15. So I took 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.
16. Here 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 fellow Israelites or between an Israelite and an outsider.
17. When you judge them, treat everyone the same. Listen to those who are important and those who are not. Don't be afraid of any man. God is the highest judge. Bring me any case that is too hard for you. I'll listen to it."
18. At that time I told you everything you should do.
19. The 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.
20. Then I said to you, "You have reached the hill country of the Amorites. The Lord our God is giving it to us.
21. The 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."
22. Then 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."
23. That seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of you. I picked one man from each tribe.