Deuteronomy

Introduction

Deuteronomy, which means “second law,” is a retelling by Moses of the teachings and events of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It includes an extended review of the Ten Commandments (4:44–5:33) and Moses’ farewell address to a new generation of Israelites as they stand ready to take possession of the Promised Land. Moses reminds them of God’s faithfulness and love, but also of God’s wrath on the previous generation of Israelites because of their rebellion. Repeatedly he charges Israel to keep the Law. Deuteronomy is a solemn call to love and obey the one true God. There are blessings for faithfulness and curses for unfaithfulness. The book closes with the selection of Joshua as Israel’s new leader and the death of Moses.

The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in athe Arabah opposite bSuph, between cParan and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to dKadesh-barnea. 3 eIn the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after fhe had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and gOg the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in hEdrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, iin the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, j‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to kthe hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in athe Arabah, lin the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and lby the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, mto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

9 “At that time nI said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, oyou are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 pMay the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, qas he has promised you! 12 rHow can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 sChoose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, tand set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ujudge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 vYou shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for wthe judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall xbring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “Then we set out from Horeb and ywent through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And zwe came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to 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, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. aDo not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and bI took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And cthey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And dyou murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord ehated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, fto give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? gOur brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, h“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ithe sons of the Anakim there.” ’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you jwill himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God kcarried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word lyou did not believe the Lord your God, 33 mwho went before you in the way nto seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 o‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 pexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me qthe Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 rJoshua the son of Nun, rwho stands before you, he shall enter. sEncourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for tyour little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today uhave no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, vturn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered me, w‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, x‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, yfor I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and zpresumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 aThen the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you bas bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as cHormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So dyou remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

The Wilderness Years

2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, eas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country flong enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of gyour brothers, the people of Esau, hwho live in Seir; and ithey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because hI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 jYou shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. kHe knows your going through this great wilderness. lThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” ’ 8 So mwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from nthe Arabah road from oElath and pEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the Lord said to me, q‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given rAr to sthe people of Lot for a possession.’ 10 (tThe Emim formerly lived there, ua people great and many, and tall vas the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as wRephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 xThe Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, yas Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over zthe brook Zered.’ So we went over zthe brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving aKadesh-barnea until we crossed bthe brook Zered was thirty-eight years, cuntil the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ddo not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ethe sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20 (It is also counted as a land of fRephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 ga