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Deuteronomy 1

1These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2It is eleven days from Horeb by the Mount Seir route to Kadesh-barnea. 3In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel everything Yahweh had commanded him for them, 4after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. 5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this instruction:

6“Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb: ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7Turn and set out. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all its neighboring regions—in the Arabah, the hill country, the lowland, the Negeb, and the seacoast—the land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates River. 8Look, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.’

9“At that time I told you, ‘I cannot bear you by myself. 10Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and look, today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11May Yahweh, the God of your fathers, add to you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you as he promised you! 12How can I bear by myself your trouble, your burden, and your disputes? 13Provide wise, discerning, and well-known men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14You answered me, ‘What you have proposed is good to do.’ 15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and well-known men, and appointed them as heads over you—leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes. 16At that time I commanded your judges: ‘Hear the cases between your brothers and judge justly between a man and his brother or the resident foreigner with him. 17You must not show partiality in judgment. Hear the small and the great alike. You must not be afraid of anyone, because judgment belongs to God. Bring me any matter too difficult for you, and I will hear it.’ 18At that time I commanded you everything you were to do.

19“We set out from Horeb and went through all that great and fearsome wilderness you saw, along the route to the Amorite hill country, as Yahweh our God commanded us, and came to Kadesh-barnea. 20I told you, ‘You have come to the Amorite hill country, which Yahweh our God is giving us. 21Look, Yahweh your God has set the land before you. Go up and possess it, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or dismayed.’ 22Then all of you came to me and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us to explore the land for us and bring us word about the route we should take and the towns we should enter.’ 23The proposal was good in my eyes, so I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24They turned and went up into the hill country, came to the Wadi Eshcol, and spied it out. 25They took some of the land's fruit in their hands and brought it down to us. They brought us word and said, ‘The land Yahweh our God is giving us is good.’

26“But you were unwilling to go up and rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God. 27You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘It is because Yahweh hates us that he brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites and destroy us. 28Where are we going up? Our brothers have melted our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we are; the towns are great and fortified to the heavens. We even saw sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29I told you, ‘Do not be terrified or afraid of them. 30Yahweh your God, who goes before you, will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31and in the wilderness, where you saw how Yahweh your God carried you as a man carries his son, all along the way you traveled until you came to this place.’ 32Yet in this matter you did not trust Yahweh your God, 33who went before you on the way to seek out a place for you to camp—in fire by night to show you the route you should take, and in a cloud by day.

34“Yahweh heard the sound of your words, became angry, and swore: 35‘Not one of these men of this evil generation will 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 sons the land on which he walked, because he followed Yahweh fully.’ 37Yahweh was angry with me too because of you, saying, ‘You too will not enter there. 38Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter there. Strengthen him, because he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39Your little ones, whom you said would become plunder, and your sons, who today do not know good and evil—they will enter there. I will give it to them, and they will possess it. 40But you must turn and set out into the wilderness by the Sea of Reeds route.’

41“You answered me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as Yahweh our God commanded us.’ Each of you strapped on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42But Yahweh told me, ‘Tell them: Do not go up or fight, because I am not among you, so that you are not defeated before your enemies.’ 43I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You rebelled against Yahweh's command, acted presumptuously, and went up into the hill country. 44The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you, pursued you as bees do, and battered you in Seir as far as Hormah. 45You returned and wept before Yahweh, but Yahweh did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46So you stayed in Kadesh for many days, as long as you stayed there.”

Translation notes 6

1:1–5 — Beyond the Jordan; instruction. Moab places the speech east of the Jordan. “Beyond” preserves the narrator's geographical expression rather than supplying a new location. The places in verse 1 are not all securely identified; Suph is retained as a name rather than automatically expanded to the Sea of Reeds. “Instruction” translates the word traditionally rendered “law.” The eleven-day journey and fortieth-year setting are both retained.

1:8, 39 — Fathers; seed; sons. The source's family language is preserved. Seed means descendants here, and “sons” can name the succeeding generation. The little ones' not knowing good and evil concerns their undeveloped discernment in this context; the verse does not itself give a precise age boundary.

1:9–17 — Bear; heads; judgment. Moses pictures responsibility as bearing the people's burden. Heads are leaders; the divisions by thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens remain explicit. Brothers includes fellow members of the people. The instruction includes the resident foreigner and forbids favoring people by status or fearing a litigant.

1:23, 28, 31 — Eyes; hearts; carrying. The proposal is good in Moses' eyes, the report melts the people's hearts, the towns reach the heavens, and God carries Israel like a father carrying his son. The draft retains these images rather than replacing each with an abstract conclusion. The fortification language need not assert a measured height.

1:34–40 — Exclusion from the land. The text explicitly says Moses was excluded “because of you,” and distinguishes Caleb, Joshua, and the next generation. It is translated as this retelling states it, without inserting a reconciliation with the account of Moses' offense elsewhere. Standing before Moses describes Joshua's position of service.

1:41–46 — Presumption; staying. “Thought it easy” is a provisional interpretation of an uncommon verb; “were ready” or “were eager” are alternatives. The next verse's prohibition and the people's presumptuous advance remain distinct. The final wording about staying at Kadesh repeats the duration without supplying a number of days.