1These 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.)
3And 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;
4After 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:
5On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab,
began Moses to declare this law, saying,
6The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb,
saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
7Turn 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.
8Behold, 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.
9And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I
am not able to bear you myself alone:
10The 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!)
12How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance,
and your burden, and your strife?
13Take you wise men, and understanding, and
known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers
over you.
14And ye answered me, and said, The thing
which thou hast spoken is good for
us to do.
15So 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.
16And 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.
17Ye 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.
18And I commanded you at that time all the
things which ye should do.
19And 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.
20And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the
mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God
doth give unto us.
21Behold, 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.
22And 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.
23And the saying pleased me well: and I took
twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
24And they turned and went up into the
mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and
searched it out.
25And 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.
26Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but
rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your
God:
27And 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.
28Whither 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.
29Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be
afraid of them.
30The 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;
31And 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.
32Yet in this thing ye did not believe the
LORD your God,
33Who 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.
34And the LORD heard the voice of your words,
and was wroth, and sware, saying,
35Surely there shall not one of these men of
this evil generation see that good land, which I
sware to give unto your fathers,
36Save 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.
37Also the LORD was angry with me for your
sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38But Joshua
the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall
go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause
Israel to inherit it.
39Moreover 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.
40But as
for you, turn you, and take your journey into
the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41Then 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.
42And 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.
43So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear,
but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD,
and went presumptuously up into the hill.
44And 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.
45And ye returned and wept before the LORD;
but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor
give ear unto you.
46So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according
unto the days that ye abode there.