English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

1These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.

2It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.

2Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir.

3In 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,

3But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the LORD had commanded him to say.

4after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.

4This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth.

5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying,

5While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the LORD’s instructions as follows. The Command to Leave Sinai

6“The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

6“When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

7Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

7It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River.

8See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

8Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’” Moses Appoints Leaders from Each Tribe

9“At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself.

9Moses continued, “At that time I told you, ‘You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself.

10The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.

10The LORD your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars!

11May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!

11And may the LORD, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised!

12How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?

12But you are such a heavy load to carry! How can I deal with all your problems and bickering?

13Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’

13Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’

14And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’

14“Then you responded, ‘Your plan is a good one.’

15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.

15So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten.

16And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him.

16“At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions

17You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’

17and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’

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

18“At that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do. Scouts Explore the Land

19“Then we set out from Horeb and went 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 we came to Kadesh-barnea.

19“Then, just as the LORD our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea,

20And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

20I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the LORD our God is giving us.

21See, 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. Do not fear or be dismayed.’

21Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’

22Then 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.’

22“But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’

23The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.

23“This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes.

24And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.

24They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it.

25And 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.’

25They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the LORD our God has given us is indeed a good land.’ Israel’s Rebellion against the LORD

26“Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

26“But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to go in.

27And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

27You complained in your tents and said, ‘The LORD must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered.

28Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’

28Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’

29Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them.

29“But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them!

30The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

30The LORD your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt.

31and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

31And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’

32Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God,

32“But even after all he did, you refused to trust the LORD your God,

33who went before you in the way to 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.

33who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.

34“And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore,

34“When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore,

35‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,

35‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,

36except 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!’

36except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’

37Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there.

37“And the LORD was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land!

38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

38Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it.

39And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

39I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it.

40But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

40As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. ’

41“Then you answered me, ‘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.

41“Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the LORD! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the LORD our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.

42And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’

42“But the LORD told me to tell you, ‘Do not attack, for I am not with you. If you go ahead on your own, you will be crushed by your enemies.’

43So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

43“This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the LORD’s command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight.

44Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.

44But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah.

45And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

45Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but he refused to listen.

46So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

46So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.