Deuteronomy 1
Legacy Standard Bible
Israel from Seir to Kadesh-barnea
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel (A)across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the (B)Arabah opposite [a]Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from (C)Horeb by the way of Mount (D)Seir to (E)Kadesh-barnea. 3 Now it happened, in the (F)fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, (G)according to all that [b]Yahweh had commanded him to give to them, 4 after he had (H)struck down Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and (I)Og the king of Bashan, who lived in (J)Ashtaroth [c]and Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,
6 “Yahweh our God (K)spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have [d]stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and set out, and go to (L)the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the [e]Shephelah and in (M)the [f]Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have given over the land before you; go in and possess the land which Yahweh (N)swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and to their seed after them.’
9 “And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘(O)I am not able to bear the burden of you alone. 10 Yahweh your God has (P)multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May Yahweh, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, (Q)just as He has [g]promised you! 12 How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife? 13 [h](R)Choose wise and understanding and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 Then you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and gave them as heads over you, leaders of thousands and [i]of hundreds, [j]of fifties and [k]of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and (S)judge righteously between a man and his brother or the sojourner who is with him. 17 (T)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall (U)not fear [l]man, for the judgment is God’s. (V)The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 (W)And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
19 “Then we set out from (X)Horeb and went through all that (Y)great and fearsome wilderness which you saw on the way to the (Z)hill country of the Amorites, just as Yahweh our God had commanded us; and we came to (AA)Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which Yahweh our God is about to give us. 21 See, Yahweh your God has given over the land before you; go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. (AB)Do not fear or be dismayed.’
22 “(AC)Then all of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ 23 And the thing was good in my sight, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24 (AD)Then 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 brought word back to us and said, ‘It is a good land which Yahweh our God is about to give us.’
26 “(AE)Yet you were not willing to go up, but (AF)rebelled against the [m]command of Yahweh your God; 27 and (AG)you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because Yahweh hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And moreover, we saw (AH)the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread, nor fear them. 30 Yahweh your God, who goes before you, will (AI)Himself fight on your behalf, [n]just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how (AJ)Yahweh your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 But [o](AK)for all this, you did not believe Yahweh your God, 33 (AL)who goes before you on your way, (AM)to spy out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.
34 “Then Yahweh heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and (AN)swore an oath, saying, 35 ‘(AO)Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and (AP)to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed Yahweh fully.’ 37 (AQ)Yahweh was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘(AR)Not even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, (AS)he shall enter there; strengthen him, for (AT)he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover, (AU)your little ones who you said would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have (AV)no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, (AW)turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the [p]Red Sea.’
41 “(AX)Then you said to me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh; we will indeed go up and fight, just as Yahweh our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 (AY)And Yahweh said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight—for I am not among you—so that you are not [q]defeated before your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead (AZ)you rebelled against the [r]command of Yahweh and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 (BA)And the Amorites who [s]lived in that hill country came out to meet you and pursued you (BB)as bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before Yahweh; but (BC)Yahweh did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46 So you remained in (BD)Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained there.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:1 Possibly the Red Sea
- Deuteronomy 1:3 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Deuteronomy 1:4 As in ancient versions; M.T. omits and
- Deuteronomy 1:6 Lit dwelt
- Deuteronomy 1:7 Or lowland
- Deuteronomy 1:7 South country
- Deuteronomy 1:11 Lit spoken to
- Deuteronomy 1:13 Lit Give for yourselves
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit leaders of
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit leaders of
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit leaders of
- Deuteronomy 1:17 Lit because of man
- Deuteronomy 1:26 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 1:30 Lit according to all that
- Deuteronomy 1:32 Lit in this matter
- Deuteronomy 1:40 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit smitten
- Deuteronomy 1:43 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 1:44 Lit dwelt
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,
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.