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The Book of Deuteronomy 1

1 In this book are speeches that Moses said to all the Israelites. He spoke to them after they had set up their tents east of the Jordan River. They were in the desert plain along the Jordan near a place named Suph. Suph is between Paran on one side of the Jordan River and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other side of the river. 2 It usually takes 11 days to walk from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. People go by way of the hilly area called Edom.

3 Forty years had passed since the Israelites had left Egypt, and it was the first day of the eleventh month. Moses told the Israelite people everything that Yahweh had commanded him to tell them. 4 He did this after they had defeated Sihon and Og. Sihon, the king of the Amor people group, lived in the city of Heshbon. Og, the king of the region of Bashan, lived in the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei.

5 The people were in Moab, on the east side of the Jordan River. There, Moses explained to them God’s instructions, saying:

6 “Yahweh our God said to our ancestors at Mount Sinai, ‘You have stayed for a very long time at the base of this mountain. 7 Now you must continue traveling. Go to the hilly area where the Amor people group lives and go to the nearby areas. These areas include the plain along the Jordan, the hilly area, the smaller hills in the west, the wilderness in the south, the Mediterranean seacoast, the land of Canaan, the Lebanon mountains, and northeast to the great Euphrates River. 8 Be assured that I will give that land to you. I, Yahweh, promised the land to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised that I would give it to them and to their descendants. So go and occupy it.’

9 I said to your families when we were at Mount Sinai, ‘I am not able to govern all of you by myself. 10 Yahweh our God has caused us Israelites to become numerous. Today we are as numerous as the stars in the sky. 11 I pray that Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors worshiped, will cause us to become a great many times more numerous than we are now. I pray that he will bless us just as he promised to do. 12 But I cannot solve all of your problems by myself. 13 So choose some men from your tribes who are wise and who have good sense and whom people respect. Then I will assign them to be your leaders.’

14 Your parents replied, ‘We agree with what you have suggested.’

15 So I took the wise men, those whom people respected and whom your families chose from your tribes, and I appointed them to be your leaders. I appointed some to lead groups of 1, 000 people, some to lead groups of 100 people, some to lead groups of 50 people, and some to lead groups of 10 people. I also appointed other officers from throughout your tribes. 16 Then, I instructed your leaders, ‘Listen when your people are quarreling. Consider each case fairly, including cases where Israelites quarrel with each other. Also consider cases where an Israelite quarrels with someone from another land who lives among you. 17 You must not favor one person more than another. You must treat poor people and important people equally. You must not worry about what anyone will think, because you will decide matters as God wants you to decide them. If you are not sure what to decide when people are quarreling, tell me, and I will decide.’ 18 At that time I also told you other things that you should do.

19 Then, just as Yahweh our God told us to do, we left Mount Sinai. We went through a huge and dangerous wilderness. The wilderness was on the road to the hilly area where the Amor people group lives. We arrived at Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to your parents, ‘You have now come to the hilly area where the Amor people group lives. This is part of the area that Yahweh our God is giving to us. 21 Be assured that Yahweh our God is giving this land to us. So go and occupy it as he commanded. Yahweh is the God whom your ancestors worshiped. Do not be at all afraid.’

22 But your fathers all came to me and said, ‘Before we go, we should first send some men to explore the land. Then, they can return and tell us which will be the best road to go there and what kind of towns are there.’

23 I thought that what they had planned was good, so I chose 12 men, one man from each tribe. 24 They went into the hilly area as far as the Eshkol Valley, and they explored the area. 25 They picked some of the fruit that they found there and brought it to us. They reported that the land that Yahweh our God was giving to us was very good.

26 But your parents refused to go and conquer that land. They rebelled against what Yahweh our God had commanded them to do. 27 Your parents stayed in their tents and complained. They said, ‘Yahweh hates us, so he has brought us here from Egypt to allow the Amor people group to destroy us. 28 We do not want to go there. The men whom we sent there have caused us to become very afraid. They have told us that the people there are stronger and bigger than we are. They said that there are very high walls around their towns. They also said that they saw giants there that are descendants of Anak.’

29 Then I said to your fathers, ‘Do not be even a little bit afraid of those people! 30 Yahweh our God will protect you. He will fight for you just as you saw him do for you in Egypt 31 and in the wilderness. You saw how he brought you safely here, just like a man holds and protects his son.’

32 Your parents would not trust Yahweh our God, even though I reminded them of what Yahweh had done. 33 He always went ahead of them while they traveled in the desert. He showed them places to set up their tents. He directed them with the fire during the night and with the cloud during the day.

34 Yahweh heard your parents complaining, and he became angry. He solemnly declared, 35-36 35-36‘Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter the land. He has obeyed me completely. So I will give to him and to his descendants some of the land that he explored. None of the rest of these evil people will ever see that good land that I solemnly promised to give to your ancestors.’

37 But because of what your fathers did, Yahweh was also angry with me. He said to me, ‘You also will not enter that land. 38 Joshua son of Nun, who is your helper, will enter it. Support him, because he will enable the Israelite people to occupy that land.’

39 Yahweh continued to declare, ‘You said that your enemies would capture your children, but this did not happen. Your children are very young, so they do not yet know what is good and what is evil. However, they are the ones who will enter that land. I will give them the land, and they will occupy it. 40 As for you, turn around and go back into the desert, toward the Red Sea.’

41 Then your fathers replied, ‘We have sinned by disobeying Yahweh. So we will go and attack the people who live in that land, just as Yahweh our God has told us to do.’ Then each of their men equipped himself with weapons. They thought that it would be easy to invade the hill country.

42 But Yahweh said to me, ‘Tell them not to go there and attack those people, because I will not help them. If they go, their enemy will certainly defeat them.’

43 So I said that to your fathers, but they did not obey what I said. They again rebelled against what Yahweh commanded them to do. Their soldiers proudly marched up into that hilly area. 44 Then the men of the Amor people group who lived in that region came out of their towns. They attacked those soldiers. They chased our soldiers like a swarm of bees would chase a person. The Amor people pursued your ancestors’ soldiers south from the Edom area and defeated them at the city of Hormah. 45 So your fathers went back to Kadesh Barnea and cried out to request Yahweh to help them, but he did not pay any attention to them. 46 So we stayed there at Kadesh Barnea for a long time.

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