³ And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them; ⁴ after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: ⁵ on this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, ⁶ The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: ⁷ turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸ Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

⁹ And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: ¹⁰ the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. ¹¹ (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) ¹² How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? ¹³  Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. ¹⁴ And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. ¹⁵ So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. ¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. ¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause 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.