1These are the wordswhichMosesspoke to allIsrael1across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the 2Arabahopposite[a]Suph, betweenParan and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab.
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It is eleven*days' journey from 3Horeb by the way of Mount4Seir to 5Kadesh-barnea.
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In the 6fortiethyear, on the first day of the eleventh*month, Mosesspoke to the children of Israel, 7according to all that the LORD had commanded him to give to them,
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after he had [b]8defeatedSihon the king of the Amorites, wholived in Heshbon, and 9Og the king of Bashan, wholived in 10Ashtaroth[c]and Edrei.
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Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Mosesundertook to expoundthislaw, saying,
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"The LORD our God11spoke to us at Horeb, saying, 'You have [d]stayedlongenough at thismountain.
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'Turn and set your journey, and go to 12the hillcountry of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hillcountry and in the lowland and in 13the [e]Negev and by the seacoast*, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the greatriver, the riverEuphrates.
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'See, I have placed the landbefore you; go in and possess the landwhich the LORD14swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their [f]descendantsafter them.'
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"I spoke to you at that time, saying, '15I am not able to bear the burden of you alone.
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'The LORD your God has 16multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.
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'May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold*more than you are and bless you, 17just as He has [g]promised you!
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'How can I alonebear the load and burden of you and your strife?
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'[h]18Choosewise and discerning and experiencedmen from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.'
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"You answered me and said, 'The thingwhich you have said to do is good.'
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"So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experiencedmen, and [i]appointed them headsover you, leaders of thousands and [j]of hundreds, [k]of fifties and [l]of tens, and officers for your tribes.
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"Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, 'Hear the cases between your [m]fellowcountrymen, and 19judgerighteouslybetween a man and his [n]fellowcountryman, or the alien who is with him.
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'20You shall not showpartiality* in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall 21not fear[o]man, for the judgment is God's. 22The case that is toohard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.'
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"23I commanded you at that timeall the things that you should do.
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"Then we set out from 24Horeb, and went through all that 25great and terriblewildernesswhich you saw on the way to the 26hillcountry of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to 27Kadesh-barnea.
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"I said to you, 'You have come to the hillcountry of the Amoriteswhich the LORD our God is about to give us.
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'See, the LORD your God has placed the landbefore you; go up, takepossession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. 28Do not fear or be dismayed.'
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"29Then all of you approached me and said, 'Let us sendmenbefore us, that they may search out the land for us, and bringback to us word of the way by which we should go up and the citieswhich we shall enter.'
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"The thingpleased* me and I tooktwelve* of your men, oneman for each tribe.
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"30They turned and went up into the hillcountry, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
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"Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, 'It is a goodlandwhich the LORD our God is about to give us.'
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"31Yet you were not willing to go up, but 32rebelledagainst the [p]command of the LORD your God;
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and 33you grumbled in your tents and said, 'Because the LORDhates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.
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'Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our heartsmelt, saying, "The people are bigger and tallerthan we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw34the sons of the Anakimthere."'
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"Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, norfear them.
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'The LORD your God who goesbefore you will 35Himselffight on your behalf, [q]just* as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
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and in the wildernesswhere you sawhow36the LORD your Godcarried you, just as a mancarries his son, in all the waywhich you have walkeduntil you came to thisplace.'
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"But [r]37for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
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38who goesbefore you on your way, 39to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.
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"Then the LORDheard the sound of your words, and He was angry and 40took an oath, saying,
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'41Not one of thesemen, thisevilgeneration, shall see the goodlandwhich I swore to give your fathers,
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exceptCaleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and 42to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has setfoot, because* he has followed the LORDfully.'
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"43The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, '44Not even you shall enterthere.
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'Joshua the son of Nun, who standsbefore you, 45he shall enterthere; encourage him, for 46he will cause Israel to inherit it.
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'Moreover, 47your littleoneswho you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this dayhave48noknowledge of good or evil, shall enterthere, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.
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'But as for you, 49turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the [s]Red*Sea.'
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"50Then you said to me, 'We have sinned against the LORD; we will indeed go up and fight, just* as the LORD our Godcommanded us.' And everyman of you girded on his weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hillcountry.
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"51And the LORDsaid to me, 'Say to them, "Do not go up norfight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be [t]defeatedbefore your enemies."'
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"So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead 52you rebelledagainst the [u]command of the LORD, and actedpresumptuously and went up into the hillcountry.
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"53The Amorites who [v]lived in that hillcountrycame out against you and chased you 54as beesdo, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah.
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"Then you returned and weptbefore the LORD; but the 55LORD did not listen to your voicenorgiveear to you.
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"So you remained in 56Kadeshmanydays, [w]the days that you spent there.