Deuteronomy 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel on the east side of the Jordan River -- in the desert plains, across from Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

It's an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by the Mount Seir road.

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses told the Israelites everything Yahweh had commanded him to tell them.

This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who ruled from Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

On the east side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this instruction. He said:

"Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb: 'You've stayed at this mountain long enough.

Get moving. Head for the hill country of the Amorites and all the surrounding areas -- the Jordan valley, the highlands, the western foothills, the Negev desert, and the coastland. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, all the way to the great river, the Euphrates.

Look -- I'm handing this land over to you. Go in and take possession of the land that Yahweh promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.'

"At that time I told you, 'I can't carry the weight of all of you by myself.

Yahweh your God has multiplied your numbers, and look at you today -- as many as the stars in the sky!

May Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and do good for you, just as he promised!

But how can I handle your problems, your burdens, and your disputes all by myself?

Choose wise, understanding, and respected people from each of your tribes, and I'll put them in charge over you.'

You answered me, 'What you're proposing is good.'

So I took the leaders of your tribes -- wise and respected men -- and appointed them as officials over you: commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and tribal officers.

I charged your judges at that time: 'Hear out the cases between your people and judge fairly, whether the dispute is between fellow Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreign resident.

Don't show favoritism when judging. Hear out the unimportant person the same as the important one. Don't be intimidated by anyone, because judgment belongs to God. Any case that's too hard for you, bring to me and I'll hear it.'

At that time I gave you instructions for everything you needed to do.

"Then we set out from Horeb and traveled through that whole vast, terrifying desert that you saw, heading toward the hill country of the Amorites, just as Yahweh our God had commanded us. And we arrived at Kadesh-barnea.

I said to you, 'You've reached the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God is giving us.

Look, Yahweh your God has placed the land right in front of you. Go up and take possession of it, just as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, told you. Don't be afraid. Don't lose heart.'

"But all of you came to me and said, 'Let's send men ahead of us to scout out the land and bring back a report about which route to take and which cities we'll encounter.'

The idea seemed good to me, so I selected twelve of you, one from each tribe.

They headed up into the hill country and reached the Eshcol Valley, where they explored the land.

They brought back some of the land's produce and reported to us: 'The land that Yahweh our God is giving us is good!'

"But you refused to go up. You rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God.

You grumbled in your tents and said, 'Yahweh hates us! He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.

Where are we even going? Our own brothers crushed our courage when they said, "The people there are bigger and taller than us. The cities are huge, with walls reaching up to the sky. And we even saw descendants of the Anakim there."'

"I said to you, 'Don't be terrified. Don't be afraid of them.

Yahweh your God, who goes ahead of you, will fight for you himself -- just like he did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes,

and in the desert, where you saw how Yahweh your God carried you the way a father carries his child, the entire journey until you arrived at this place.'

"But even after all that, you didn't trust Yahweh your God,

the same God who went ahead of you on the journey to find you places to camp -- in fire at night so you could see where to go, and in a cloud during the day."

"Yahweh heard what you were saying and became angry. He made a sworn decision:

'Not a single person from this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your ancestors --

except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it. I'll give the land he walked on to him and his descendants, because he followed Yahweh wholeheartedly.'

Yahweh was even angry with me because of you. He said, 'You won't enter the land either.

But Joshua son of Nun, who serves you -- he will enter. Encourage him, because he's the one who will lead Israel to take possession of it.

And your little ones that you said would be taken as plunder, and your children who don't yet know right from wrong -- they will enter the land. I'll give it to them and they will take possession of it.

But as for you -- turn around and head back into the desert by the Red Sea road.'

"Then you answered me: 'We've failed Yahweh. We'll go up and fight, just as Yahweh our God commanded us.' And each of you strapped on your weapons and thought it would be easy to charge up into the hill country.

But Yahweh told me, 'Tell them: Don't go up there. Don't fight, because I'm not with you. You'll be crushed by your enemies.'

I told you, but you wouldn't listen. You rebelled against Yahweh's command and arrogantly charged up into the hill country.

The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.

You came back and wept before Yahweh, but Yahweh would not listen to your cries or pay attention to you.

And so you stayed at Kadesh for a long time -- as long as you did."