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.
