1These ben the wordis whiche Moyses spak to al Israel ouer Jordan, in the wildirnesse of the feeld, ayens the reed see, bitwix Pharan and Tophel and Laban and Asseroth, where is ful myche gold,

2by enleuene daies fro Oreb bi the weie of the hil of Seir, til to Cades Barne.

3In the fortithe yeer, in the enleuenth monethe, in the firste dai of the monethe, Moises spak to the sones of Israel alle thingis whiche the Lord commandide to hym that he schulde seie to hem,

4after that he smoot Seon, kyng of Ammorreis, that dwellide in Esebon, and Og, the kyng of Basan, that dwelide in Asseroth and in Edray, ouer Jordan, in the lond of Moab.

5And Moyses bigan to declare the lawe, and to seie,

6Oure Lord God spak to vs in Oreb, and seide, It suffisith to you that ye han dwellid in this hil;

7turne ye ayen, and come ye to the hil of Amorreis, and to othere placis that ben next it; to places of feeldis, and of hillis, and to lowere places ayens the south, and bisidis the brenke of the see, to the lond of Cananeys, and of Liban, `til to the greet flood Eufrates.

8Lo, `he seith, Y haue youe to you; entre ye, and `welde ye `that lond on which the Lord swoor to youre fadrys, Abraham, Ysaac, and Jacob, that he schulde yyue it to hem, and to her seed after hem. ⁰

9And Y seide to you in that time, Y may not aloone susteyne you, for youre Lord God hath multiplied you,

10and ye ben ful many to dai, as the sterris of heuene;

11the Lord God of youre fadris adde to this noumbre many thousyndis, and blesse you, as he spak.

12Y may not aloone susteyne youre causis, and birthun, and stryues; yyue ye of you men wise `in dyuyn thingis,

13and witti `in mennus thingis worthi to be don, whose conuersacioun is preued in youre lynagis, that Y sette hem princes to you.

14Thanne ye answeriden to me, The thing is good which thou wolt do.

15And Y took of youre lynagis men wise and noble, `in vertues and kyn; and Y ordeynede hem princis, tribunes, and centuryouns, and quynquagenaries, and denys, whiche schulden teche you all thingis.

16And Y comaundide to hem, and seide, Here ye hem, and deme ye that that is iust, whether he be a citeseyn, whether a pilgrym.

17No difference schal be of persones; ye schulen here so a litil man, `that is, pore, as a greet man, nether ye schulen take the persoone of ony man, for it is the doom of God. That if ony thing semeth hard to you, telle ye to me, and Y schal here.

18And Y comaundide alle thingis whiche ye ouyten to do.

19Forsothe we yeden forth fro Oreb, and passiden bi a feerdful deseert, and grettiste wildirnesse, which ye sien, bi the weye of the hil of Ammorrey, as oure Lord God comaundide to vs. And whanne we hadden come in to Cades Barne,

20Y seide to you, Ye ben comen to the hil of Ammorrey, which youre Lord God schal yyue to you;

21se thou the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee; `stie thou, and welde it, as oure Lord God spak to thi fadris; `nyle thou drede, nether `drede thou in herte ony thing.

22And alle ye neiyiden to me, and ye seiden, Sende we men, that schulen biholde the lond, and telle to vs bi what weye we owen stie, and to whiche citees we owen to go.

23And whanne the word pleside to me, ¹Y sente of you twelue men, of ech lynage oon.

24And whanne thei hadden go, and hadden stied in to the hilli places, thei camen `til to the valei of Clustre; and whanne thei hadden biholde the lond,

25thei token of the fruytis therof, to schewe the plentee, and brouyten `to vs, and seiden, The lond is good which oure Lord God schal yyue to vs.

26And ye `nolden stie, but ye weren vnbileueful to the word of oure Lord God.

27And ye grutchiden in youre tabernaclis, and ye seiden, The Lord hatith vs, and herfor he ledde vs out of the lond of Egipt, that he schulde bitake vs in the hond of Ammorey, and schulde do awei vs.

28Whidur schulen we stie? the messangeris maden aferd oure herte, and seiden, A grettiste multitude is, and largere in stature than we; the citees ben greete, and wallid `til to the heuene; we sien there the sones of Enachym, that is, giauntis.

29And Y seide to you, `Nyle ye drede `with ynne, nether `drede withoutforth; the Lord God hym silf,

30which is youre ledere, schal fiyte for you, as he dide in Egipt, while alle men sien.

31And ye sien in the wildirnesse, thi Lord God bar thee, as a man is wont to bere his litil sone, in al the weie bi which ye yeden til ye camen to this place.

32And sotheli nether so ye bileueden to youre Lord God, that yede bifor you in the weie,

33and mesuride the place in which ye ouyten to sette tentis, and schewide in nyyt the weie to you bi fier, and in dai bi a piler of cloude.

34And whanne the Lord hadde herd the vois of youre wordis, he was wrooth,

35and swoor, and seide, Noon of the men of this werste generacioun schal se the good lond, which Y bihiyte vndur an ooth to youre fadris,

36outakun Caleph, ²the sone of Jephone; for he schal se it, and Y schal yyue to hym the lond on which he trad, and to hise sones, for he suede the Lord.

37Nether the indignacioun ayens the puple is wondirful, sithen the Lord was wrooth also to me for you, and seide,

38Nether thou schalt entre thidur, but Josue, the sone of Nun, thi mynystre, he schal entre for thee; excyte and strengthe thou him, and he schal departe the lond bi lot to Israel.

39Youre litle children, of whiche ye seiden, that thei schulden be led prisoneris, and the sones that kunnen not to dai the diuersite of good and of yuel, thei schulen entre; and Y schal yyue to hem the lond, and thei schulen welde it.

40Sotheli turne ye ayen, and go ye in to the wildirnesse, bi the weie of the Reed See.

41And ye answeriden to me, We synneden to the Lord; we schulen stie, and we schulen fiyte, as oure Lord God comaundide. And whanne ye weren arayed with armeris, and yeden `into the hil, the Lord seide to me,

42Seie thou to hem, `Nyle ye stye, nether fiyte ye, for Y am not with you, lest ye fallen bifor youre enemyes.

43Y spak, and ye herden not; but ye `weren aduersaries to the comaundement of the Lord, and bolnden with prijde, and stieden in to the hil.

44Therfor Ammorrey yede out, that dwellide in the hillis, and he cam ayens you, and pursuede you, as bees ben wont to pursue, and killide fro Seir til Horma. And whanne ye turneden ayen,

45and wepten bifor the Lord, he herde not you, nether wolde asente to youre vois;

46therfor ye saten ³in Cades Barne bi myche tyme.