Deuteronomy 1–11

1ST CHAPTER

Moses Speaks to the People 40 Years after Leaving Egypt

¹This is the speech Moses gave in the desert east of the Jordan River, on the plains, near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and near Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab. He spoke to all the Israelites. ²(It takes 11 days to go from Mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by way of Mount Seir.) 

³On the first day of the eleventh month in the fortieth year ⸤after they had left Egypt⸥, Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. ⁴This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and^ain Edrei. ⁵The Israelites were east of the Jordan River in Moab when Moses began to review God’s teachings. 

Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Mount Horeb

This is what he said: 

⁶At Mount Horeb the Lord our God said to us, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷Break camp, and get ready! Go to the mountain region of the Amorites, and go to everyone living on the plains, in the mountains, in the foothills, in the Negev, on the whole Mediterranean coast (the land of the Canaanites), and into Lebanon as far as the Euphrates River. ⁸I’m giving you this land. Enter, and take possession of the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to you, their descendants.” 

⁹At that time I said to you, “I’m not able to take care of you by myself. ¹⁰The Lord your God has made your population increase so that you are now as numerous as the stars in the sky. ¹¹May the Lord God of your ancestors make you a thousand times more numerous, and may he bless you as he has promised. ¹²How can I take care of your problems, your troubles, and your disagreements all by myself? ¹³From each of your tribes, choose some men who are wise, intelligent, and experienced, and I’ll appoint them to be your leaders.” 

¹⁴You agreed that this was a good idea. 

¹⁵So I took the heads of your tribes who were wise and experienced men and made them officers for each of your tribes. I put them in charge of groups of 1,000, or 100, or 50, or 10 people. ¹⁶Also at that time I gave these instructions to your judges: “Hear the cases that your people bring. Judge each case fairly, no matter whether it is ⸤a dispute⸥ between two Israelites or ⸤a dispute⸥ between an Israelite and a non-Israelite. ¹⁷Be impartial in your decisions. Listen to the least important people the same way you listen to the most important people. Never be afraid of anyone, since your decisions come from God. You may bring me any case that’s too hard for you, and I will hear it.” ¹⁸So I told you how to handle these situations. 

Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Kadesh Barnea

¹⁹So we left Mount Horeb, as the Lord our God had commanded. We traveled through all that vast and dangerous desert you saw on the way to the mountain region of the Amorites. At last we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰Then I said to you, “We have come to the mountain region of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹The Lord your God is giving you this land. Go ahead! Take possession of it, as the Lord God of your ancestors told you. Don’t be afraid or terrified.” 

²²All of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men ahead of us to gather information about the land for us. Have them report to us about the route we should take and the cities we’ll come to.” 

²³It seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of your men, one from each tribe. ²⁴They left and went into the mountains. When they came to the Eshcol Valley, they explored it. ²⁵They took some of the region’s fruit with them and brought it back to us. They reported, “The land that the Lord our God is giving us is good.” 

²⁶But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go. ²⁷You complained in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us! That’s why he brought us out of Egypt. He wanted to hand us over to the Amorites so that they could destroy us! ²⁸Where are we going anyway? Our own men have discouraged us by saying, ‘The people there are taller and stronger than we are. The cities are big with sky-high walls! We even saw the people of Anak there.’ ” 

²⁹Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble. Don’t be afraid of them. ³⁰The Lord your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you as you saw him fight for you in Egypt ³¹and in the desert.” There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as parents carry their children. He carried you wherever you went until you came to this place. 

³²In spite of this, you didn’t trust the Lord your God, ³³who went ahead of you to find places for you to camp. He appeared in a column of fire at night and in a column of smoke during the day to show you which route to take. 

³⁴When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and took this oath: ³⁵“Not one of these evil people will ever see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors, ³⁶except Caleb, son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give the land that he set his feet on to him and his descendants, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord.” 

³⁷The Lord became angry with me because of you. He said, “You won’t go there either. ³⁸But your assistant Joshua, son of Nun, will go there. Encourage him, because he will help Israel take possession of the land. ³⁹Although you thought the little children would be captured in war, your children, who are still too young to know the difference between good and evil, will enter that land. I will give it to them, and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰Turn around, go back into the desert, and follow the road that goes to the Red Sea.” 

⁴¹You responded, “We have sinned against the Lord. We’ll go and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us to do.” Each of you armed yourself for war, thinking you could easily invade the mountain region. 

⁴²But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go and fight, because I won’t be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’ ” 

⁴³I told you, but you wouldn’t listen. You defied the Lord’s command and invaded the mountain region. ⁴⁴The Amorites who lived there came out and attacked you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They defeated you, chasing you from Seir all the way to Hormah. ⁴⁵When you came back, you cried to the Lord, but the Lord didn’t listen to you or hear you. ⁴⁶That’s why you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did. 

2ND CHAPTER

Moses Reminds Israel of the Events at Mount Seir

¹We went back into the desert, following the road that goes to the Red Sea as the Lord had told me. For a long time we traveled around the region of Mount Seir. 

²The Lord said to me, ³“You’ve traveled around this region long enough. Now go north. ⁴Give the people these instructions: ‘You’re going to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They’ll be afraid of you, but be very careful. ⁵Don’t start a fight with them, because I’m not giving you any of their land—not even enough to stand on. I’ve given Esau’s descendants the region of Mount Seir as their property. ⁶You must pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ” 

⁷The Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched over you as you traveled through this vast desert. For 40 years now the Lord your God has been with you, and you haven’t needed a thing. 

⁸So we passed by our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir. We turned off the road that goes through the plains to Elath and Ezion Geber and took the road that goes through the desert of Moab. 

⁹The Lord said to me, “Don’t bother the people of Moab or start a war with them. I’m not giving you any of Ar as your property. I have given it to the descendants of Lot.” 

¹⁰The Emites used to live there. These people were as strong, as numerous, and as tall as the people of Anak. ¹¹They were thought to be Rephaim, like the people of Anak, but the Moabites called them Emites. ¹²The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau claimed their land, wiped them out, and took their place, as Israel did in the land that the Lord gave them. 

¹³Then the Lord said, “Now cross the Zered River.” 

So we crossed the Zered River. ¹⁴Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered River. During that time all our soldiers from that generation died, as the Lord had sworn they would. ¹⁵In fact, it was the Lord himself who got rid of all of them until none were left in the camp. 

Moses Reminds Israel about Ammon

¹⁶When the last of these soldiers had died, ¹⁷the Lord said to me, ¹⁸“Today you are going to pass by the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹When you come near the Ammonites, don’t bother them or start a fight with them. I’m not giving you any of the land that I have already given to the descendants of Lot as their property.” 

²⁰This land was thought of as the land of the Rephaim who used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummim. ²¹These people were as strong, as numerous, and as tall as the people of Anak. But the Lord wiped them out before the Ammonites came so that the Ammonites claimed their land and took their place. ²²The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir. Before the descendants of Esau came, he wiped out the Horites so that Esau’s descendants claimed their land and took their place. Esau’s descendants are still there today. ²³The same thing happened to the Avvites who lived in villages as far away as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete, wiped them out and took their place. 

Moses Reminds Israel about King Og and King Sihon

²⁴⸤The Lord continued,⸥ “Now break camp. Cross the Arnon Valley. I’m going to hand King Sihon of Heshbon, the Amorite, over to you. Fight him, and take possession of his country. ²⁵Today I will start to make all the people under heaven terrified of you. When they hear about you, they will tremble and shake because of you.” 

²⁶From the desert of Kedemoth, I sent…