15. Then I took these men, who were already wise and respected leaders, and I appointed them as your official leaders. Some of them became military officers in charge of groups of a thousand, or a hundred, or fifty, or ten,
16. and others became judges. I gave these judges the following instructions:When you settle legal cases, your decisions must be fair. It doesn't matter if the case is between two Israelites, or between an Israelite and a foreigner living in your community.
17. And it doesn't matter if one is helpless and the other is powerful. Don't be afraid of anyone! No matter who comes to your court, God will help you make a fair decision.If any case is too hard for you, bring the people to me, and I will make the decision.
18. After I gave these instructions to the judges, I taught you the Lord's commands.
19. The Lord had commanded us to leave Mount Sinai and go to the hill country that belonged to the Amorites, so we started out into the huge desert. You remember how frightening it was, but soon we were at Kadesh-Barnea,
20-21. and I told you, “We have reached the hill country. It belongs to the Amorites now, but the Lord our God is giving it to us. He is the same God our ancestors worshipped, and he has told us to go in and take this land, so don't hesitate and be afraid.”
22. Then all of you came to me and said, “Before we go into the land, let's send some men to explore it. When they come back, they can tell us about the towns we will find and what roads we should take to get there.”
23. It seemed like a good idea, so I chose twelve men, one from each tribe.
24. They explored the hill country as far as Bunch Valley
25. and even brought back some of the fruit. They said, “The Lord our God is giving us good land.”
26. You did not want to go into the land, and you refused to obey the Lord your God.
27. You stayed in your tents and grumbled, “The Lord must hate us—he brought us out of Egypt, just so he could hand us over to the Amorites and get rid of us.
28. We are afraid, because the men who explored the land told us that the cities are large, with walls that reach to the sky. The people who live there are taller and stronger than we are, and some of them are Anakim. We have nowhere to go.”
29. Then I said, “Don't worry!
30. The Lord our God will lead the way. He will fight on our side, just as he did when we saw him do all those things to the Egyptians.
31. And you know that the Lord has taken care of us the whole time we've been in the desert, just as you might carry one of your children.”