The Commands to Leave Sinai

¹ These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel while they were still in the wilderness, before they crossed the Jordan River, in the plain, opposite the Red Sea ^a between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is an eleven day journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, by way of Mount Seir. ³ In the 40^th year, on the first day of the fifth month, Moses spoke to the Israelites, concerning all that the Lord had commanded him to tell them. ⁴ This was after he had defeated Sihon, King of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og, King of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

⁵ On the east side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, ⁶ “The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷ Turn, and take your journey into the hill country of the Amorites and everywhere near there, including the Arabah, the hill country, the lowland, the land to the South, by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon–as far as the great river, Euphrates. ⁸ Hear this, I have set this land before you. Go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ ”

Moses Appoints Leaders

⁹ I spoke to you at that time, telling you, “I cannot bear the responsibility for all of you alone. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today as vast as the stars in the sky. ¹¹ The Lord, the God of your fathers, multiplied you a thousand times and blessed you, as he has promised you! ¹² How can I myself alone bear your problems, burdens, and disputes? ¹³ Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will establish leaders over you.”

¹⁴ You answered me, and said, “What you have described is good. Your plan is sound.” ¹⁵ So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men and made them commanders over you, officials for 1,000’s, 100’s, 50’s, and 10’s; officers according to your tribes. ¹⁶ I commanded your judges at that time and said, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously, whether it is between a man and his Israelite brother or between a man and the foreigner who is living among you. ¹⁷ Do not discriminate. Hear the small and the great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone’s reaction, for the judgements are from God. Bring the difficult cases to me, and I will hear them.” ¹⁸ I have given you previous instructions on everything you should do.

Twelve Sent to Survey the Land

¹⁹ As the Lord our God commanded us, we traveled from Horeb and went through all of that vast and frightful wilderness which you saw along the way to the hill country of the Amorites. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰ I said to you, “You have arrived at the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to us. ²¹ Look at this! The Lord your God has set this land before you. Go up and take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

²² You came to me, everyone of you and said, “Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they can explore the land for us, and bring back information on the route we should take to the cities we are coming up to.”

²³ This idea seemed very good to me. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe. ²⁴ They turned and went up into the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol, and explored it. ²⁵ They took some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us with the report, “It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving to us.”

Israel’s Rebellion

²⁶ Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ You whined in your tents, saying “Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸ Where can we go? We lost heart when our brothers reported, ‘The people are taller and mightier than we are. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim ^b there!’ ”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified. Do not be afraid of them. ³⁰ The Lord your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you! Remember all that he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, like a man carries his son, everywhere you went, until you came to this place.”

³² Yet even after all of this you did not believe the Lord your God, ³³ who went before you along the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents, leading you by fire at night and by cloud in the day to show you what way you should go.

Israel’s Penalty

³⁴ The Lord heard you voicing your complaints, and he was angry and swore, saying, ³⁵ “Surely not one of these men from this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, ³⁶ except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give him the land on which he has trod, to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord.”

³⁷ The Lord was also angry with me on your account, saying, “You shall not enter it either. ³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ³⁹ Furthermore, your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, your children, who on that day, had no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter as well. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

The Defeat at Hormah

⁴¹ Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.” Every one of you put on his weapons of war, presuming it would be easy to go up into the hill country.

⁴² The Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and do not fight, for I am not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.’ ”

⁴³ So I spoke to you, and you did not listen, but you rebelled against the Lord’s command, and presumptuously advanced into the hill country. ⁴⁴ The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, all the way to Hormah. ⁴⁵ You returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not pay attention to your cries, nor did he turn his ear to you. ⁴⁶ So you stayed in Kadesh a long time, as you know.

^{a Lit.Suph which might be the proper name of a location rather than the Red Sea as it is commonly known. b Lit. neck denoting a thick-necked, strong and powerful race.}

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