6. "The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying: 'You have remained long enough on this mountain.
7. Turn back and go to the mountain of the Amorites, and to the other places which are near it: the plains as well as the mountainous regions, and the low-lying places opposite the south and along the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river Euphrates.'
8. 'Lo,' he said, 'I have delivered it to you. Enter and possess that which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their offspring after them.'
9. And I said to you, at that time:
10. 'I alone am not able to sustain you. For the Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and you are today like the stars of heaven, very many.
11. May the Lord, the God of your fathers, add to this number many thousands more, and may he bless you, just as he has said.
12. Alone, I do not have the strength to endure your arbitrations and judgments and disputes.
13. Offer, from among you, wise and experienced men, those whose conversation has been proven within your tribes, so that I may appoint them as your rulers.'
14. Then you responded to me: 'What you intend to do is a good thing.'
15. And so, I took from your tribes men, wise and noble, and I appointed them as rulers, as tribunes and centurions, and as leaders over fifty and over ten, who would teach you each thing.
16. And I instructed them, saying: 'Listen to them, and judge what is just, whether he is one of your citizens or a sojourner.