Deuteronomy 1
New King James Version
The Previous Command to Enter Canaan
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel (A)on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the [a]plain opposite [b]Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir (B)to Kadesh Barnea. 3 Now it came to pass (C)in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them, 4 (D)after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth (E)in[c] Edrei.
5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God spoke to us (F)in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long (G)enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the [d]plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord [e]swore to your fathers—to (H)Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’
Tribal Leaders Appointed(I)
9 “And (J)I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I [f]alone am not able to bear you. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, (K)and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. 11 (L)May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you (M)as He has promised you! 12 (N)How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? 13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them [g]heads over you.’ 14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ 15 So I took (O)the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and [h]made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and (P)judge righteously between a man and his (Q)brother or the stranger who is with him. 17 (R)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for (S)the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, (T)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land(U)
19 “So we departed from Horeb, (V)and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then (W)we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; (X)do not fear or be discouraged.’
22 “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’
23 “The plan pleased me well; so (Y)I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 (Z)And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a (AA)good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
26 (AB)“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; 27 and you (AC)complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord (AD)hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have [i]discouraged our hearts, saying, (AE)“The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the (AF)Anakim there.” ’
29 “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, (AG)or afraid of them. 30 (AH)The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a (AI)man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet, for all that, (AJ)you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 (AK)who went in the way before you (AL)to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.
The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion(AM)
34 “And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, (AN)and took an oath, saying, 35 (AO)‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I [j]swore to give to your fathers, 36 (AP)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because (AQ)he [k]wholly followed the Lord.’ 37 (AR)The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there. 38 (AS)Joshua the son of Nun, (AT)who stands before you, he shall go in there. (AU)Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 (AV)‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who (AW)you say will be victims, who today (AX)have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 (AY)But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’
41 “Then you answered and said to me, (AZ)‘We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.
42 “And the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them, (BA)“Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’ 43 So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but (BB)rebelled against the command of the Lord, and (BC)presumptuously[l] went up into the mountain. 44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you (BD)as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
46 (BE)“So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:1 Heb. arabah
- Deuteronomy 1:1 One LXX ms., Tg., Vg. Red Sea
- Deuteronomy 1:4 LXX, Syr., Vg. and; cf. Josh. 12:4
- Deuteronomy 1:7 Heb. arabah
- Deuteronomy 1:8 promised
- Deuteronomy 1:9 am not able to bear you by myself
- Deuteronomy 1:13 rulers
- Deuteronomy 1:15 appointed
- Deuteronomy 1:28 Lit. melted
- Deuteronomy 1:35 promised
- Deuteronomy 1:36 fully
- Deuteronomy 1:43 willfully
Deuteronomy 1
Evangelical Heritage Version
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the area beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab on the other.
2 (It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)
3 In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel everything that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and he had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.[a] 5 In the area east of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses took on the task of explaining clearly this law[b] as follows. This is what he said:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb. He said, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Turn in the other direction, start traveling, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the people living in the Arabah,[c] in the hill country,[d] in the Shephelah,[e] and in the Negev,[f] and in the coastland by the sea (the land of the Canaanites) and the Lebanon range, up to the Great River (the River Euphrates). 8 Look now, I have given you the land that is ahead of you. Go and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promising to give it to them and to their descendants after them.”
9 So I said to you at that time, “I am not able to carry you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has increased your number, and here you are today, as numerous as the stars in the heavens. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, add to you a thousand times as many as you are now, and may he bless you, just as he promised you. 12 But how can I manage by myself to carry the burden that you have become and the load that you are—especially your disputes? 13 Provide for yourselves, tribe by tribe, men who are wise and perceptive and with known ability, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”
14 Then you answered me, “What you propose to do is good.” 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, men who were wise and of known ability, and I appointed them as heads over you, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and commanders of fifties and commanders of tens, as well as officers for your tribes.
16 I gave these orders to your judges at that time: “Listen to disputes among your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother Israelite, as well as with the alien who resides with him. 17 Do not show partiality in judgment. Provide a hearing for the small and the great alike. Do not be motivated by fear of any person, because judgment belongs to God. Any case that is too difficult for you, bring it before me and I will hear it.” 18 So I gave you orders at that time about everything that you should do.
19 Then we journeyed from Horeb, and we walked through that whole vast and terrifying wilderness that you saw on the road to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us to do. When we came to Kadesh Barnea, 20 I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look now, the Lord your God has given you the land ahead of you. Go up, take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has said to you. Do not be afraid and do not be overwhelmed.”
22 Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send out some of our men so that they can scout the land for us and bring us a report about the route that we should take and the cities that we will reach.”
23 The plan seemed good to me, so I selected from you twelve men, one man from each tribe. 24 They set out and went up to the hill country and came to the area of the Valley of Eshcol and spied on it. 25 They took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it back to us and brought us a report that said, “The land that the Lord our God is giving us is good.”
26 Still you were not willing to go up, and you rebelled against the order of the Lord your God. 27 You complained in your tents and said, “Because the Lord hates us, he brought us out of the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us. 28 Where are we going? Our brothers have made our hearts melt by saying, ‘People there are stronger and taller than we are! There are large cities with fortified walls up to the skies! Also, we have seen the descendants of Anak there!’”
29 So I said to you, “Do not be overwhelmed and do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you, exactly as he did for you in Egypt, right before your very eyes, 31 and just as he did in the wilderness, where you saw that the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son, on the entire way that you walked until you came to this place.” 32 Yet even with this, you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on the journey to search out a place for you to camp. He showed you the way that you should travel, by fire during the night and by a cloud during the day.
34 When the Lord heard the tone of your words, he was angry, and he swore an oath: 35 “Not one of these people from this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give the land on which he walked to him and his children, because he has fully followed the Lord.” 37 The Lord was angry with me too because of you. He said, “You also will not enter there. 38 Joshua son of Nun, who is standing before you, will enter there. Strengthen him, because he will lead Israel to possess it. 39 Your toddlers, who you said would become plunder of war, and your children, who today do not yet know good and evil, will enter there. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. 40 But you, turn around and travel into the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”[g]
41 Then you answered me, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us to do.” So each man among you strapped on his weapons of war, and you thought it would be easy to go up to the hill country.
42 But the Lord instructed me: “Say to them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be among you to keep you from being struck down by your enemies.’” 43 So I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You rebelled against the command of the Lord and acted presumptuously by going up to the hill country anyway. 44 Then the Amorites living in the hill country went out to meet you. They pursued you like bees, and they struck you down in Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and you cried out before the Lord, but the Lord did not pay attention to the noise you made. He did not listen to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days—those well-known days that you stayed there.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:4 Or and in Edrei. The word and is present in the ancient versions and in Joshua 12:4.
- Deuteronomy 1:5 The Hebrew word torah, traditionally translated law, includes other types of instruction besides laws.
- Deuteronomy 1:7 The Arabah is the Great Rift of the Jordan Valley.
- Deuteronomy 1:7 The Hebrew is literally the mountain. The translation retains the traditional rendering hill country for the highland regions of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 1:7 Shephelah, which means “pressed down region,” is the name for the foothills west of the hill country of Judah.
- Deuteronomy 1:7 The Negev is the arid region in the southern part of Judah.
- Deuteronomy 1:40 Hebrew Sea of Reeds. In this case it refers to the Gulf of Aqaba.
Deuteronomy 1
King James Version
1 These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)
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.
19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.
20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us.
21 Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God:
27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30 The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God,
33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
34 And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers.
36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord.
37 Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
42 And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them. Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.