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.
17. There shall be no favoritism to any persons. So you shall listen to the little as well as to the great. And you shall not accept anyone's reputation, for this is the judgment of God. But if anything seems difficult to you, then refer it to me, and I will hear it.'
18. And I instructed you in all that you were obliged to do.
19. Then, setting out from Horeb, we crossed through a terrible and great wasteland, which you saw along the way of the mountain of the Amorite, just as the Lord our God had instructed us. And when we had arrived at Kadesh-barnea,
20. I said to you: 'You have arrived at the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God will give to us.
21. Gaze upon the land that the Lord your God gives to you. Ascend and possess it, just as the Lord our God has spoken to your fathers. Do not be afraid, and do not become terrified by anything.'
22. And you all approached me and said: 'Let us send men who may consider the land, and who may report as to the way by which we ought to ascend, and as to which cities we ought to travel.'
23. And since the word was pleasing to me, I sent from among you twelve men, one from each tribe.