Deuteronomy 1:9-18

International Standard Version

Moses Reviews the Selected Officials

⁹ “I also told you at that time that I won’t be able to sustain you on my own. ¹⁰ The Lord your God greatly multiplied your numbers, and today you are like the stars in the sky. ¹¹ May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times more, and may he bless you, as he promised you. ¹² How can I bear the burden of you and your bickering all by myself? ¹³ Choose for yourselves wise and discerning men, known to your tribes, and appoint them as your leaders. ¹⁴ You answered by saying that this plan is a good thing. ¹⁵ So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men, and I appointed them over you—commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ¹⁶ I charged your judges at that time, ‘When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners. ¹⁷ When you hold a hearing, don’t be partial^[a] in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.’ ¹⁸ I charged you at that time that you must do all of these things.”