1These 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.1.1 the Red…: or, Zuph 2(There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.) 3And 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; 4After 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: 5On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7Turn 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.1.7 all…: Heb. all his neighbours 8Behold, 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.1.8 set: Heb. given
9¶ And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10The 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!) 12How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.1.13 Take: Heb. Give 14And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. 15So 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.1.15 made: Heb. gave 16And 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. 17Ye 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.1.17 respect…: Heb. acknowledge faces 18And 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 Kadesh-barnea. 20And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. 21Behold, 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. 23And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: 24And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. 25And 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. 26Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: 27And 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. 28Whither 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.1.28 discouraged: Heb. melted 29Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30The 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; 31And 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. 32Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, 33Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. 34And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, 35Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, 36Save 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.1.36 wholly…: Heb. fulfilled to go after 37Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. 38But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39Moreover 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. 40But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. 41Then 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. 42And 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. 43So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.1.43 went…: Heb. ye were presumptuous, and went up 44And 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. 45And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. 46So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
እስራኤል ከኮሬብ እንዲነሡ የተሰጠ ትእዛዝ
1ከዮርዳኖስ በስተ ምሥራቅ ዓረባ በተባለው ምድረ በዳ ከሱጰ ትይዩ፣ በፋራንና በጦፌል፣ በላባን፣ በሐጼሮትና በዲዛሃብ መካከል ሳሉ፣ ሙሴ ለእስራኤል ሁሉ የተናገረው ቃል ይህ ነው። 2(በሴይር ተራራ መንገድ ከኮሬብ እስከ ቃዴስ በርኔ ዐሥራ አንድ ቀን ያስሄዳል)።
3በአርባኛው ዓመት፣ በዐሥራ አንደኛው ወር ከወሩም በመጀመሪያው ቀን እስራኤላውያንን በሚመለከት እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ያዘዘውን ሁሉ ሙሴ ለእነርሱ ነገራቸው። 4ይህ የሆነው በሐሴቦን ይገዛ የነበረውን የአሞራውያንን ንጉሥ ሴዎንና በአስታሮት ይገዛ የነበረውን የዐግን ንጉሥ ባሳንን በኤድራይ ድል ካደረገ በኋላ ነው።
5ከዮርዳኖስ በስተ ምሥራቅ በሞዓብ ምድር ሳሉ፣ ሙሴ ይህን ሕግ እንዲህ እያለ መግለጥ ጀመረ፤
6እግዚአብሔር አምላካችን (ያህዌ ኤሎሂም) በኮሬብ እንዲህ አለን፤ “እነሆ፤ በዚህ ተራራ ለረጅም ጊዜ ቈይታችኋል። 7ሰፈር ነቅላችሁ ወደ ኰረብታማው የአሞራውያን አገር ጕዞ ቀጥሉ፤ ከዚያም በዓረባ፣ በተራሮቹ፣ በምዕራብ ኰረብታዎች ግርጌ፣ በኔጌብና በባሕሩ ዳርቻ ወዳሉት አጐራባች ሕዝቦች ሁሉ ሂዱ፤ እንዲሁም ወደ ከነዓናውያን ምድርና ወደ ሊባኖስ፣ እስከ ታላቁ ወንዝ እስከ ኤፍራጥስ ድረስ ዝለቁ። 8እነሆ፤ ይህችን ምድር ሰጥቻችኋለሁ፤ እንግዲህ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ለአባቶቻችሁ ለአብርሃም፣ ለይስሐቅና ለያዕቆብ፣ ከእነርሱም በኋላ ለዘሮቻቸው ሊሰጥ የማለላቸውን ምድር ገብታችሁ ውረሱ።”
የመሪዎች መሾም
9እኔም በዚያን ጊዜ እንዲህ አልኋችሁ፤ “ብቻዬን ልሸከማችሁ አልችልም፤ 10አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ቍጥራችሁን ጨምሯል፤ ስለዚህ ዛሬ እናንተ እንደ ሰማይ ከዋክብት በዝታችኋል። 11አሁንም የአባቶቻችሁ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ሺሕ ጊዜ ያብዛችሁ፣ በሰጠውም ተስፋ መሠረት ይባርካችሁ! 12ይሁን እንጂ ችግራችሁን፣ ሸክማችሁንና ክርክራችሁን ሁሉ ብቻዬን እንዴት አድርጌ መሸከም እችላለሁ? 13ጥበበኞችን፣ አስተዋዮችንና የተከበሩ ሰዎችን ከየነገዳችሁ ምረጡ፤ እኔም በእናንተ ላይ እሾማቸዋለሁ።”
14እናንተም፣ “ይደረግ ዘንድ ያቀረብኸው ሐሳብ መልካም ነው” ብላችሁ መለሳችሁልኝ።
15ስለዚህ እኔም የየነገዶቻችሁን አለቆች ጥበበኞችንና የተከበሩትን ሰዎች ተቀብዬ፣ ሻለቆች፣ መቶ አለቆች፣ አምሳ አለቆችና ዐሥር አለቆች እንዲሁም የየነገዱ ሹማምት በማድረግ በእናንተ ላይ ሥልጣን እንዲኖራቸው ሾምኋቸው። 16በዚያን ጊዜም ዳኞቻችሁን እንዲህ ስል አዘዝኋቸው፤ “በወንድሞቻችሁ መካከል የሚነሣውን ክርክር ያለ አድልዎ እዩት፤ ሙግቱ ወንድማማች በሆኑ እስራኤላውያን መካከል ወይም በአንድ እስራኤላዊና በመጻተኛ መካከል ቢሆን፣ በትክክል ፍረዱ። 17በፍርድ አድልዎ አታድርጉ፤ ትልቁንም ትንሹንም እኩል እዩ፤ ፍርድ የእግዚአብሔር ስለሆነ፣ ማንኛውንም ሰው አትፍሩ። ከዐቅማችሁ በላይ የሆነውን ሁሉ ወደ እኔ አምጡት፤ እኔ አየዋለሁ።” 18በዚያን ጊዜ ማድረግ የነበረባችሁን ሁሉ ነገርኋችሁ።
የሰላዮች መላክ
19ከዚያም አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ባዘዘን መሠረት ከኮሬብ ተነሥተን እንዳያችሁት በዚያ ጭልጥ ባለና በሚያስፈራ ምድረ በዳ ዐልፈን፣ በኰረብታማው በአሞራውያን አገር በኩል ወደ ቃዴስ በርኔ መጣን። 20እኔም፣ እንዲህ አልኋችሁ፤ “አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ወደሚሰጠን ወደ ኰረብታማው የአሞራውያን አገር ደርሳችኋል፤ 21እነሆ፤ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ምድሪቱን ሰጥቷችኋል፤ አሁንም የአባቶቻችሁ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) በነገራችሁ መሠረት ውጡ፤ ውረሷትም፤ አትፍሩ፤ አትደንግጡም።”
22ከዚያም ሁላችሁ ወደ እኔ መጥታችሁ፣ “ምድሪቱን እንዲሰልሉልን ሰዎች አስቀድመን እንላክ፤ እነርሱም ወደዚያ የሚያደርሰንን መንገድና የምንሄድባቸውን ከተሞች በማጥናት ተመልሰው ይነግሩናል” አላችሁ።
23ይህም ሐሳብ መልካም መስሎ ታየኝ፤ እኔም ከእያንዳንዱ ነገድ አንዳንድ ሰው በማድረግ ከእናንተ ዐሥራ ሁለት ሰዎች መረጥሁ። 24እነርሱም ተነሥተው ወደ ኰረብታማው አገር ከወጡ በኋላ ወደ ኤሽኮል ሸለቆ መጥተው ምድሪቱን ሰለሉ።
25ከምድሪቱም ፍሬ ወደ እኛ ይዘው በመምጣት፣ “አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) የሚሰጠን ምድር መልካም ናት” ብለው ነገሩን።
በእግዚአብሔር ላይ ማመፅ
26እናንተ ግን ለመውጣት ፈቃደኞች አልነበራችሁም፤ በአምላካችን በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ትእዛዝ ላይ ዐመፃችሁ። 27በየድንኳኖቻችሁ ሆናችሁ እንዲህ ስትሉ አጕረመረማችሁ፤ “እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ጠልቶናል፤ ስለዚህም ከግብፅ ያወጣን አሞራውያን እንዲያጠፉን በእጃቸው አሳልፎ ሊሰጠን ነው። 28ታዲያ ወዴት መሄድ እንችላለን? ወንድሞቻችን፣ ‘ሰዎቹ ከእኛ ይልቅ ብርቱዎችና ቁመተ ረጃጅሞች፣ ከተሞቹም ትልልቆችና እስከ ሰማይ በሚደርስ ቅጥር የታጠሩ ናቸው፤ እንዲያውም በዚያ የዔናቅን ልጆች አይተናቸዋል’ ሲሉ እንድንፈራ አድርገውናል።”
29እኔም አልኋችሁ፤ “አትሸበሩ፤ አትፍሯቸውም። 30በፊታችሁ የሚሄደው አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ከዚህ በፊት ዐይናችሁ እያየ በግብፅ እንዳደረገላችሁ ሁሉ፣ አሁንም ለእናንተ ይዋጋል፤ 31በምድረ በዳው እንደ አደረገው ሁሉ። በዚያም አባት ልጁን እንደሚሸከም፣ እናንተን አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) እዚህ ስፍራ እስክትደርሱ በመጣችሁበት መንገድ ሁሉ እንዴት እንደ ተሸከማችሁ አይታችኋል።”
32ይህም ሆኖ በአምላካችሁ በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) አልታመናችሁም፤ 33በጕዞ ላይ ሳላችሁ የምትሰፍሩባቸውን ቦታዎች ለመፈለግና የምትሄዱበትን መንገድ ለማሳየት እርሱ ሌሊት በእሳት፣ ቀን በደመና ይመራችሁ ነበር።
34እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) እናንተ ያላችሁትን በሰማ ጊዜ ተቈጣ፤ ማለም፤ 35“ለቀደሙት አባቶቻችሁ ለመስጠት የማልሁላቸውን መልካሚቱን ምድር፣ ከዚህ ክፉ ትውልድ አንድም ሰው አያያትም፤ 36ከዮፎኒ ልጅ ከካሌብ በስተቀር የሚያያት የለም፤ እርሱ ያያታል፤ እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) በፍጹም ልቡ ስለ ተከተለ፣ የረገጣትን ምድር ለእርሱና ለዘሮቹ እሰጣለሁ።”
37በእናንተ ምክንያት እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እኔን ተቈጥቶ እንዲህ አለኝ፤ “አንተም ብትሆን አትገባባትም። 38ረዳትህ የነዌ ልጅ ኢያሱ ግን ይገባባታል፤ ምድሪቱን እንዲወርሱ እስራኤልን የሚመራ እርሱ ስለሆነ፣ አበረታታው። 39ይማረካሉ ያላችኋቸው ታናናሾች፣ ክፉና በጎውን ለይተው የማያውቁት ልጆቻችሁ ምድሪቱን ይገቡባታል፤ ለእነርሱም እሰጣቸዋለሁ፤ እነርሱም ይወርሷታል። 40እናንተ ግን፣ ተመልሳችሁ ወደ ቀይ ባሕር1፥40 ዕብራይስጡ፣ ያም ሳውፍ ይለዋል፤ ይኸውም፣ የደንገል ባሕር ማለት ነው። የሚወስደውን መንገድ ይዛችሁ ወደ ምድረ በዳው ተጓዙ።”
41እናንተ፣ “እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) በድለናል፤ አምላካችሁ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ባዘዘንም መሠረት ወጥተን እንዋጋለን” ብላችሁ መለሳችሁልኝ። ወደ ተራራማው አገር መሄድ ቀላል መስሎ ስለ ታያችሁ፣ እያንዳንዳችሁ የጦር መሣሪያችሁን ታጥቃችሁ ተነሣችሁ።
42እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ግን፣ “እኔ ከእናንተ ጋር አልሆንምና ወጥታችሁ እንዳትዋጉ፤ በጠላቶቻችሁ ድል ትነሣላችሁ ብለህ ንገራቸው” አለኝ።
43እኔም ነገርኋችሁ፤ እናንተ ግን አላዳመጣችሁም፤ በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ትእዛዝ ላይ ዐምፃችሁ፣ በትዕቢታችሁ ወደ ኰረብታማዪቱ አገር ዘመታችሁ። 44በእነዚያ ኰረብቶች ላይ የሚኖሩት አሞራውያን ሊወጓችሁ ወጡ፤ እንደ ንብ ሰራዊትም ሆነው አባረሯችሁ፤ ከሴይር አንሥቶ እስከ ሔርማ ድረስ አሳድደው መቷችሁ። 45እናንተም ተመልሳችሁ መጥታችሁ በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ፊት አለቀሳችሁ፤ ነገር ግን እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ልቅሷችሁን አልሰማም፤ አላዳመጣችሁምም። 46ስለዚህ ያን ያህል ጊዜ በማጥፋት በቃዴስ ብዙ ቀን ቈያችሁ።
