| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1This is what Moses said to the assembly of Israel in the Transjordanian wastelands, the arid country opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab | 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. |
| 2Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by way of Mount Seir. | 2It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. |
| 3However, it was not until the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year that Moses addressed the Israelites just as the LORD had instructed him to do. | 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, |
| 4This took place after the defeat of King Sihon of the Amorites, whose capital was in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was in Ashtaroth, specifically in Edrei. | 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. |
| 5So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: | 5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, |
| 6The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, "You have stayed in the area of this mountain long enough. | 6“The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. |
| 7Get up now, resume your journey, heading for the Amorite hill country, to all its areas including the arid country, the highlands, the Shephelah, the Negev, and the coastal plain--all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. | 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. |
| 8Look! I have already given the land to you. Go, occupy the territory that I, the LORD, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants." | 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.’ |
| 9I also said to you at that time, "I am no longer able to sustain you by myself. | 9“At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. |
| 10The LORD your God has increased your population to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. | 10The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. |
| 11Indeed, may the LORD, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you just as he said he would! | 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! |
| 12But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? | 12How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? |
| 13Select wise and practical men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders." | 13Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ |
| 14You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. | 14And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ |
| 15So I chose as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. | 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. |
| 16I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens and judge fairly, whether between one citizen and another or a citizen and a resident foreigner. | 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. |
| 17They must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing. | 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.’ |
| 18So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. | 18And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. |
| 19Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the LORD our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea. | 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. |
| 20Then I said to you, "You have come to the Amorite hill country which the LORD our God is about to give us. | 20And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. |
| 21Look, he has placed the land in front of you! Go up, take possession of it, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!" | 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.’ |
| 22So all of you approached me and said, "Let's send some men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should attack it and what the cities are like there." | 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.’ |
| 23I thought this was a good idea, so I sent twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. | 23The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. |
| 24They left and went up to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley, which they scouted out. | 24And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. |
| 25Then they took some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, "The land that the LORD our God is about to give us is good." | 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.’ |
| 26You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the LORD your God. | 26“Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. |
| 27You complained among yourselves privately and said, "Because the LORD hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! | 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. |
| 28What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there." | 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.”’ |
| 29So I responded to you, "Do not be terrified of them! | 29Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. |
| 30The LORD your God is about to go ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt | 30The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, |
| 31and in the desert, where you saw him carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place." | 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.’ |
| 32However, through all this you did not have confidence in the LORD your God, | 32Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, |
| 33the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go. | 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. |
| 34When the LORD heard you, he became angry and made this vow: | 34“And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, |
| 35"Not a single person of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! | 35‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, |
| 36The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me." | 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!’ |
| 37As for me, the LORD was also angry with me on your account. He said, "You also will not be able to go there. | 37Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. |
| 38However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. | 38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. |
| 39Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess 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. |
| 40But as for you, turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea." | 40But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’ |
| 41Then you responded to me and admitted, "We have sinned against the LORD. We will now go up and fight as the LORD our God has told us to do." So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. | 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. |
| 42But the LORD told me: "Tell them this: 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.'" | 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.’ |
| 43I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the LORD and recklessly went up to the hill country. | 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. |
| 44The Amorite inhabitants of that area confronted you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. | 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. |
| 45Then you came back and wept before the LORD, but he paid no attention to you whatsoever. | 45And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. |
| 46Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time--indeed, for the full time. | 46So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there. |
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