Deuteronomy 1; Deuteronomy 2

Deuteronomy 1

1 This 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.)

3 On 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.

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

5 The Israelites were east of the Jordan River in Moab when Moses began to review God's teachings. This is what he said:

6 At Mount Horeb the LORD our God said to us, "You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

7 Break 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.

8 I'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."

9 At that time I said to you, "I'm not able to take care of you by myself.

10 The LORD your God has made your population increase so that you are now as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11 May the LORD God of your ancestors make you a thousand times more numerous, and may he bless you as he has promised.

12 How can I take care of your problems, your troubles, and your disagreements all by myself?

13 From each of your tribes, choose some men who are wise, intelligent, and experienced, and I'll appoint them to be your leaders."

14 You agreed that this was a good idea.

15 So 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.

16 Also 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.

17 Be 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."

18 So I told you how to handle these situations.

19 So 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.

20 Then I said to you, "We have come to the mountain region of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

21 The 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."

22 All 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."

23 It seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of your men, one from each tribe.

24 They left and went into the mountains. When they came to the Eshcol Valley, they explored it.

25 They 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."

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

27 You 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!

28 Where 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.'"

29 Then I said to you, "Don't tremble. Don't be afraid of them.

30 The LORD your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you as you saw him fight for you in Egypt

31 and 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.

32 In spite of this, you didn't trust the LORD your God,

33 who 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.

34 When 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,

36 except 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."

37 The LORD became angry with me because of you. He said, "You won't go there either.

38 But your assistant Joshua, son of Nun, will go there. Encourage him, because he will help Israel take possession of the land.

39 Although 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.

40 Turn around, go back into the desert, and follow the road that goes to the Red Sea."

41 You 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.

42 But 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.'"

43 I told you, but you wouldn't listen. You defied the LORD's command and invaded the mountain region.

44 The 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.

45 When you came back, you cried to the LORD, but the LORD didn't listen to you or hear you.

46 That's why you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.

Deuteronomy 2

1 We 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.

2 The LORD said to me,

3 "You've traveled around this region long enough. Now go north.

4 Give 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.

5 Don'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.

6 You must pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.'"

7 The 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.

8 So 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.

9 The 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."

10 The Emites used to live there. These people were as strong, as numerous, and as tall as the people of Anak.

11 They were thought to be Rephaim, like the people of Anak, but the Moabites called them Emites.

12 The 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.

13 Then the LORD said, "Now cross the Zered River." So we crossed the Zered River.

14 Thirty-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.

15 In fact, it was the LORD himself who got rid of all of them until none were left in the camp.

16 When the last of these soldiers had died,

17 the LORD said to me,

18 "Today you are going to pass by the border of Moab at Ar.

19 When 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."

20 This land was thought of as the land of the Rephaim who used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummim.

21 These 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.

22 The 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.

23 The 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.

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.

25 Today 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."

26 From the desert of Kedemoth, I sent messengers to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace:

27 "If you allow us to travel through your country, we'll go straight through and won't ever leave the road.

28 We'll pay you in silver for the food we eat and the water we drink. Please let us go through,

29 as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us. We'll keep going until we cross the Jordan River into the land the LORD our God is giving us."

30 But King Sihon of Heshbon wouldn't allow us to pass through. The LORD your God made him stubborn and overconfident in order to hand him over to you, as he has now done.

31 The LORD said to me, "I have begun to give you Sihon and his country. Go ahead! Take possession of his land."

32 Sihon and all his troops came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz.

33 The LORD our God gave Sihon to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and all his troops.

34 At that time we captured all his cities and claimed them for God by destroying men, women, and children. There were no survivors.

35 However, we did loot the cities that we captured, taking the cattle and goods.

36 From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley and the city in that valley as far as Gilead, no city had walls that could keep us out. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

37 But the LORD our God had forbidden you to go anywhere near the land of the Ammonites. So you didn't enter the land along the bank of the Jabbok River or capture the cities in the mountains.