1These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2(It takes eleven days to get from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.) 3And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Jehovah had given him commandment concerning them, 4after he had struck Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei. 5On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Law, saying, 6Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. 7Turn and set out, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which Jehovah has sworn to your fathers; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to give to them and their seed after them. 9And I spoke to you at that time, saying: I alone am not able to bear you. 10Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of the heavens in multitude. 11May Jehovah the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as He has promised you! 12How can I alone bear your burdens and your loads and your disputes? 13Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. 14And you answered me and said, The thing which you have spoken to us is good to do. 15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens, and officials for your tribes. 16And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the sojourner. 17You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. And any matter that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it. 18And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. 19So we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and dreadful wilderness which you have seen on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20And I said to you, You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God is giving to us. 21Behold, Jehovah your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as Jehovah the God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be dismayed. 22And all of you came near to me and said, Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come. 23And the thing was good in my eyes; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24And they turned and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and explored it. 25They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, It is a good land which Jehovah our God is giving to us. 26Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah your God; 27and you murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28Where shall we go up? Our brethren have caused our hearts to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the heavens; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there. 29Then I said to you, Do not be terrified, nor afraid of them. 30Jehovah your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31and in the wilderness where you have seen how Jehovah your God has carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. 32Yet, for all that, you did not believe Jehovah your God, 33who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to encamp, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day. 34And Jehovah heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, 35Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land which I have sworn to give to your fathers, 36except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land upon which he has walked, because he has wholly followed Jehovah. 37Jehovah was also angry with me on account of you, saying, You also shall not go in there. 38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39Moreover your little ones and your children, whom you say will be prey, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40But as for you, turn and set out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. 41Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Jehovah; we will go up and fight, just as Jehovah our God commanded us. And each of you girded on his weapons of war, and were ready to go up into the mountain. 42And Jehovah said to me, Say to them, Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. 44And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and shattered you in pieces from Seir to Hormah. 45And you returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained there.