Deuteronomy 1
Expanded Bible
Moses Talks to the Israelites
1 ·This is the message [L These are the words] Moses gave to all the people of Israel in the ·desert [wilderness] east of the Jordan River. They were in the ·desert [wilderness] area near Suph, between Paran and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 (The trip from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the Mount Seir road takes eleven days.) 3 ·Forty years after the Israelites had left Egypt [L In the fortieth year], on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses told the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. 4 This was after the Lord had ·defeated [L struck] Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei [Num. 21:21–35].
5 Now ·the Israelites [L they] were ·east of [L beyond] the Jordan River in the land of Moab, and there Moses began to ·explain [make clear] ·what God had commanded [L this law/instruction]. He said:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; C another name for Sinai] and said, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 ·Get ready [L Turn face], and go to the mountain country of the Amorites, and to all the places around there—the ·Jordan Valley [L Arabah], the mountains, the ·western hills [L Shephelah], the ·southern area [L Negev], the seacoast, the land of Canaan, and Lebanon. Go as far as the great river, the Euphrates [Gen. 15:18–21]. 8 See, I have given you this land, so go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord ·promised it [swore] to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants [Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20].”
Moses Appoints Leaders
9 At that time I said, “I am not able to ·take care of you [L lift you up; bear you] by myself. 10 The Lord your God has made you grow in number so that there are as many of you as there are stars in the ·sky [heavens; Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Ex. 32:13]. 11 I pray that the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], will give you a thousand times more people and ·do all the wonderful things [L bless you as] he promised. 12 ·But I cannot take care of [L How can I lift up/bear…?] your problems, your troubles, and your arguments by myself. 13 So choose some men from each tribe—wise men who have ·understanding [discernment] and experience—and I will make them leaders over you.”
14 And you said, “That’s a good thing to do.”
15 So I took the wise and experienced leaders of your tribes, and I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over a thousand people, over a hundred people, over fifty people, and over ten people and made them officers over your tribes. 16 Then I told your ·leaders [judges], “Listen to the arguments between your people. Judge fairly between two ·Israelites [relatives; L brothers] or between an ·Israelite [L relative; brother] and a ·foreigner [resident alien]. 17 When you judge, ·be fair to everyone [do not show favoritism]; don’t act as if one person is more important than another, and don’t be ·afraid of [intimidated by] anyone, because your decision comes from God. Bring the hard cases to me, and I will judge them.” 18 At that time I told you everything you must do [Ex. 18:13–23].
Spies Enter the Land
19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we left ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; 1:6] and went toward the mountain country of the Amorite people. We went through that ·large [vast] and terrible ·desert [wilderness] you saw, and then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to you, “You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites, to the land the Lord our God will give us. 21 Look, here it is! Go up and ·take [possess] it. The Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], told you to do this, so don’t be afraid and don’t ·worry [be dismayed].”
22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and ·tell us [bring back a report] about the way we should go and the cities we will find [Num. 13–14].”
23 ·I thought that was a good idea [L The matter was good/right in my eyes], so I ·chose [took] twelve of your men, one for each tribe. 24 They ·left [L turned face] and went up to the mountains, and when they came to the ·Valley of [Wadi] Eshcol they ·explored [spied on] it. 25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it down to us, ·saying [L and gave us a report, saying], “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
Israel Refuses to Enter
26 But you refused to go. You ·would not obey [rebelled against] the command of the Lord your God, 27 but grumbled in your tents, saying, “The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to give us to the Amorites, who will destroy us. 28 Where can we go now? ·The spies we sent have [L Our relatives/brothers] made ·us afraid [L our hearts melt], because they said, ‘The people there are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are big, with walls up to the ·sky [heavens]. And we saw the Anakites there [Num. 13:28–33]!’”
29 Then I said to you, “Don’t be frightened; don’t be afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God will go ahead of you and fight for you as he did in Egypt; ·you saw him do it [L before your eyes]. 31 And in the ·desert [wilderness] you saw how the Lord your God carried you, like one carries a child [Ps. 131]. And he has brought you safely all the way to this place.”
32 But you still did not trust the Lord your God, even though 33 he had always gone before you to find places for you to camp. In a fire at night and in a cloud during the day, he showed you which way to go.
34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and ·made an oath [swore], saying, 35 “I promised a good land to your ·ancestors [fathers], but none of ·you evil people [this evil generation] will see it. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it [Num. 14:24]. I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on, because he followed the Lord completely [Josh. 15:13–19; Judg. 1:9–15].”
37 Because of you, the Lord was also angry with me and said, “You won’t enter the land either [Num. 20:12], 38 but ·your assistant [L the one who stands before you], Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to take the land for their own.
39 “Your little children that you said would be ·captured [plunder], who do not know right from wrong at this time, will go into the land. I will give the land to them, and they will ·take it for their own [possess it]. 40 But you must turn ·around [L face] and follow the ·desert [wilderness] road toward the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [Ex. 10:19].”
41 Then you said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord, but now we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” Then all of you put on weapons, thinking it would be easy to go into the mountains.
42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell the people, ‘You must not go up there and fight. I will not be with you, and your enemies will defeat you.’”
43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You ·would not obey [rebelled against] the Lord’s command. You were ·proud [presumptuous], so you went on up into the mountains, 44 and the Amorites who lived in those mountains came out and fought you. They ·chased [swarmed over] you like bees and ·defeated [L struck] you from ·Edom [L Seir; C another name for Edom] to Hormah [Num. 14:39–45]. 45 So you came back and cried before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to you; he refused to pay attention to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh a long time.
Deuteronomy 1
Amplified Bible
Israel’s History after the Exodus
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all [a]Israel [while they were still] beyond [that is, on the east side of] the Jordan [River] in the wilderness [across from Jerusalem], in the Arabah [the long, deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea] opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab (place of gold). 2 It is [only] eleven days’ journey from Horeb (Mount Sinai) by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s border; yet Israel [b]wandered in the wilderness for forty years before crossing the border and entering Canaan, the promised land]. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived at Ashtaroth in Edrei. 5 Beyond (east of) the Jordan in the [c]land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,
6 “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough on this mountain. 7 Turn and resume your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland (the Shephelah), in the Negev (South country) and on the coast of the [Mediterranean] Sea, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Look, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.’
9 “I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear the burden of you alone. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and look, today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, add to you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, just as He has promised you! 12 How can I alone bear the weight and pressure and burden of you and your strife (contention) and complaining? 13 Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, experienced, and respected men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as heads (leaders) over you.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and made them leaders over you, commanders of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens, and officers (administrators) for your tribes.
16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the matters between your brothers [your fellow countrymen], and judge righteously and fairly between a man and his brother, or the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is with him. 17 You shall not [d]show partiality in judgment; you shall hear and pay attention to the [cases of the] least [important] as well as the great. You shall not [e]fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you [to judge], you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 I commanded you at that time [regarding] all the things that you should do.
19 “Then we set out from Horeb (Sinai), and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the [f]Amorites, just as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21 Behold, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
22 “Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men [into the land] before us, so that they may explore and search the area for us, and bring back to us word regarding the way we should go, and the cities we should enter.’ 23 The plan pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they reported back to us, and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.’
26 “Yet you were not willing to go up [to take possession of it], but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You murmured and were ill-tempered (discontented) in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us He has brought us from the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers (spies) have made our hearts melt [in fear] and demoralized us by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large, and fortified [all the way up] to heaven. And besides, we saw the [giant-like] sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you Himself, just as He did for you in Egypt before your [very] eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried and protected you, just as a man carries his son, all along the way which you traveled until you arrived at this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word, you did not trust [that is, confidently rely on and believe] the Lord your God, 33 who went before you along the way, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to seek a place for you to make camp and to show you the way in which you should go.
34 “And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying, 35 ‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore (solemnly promised) to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has walked, because he has followed the Lord completely [and remained true to Him].’ 37 The Lord was angry with me also because of you, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter Canaan. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there. Encourage and strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover, your little ones whom you said would become prey, and your sons, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter Canaan, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).’
41 “Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So you [g]equipped every man with weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 But the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight, for I am not among you [because of your rebellion]; otherwise you will be [badly] defeated by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor pay attention to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh; many days you stayed there.
Notas al pie
- Deuteronomy 1:1 In general, sons (children) of Israel or Israel or Israelites refers to all the people (males and females) of the various tribes descended from the twelve sons (Gen 35:23-26) of Jacob (later renamed Israel by God). In verses concerning things such as warfare or circumcision sons of Israel or Israel or Israelites usually refers only to the males. Tribes of ancient people were identified by the name of their founding ancestor. Therefore, this same general rule applies when referring to individual tribal groups, e.g. sons of Reuben, Reuben, Reubenites and so throughout.
- Deuteronomy 1:2 God punished the children of Israel for their lack of faith (Num 14:1-3), their disobedience, and their worship of false gods at Mount Sinai (Ex 32:1-6; Deut 9:12, 16); however, God also used this time to teach the Israelites, through Moses, exactly what was expected of them once they possessed their promised land.
- Deuteronomy 1:5 This area is now part of the modern-day Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In ancient times it was a strip of mountainous land on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. Moab, forefather of the Moabites, was the son of Lot, through his elder daughter (Gen 19:30-38).
- Deuteronomy 1:17 Lit recognize faces.
- Deuteronomy 1:17 Lit fear because of the face of.
- Deuteronomy 1:19 A tribal people descended from Canaan the son of Ham the son of Noah. The Amorites were so prominent that “Amorite” is sometimes used interchangeably with “Canaanite” to refer to all the people living in Canaan.
- Deuteronomy 1:41 Lit girded.
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