Deuteronomy 1
Open in the reader1These are the words that Drawn-Out spoke to all Strives-with-God in the wilderness east of the Descender—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Place-of-Beauty and Tophel, White, Place-of-Beauty, and Place-of-Gold.
2It is an eleven-day journey from Desolate to Devoted-Place-of-Wandering by way of Mount Hairy.
3In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Drawn-Out proclaimed to the children of Strives-with-God all that He-Who-Is had commanded him concerning them.
4This was after he had defeated Tempestuous king of the Mountaineers, who lived in Reckoning, and then at Mighty-Place had defeated Og king of Fertile-Plain, who lived in Ashtaroth.
5On the east side of the Descender in the land of From-the-Father, Drawn-Out began to explain this teaching, saying:
6He-Who-Is our God said to us at Desolate: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough.
7Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Mountaineers; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in South-Country, and along the seacoast to the land of the Humbled-Ones and to White-Mountain, as far as the great River Rushing.
8See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that He-Who-Is swore He would give to your fathers Father-of-a-Multitude, He-Laughs, and Heel-Grabber, and to their descendants after them.”
9At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.
10He-Who-Is your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
11May He-Who-Is, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.
12But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself?
13Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”
14And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”
15So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.
16At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.
17Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”
18And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do.
19And just as He-Who-Is our God had commanded us, we set out from Desolate and went toward the hill country of the Mountaineers, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Devoted-Place-of-Wandering,
20I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Mountaineers, which He-Who-Is our God is giving us.
21See, He-Who-Is your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as He-Who-Is, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
22Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”
23The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.
24They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Cluster and spied out the land.
25They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that He-Who-Is our God is giving us.”
26But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of He-Who-Is your God.
27You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because He-Who-Is hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Two-Straits to deliver us into the hand of the Mountaineers to be annihilated.
28Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the children of Long-Necked there.’”
29So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them!
30He-Who-Is your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Two-Straits
31and in the wilderness, where He-Who-Is your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”
32But in spite of all this, you did not trust He-Who-Is your God,
33who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.
34When He-Who-Is heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,
35“Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers,
36except Dog son of He-Will-Be-Prepared. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed He-Who-Is wholeheartedly.”
37He-Who-Is was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
38He-Who-Is-Saves son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Strives-with-God to inherit the land.
39And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.
40But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Reed Sea.”
41“We have sinned against He-Who-Is,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as He-Who-Is our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.
42But He-Who-Is said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”
43So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of He-Who-Is and presumptuously went up into the hill country.
44Then the Mountaineers who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Hairy all the way to Devoted-to-Destruction.
45And you returned and wept before He-Who-Is, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you.
46For this reason you stayed in Devoted-Place for a long time—a very long time.