Deuteronomy

These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

1These are the words Moses said to all the people of Israel. They were in the desert, on the east side of the Jordan River. That place was near Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

2(There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)

2It takes only eleven days to walk from Mount Horeb to Kadesh-barnea. You go past Mount Seir along the way.

3And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

3It was now forty years since they had left Egypt. On the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people. He told them everything the LORD had told him to say.

Note"The fortieth year" means forty years after the people left Egypt.

4After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

4This was after Moses won battles against two kings. One was Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. The other was Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

5On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

5There, east of the Jordan River in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain God's law. This is what he said.

6The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:

6"The LORD our God spoke to us at Mount Horeb. He said, 'You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

7Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.

7Get up and go to the hill country where the Amorites live. Go to all the lands near it too. Go to the flat valley, the hills, the low hills, and the dry south land. Go along the seashore, into the land of Canaan, and up to Lebanon. Keep going all the way to the great Euphrates River.

8Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

8Look, I am giving you this land. Go in and make it your own. I promised this land long ago to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give it to them and to their families after them.'"

9And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

9Moses said, "Back then I told you this: I cannot take care of you all by myself.

10The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

10The LORD your God has made you into a huge crowd. Today there are as many of you as the stars in the sky.

11(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)

11May the LORD, the God of your fathers, give you a thousand times more people. May he bless you, just as he promised.

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

12But how can I handle all your troubles and problems and arguments alone?

13Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

13So choose some men from each of your family groups. Pick men who are wise and who understand things. Pick men that people respect. I will make them leaders over you.

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

14And you answered me, 'That is a good plan. Let's do it.'

15So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

15So I took the leaders of your family groups, wise men that people respected. I put them in charge of you. Some led a thousand people, some a hundred. Some led fifty people, and some led ten. I also gave your family groups other helpers.

16And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

16At that time I gave orders to your judges. I said, "Listen to the arguments between your people. Be fair when you decide. Be fair to your own people, and also to any visitor from another land.

17Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

17Do not treat one person better than another. Listen to the poor and the important the same way. Do not be scared of anyone, because judging belongs to God. If a case is too hard for you, bring it to me. I will listen to it."

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

18At that time I told you everything you were supposed to do.

19And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

19Then we left Mount Horeb, just as the LORD our God told us to. We walked through that huge, scary desert on the way to the Amorite hills. You saw it yourselves. Then we came to Kadesh-barnea.

20And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.

20I said to you, "You have come to the hills where the Amorites live. The LORD our God is giving this land to us.

21Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.

21Look, the LORD your God has put the land right in front of you. Go up and make it your own, just as the LORD said. Do not be afraid. Do not give up."

22And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

22Then all of you came to me and said, "Let's send men ahead of us. They can look at the land. They can come back and tell us which way to go. They can tell us what cities we will find."

23And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:

23That sounded like a good idea to me. So I picked twelve men, one from each family group.

24And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

24They left and went up into the hills. They came to a valley called Eshcol and looked all around it.

25And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.

25They picked some fruit from the land and carried it back to us. They told us, "The land the LORD our God is giving us is good."

26Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:

26But you would not go up. You said no to the command of the LORD your God.

27And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

27You complained inside your tents. You said, "The LORD hates us. That is why he brought us out of Egypt. He wants the Amorites to catch us and wipe us out.

28Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

28Where can we even go? Our own men have made us lose heart. They said, 'Those people are bigger and taller than we are. Their cities are huge, with walls as high as the sky. We even saw the Anakim there, and they are giants.'"

NoteThe Anakim were a family of very tall, strong people who lived in that land.

29Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

29Then I said to you, "Do not be scared of them. Do not be afraid.

30The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

30The LORD your God goes ahead of you. He will fight for you. He will do what he did for you in Egypt, right where you could see it.

31And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

31He helped you in the desert too. You saw how the LORD your God carried you, like a father carries his son. He did that the whole way, until you got to this place."

32Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,

32But even after all that, you did not trust the LORD your God.

33Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.

33He was the one who went ahead of you on the trip. He found places for you to camp. He led you with a fire at night and a cloud in the day, so you knew which way to go.

34And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,

34The LORD heard what you said. He was angry, and he made a promise.

35Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,

35He said, "Not one man from this bad group of people will see that good land. I promised that land to your fathers.

36Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.

36Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it. I will give him the land he walked on. I will give it to his children too. He followed the LORD with his whole heart."

37Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.

37The LORD was angry with me too, because of you. He said, "You will not go into the land either.

38But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

38But Joshua son of Nun, your helper, will go in. Cheer him on, because he will lead Israel into the land.

39Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

39You said your little ones would be taken away. But your children, who were too young to know right from wrong, will go in. I will give them the land, and it will be theirs.

40But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

40As for you, turn around. Go back into the desert, toward the Red Sea."

41Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.

41Then you answered me, "We have sinned against the LORD. Now we will go up and fight, like the LORD our God told us." So each man put on his weapons. You thought it would be easy to go up into the hills.

42And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

42But the LORD said to me, "Tell them not to go up and not to fight. I am not with them. Their enemies will beat them."

43So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.

43So I told you this, but you would not listen. You said no to the LORD's command and marched up into the hills anyway.

44And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.

44The Amorites who lived in those hills came out to fight you. They chased you like a swarm of bees. They beat you all the way from Seir to Hormah.

45And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.

45You came back and cried in front of the LORD. But the LORD would not listen to you.

46So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

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