Deuteronomy 1 · Parashat Devarim

THESE are the words which Moshe spoke to all Yisra᾽el on the other side of the Yarden, in the wilderness over against Suf, between Paran, and Tofel, and Lavan, and Ḥażerot, and Di-zahav.

It is eleven days’ journey from Ḥorev by the way of mount Se῾ir to Qadesh-barnea.

And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moshe spoke to the children of Yisra᾽el, according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them;

after he had slain Siĥon the king of the Emori, who dwelt in Ḥeshbon, and ῾Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt at ῾Ashtarot in Edre῾i:

beyond the Yarden, in the land of Mo᾽av, Moshe began to declare this Tora, saying,

The Lord our God spoke to us in Ḥorev, saying, You have dwelt long enough in this mountain:

turn, and take your journey, and go to the mountain of the Emori, and to all the places near it, in the plain, in the hills, and in the lowland, and in the Negev, and by the sea side, to the land of the Kena῾ani, and the Levanon, as far as the great river, the river Perat.

Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, Avraham, Yiżĥaq, and Ya῾aqov, to give to them and to their seed after them.

And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

the Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven for multitude.

(The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!)

How can I myself alone bear your care, and your burden, and your strife?

Take wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

And you answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.

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.

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.

Do not respect persons in judgment; but hear the small as well as the great; do not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it.

And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

And when we departed from Ḥorev, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which you saw; by the way of the mountain of the Emori, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Qadesh-barnea.

And I said to you, You are come to the mountain of the Emori, which the Lord our God gives to us.

Behold, the Lord thy God has set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers has said to thee; fear not, nor be discouraged.

And you came near to me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us back word by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one for a tribe:

and they turned and went up to the mountain, and came to the wadi of Eshkol, and searched it out.

And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us back word, and said, It is a good land which the Lord our God gives us.

Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God:

and you murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Miżrayim, to deliver us into the hand of the Emori, to destroy us.

Whither shall we go up? our brethren have made our heart faint, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the ῾Anaqim there.

Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

The Lord your God who goes before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Miżrayim before your eyes;

and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bore thee, as a man bears his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.

Yet in this thing you did not believe the Lord your God,

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 you should go, and in a cloud by day.

And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,

Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land, which I swore to give to your fathers,

save Kalev the son of Yefunne; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord.

Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in there.

But Yehoshua the son of Nun, who stands before thee, he shall go in there: encourage him: for he shall cause Yisra᾽el to inherit it.

And your little ones, concerning whom you said they should be a prey, and your children who in that day had no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Suf.

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. And you girded on every man his weapons of war, and ventured to go up into the hill.

And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Neither go up, nor fight; for I am not among you; lest you be smitten before your enemies.

So I spoke to you; and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill.

And the Emori, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Se῾ir, as far as Ḥorma.

And you returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear to you.

So you abode in Qadesh many days, according to the days that you abode there.