1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all the Israelites. [ a ] They were together in the desert on the east side of the Jordan River. This is in the Jordan Valley near Suph. It is between the towns called Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It is a journey of 11 days from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, along the road past Mount Seir.) [ b ] 3 Moses spoke to the Israelites on the first day of the 11th month, in the 40th year of their journey. He told the Israelites the message that the Lord had commanded him to speak. [ c ]
4 This happened after Moses and the Israelites had won against Sihon, king of the Amorites. [ d ] Sihon ruled in Heshbon. They had also won against Og, the king of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth. The Israelites fought against him at Edrei. 5 Moses began to speak the Lord 's message on the east side of the Jordan River, in Moab's country. This is what he said:
6 The Lord our God said to us at Sinai, ‘You have stayed for a long time near this mountain. 7 Now you must continue your journey. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the regions near there. Go to the Jordan Valley and the mountains and the low hills in the west. Go to the Negev in the south, and to the Mediterranean coast. Go to the land of Canaan and to Lebanon, even as far as the great Euphrates river. 8 Look! I have given you all this land. Go there and take it for yourselves. I, the Lord , promised to give this land to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to their descendants.’
9 At that time I, Moses, said this to you: ‘I cannot lead you and help you by myself. It is too difficult for me to do alone. 10 The Lord your God has caused you to become very many people. You are as many as the stars in the sky! 11 I pray that the Lord , your ancestors' God, will cause you to become a thousand times as many people. That is how he has promised to bless you. 12 But I cannot help you with your troubles and arguments all by myself. 13 You must choose some wise men who understand what is right. Choose people that you know, from each of your tribes. Then I will give them authority as your leaders.’
14 You answered me, ‘That is a good idea!’
15 So I chose men that you knew were wise to be the leaders in your tribes. I gave them authority to rule over you. Some were leaders of groups of 1,000 men. Some led groups of 100 men, or 50 men, or ten men. I also chose other officers for each tribe.
16 At that time, I said to your leaders, ‘Listen to the arguments between the Israelites that you lead. Decide what is right. Do that when the argument is between two Israelites. Do the same thing when the argument is between an Israelite and a foreign person who lives among you. 17 When you judge them, do not make any difference between important people and poor people. Listen to all of them in a careful way. Do not be afraid of anyone. God is the one who decides what is right. If it is too difficult for you to decide who is right, bring it to me. I will listen and then I will decide what is right.’
18 So, at that time, I told you about everything that you should do.
19 Then we left Sinai, as the Lord our God had commanded us to do. We travelled through the desert towards the hill country of the Amorites. You saw that the desert was very big and it made you very afraid. Finally, we arrived at Kadesh-Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, ‘You have reached the hill country of the Amorites. The Lord our God is giving this land to us. 21 Look at the land! It is now in front of you! The Lord your God has given it to you. Go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord , your ancestors' God, has told you to do this. So do not be afraid. Be brave!’
22 Then all of you came to me and you said, ‘Let us send some men into the land first, before we all go in. They can explore the land. Then they can bring a report to us. They can tell us the best way for us to go in there. They can tell us about the towns that we will come to.’
23 I thought that this was a good idea. I chose 12 men, one from each of your tribes. 24 They left and went up into the hill country. They came to Eshcol valley and they explored it. 25 They picked some of the fruit that they found there and they brought it back to us. They told us, ‘The land that the Lord our God is giving to us is a very good land.’
26 But you refused to go into the land. You turned against the Lord your God. [ e ] 27 You complained to each other in your tents. You said, ‘The Lord hates us. That is why he brought us out of Egypt. He wanted to give us to the Amorites, so that they would kill us. 28 We do not know what will happen to us now. Our brothers who explored the land have made us afraid. They say, “Those people in Canaan are taller and stronger than we are. Their cities are big and strong. They have walls around them that reach up to the sky. We even saw some men there who are descendants of Anak.” ’
29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be so frightened of those people. 30 The Lord your God will go in front of you. He will fight to help you, as he fought for you in Egypt. You saw him do it. 31 He was also with you in the desert. He helped you when you were weak, as a father carries his son. You saw how he helped you all the way on your journey. He brought you safely here to this place.’
32 But you did not trust the Lord your God to help you. 33 He was the one who went in front of you on your journey. He was there in a fire during the night and in a cloud during the day. He found good places for you to put up your tents. He showed you the way that you should go.
34 When the Lord heard that you were complaining, he was angry. He made this serious promise: 35 ‘You people who are now alive are wicked. None of you will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors. 36 Only Jephunneh's son Caleb will see it. He has obeyed me faithfully. So I will give to him and to his descendants the land that he walked on.’
37 As for me, the Lord became angry with me also, because of you. He said to me, ‘You also will not go into the land. [ f ] 38 But your servant Joshua, the son of Nun, will go in there. You must tell him to be brave. He will lead the Israelites into the land. It will become their land. 39 You thought that enemies would catch your small children. But they are the people who will go into the land. Your children who are still too young to know the difference between good and bad will also go in there. I will give the land to them and it will become their land. 40 But now you must all turn back towards the desert. Travel along the road to the Red Sea.’
41 Then you answered me. You said, ‘Yes, we have done wrong things against the Lord . We will now go and fight those people. We will do what the Lord our God has told us to do.’ So then each one of you picked up his weapons. You thought that it would be easy to go up into the hill country.
42 But the Lord told me, ‘Do not let them go up there to fight. I will not be with you to help you. Your enemies will win against you.’
43 So I told you what the Lord had said, but you would not agree. Instead, you turned against the Lord . You were so proud that you marched up into the hill country. 44 The Amorite people who lived in those hills came out to attack you. You ran away from them, as if they were a crowd of bees. They attacked you as you ran down into the country of Edom, all the way to Hormah.
45 Then you came back to Kadesh-Barnea. You wept to show the Lord that you were very sorry. But he would not listen to your prayers. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh for a long time, until it was time to leave.
1 These are the commands that Moses gave the Israelites while they were in the Jordan Valley, in the desert east of the Jordan River. This was across from Suph, between the desert of Paran and the cities Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 The trip from Mount Horeb through the mountains of Seir to Kadesh Barnea takes only eleven days. 3 But it was 40 years from the time the Israelites left Egypt until the time they came to this place. On the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year, Moses spoke to the people and told them everything the Lord commanded. 4 This was after he defeated Sihon and Og. (Sihon was the king of the Amorites and lived in Heshbon. Og was the king of Bashan and lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.) 5 The Israelites were in Moab on the east side of the Jordan River when Moses began to explain what God had commanded:
6 “At Mount Horeb the Lord our God spoke to us. He said, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Go to the hill country where the Amorites live and to all the neighboring areas in the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western slopes, the Negev, and the seacoast. Go throughout the land of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 Look, I am giving you this land. Go and take it. It is the land that I, the Lord , promised to give to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to them and to their descendants.’
9 “At that time I told you, ‘I can’t take care of you by myself. 10 And now, there are even more of you. The Lord your God has added more and more people, so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord , the God of your ancestors, give you 1000 times more people than you are now! May he bless you as he promised. 12 But I cannot take care of you and solve all your arguments by myself. 13 So choose some men from each tribe, and I will make them leaders over you. Choose wise men with experience who understand people.’
14 “And you said, ‘That is a good thing to do.’
15 “So I took the wise, experienced men you chose from your tribes, and I made them your leaders. In this way I gave you leaders over 1000 people, over 100 people, over 50 people, and over 10 people. I also gave you officers for each of your tribes.
16 “At that time I told these judges, ‘Listen to the arguments between your people. Be fair when you judge each case. It doesn’t matter if the problem is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner. You must judge each case fairly. 17 You must treat everyone the same when you judge. You must listen carefully to everyone—whether they are important or not. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision is from God. But if there is a case too hard for you to judge, bring it to me and I will judge it.’ 18 At that same time I also told you everything you must do.
19 “So we obeyed the Lord our God. We left Mount Horeb and went to the hill country of the Amorites. You remember that big, terrible desert that we walked through. We came as far as Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, ‘You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites. The Lord our God will give us this country. 21 Look, there it is! Go up and take the land for your own. The Lord , the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don’t be afraid or worry about anything.’
22 “But all of you came to me and said, ‘Let’s send some men to look at the land first. They can spy out the land and come back and tell us the way we should go and which cities we will come to.’
23 “I thought that was a good idea. So I chose twelve men from among you, one man from each tribe. 24 Then they left and went up to the hill country. They came to the Valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it back to us. They told us about the land and said, ‘The Lord our God is giving us a good land.’
26 “But you refused to go into the land. You refused to obey the Lord your God. 27 You went to your tents and began to complain. You said, ‘The Lord hates us! He brought us out of the land of Egypt just to let the Amorites destroy us. 28 Where can we go now? The men we sent have frightened us with their report. They said, “The people there are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are big and have walls as high as the sky. And we saw giants [ a ] there!”’
29 “So I said to you, ‘Don’t be upset or afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God is in front, leading you. He will fight for you just as he did in Egypt. 31 You saw what happened in the desert. You saw how the Lord your God carried you like a man carries his child. He brought you safely all the way to this place.’
32 “But you didn’t trust the Lord your God then either. 33 But he was always in front, going ahead to find a place for you to camp. At night, he was in the fire that showed you where to go. And during the day, he was in the cloud.
34 “The Lord heard what you said, and he was angry. He made a vow. He said, 35 ‘Not one of you evil people who are alive now will go into the good land that I promised to your ancestors. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see that land. I will give Caleb the land he walked on, and I will give that land to his descendants, because he did all that I, the Lord , commanded.’
37 “The Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, you cannot enter the land, either. 38 But your helper, Joshua son of Nun, will go into the land. Encourage Joshua, because he will lead the Israelites to take the land for their own. 39 You thought your little children would be taken by your enemies. But those children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will go into the land. I will give it to them. Your children will take the land for their own. 40 But you—you must turn around, take the road to the Red Sea and go back into the desert.’
41 “Then you said, ‘Moses, we sinned against the Lord , but now we will do what the Lord our God commanded us before—we will go and fight.’
“Then each of you put on your weapons. You thought it would be easy to go and take the hill country. 42 But the Lord said to me, ‘Tell the people not to go up there and fight, because I will not be with them. Their enemies will defeat them!’
43 “I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You refused to obey the Lord ’s command. You thought you could use your own power, so you went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived there came out like a swarm of bees and chased you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you came back crying to the Lord for help, but the Lord refused to listen to you. 46 So you stayed at Kadesh for such a long time.
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.
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel ( A ) across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the ( B ) Arabah opposite [ a ] Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from ( C ) Horeb by way of Mount ( D ) Seir to ( E ) Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the ( F ) fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, ( G ) in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him to declare to them, 4 after he had [ b ] ( H ) defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ( I ) Og the king of Bashan, who lived in ( J ) Ashtaroth [ c ] and in Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Law, saying,
6 “The Lord our God ( K ) spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and set out on your journey, and go to ( L ) the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in ( M ) the [ d ] Negev, by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have placed the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord ( N ) swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and their [ e ] descendants after them.’
9 “And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘ ( O ) I am not able to endure you alone. 10 The Lord your God has ( P ) multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May the Lord , the God of your fathers increase you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you, ( Q ) just as He has [ f ] promised you! 12 How can I alone endure the burden and weight of you and your strife? 13 ( R ) Obtain for yourselves men who are wise, discerning, and informed from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And 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 informed men, and [ g ] appointed them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, [ h ] hundreds, [ i ] fifties, and [ j ] tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I ordered your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen and ( S ) judge righteously between a person and his fellow countryman, or the stranger who is with him. 17 ( T ) You are not to [ k ] show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You are ( U ) not to be afraid of any person, for the judgment is God’s. ( V ) The case that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 At that time ( W ) I commanded you all the things that you were to do.
19 “Then we set out from ( X ) Horeb, and went through all that ( Y ) great and terrible wilderness that you saw on the way to the ( Z ) hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord 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 the Lord our God is about to give us. 21 See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, just as the Lord , the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. ( AB ) Do not fear or be dismayed.’
22 “ ( AC ) Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may spy 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 should enter.’ 23 The [ l ] plan pleased me, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24 Then ( AD ) they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. They also brought us back a report and said, ‘The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.’
26 “ ( AE ) Yet you were unwilling to go up; instead you ( AF ) rebelled against the [ m ] command of the Lord your God; 27 and ( AG ) you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw ( AH ) the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 But I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, nor fear them. 30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, will ( AI ) Himself fight for you, [ n ] just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how ( AJ ) the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, on all of the road which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet [ o ] ( AK ) in spite of all this, you did not trust the Lord your God, 33 ( AL ) who goes before you on your way, ( AM ) to seek out a place for you to make camp, in the fire by night to show you the way by which you should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 “Then the Lord 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 I will give the land on which he has set foot, and to his sons, because he has followed the Lord fully.’ 37 ( AQ ) The Lord 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 ) shall himself enter there; encourage him, for ( AT ) he will give it to Israel as an inheritance. 39 Moreover, ( AU ) your little ones who, you said, would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have ( AV ) no knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall take possession of it. 40 But as for you, ( AW ) turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [ p ] Red Sea.’
41 “ ( AX ) Then you replied to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord ; we ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every man of you strapped on his weapons of war, and you viewed it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 ( AY ) But the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be [ q ] defeated [ r ] by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, ( AZ ) you rebelled against the [ s ] command of the Lord , and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 ( BA ) And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you ( BB ) as bees do, and they scattered you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord ; but the ( BC ) Lord did not listen to your voice, nor pay attention to you. 46 So you remained at ( BD ) Kadesh for many days, [ t ] the days that you spent there .
1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan ( A ) —that is, in the Arabah ( B ) —opposite Suph, between Paran ( C ) and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb ( D ) to Kadesh Barnea ( E ) by the Mount Seir ( F ) road.) ( G )
3 In the fortieth year, ( H ) on the first day of the eleventh month, ( I ) Moses proclaimed ( J ) to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon ( K ) king of the Amorites, ( L ) who reigned in Heshbon, ( M ) and at Edrei had defeated Og ( N ) king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. ( O )
5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, ( P ) Moses began to expound this law, saying:
6 The Lord our God said to us ( Q ) at Horeb, ( R ) “You have stayed long enough ( S ) at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; ( T ) go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, ( U ) in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev ( V ) and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites ( W ) and to Lebanon, ( X ) as far as the great river, the Euphrates. ( Y ) 8 See, I have given you this land ( Z ) . ( AA ) Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore ( AB ) he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
9 At that time I said to you, “You are too heavy a burden ( AC ) for me to carry alone. ( AD ) 10 The Lord your God has increased ( AE ) your numbers ( AF ) so that today you are as numerous ( AG ) as the stars in the sky. ( AH ) 11 May the Lord , the God of your ancestors, increase ( AI ) you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised! ( AJ ) 12 But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? ( AK ) 13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men ( AL ) from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.”
14 You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.”
15 So I took ( AM ) the leading men of your tribes, ( AN ) wise and respected men, ( AO ) and appointed them to have authority over you—as commanders ( AP ) of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials. ( AQ ) 16 And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge ( AR ) fairly, ( AS ) whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you. ( AT ) 17 Do not show partiality ( AU ) in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, ( AV ) for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.” ( AW ) 18 And at that time I told you everything you were to do. ( AX )
19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites ( AY ) through all that vast and dreadful wilderness ( AZ ) that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea. ( BA ) 20 Then 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 you the land. Go up and take possession ( BB ) of it as the Lord , the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; ( BC ) do not be discouraged.” ( BD )
22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy ( BE ) out the land ( BF ) for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”
23 The idea seemed good to me; so I selected ( BG ) twelve of you, one man from each tribe. 24 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol ( BH ) and explored it. 25 Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, ( BI ) “It is a good land ( BJ ) that the Lord our God is giving us.” ( BK )
26 But you were unwilling to go up; ( BL ) you rebelled ( BM ) against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled ( BN ) in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller ( BO ) than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites ( BP ) there.’”
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid ( BQ ) of them. ( BR ) 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight ( BS ) for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried ( BT ) you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” ( BU )
32 In spite of this, ( BV ) you did not trust ( BW ) in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, ( BX ) to search ( BY ) out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.
34 When the Lord heard ( BZ ) what you said, he was angry ( CA ) and solemnly swore: ( CB ) 35 “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land ( CC ) I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb ( CD ) son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly. ( CE ) ”
37 Because of you the Lord became angry ( CF ) with me also and said, “You shall not enter ( CG ) it, either. 38 But your assistant, Joshua ( CH ) son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage ( CI ) him, because he will lead ( CJ ) Israel to inherit ( CK ) it. 39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, ( CL ) your children who do not yet know ( CM ) good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. 40 But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea. [ a ] ( CN ) ”
41 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.
42 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.’” ( CO )
43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord ’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees ( CP ) and beat you down from Seir ( CQ ) all the way to Hormah. ( CR ) 45 You came back and wept before the Lord , ( CS ) but he paid no attention ( CT ) to your weeping and turned a deaf ear ( CU ) to you. 46 And so you stayed in Kadesh ( CV ) many days—all the time you spent there.
