1.
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on that side of the Jordan in the desert, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel and Lavan and Hazeroth and Di Zahav.
2.
"It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea."
3.
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 the Lord had commanded him regarding them;
4.
After he had smitten Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og, king of the Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth in Edrei.
5.
On that side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses commenced [and] explained this Law, saying,
6.
"The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, 'You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.
7.
Turn and journey, and come to the mountain of the Amorites and to all its neighboring places, in the plain, on the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and the Lebanon, until the great river, the Euphrates River.
8.
See, I have set the land before you; come and possess the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them and their descendants after them.
9.
And I said to you at that time, saying, 'I cannot carry you alone.
10.
The Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance.
11.
May the Lord God of your forefathers add to you a thousandfold as many as you are, and may He bless you, as He spoke concerning you!
12.
How can I bear your trouble, your burden, and your strife all by myself?
13.
Prepare for yourselves wise and understanding men, known among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
14.
And you answered me and said, 'The thing you have spoken is good for us to do.'
15.
So I took the heads of your tribes, men wise and well known, and I made them heads over you, leaders over thousands, leaders over hundreds, leaders over fifties, and leaders over tens, and officers, over your tribes.
16.
And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, "Hear [disputes] between your brothers and judge justly between a man and his brother, and between his litigant.
17.
You shall not favor persons in judgment; [rather] you shall hear the small just as the great; you shall not fear any man, for the judgment is upon the Lord, and the case that is too difficult for you, bring to me, and I will hear it."
18.
And I commanded you at that time all the things you should do.
19.
And we journeyed from Horeb and went through all that great and fearful desert, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord, our God, commanded us; and we came up to Kadesh barnea.
20.
And I said to you, "You have come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord, our God, is giving us.
21.
Behold, the Lord, your God, has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord, God of your fathers has spoken to you; you shall neither fear nor be dismayed."
22.
And all of you approached me and said, "Let us send men ahead of us so that they will search out the land for us and bring us back word by which route we shall go up, and to which cities we shall come."
23.
And the matter pleased me; so I took twelve men from you, one man for each tribe.
24.
And they turned and went up to the mountain, and they came to the valley of Eshkol and spied it out.
25.
And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hand[s] and brought it down to us, brought us back word, and said, "The land the Lord, our God, is giving us is good."
26.
But you did not want to go up, and you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, your God.
27.
You murmured in your tents and said, '"Because the Lord hates us, He took us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand[s] of the Amorites to exterminate us."
28.
Where shall we go up? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying, "A people greater and taller than we; cities great and fortified up to the heavens, and we have even seen the sons of Anakim there."
29.
And I said to you, "Do not be broken or afraid of them.
30.
The Lord, your God, Who goes before you He will fight for you, just as He did for you in Egypt before your very eyes,
31.
and in the desert, where you have seen how the Lord, your God, has carried you as a man carries his son, all the way that you have gone, until you have come to this place.
32.
But regarding this matter, you do not believe the Lord, your God,
33.
Who goes before you on the way, to search out a place for you, in which to encamp, in fire at night, to enable you to see on the way you should go, and in a cloud by day."
34.
And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He became angry and swore, saying,
35.
'If any of these men of this evil generation sees the good land, which I swore to give your forefathers,
36.
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh he will see it, and I will give him the land he trod upon, and to his children, because he has completely followed the Lord."
37.
The Lord was also angry with me because of you, saying, "Neither will you go there.
38.
But Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you he will go there; strengthen him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it.
39.
[Moreover] your little ones, whom you said will be prey, and your children, who on that day did not know good and evil they will go there and I will give it to them, and they will possess it.
40.
But as for you, turn yourselves around and journey into the desert by way of the Red Sea."
41.
Then you answered and said to me, "We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord, our God, has commanded us." So every one of you girded his weapons, and you prepared yourselves to go up to the mountain.
42.
And the Lord said to me, "Say to them, 'Neither go up nor fight, for I am not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.' "
43.
So I spoke to you, but you did not listen, and you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and you acted wickedly and went up to the mountain.
44.
And the Amorites, dwelling in that mountain, came out towards you and pursued you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, as far as Hormah.
45.
So you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not hear your voice, nor would he listen to you.
46.
And you dwelled in Kadesh many days, as the days that you dwelled.
