Deuteronomy 30–31

Chapter 30

Restoration Promised

¹“So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, ^athe blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you ¹call them to mind ^bin all nations where the Lord your God has banished you,

²and you ^areturn to the Lord your God and ¹obey Him ^bwith all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons,

³then the Lord your God will ^arestore ¹you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and ^bwill gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has ^cscattered you.

⁴“If your outcasts are at the ends of the ¹earth, ^afrom there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will ²bring you back.

⁵“^aThe Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and ^bmultiply you more than your fathers.

⁶“Moreover ^athe Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your ¹descendants, ^bto love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

⁷“^aThe Lord your God will ¹inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.

⁸“And you shall again ¹obey the Lord, and observe all His commandments which I command you today.

⁹“^aThen the Lord your God will ¹prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the ²offspring of your ³body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for ^bthe Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers;

¹⁰¹if you ²obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which ^aare written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God ^bwith all your heart and soul.

¹¹“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it ¹out of reach.

¹²“It is not in heaven, ¹that you should say, ‘^aWho will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’

¹³“Nor is it beyond the sea, ¹that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’

¹⁴“But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

Choose Life

¹⁵“See, ^aI have set before you today life and ¹prosperity, and death and ²adversity;

¹⁶in that I command you today ^ato love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you ^bmay live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.

¹⁷“But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

¹⁸I declare to you today that ^ayou shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter ¹and possess it.

¹⁹“^aI call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, ^bthe blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your ¹descendants,

^20aby loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and ^bby holding fast to Him; ^cfor ¹this is your life and the length of your days, ²that you may live in ^dthe land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Chapter 31

Moses’ Last Counsel

¹So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

²And he said to them, “I am ^aa hundred and twenty years old today; ^bI am no longer able to come and go, and the Lord has said to me, ‘^cYou shall not cross this Jordan.’

³“^aIt is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^bJoshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken.

⁴“The Lord will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them.

⁵“^aThe Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.

⁶“^aBe strong and courageous, ^bdo not be afraid or tremble at them, for ^cthe Lord your God is the one who goes with you. ^dHe will not fail you or forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “^aBe 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 give it to them as an inheritance.

⁸“^aThe Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. ^bHe will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

⁹So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi ^awho carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of ^athe year of remission of debts, at the ^bFeast of Booths,

¹¹when all Israel comes ^ato appear before the Lord your God at ^bthe place which He will choose, ^cyou shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing.

¹²“Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and ¹the alien who is in your ²town, so that they may hear and ^alearn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.

¹³“Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live on the land ¹which you are about to cross the Jordan to ²possess.”

Israel Will Fall Away

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^1athe time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” ^bSo Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.

^15aThe Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent.

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^ayou are about to lie down with your fathers; and ^bthis people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and ^cwill forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

¹⁷“^aThen My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^bI will forsake them and ^chide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘^dIs it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’

¹⁸“But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.

¹⁹“Now therefore, ^awrite this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it ¹on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.

²⁰“^aFor when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and ^bbecome ¹prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant.

²¹“Then it shall come about, ^awhen many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the ¹lips of their descendants); for ^bI know their intent which they are ²developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”

^22aSo Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua Is Commissioned

^23aThen He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “^bBe strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and ^cI will be with you.”

²⁴It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete,

²⁵that Moses commanded the Levites ^awho carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

²⁶“Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may ¹remain there as a witness against you.

²⁷“For I know ^ayour rebellion and ^byour ¹stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death?

²⁸“Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and ^acall the heavens and the earth to witness against them.

²⁹“For I know that after my death you will ^aact corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

³⁰Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete: