Deuteronomy 1

Study

   

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain next·​·to the Suph Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Chazeroth, and Dizahab.

2 (It is eleven daysjourney from Horeb* by the way of Mount Seir even·​·to Kadesh-barnea.)

3 And it was in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, according to all which Jehovah had commanded to them,

4 after He had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth in Edrei;

5 across the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses would make· this law ·plain, saying,

6 Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, It is much for you to dwell in this mountain.

7 Turn, and take your journey, and come to the mountain of the Amorites, and to all the places neighboring thereunto, in the desert, in the mountains, and in the lowland, and in the south by the sea coast, to the land of the Canaanites, and to Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.

8 See, I have put the land before you; go·​·in and possess the land which Jehovah promised to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.

9 And I said to you at that time, saying, I am· not ·able to bear you alone;

10 Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars of the heavens for multitude.

11 May Jehovah the God of your fathers add upon you more than as you are a thousand times; and may He bless you, as He has spoken to you!

12 How can I alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

13 Let the men of wisdom and understanding and knowledge from your tribes come, and I will set them as your heads.

14 And you answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.

15 And I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and put them as heads over you, princes of thousands, and princes of hundreds, and princes of fifties, and princes of tens, and officers for your tribes.

16 And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge with justice between a man and his brother, and his sojourner.

17 You shall not acknowledge faces in judgment*; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be·​·afraid of the face of a man, for the judgment is of God; and the matter that is too hard for you, offer it to me, and I will hear it.

18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

19 And when we journeyed from Horeb, we went through all that great and fearful wilderness, which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

20 And I said to you, You have come to the mountain of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God gives to us.

21 Behold, Jehovah thy God has set the land before thee; go up, possess it, as Jehovah God of thy fathers has spoken to thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

22 And you came·​·near to me, all of you, and said, Let us send men before us, and they shall spy·​·out the land for us, and bring· us ·back word as to the way by which we should go·​·up, and the cities to which we should come.

23 And the word was·​·good in my eyes; and I took from among you twelve men, one man for a tribe,

24 and they turned and went·​·up the mountain, and came to the brook of Eshcol, and spied· it ·out.

25 And they took from the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought· it ·down to us, and brought· us ·back word, and said, It is a good land which Jehovah our God gives to us.

26 But you were· not ·willing to go·​·up, but rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah your God,

27 and you muttered in your tents, and said, When Jehovah hated us, He brought· us ·out from the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to blot· us ·out.

28 Whither shall we go·​·up? Our brothers have melted our heart, saying, The people is greater and more exalted than we; the cities are great and fortified to the heavens; and we have even seen the sons of the Anakim there.

29 And I said to you, You shall not be terrified, neither shall you fear them.

30 Jehovah your God, who walks 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 that Jehovah thy God bore thee, as a man bears his son, in all the way that you went, until you came even·​·to this place.

32 But in this thing none of you believed in Jehovah your God,

33 who went in the way before you, to explore a place for you to encamp in, with fire by night, to show you by which way you should go, and with a cloud by·​·day.

34 And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was·​·enraged, and promised, saying,

35 When shall a man among these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I promised to give to your fathers?

36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his sons, because he has filled after Jehovah*.

37 Also Jehovah was·​·angry with me because·​·of you, saying, Even thou shalt not go·​·in thither.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before thee, he shall come thither; confirm him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 And your infants, whom you said should be a plunder, and your sons, who today do not know between good and evil, they shall go·​·in thither, and to 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 Suph Sea.

41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Jehovah. We will go·​·up and we will fight, according·​·to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And when you had girded yourselves, each·​·man his weapons of war, you were ready to go·​·up toward the mountain.

42 And Jehovah said to me, Say to them, Go· not ·up, neither fight, for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.

43 And I spoke to you; and you would not hear, but rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah, and you were·​·presumptuous, and went·​·up toward the mountain.

44 And the Amorites, who dwelt in that mountain, went·​·out to meet you, and pursued you, as bees do, and beat· you ·down in Seir, even to Hormah.

45 And you turned·​·back and wept before Jehovah; but Jehovah would not obey your voice, nor give·​·ear to you.

46 And you dwelt in Kadesh many days, as the days that you dwelt there.

   

Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.