Deuteronomy 31

¹So Moses said all these things to Israel.

²Then he said to them, I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to go out and come in: and the Lord has said to me, You are not to go over Jordan.

³The Lord your God, he will go over before you; he will send destruction on all those nations, and you will take their land as your heritage: and Joshua will go over at your head as the Lord has said.

⁴The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, whom he put to destruction.

⁵The Lord will give them up into your hands, and you are to do to them as I have given you orders.

⁶Be strong and take heart, and have no fear of them: for it is the Lord your God who is going with you; he will not take away his help from you.

⁷Then Moses sent for Joshua, and before the eyes of all Israel said to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go with this people into the land which the Lord, by his oath to their fathers, has given them; by your help they will take it for their heritage.

⁸It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not take away his help from you or give you up: so have no fear.

⁹Then Moses put all this law in writing, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, and to all the responsible men of Israel.

¹⁰And Moses said to them, At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the ending of debts, at the feast of tents,

¹¹When all Israel has come before the Lord your God in the place named by him, let a reading be given of this law in the hearing of all Israel.

¹²Make all the people come together, men and women and children, and anyone from another country who is with you, so that hearing they may become wise in the fear of the Lord your God, and take care to do all the words of this law;

¹³And so that your children, to whom it is new, may give ear and be trained in the fear of the Lord your God, while you are living in the land which you are going over Jordan to take for your heritage.

¹⁴At that time the Lord said to Moses, The day of your death is near: send for Joshua, and come to the Tent of meeting so that I may give him his orders. So Moses and Joshua went to the Tent of meeting.

¹⁵And the Lord was seen in the Tent in a pillar of cloud resting by the door of the Tent.

¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses, Now you are going to rest with your fathers; and this people will be false to me, uniting themselves to the strange gods of the land where they are going; they will be turned away from me and will not keep the agreement I have made with them.

¹⁷In that day my wrath will be moved against them, and I will be turned away from them, veiling my face from them, and destruction will overtake them, and unnumbered evils and troubles will come on them; so that in that day they will say, Have not these evils come on us because our God is not with us?

¹⁸Truly, my face will be turned away from them in that day, because of all the evil they have done in going after other gods.

¹⁹Make then this song for yourselves, teaching it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

²⁰For when I have taken them into the land named in my oath to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they have made themselves full of food and are fat, then they will be turned to other gods and will give them worship, no longer honouring me or keeping my agreement.

²¹Then when evils and troubles without number have overtaken them, this song will be a witness to them, for the words of it will be clear in the memories of their children: for I see the thoughts which are moving in their hearts even now, before I have taken them into the land of my oath.

²²So that same day Moses made this song, teaching it to the children of Israel.

²³Then he gave orders to Joshua, the son of Nun, saying to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go at the head of the children of Israel into the land which I made an oath to give them; and I will be with you.

²⁴Now after writing all the words of this law in a book till the record of them was complete,

²⁵Moses said to the Levites who were responsible for taking up the ark of the Lord's agreement,

²⁶Take this book of the law and put it by the ark of the Lord's agreement, so that it may be a witness against you.

²⁷For I have knowledge of your hard and uncontrolled hearts: even now, while I am still living, you will not be ruled by the Lord; how much less after my death?

²⁸Get together before me all those who are in authority in your tribes, and your overseers, so that I may say these things in their hearing, and make heaven and earth my witnesses against them.

²⁹For I am certain that after my death you will give yourselves up to sin, wandering from the way which I have given you; and evil will overtake you in the end, because you will do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath by the work of your hands.

³⁰Then in the hearing of all the meeting of Israel, Moses said the words of this song, to the end.

Deuteronomy 31

¹Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

²He said to them, "I am one hundred twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and the Lord has said to me, 'You shall not go over this Jordan.'

³The Lord your God, he will go over before you; he will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua shall go over before you, as the Lord has spoken.

⁴The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed.

⁵The Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.

⁶Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor be scared of them: for the Lord your God, he it is who does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you."

⁷Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous: for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.

⁸The Lord, he it is who does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: do not be afraid, neither be dismayed."

⁹Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents,

¹¹when all Israel has come to appear before the Lord your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

¹²Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;

¹³and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it."

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, "Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him." Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁵The Lord appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud: and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent.

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

¹⁷Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, 'Haven't these evils come on us because our God is not among us?'

¹⁸I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have worked, in that they are turned to other gods.

¹⁹"Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

²⁰For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.

²¹It shall happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore."

²²So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

²³He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them: and I will be with you."

²⁴It happened, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

²⁵that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

²⁶"Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.

²⁷For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?

²⁸Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

²⁹For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands."

³⁰Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.