1-5. This book contains the speeches that Moses made while Israel was in the land of Moab, camped near the town of Suph in the desert east of the River Jordan. The town of Paran was in one direction from their camp, and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab were in the opposite direction.Earlier, Moses had defeated the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. Moses had also defeated King Og of Bashan, who used to live in Ashtaroth for part of the year and in Edrei for the rest of the year.Although it takes only eleven days to walk from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea by way of the Mount Seir road, these speeches were not made until forty years after Israel left Egypt.The Lord had given Moses his laws for the people of Israel. And on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses began explaining those laws by saying:
6. People of Israel, when we were in our camp at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God told us:You have stayed here long enough.
7. Leave this place and go into the land that belongs to the Amorites and their neighbours the Canaanites. This land includes the valley of the River Jordan, the hill country, the western foothills, the Southern Desert, the Mediterranean coast, the Lebanon Mountains, and all the territory as far as the River Euphrates.
8. I give you this land, just as I promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now you must go and take the land.
9. Straight after the Lord commanded us to leave Mount Sinai, I told you:Israel, being your leader is too big a job for one person.
10. The Lord our God has blessed us, and so now there are as many of us as there are stars in the sky.
11. God has even promised to bless us a thousand times more, and I pray that he will.
12. But I cannot take care of all your problems and settle all your arguments alone.
13. Each tribe must choose some experienced men who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will make those men the official leaders of their tribes.
14. You answered, “That's a good idea!”
15. Then I took these men, who were already wise and respected leaders, and I appointed them as your official leaders. Some of them became military officers in charge of groups of a thousand, or a hundred, or fifty, or ten,
16. and others became judges. I gave these judges the following instructions:When you settle legal cases, your decisions must be fair. It doesn't matter if the case is between two Israelites, or between an Israelite and a foreigner living in your community.
17. And it doesn't matter if one is helpless and the other is powerful. Don't be afraid of anyone! No matter who comes to your court, God will help you make a fair decision.If any case is too hard for you, bring the people to me, and I will make the decision.
18. After I gave these instructions to the judges, I taught you the Lord's commands.
19. The Lord had commanded us to leave Mount Sinai and go to the hill country that belonged to the Amorites, so we started out into the huge desert. You remember how frightening it was, but soon we were at Kadesh-Barnea,
20-21. and I told you, “We have reached the hill country. It belongs to the Amorites now, but the Lord our God is giving it to us. He is the same God our ancestors worshipped, and he has told us to go in and take this land, so don't hesitate and be afraid.”
22. Then all of you came to me and said, “Before we go into the land, let's send some men to explore it. When they come back, they can tell us about the towns we will find and what roads we should take to get there.”
23. It seemed like a good idea, so I chose twelve men, one from each tribe.
24. They explored the hill country as far as Bunch Valley
25. and even brought back some of the fruit. They said, “The Lord our God is giving us good land.”
26. You did not want to go into the land, and you refused to obey the Lord your God.