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The Command to Leave Horeb
These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.
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In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.
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The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
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See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
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The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
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May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!
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You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.”
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And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.
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Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.”
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Spies Sent Out
Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.
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Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.
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See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
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Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
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Rebellion Against the Lord
But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.
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Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”
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Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.
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The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,
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and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
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In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God,
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“No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,
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Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either.
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But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.
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And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.
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Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.
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But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’”
