1. This is what Moses said to the assembly of Israel in the Transjordanian wastelands, the arid country opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di Zahab
2. Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by way of Mount Seir.
3. However, it was not until the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year that Moses addressed the Israelites just as the Lord had instructed him to do.
4. This took place after the defeat of King Sihon of the Amorites, whose capital was in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was in Ashtaroth, specifically in Edrei.
5. So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words:
6. The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed in the area of this mountain long enough.
7. Get up now, resume your journey, heading for the Amorite hill country, to all its areas including the arid country, the highlands, the Shephelah, the Negev, and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates.
8. Look! I have already given the land to you. Go, occupy the territory that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.”
9. I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself.
10. The Lord your God has increased your population to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky.
11. Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you just as he said he would!
12. But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife?
13. Select wise and practical men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.”
14. You replied to me that what I had said to you was good.
15. So I chose as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials.
16. I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens and judge fairly, whether between one citizen and another or a citizen and a resident foreigner.