Deuteronomy 1
New Living Translation
Introduction to Moses’ First Address
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley[a] near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai[b] to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month,[c] Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. 4 This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth.
5 While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the Lord’s instructions as follows.
The Command to Leave Sinai
6 “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills,[d] the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”
Moses Appoints Leaders from Each Tribe
9 Moses continued, “At that time I told you, ‘You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself. 10 The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars! 11 And may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised! 12 But you are such a heavy load to carry! How can I deal with all your problems and bickering? 13 Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’
14 “Then you responded, ‘Your plan is a good one.’ 15 So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten.
16 “At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions 17 and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’
18 “At that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do.
Scouts Explore the Land
19 “Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea, 20 I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’
22 “But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’
23 “This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. 24 They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’
Israel’s Rebellion against the Lord
26 “But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go in. 27 You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’
29 “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! 30 The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’
32 “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, 33 who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
34 “When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’
37 “And the Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it. 39 I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. 40 As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[e]’
41 “Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.
42 “But the Lord told me to tell you, ‘Do not attack, for I am not with you. If you go ahead on your own, you will be crushed by your enemies.’
43 “This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the Lord’s command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight. 44 But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but he refused to listen. 46 So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.
Footnotes
Deuteronomy 1
Common English Bible
The first heading: Introducing Deuteronomy
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan River, in the desert, on the plain across from Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. (2 It is eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea along the Mount Seir route.) 3 It was in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses spoke to the Israelites precisely what the Lord had commanded him for them. (4 This was after the defeat of Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and Og, Bashan’s king, who ruled in Ashtaroth and[a] Edrei.) 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Instruction. He said the following:
Leaving Mount Horeb
6 At Horeb, the Lord our God told us: You’ve been at this mountain long enough. 7 Get going! Enter the hills of the Amorites and the surrounding areas in the desert, the highlands, the lowlands, the arid southern region, and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites—and the Lebanon range, all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I have laid the land before you. Go and possess the land that I[b] promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants after them.
9 At that same time, I told you: I can’t handle all of you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied your number—you are now as countless as the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord, your ancestors’ God, continue to multiply you—a thousand times more! And may God bless you, just as he promised. 12 But how can I handle all your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself? 13 Now, for each of your tribes, choose wise, discerning, and well-regarded individuals. I will appoint them as your leaders.
14 You answered me: “What you have proposed is a good idea.”
15 So I took leading individuals from your tribes, people who were wise and well-regarded, and I set them up as your leaders. There were commanders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, as well as officials for each of your tribes.
16 At that same time, I commanded your judges: Listen to your fellow tribe members and judge fairly, whether the dispute is between one fellow tribe member or between a tribe member and an immigrant. 17 Don’t show favoritism in a decision. Hear both sides out, whether the person is important or not. Don’t be afraid of anyone because the ruling belongs to God. Any dispute that is too difficult for you to decide, bring to me and I will take care of it.
18 So at that time, I commanded you concerning everything you were to do.
The spy disaster
19 We left Horeb and journeyed through that vast and terrifying desert you saw, on the way to the hills of the Amorites, exactly as the Lord our God commanded us. Then we arrived at Kadesh-barnea. 20 I said to you: You have come to the hills of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to us. 21 Look! The Lord your God has laid out the land before you. Go up and take it, just as the Lord, your ancestors’ God, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be frightened!
22 Then all of you approached me, saying, “Let’s send spies ahead of us—they can check out the land for us. Then they can return with word about the route we should use and bring a report about the cities that we’ll be entering.”
23 This idea seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe. 24 These set out and went up into the hills, going as far as the Cluster[c] ravine. They walked all around that area. 25 They took some of the land’s fruit and then came back down to us. They reported to us: “The land that the Lord our God is giving to us is wonderful!” 26 But you weren’t willing to go up. You rejected the Lord your God’s instruction. 27 You complained in your tents, saying things like, “The Lord hates us! That’s why he brought us out of Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us! 28 What are we doing? Our brothers have made our hearts sick by saying, ‘People far stronger and much taller than we live there, and the cities are huge, with walls sky-high! Worse still, we saw the descendants of the Anakites there!’”
29 But I said to you: Don’t be terrified! Don’t be afraid of them! 30 The Lord your God is going before you. He will fight for you just as he fought for you in Egypt while you watched, 31 and as you saw him do in the desert. Throughout your entire journey, until you reached this very place, the Lord your God has carried you just as a parent carries a child.
32 But you had no faith in the Lord your God about this matter, 33 even though he went ahead of you, scouting places where you should camp, in fire by night, so you could see the road you were taking, and in cloud during the daytime.
34 The Lord heard what you said. He was angry and he swore: 35 Not even one of these people—this wicked generation!—will see the wonderful land that I promised to give to your ancestors. 36 The only exception is Caleb, Jephunneh’s son. He will see it. I will give the land he walked on to him and his children for this reason: he was completely devoted to the Lord.
(37 The Lord was even angry with me because of what you did. “You won’t enter the land either,” God said. 38 “But Nun’s son Joshua, your assistant, will enter it. Strengthen him because he’s the one who will help Israel inherit the land.”)
39 Now as for your toddlers, those you said would be taken in war, and your young children who don’t yet know right and wrong—they will enter the land. I will give it to them. They will possess it! 40 But you all must now turn around. Head back toward the wilderness along the route of the Reed Sea.[d]
41 You replied to me: “We’ve sinned against the Lord! We will go up! We will fight, just as the Lord our God commanded.” Each one of you grabbed your weapons. You thought it would be easy[e] to go up into the hills. 42 But the Lord told me: Tell them: Don’t go up! Don’t fight because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.
43 I reported this to you but you wouldn’t listen. You disobeyed the Lord’s instruction. Hotheadedly, you went up into the hills. 44 And the Amorites who lived in those hills came out to meet you in battle. They chased you like bees give chase! They gave you a beating from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 When you came back, you cried before the Lord, but he wouldn’t respond to your tears or give you a hearing.
46 And so you stayed in Kadesh-barnea for quite some time.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:4 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT lacks and.
- Deuteronomy 1:8 Sam, LXX; MT the Lord
- Deuteronomy 1:24 Heb Eshcol means bunch, a cluster (of grapes); cf Num 13:23-24; 32:9.
- Deuteronomy 1:40 Or Red Sea
- Deuteronomy 1:41 Heb uncertain
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible