LEADERS FOR THE TRIBES

9 “I said to you at that time: I can’t bear the responsibility for you on my own. 10 The Lord your God has so multiplied you that today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky.p 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more, and bless you as he promised you. 12 But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself? 13 Appoint for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will make them your leaders.

14 “You replied to me, ‘What you propose to do is good.’

15 “So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and set them over you as leaders: commanders for thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes. 16 I commanded your judges at that time: Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge rightly between a man and his brother or his resident alien. 17 Do not show partiality when deciding a case;q listen to small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God.r Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it. 18 At that time I commanded you about all the things you were to do.s

ISRAEL’S DISOBEDIENCE AT KADESH-BARNEA

19 “We then set out from Horeb and went across all the great and terrible wilderness you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us. When we reached Kadesh-barnea, 20 I said to you: You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

22 “Thent all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.’ 23 The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one man for each tribe. 24 They left and went up into the hill country and came to Eshcol Valley, scouting the land. 25 They took some of the fruit from the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us back a report: ‘The land the Lord our God is giving us is good.’u

26 “But you were not willing to go up. You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled in your tentsv and said, ‘The Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites in order to destroy us, because he hates us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart,C,w saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens.a We also saw the descendants of the Anakimb there.’

29 “So I said to you: Don’t be terrified or afraid of them!c 30 The Lord your God who goes before youd will fight for you,e just as you saw him do for you in Egypt. 31 And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place.