Deuteronomy 1–2

1These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.

3In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

4This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

5On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

6The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

7Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.

8See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

9At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.

10The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.

12But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself?

13Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

14And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”

15So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.

16At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.

17Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

18And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.

19And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,

20I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

21See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

22Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”

23The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

24They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land.

25They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

26But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

27You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated.

28Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

29So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them!

30The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt

31and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”

32But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

33who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.

34When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,

35“Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

36except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”

37The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.

38Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land.

39And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.

40But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

41“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

42But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”

43So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

44Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.

45And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

46For this reason you stayed in Kadesh for a long time—a very long time.

1Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

2At this time the LORD said to me,

3“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north

4and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.

6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

7Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

8So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab.

9Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

10(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

11Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.

12The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)

13“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.

14The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

15Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.

16Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,

17the LORD said to me,

18“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

19But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

20(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

21They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

22just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

23And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)

24“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

26So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,

27“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.

28You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,

29just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

31Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

32So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.

33And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.

34At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.

35We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.

36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

37But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.