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Deuteronomy 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Events at Horeb Recalled

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan—in the wilderness, on the plain opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 (By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea from Horeb.) 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the Lord had commanded him to speak to them.(A) 4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth in Edrei.(B) 5 Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law as follows:

6 “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.(C) 7 Resume your journey, and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions—the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negeb,[a] and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.’(D)

Appointment of Tribal Leaders

9 “At that time I said to you, ‘I am unable by myself to bear you.(E) 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven.(F) 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised you!(G) 12 But how can I bear the heavy burden of your disputes all by myself? 13 Choose for each of your tribes individuals who are wise, discerning, and reputable, and I will make them your leaders.’(H) 14 You answered me, ‘The plan you have proposed is a good one.’ 15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and reputable individuals, and installed them as leaders over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officials, throughout your tribes.(I) 16 I charged your judges at that time: ‘Give the members of your community a fair hearing and judge rightly between one person and another, whether kin or resident alien.(J) 17 You must not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. Any case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’(K) 18 So I charged you at that time with all the things that you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “Then, just as the Lord our God had ordered us, we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, until we reached Kadesh-barnea.(L) 20 I said to you, ‘You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has given the land to you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you; do not fear or be dismayed.’(M)

22 “All of you came to me and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us to explore the land for us and bring back a report to us regarding the route by which we should go up and the cities we will come to.’ 23 The plan seemed good to me, and I selected twelve of you, one from each tribe.(N) 24 They set out and went up into the hill country, and when they reached the Wadi Eshcol they spied it out(O) 25 and gathered some of the land’s produce, which they brought down to us. They brought back a report to us and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’(P)

26 “But you were unwilling to go up. You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God;(Q) 27 you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘It is because the Lord hates us that he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.(R) 28 Where are we headed? Our kindred have made our hearts melt by reporting, “The people are stronger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven! We actually saw there the offspring of the Anakim!” ’(S) 29 I said to you, ‘Have no dread or fear of them. 30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, is the one who will fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your very eyes(T) 31 and in the wilderness, where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as one carries a child, all the way that you traveled until you reached this place.(U) 32 But in spite of this, you have no trust in the Lord your God,(V) 33 who goes before you on the way to seek out a place for you to camp, in fire by night, and in the cloud by day, to show you the route you should take.’(W)

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “When the Lord heard your words, he was wrathful and swore,(X) 35 ‘Not one of these—not one of this evil generation—shall see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his descendants I will give the land on which he set foot, because of his complete fidelity to the Lord.’ 37 Even with me the Lord was angry on your account, saying, ‘You also shall not enter there.(Y) 38 Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, shall enter there; encourage him, for he is the one who will secure Israel’s possession of it.(Z) 39 And as for your little ones who you thought would become plunder, your children who today do not yet know right from wrong, they shall enter there; to them I will give it, and they shall take possession of it.(AA) 40 But as for you, journey back into the wilderness, in the direction of the Red Sea.’[b](AB)

41 “You answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We are ready to go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ So all of you strapped on your battle gear and thought it easy to go up into the hill country.(AC) 42 The Lord said to me, ‘Say to them: “Do not go up, and do not fight, for I am not in the midst of you; otherwise you will be defeated by your enemies.” ’(AD) 43 Although I told you, you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country.(AE) 44 The Amorites who lived in that hill country then came out against you and chased you as bees do. They beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.(AF) 45 When you returned and wept before the Lord, the Lord would neither heed your voice nor pay you any attention.

The Desert Years

46 “After you had stayed at Kadesh as many days as you did,

Footnotes

  1. 1.7 Q ms Sam Vg: MT and the Negeb
  2. 1.40 Or Sea of Reeds
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Deuteronomy 1
Lexham English Bible

Preamble

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel on the other side of[a] the Jordan in the desert,[b] in the desert plateau[c] opposite Suph, between Paran and between Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 It is a journey of eleven days[d] from Herob by the way of Mount Seir[e] up to Kadesh Barnea.

3 And it was[f] in the fortieth year, on the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the Israelites[g] according to all that Yahweh had instructed him to speak to them. 4 This happened after defeating[h] Sihon king of the Amorites, who was reigning[i] in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who was reigning[j] in Ashtaroth in Edrei. 5 On the other side of [k] the Jordan in the land of Moab Moses began to explain this law,[l] saying:[m]

Historical Prologue

6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying,[n] ‘You have stayed long enough[o] at this mountain. 7 Turn now and move on,[p] and go into the hill of the Amorites[q] and to all of the neighboring regions[r] in the Jordan Valley[s] in the hill country and in the Negev and in the coastal area along the sea, into the land of the Canaanites[t] and into the Lebanon, as far as the great river Euphrates. 8 Look, I have set the land before you;[u] go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,[v] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to them and to their offspring after them.’

9 “And I spoke to them at that time, saying,[w] ‘I am not able to bear you alone. 10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and look; you are today as the stars of the heaven in number.[x] 11 Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[y] may he add to you as you are now a thousand times, and may he bless you just as he promised you.[z] 12 How can I bear you by myself,[aa] your burden and your load and your strife? 13 Choose for yourselves wise and discerning and knowledgeable men[ab] for each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’

14 “And you answered me, and you said, ‘The thing you have said to do is good.’ 15 And so I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and then I appointed them as leaders over you as commanders of groups of thousands and commanders of groups of hundreds and commanders of groups of fifties and commanders of groups of tens as officials for your tribes. 16 And at that time I instructed your judges, saying, ‘hear out your fellow men,[ac] and then judge fairly[ad] between a man and between his brother and between his opponent who is a resident alien.[ae] 17 You must not be partial[af] in your judgment; [ag] hear out the small person as also the great person; do not be intimidated by any person,[ah] because the judgment is God’s; and the case that is too difficult[ai] for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it out.’ 18 And so I instructed you at that time concerning all of the things that you should do.

19 “Then we set out from Horeb, and we went through the whole of that great and terrible desert that you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites[aj] as Yahweh our God had commanded us, and so we came up to Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to you, ‘You have reached[ak] the hill country of the Amorites[al] that Yahweh our God is giving to us. 21 See, Yahweh your God has set before you the land; go up and possess it as Yahweh the God of your ancestors[am] said to you; do not fear and do not be dismayed.’

22 “Then all of you approached me, and you said, ‘Let us send men before us,[an] and let them explore the land for us, and let them bring back a report[ao] to us concerning the way that we should take[ap] and concerning the cities that we shall come to.’ 23 The plan was good in my opinion,[aq] and so I took from among you twelve men, one from each tribe.[ar] 24 And they set out[as] and went up into the hill country,[at] and they went up to the wadi[au] of Eschol, and they spied out the land. 25 They took in their hands[av] some of the fruit[aw] of the land, and they brought it down to us, and they brought to us back a report,[ax] and they said, ‘The land that Yahweh our God is giving to us is good.’ 26 But you were not willing to go up, and you rebelled against the command[ay] of Yahweh your God. 27 And you grumbled in your tents, and you said, ‘Because of the hatred of Yahweh toward us he has brought us out from the land of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Amorites[az] to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt,[ba] saying,[bb] “The people are greater[bc] and taller than we are,[bd] and there are great fortified cities reaching up to heaven, and we saw the sons of the Anakites living there.”’

29 “And so I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, and do not fear them. 30 Yahweh your God, who is going before you,[be] will himself[bf] fight for you, just as[bg] he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and just as he did in the wilderness[bh] when[bi] you saw that[bj] Yahweh your God carried you, just as someone[bk] carries his son, all along the way that you traveled until you reached[bl] this place.’ 32 But through all of this you did not trust in Yahweh your God, 33 who goes[bm] before you[bn] on your[bo] way, seeking a place for your encampment, in fire at night and in a cloud by day, to show you the way that you should go.[bp]

34 “Then Yahweh heard the sound of your words, and he was angry, and he swore, saying,[bq] 35 ‘No one of these men[br] of this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors,[bs] 36 except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; he himself[bt] shall see it, and to him I will give the land upon which he has trodden and to his sons[bu] because he followed Yahweh unreservedly.’[bv] 37 Even with me Yahweh was angry because of you, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua, the son of Nun, your assistant,[bw] will go there; encourage him because he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And your little children, who you thought shall become plunder, and your sons, who do not today know good or bad, shall themselves[bx] go there, and I will give it to them, and they shall take possession of it. 40 But you turn and set out in the direction of the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.’[by]

41 “You replied and said to me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh, and now we will go up and fight according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us’; and so each man fastened on his battle gear,[bz] and you regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 So Yahweh said to me, ‘Say to them, “You shall not go up, and you shall not fight because I am not in your midst; you will be defeated before[ca] your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you did not listen; you rebelled against the command of Yahweh;[cb] you behaved presumptuously, and you went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites living in the hill country went out to oppose you[cc] and chased you as a swarm of wild honey bees do; and so they beat[cd] you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 So you returned and wept before Yahweh;[ce] but Yahweh did not listen to your voice and did not pay any attention to you. 46 You stayed in Kadesh many days; such were the days that you stayed there.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 1:1 Literally “in the beyond of”
  2. Deuteronomy 1:1 Or “the wilderness”
  3. Deuteronomy 1:1 Or “desert plain”; others render this as a named location, “Arabah”
  4. Deuteronomy 1:2 Literally “one and ten days”
  5. Deuteronomy 1:2 Literally “by the mountain of Seir”
  6. Deuteronomy 1:3 Literally “and it happened” or “and then”
  7. Deuteronomy 1:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  8. Deuteronomy 1:4 Literally “after he had struck down”
  9. Deuteronomy 1:4 Or “dwelling,” and in this context “reigning”
  10. Deuteronomy 1:4 Or “dwelling,” and in this context “reigning”
  11. Deuteronomy 1:5 Literally “in the beyond of”
  12. Deuteronomy 1:5 Hebrew torah
  13. Deuteronomy 1:5 Literally “to say”
  14. Deuteronomy 1:6 Literally “to say”
  15. Deuteronomy 1:6 Literally “much time”
  16. Deuteronomy 1:7 Literally “journey on with respect to yourselves” or “move yourselves out”
  17. Deuteronomy 1:7 Hebrew “Amorite”
  18. Deuteronomy 1:7 Or “peoples”
  19. Deuteronomy 1:7 Literally “Arabah,” arid stretches of land.
  20. Deuteronomy 1:7 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  21. Deuteronomy 1:8 Literally “before your face”
  22. Deuteronomy 1:8 Or “fathers”
  23. Deuteronomy 1:9 Literally “to say”
  24. Deuteronomy 1:10 Literally “with respect to multitude/abundance”
  25. Deuteronomy 1:11 Or “fathers”
  26. Deuteronomy 1:11 Literally “spoke to you”
  27. Deuteronomy 1:12 Literally “to me alone”
  28. Deuteronomy 1:13 Literally “men wise and discerning and knowledgeable”
  29. Deuteronomy 1:16 Literally “hear between your brothers,” with the idea of listening carefully in this context
  30. Deuteronomy 1:16 Or “righteously”
  31. Deuteronomy 1:16 Literally “between his resident alien/non-Israelite who dwells temporarily among Israel”
  32. Deuteronomy 1:17 Literally “recognize faces”
  33. Deuteronomy 1:17 Literally “in the process of rendering a judgment”
  34. Deuteronomy 1:17 Literally “do not fear before the faces of any man”
  35. Deuteronomy 1:17 Or “hard”
  36. Deuteronomy 1:19 Hebrew “Amorite”
  37. Deuteronomy 1:20 Literally “You have come up to”
  38. Deuteronomy 1:20 Hebrew “Amorite”
  39. Deuteronomy 1:21 Or “fathers”
  40. Deuteronomy 1:22 Literally “before our faces” or “ahead of us”
  41. Deuteronomy 1:22 Literally “a word”
  42. Deuteronomy 1:22 Literally “we should go up by it”
  43. Deuteronomy 1:23 Literally “in my eyes”
  44. Deuteronomy 1:23 Literally “man one from the tribe”
  45. Deuteronomy 1:24 Literally “turned”
  46. Deuteronomy 1:24 Literally “went up toward the hill country mountain”
  47. Deuteronomy 1:24 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  48. Deuteronomy 1:25 Hebrew “hand”
  49. Deuteronomy 1:25 Literally “from the fruit”
  50. Deuteronomy 1:25 Literally “a word”
  51. Deuteronomy 1:26 Literally “mouth”
  52. Deuteronomy 1:27 Hebrew “Amorite”
  53. Deuteronomy 1:28 Literally “caused to melt our hearts”
  54. Deuteronomy 1:28 Literally “to say”
  55. Deuteronomy 1:28 Or “bigger”
  56. Deuteronomy 1:28 Hebrew “than us”
  57. Deuteronomy 1:30 Literally “to your faces”
  58. Deuteronomy 1:30 The Hebrew pronoun indicates emphasis
  59. Deuteronomy 1:30 Literally “like all that”
  60. Deuteronomy 1:31 Or “desert”
  61. Deuteronomy 1:31 Or “where”
  62. Deuteronomy 1:31 Or “how”
  63. Deuteronomy 1:31 Or “a man”
  64. Deuteronomy 1:31 Literally “you came”
  65. Deuteronomy 1:33 Literally “is the one going”
  66. Deuteronomy 1:33 Literally “before your faces”
  67. Deuteronomy 1:33 Hebrew “the”
  68. Deuteronomy 1:33 Literally “you should go in it”
  69. Deuteronomy 1:34 Literally “to say”
  70. Deuteronomy 1:35 The beginning of an oath in Hebrew; the text emphatically denies anyone of that evil generation the privilege of seeing the promised land
  71. Deuteronomy 1:35 Or “fathers”
  72. Deuteronomy 1:36 Emphatic use of the pronoun
  73. Deuteronomy 1:36 Or “descendants”
  74. Deuteronomy 1:36 Literally “he filled his hands after Yahweh”
  75. Deuteronomy 1:38 Literally “the one standing before you”
  76. Deuteronomy 1:39 The Hebrew pronoun is used for emphasis
  77. Deuteronomy 1:40 Literally “sea of reeds”
  78. Deuteronomy 1:41 Literally “his vessels of battle”
  79. Deuteronomy 1:42 Literally “in the faces of your enemies”
  80. Deuteronomy 1:43 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
  81. Deuteronomy 1:44 Literally “to meet you”
  82. Deuteronomy 1:44 Literally “cut”
  83. Deuteronomy 1:45 Literally “before the faces of Yahweh”
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Deuteronomy 2
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