fight, as the Lord our God commanded. And when ye were arrayed with arms, or with weapons, and were about to go up to the hill country,)

⁴² the Lord said to me, Say thou to them, Do not ye go up, neither fight ye, for I am not with you, lest ye fall before your enemies.

⁴³ (So) I spake this to you, and ye heard me not; but ye were adversaries to the commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, went up into the hill (country).

⁴⁴ Therefore Amorites went out, that dwelled in the hills, and he came against you, and pursued you, as bees be wont to pursue, and he killed you down from Seir unto Hormah. (And so the Amorites, who lived in the hills, came out, and they went against you, and pursued you, as bees be wont to pursue their prey, and they killed you at Hormah, in Seir, or in Edom.)

⁴⁵ And when ye turned again, and wept before the Lord, he heard not you, neither would assent to your voice; (And when ye returned, and wept before the Lord, he would not listen to you, nor assent to your pleadings;)

⁴⁶ therefore ye sat in Kadesh by much time. (and so ye sat there in Kadesh for a long time.)