Deuteronomy:1-2

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* These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness , in the plain opposite Suph , between Paran , Tophel , Laban , Hazeroth , and Dizahab . * It is eleven days ' journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea . * Now it came to pass in the fortieth year , in the eleventh month , on the first day of the month , that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him as commandments to them , * after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites , who dwelt in Heshbon , and Og king of Bashan , who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei . * On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab , Moses began to explain this law , saying , * "The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb , saying : "You have dwelt long enough at this mountain . * Turn and take your journey , and go to the mountains of the Amorites , to all the neighboring places in the plain , in the mountains and in the lowland , in the South and on the seacoast , to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon , as far as the great river , the River Euphrates . * See , I have set the land before you ; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers--to Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob--to give to them and their descendants after them .' * "And I spoke to you at that time , saying : "I alone am not able to bear you . * The LORD your God has multiplied you , and here you are today , as the stars of heaven in multitude . * May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are , and bless you as He has promised you ! * How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints ? * Choose wise , understanding , and knowledgeable men from among your tribes , and I will make them heads over you .' * And you answered me and said , "The thing which you have told us to do is good .' * So I took the heads of your tribes , wise and knowledgeable men , and made them heads over you , leaders of thousands , leaders of hundreds , leaders of fifties , leaders of tens , and officers for your tribes . * "Then I commanded your judges at that time , saying , "Hear the cases between your brethren , and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him . * You shall not show partiality in judgment ; you shall hear the small as well as the great ; you shall not be afraid in any man 's presence , for the judgment is God 's . The case that is too hard for you , bring to me , and I will hear it .' * And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do . * "So we departed from Horeb , and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites , as the LORD our God had commanded us . Then we came to Kadesh Barnea . * And I said to you , "You have come to the mountains of the Amorites , which the LORD our God is giving us . * Look , the LORD your God has set the land before you ; go up and possess it , as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you ; do not fear or be discouraged .' * "And every one of you came near to me and said , "Let us send men before us , and let them search out the land for us , and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up , and of the cities into which we shall come .' * "The plan pleased me well ; so I took twelve of your men , one man from each tribe . * And they departed and went up into the mountains , and came to the Valley of Eshcol , and spied it out . * They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us ; and they brought back word to us , saying , "It is a good land which the LORD our God is giving us .' * "Nevertheless you would not go up , but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God ; * and you complained in your tents , and said , "Because the LORD hates us , He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites , to destroy us . * Where can we go up ? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts , saying , "The people are greater and taller than we ; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven ; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there ."' * "Then I said to you , "Do not be terrified , or afraid of them . * The LORD your God , who goes before you , He will fight for you , according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes , * and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you , as a man carries his son , in all the way that you went until you came to this place .' * Yet , for all that , you did not believe the LORD your God , * who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents , to show you the way you should go , in the fire by night and in the cloud by day . * "And the LORD heard the sound of your words , and was angry , and took an oath , saying , * "Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers , * except Caleb the son of Jephunneh ; he shall see it , and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked , because he wholly followed the LORD .' * The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes , saying , "Even you shall not go in there . * Joshua the son of Nun , who stands before you , he shall go in there . Encourage him , for he shall cause Israel to inherit it . * "Moreover your little ones and your children , who you say will be victims , who today have no knowledge of good and evil , they shall go in there ; to them I will give it , and they shall possess it . * But as for you , turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea .' * "Then you answered and said to me , "We have sinned against the LORD ; we will go up and fight , just as the LORD our God commanded us .' And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war , you were ready to go up into the mountain . * "And the LORD said to me , "Tell them , "Do not go up nor fight , for I am not among you ; lest you be defeated before your enemies ."' * So I spoke to you ; yet you would not listen , but rebelled against the command of the LORD , and presumptuously went up into the mountain . * And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do , and drove you back from Seir to Hormah . * Then you returned and wept before the LORD , but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you . * "So you remained in Kadesh many days , according to the days that you spent there . * "Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea , as the LORD spoke to me , and we skirted Mount Seir for many days . * "And the LORD spoke to me , saying : * "You have skirted this mountain long enough ; turn northward . * And command the people , saying , "You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren , the descendants of Esau , who live in Seir ; and they will be afraid of you . Therefore watch yourselves carefully . * Do not meddle with them , for I will not give you any of their land , no , not so much as one footstep , because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession . * You shall buy food from them with money , that you may eat ; and you shall also buy water from them with money , that you may drink . * "For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand . He knows your trudging through this great wilderness . These forty years the LORD your God has been with you ; you have lacked nothing ."' * "And when we passed beyond our brethren , the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir , away from the road of the plain , away from Elath and Ezion Geber , we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab . * Then the LORD said to me , "Do not harass Moab , nor contend with them in battle , for I will not give you any of their land as a possession , because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession ."' * (The Emim had dwelt there in times past , a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim . * They were also regarded as giants , like the Anakim , but the Moabites call them Emim . * The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir , but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them , and dwelt in their place , just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them .) * ""Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered .' So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered . * And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years , until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp , just as the LORD had sworn to them . * For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them , to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed . * "So it was , when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people , * that the LORD spoke to me , saying : * "This day you are to cross over at Ar , the boundary of Moab . * And when you come near the people of Ammon , do not harass them or meddle with them , for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession , because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession ."' * (That was also regarded as a land of giants ; giants formerly dwelt there . But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim , * a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim . But the LORD destroyed them before them , and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place , * just as He had done for the descendants of Esau , who dwelt in Seir , when He destroyed the Horites from before them . They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place , even to this day . * And the Avim , who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza--the Caphtorim , who came from Caphtor , destroyed them and dwelt in their place .) * ""Rise , take your journey , and cross over the River Arnon . Look , I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite , king of Heshbon , and his land . Begin to possess it , and engage him in battle . * This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven , who shall hear the report of you , and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you .' * "And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon , with words of peace , saying , * "Let me pass through your land ; I will keep strictly to the road , and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left . * You shall sell me food for money , that I may eat , and give me water for money , that I may drink ; only let me pass through on foot , * just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me , until I cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD our God is giving us .' * "But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through , for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate , that He might deliver him into your hand , as it is this day . * "And the LORD said to me , "See , I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you . Begin to possess it , that you may inherit his land .' * Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz . * And the LORD our God delivered him over to us ; so we defeated him , his sons , and all his people . * We took all his cities at that time , and we utterly destroyed the men , women , and little ones of every city ; we left none remaining . * We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves , with the spoil of the cities which we took . * From Aroer , which is on the bank of the River Arnon , and from the city that is in the ravine , as far as Gilead , there was not one city too strong for us ; the LORD our God delivered all to us . * Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon--anywhere along the River Jabbok , or to the cities of the mountains , or wherever the LORD our God had forbidden us . * "Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan ; and Og king of Bashan came out against us , he and all his people , to battle at Edrei .

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