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Chapter 1 |
| 1 | These be the
words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness,
in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban,
and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. |
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2 | (There are eleven days' journey from
Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) |
| 3 | And it came to
pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the
month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that
the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; |
| 4 | After he had
slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king
of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: |
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5 | On this side Jordan, in
the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, |
| 6 | The LORD
our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this
mount: |
| 7 |
Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the
Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills,
and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the
Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
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| 8 | Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which
the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them
and to their seed after them. |
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9 | And I spake unto you at that time,
saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: |
| 10 | The LORD
your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of
heaven for multitude. |
| 11 | (The LORD God of your fathers make you a
thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised
you!) |
| 12 |
How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden,
and your strife? |
|
13 | Take you wise men, and understanding, and known
among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. |
| 14 | And ye
answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to
do. |
| 15 |
So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and
made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds,
and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your
tribes. |
| 16
| And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the
causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his
brother, and the stranger that is with him. |
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17 | Ye shall not respect
persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall
not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that
is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. |
| 18 | And I
commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do. |
| 19 | And
when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible
wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the
LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. |
| 20 | And I said
unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God
doth give unto us. |
| 21 | Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land
before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said
unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. |
|
22 | And ye came near unto
me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall
search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and
into what cities we shall come. |
| 23 | And the saying pleased me
well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: |
| 24 | And they
turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and
searched it out. |
|
25 | And they took of the fruit of the land in their
hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is
a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. |
| 26 |
Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the
LORD your God: |
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27 | And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because
the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to
deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. |
| 28 | Whither
shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is
greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and
moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. |
| 29 | Then I said
unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. |
| 30 | The LORD
your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that
he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; |
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31 | And in the wilderness,
where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear
his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. |
| 32 |
Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, |
| 33 | Who went in
the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire
by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
|
| 34 | And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware,
saying, |
| 35
| Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil
generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers.
|
| 36 | Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give
the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly
followed the LORD. |
| 37 | Also the LORD was angry with me for your
sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. |
| 38 | But Joshua
the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage
him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. |
| 39 | Moreover
your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in
that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and
unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. |
| 40 | But as for
you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red
sea. |
| 41 |
Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the
LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded
us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go
up into the hill. |
| 42 | And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them. Go
not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your
enemies. |
| 43
| So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled
against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the
hill. |
| 44 |
And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out
against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto
Hormah. |
| 45
| And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD
would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. |
| 46 | So ye abode
in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there. |
