1. These are the commands that Moses gave the Israelites while they were in the Jordan Valley, in the desert east of the Jordan River. This was across from Suph, between the desert of Paran and the cities Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2. The trip from Mount Horeb through the mountains of Seir to Kadesh Barnea takes only eleven days.
3. But it was 40 years from the time the Israelites left Egypt until the time they came to this place. On the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year, Moses spoke to the people and told them everything the Lord commanded.
4. This was after he defeated Sihon and Og. (Sihon was the king of the Amorites and lived in Heshbon. Og was the king of Bashan and lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.)
5. The Israelites were in Moab on the east side of the Jordan River when Moses began to explain what God had commanded:
6. “At Mount Horeb the Lord our God spoke to us. He said, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough.
7. Go to the hill country where the Amorites live and to all the neighboring areas in the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western slopes, the Negev, and the seacoast. Go throughout the land of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates.
8. Look, I am giving you this land. Go and take it. It is the land that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to them and to their descendants.’
9. “At that time I told you, ‘I can’t take care of you by myself.
10. And now, there are even more of you. The Lord your God has added more and more people, so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky.
11. May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, give you 1000 times more people than you are now! May he bless you as he promised.
12. But I cannot take care of you and solve all your arguments by myself.
13. So choose some men from each tribe, and I will make them leaders over you. Choose wise men with experience who understand people.’
14. “And you said, ‘That is a good thing to do.’
15. “So I took the wise, experienced men you chose from your tribes, and I made them your leaders. In this way I gave you leaders over 1000 people, over 100 people, over 50 people, and over 10 people. I also gave you officers for each of your tribes.
16. “At that time I told these judges, ‘Listen to the arguments between your people. Be fair when you judge each case. It doesn’t matter if the problem is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner. You must judge each case fairly.
17. You must treat everyone the same when you judge. You must listen carefully to everyone—whether they are important or not. Don’t be afraid of anyone, because your decision is from God. But if there is a case too hard for you to judge, bring it to me and I will judge it.’
18. At that same time I also told you everything you must do.