The Lord Commands Israel to Leave Mount Horeb
1These are the words Moses spoke to all the Israelites. At that time, they were in the desert east of the Jordan River. It’s in the Arabah Valley across from Suph. The people were between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2It takes 11 days to go from Mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea if you travel on the Mount Seir road.
3It was the 40th year since the Israelites had left Egypt. On the first day of the 11th month, Moses spoke to them. He told them everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. 4They had already won the battle over Sihon. Sihon was the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. Israel had also won the battle over Og at Edrei. Og was the king of Bashan. He had ruled in Ashtaroth.
5The people were east of the Jordan River in the territory of Moab. There Moses began to explain the law. Here is what he said.
6The Lord our God spoke to us at Mount Horeb. He said, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7Take your tents down. Go into the hill country of the Amorites. Go to all the people who are their neighbors. Go to the people who live in the Arabah Valley. Travel to the mountains and the western hills. Go to the people in the Negev Desert and along the coast. Travel to the land of Canaan and to Lebanon. Go as far as the great Euphrates River. 8I have given you all this land. Go in and take it as your own. The Lord promised he would give the land to your fathers. He promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He also said he would give it to their children after them.”
Some Officials Are Chosen to Help Moses
9At that time I spoke to you. I said, “You are too heavy a load for me to carry alone. 10The Lord your God has caused there to be many of you. Today you are as many as the stars in the sky. 11The Lord is the God of your people. May he cause there to be a thousand times more of you. May he bless you, just as he promised he would. 12But I can’t handle your problems and troubles all by myself. I can’t settle your arguments. 13So choose some wise men from each of your tribes. They must understand how to give good advice. The people must have respect for them. I will appoint those men to have authority over you.”
14You answered me, “Your suggestion is good.”
15So I chose the leading men of your tribes who were wise and respected. I appointed them to have authority over you. I made them commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. I appointed them to be officials over the tribes. 16Here is what I commanded your judges at that time. I said, “Listen to your people’s cases when they argue with one another. Judge them fairly. It doesn’t matter whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and an outsider living among you. 17When you judge them, treat everyone the same. Listen to those who are important and those who are not. Don’t be afraid of anyone. God is the highest judge. Bring me any case that is too hard for you. I’ll listen to it.” 18At that time I told you everything you should do.
Twelve Men Check Out the Land of Canaan
19The Lord our God commanded us to start out from Mount Horeb. So we did. We went toward the hill country of the Amorites. We traveled all through the huge and terrible desert you saw. Finally, we reached Kadesh Barnea. 20Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites. The Lord our God is giving it to us. 21The Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take it. Do what the Lord says. He’s the God of your people. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope.”
22Then all of you came to me. You said, “Let’s send some men ahead of us. They can check out the land for us and bring back a report. They can suggest to us which way to go. They can tell us about the towns we’ll come to.”
23That seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of you. I picked one man from each tribe. 24They left and went up into the hill country. There they came to the Valley of Eshkol. They checked it out. 25They got some of the fruit of that land. Then they brought it down to us and gave us their report. They said, “The Lord our God is giving us a good land.”
Israel Refuses to Obey the Lord
26But you wouldn’t go up. You refused to obey the command of the Lord your God. 27You spoke against him in your tents. You said, “The Lord hates us. That’s why he brought us out of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites. He wanted to destroy us. 28Where can we go? The men who checked out the land have made us afraid. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are large. They have walls that reach up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ”
29Then I said to you, “Don’t be terrified. Don’t be afraid of them. 30The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will fight for you. With your own eyes you saw how he fought for you in Egypt. 31You also saw how the Lord your God brought you through the desert. He carried you everywhere you went, just as a father carries his son. And now you have arrived here.”
32In spite of that, you didn’t trust in the Lord your God. 33He went ahead of you on your journey. He was in the fire at night and in the cloud during the day. He found places for you to camp. He showed you the way you should go.
34The Lord heard what you said. So he became angry. He made a promise. He said, 35“I promised to give this good land to your people of long ago. But no one alive today will see it. 36Only Caleb will see the land. He is the son of Jephunneh. I will give him and his children after him the land he walked on. He followed me with his whole heart.”
37Because of you, the Lord became angry with me also. He said, “You will not enter the land either. 38But Joshua, the son of Nun, is your helper. Joshua will enter the land. Help him to be brave. Give him hope. He will lead Israel to take the land as their own. 39You said your little ones would be taken prisoner. But they will enter the land. They do not yet know right from wrong. But I will give them the land. They will take it as their own. 40As for you, turn around. Start out toward the desert. Go along the road that leads to the Red Sea.”
41Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight. We’ll do just as the Lord our God has commanded us.” So all of you got your swords and put them on. You thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.
42But the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight. I will not be with you. Your enemies will win the battle over you.’ ”
43So I told you what the Lord said. But you wouldn’t listen. You refused to obey his command. You were so filled with pride that you marched up into the hill country. 44The Amorites who lived in those hills came out and attacked you. Like large numbers of bees they chased you. They beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45You came back and wept in front of the Lord. But he didn’t pay any attention to your weeping. He wouldn’t listen to you. 46So you stayed in Kadesh for many years. You spent a long time in that area.
前言
1以下是摩西对以色列人说的话。当时以色列人在约旦河东的旷野、疏弗对面的亚拉巴，即巴兰、陀弗、拉班、哈洗录和底撒哈之间。 2从何烈山取道西珥山到加低斯·巴尼亚，需十一天。 3在离开埃及后第四十年的十一月一日，摩西把耶和华的一切吩咐告诉了以色列人。 4那时，他已经打败了希实本的亚摩利王西宏以及盘踞在以得来和亚斯她录的巴珊王噩。 5摩西在约旦河东的摩押讲解律法，说： 6“我们的上帝耶和华在何烈山对我们说，‘你们在这里已经住了多日， 7现在该启程前往亚摩利人的山区、亚拉巴地区、山地、丘陵、南地、沿海一带、迦南和黎巴嫩，直到幼发拉底河。 8看啊，我把那片土地赐给你们了，你们去占领吧，那是耶和华起誓赐给你们祖先亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各和他们后裔的地方。’
摩西设立首领
9“那时，我对你们说，‘我无法独自承担管理你们的重任， 10因为你们的上帝耶和华使你们人丁兴旺，以致今天人数多如天上的星星。 11愿你们祖先的上帝耶和华使你们人数更增千倍，照祂的应许赐福给你们。 12但我怎能独自担当解决你们问题和争端的重任呢？ 13你们要从各支派中选出有智慧、有见识、受尊重的人，我要立他们做你们的首领。’ 14你们都同意这样的做法。 15于是，我把各支派中有智慧和受敬重的人立为你们的首领，即千夫长、百夫长、五十夫长、十夫长和其他官长，治理你们。 16我吩咐这些官员要聆听案件，公正地审理同胞之间或与外族人之间的诉讼， 17不可偏私，不分贵贱，不惧情面，因为判决来自上帝。如果案件太难，可以交给我处理。 18那时，我把一切当行之事都告诉了你们。
派人打探迦南
19“我们照我们上帝耶和华的吩咐，从何烈山出发，走过你们所见的那大而可怕的旷野，前往亚摩利山区，来到加低斯·巴尼亚。 20我对你们说，‘我们的上帝耶和华赐给我们的亚摩利山区到了。 21看啊，你们祖先的上帝耶和华已把那片土地赐给你们，你们要照着祂的应许去占领那里，不要惧怕，不要气馁。’ 22你们来对我说，‘我们要先派人去打探那地方，回来好告诉我们当走哪条路，当占哪些城。’ 23我同意你们的建议，便从你们当中选出十二人，每支派选一人。 24他们前往山区，到了以实各谷，打探那地方。 25他们带回来一些那里的果子，禀告说，‘我们的上帝耶和华赐给我们的地方很好。’
26“但你们却违背你们上帝耶和华的命令，不肯上去。 27你们在帐篷中埋怨说，‘耶和华憎恨我们，所以才领我们离开埃及，要把我们交在亚摩利人手里，让他们消灭我们。 28我们怎能上去呢？那些弟兄的报告令我们胆战心惊，他们说那里的人比我们高大，城邑雄伟，城墙高达云霄，还有亚衲人在那里。’ 29我对你们说，‘不要惊慌，不要怕他们。 30你们的上帝耶和华必带领你们，为你们争战，正如祂当着你们的面在埃及所行的一样。 31你们在旷野曾目睹你们的上帝耶和华像父亲抱儿子一样，一路把你们抱到这地方。’ 32-33祂为你们开路，为你们找安营的地方，夜间用火柱、白天用云柱为你们引路。尽管如此，你们还是不信靠你们的上帝耶和华。
惩罚叛逆
34“你们的埋怨惹耶和华发怒，祂起誓说， 35‘这邪恶的一代没有一人能看见我起誓要赐给他们祖先的佳美之地， 36只有耶孚尼的儿子迦勒能看见，我必把他所踏之地赐给他和他的后代，因为他全心全意地跟从我。’ 37因为你们的缘故，耶和华也向我发怒，说，‘你也不能进入那片土地， 38但你的助手——嫩的儿子约书亚可以进入。你要鼓励他，因为他将带领以色列承受那片土地。 39你们说你们的子女会被掳去，但这些还不知善恶的孩子都将进入那片土地，我要把那里赐给他们，他们将占领那里。 40而你们要掉头，沿红海的路回到旷野。’
41“于是，你们对我说，‘我们得罪了耶和华，现在我们愿意遵从我们的上帝耶和华的吩咐，上去作战。’你们便各自拿起兵器，以为可以轻易攻占山区。 42但耶和华让我告诉你们，‘不要上去作战，以免被敌人击败，因为耶和华不会与你们同在。’ 43我把耶和华的话转告了你们，但你们不听，违背耶和华的命令，擅自前往山区。 44住在山区的亚摩利人蜂拥出击，打败了你们，从西珥追杀你们，一直追到何珥玛。 45你们回来在耶和华面前哭泣，但耶和华不理会你们的哭声。 46因此，你们在加低斯住了很久。
