Deuteronomy 31:1–11

Joshua Becomes the New Leader

31Here are the words I spoke to all of the people of Israel. ²I said, “I am now 120 years old. I’m not able to lead you anymore. The Lord has said to me, ‘You will not go across the Jordan River.’

³“The Lord your God himself will go across ahead of you. He’ll destroy the nations that are there in order to make room for you. You will take over their land. Joshua will also go across ahead of you, just as the Lord said he would.

⁴“The Lord will do to those nations what he did to Sihon and Og. He destroyed those Amorite kings along with their land. ⁵The Lord will hand those nations over to you. Then you must do to them everything I’ve commanded you to do.

⁶“Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be terrified because of them. The Lord your God will go with you. He will never leave you. He’ll never desert you.”

⁷Then I sent for Joshua. I spoke to him in front of all of the people of Israel. I said, “Be strong and brave. You must go with these people. They are going into the land the Lord promised with an oath to give to their fathers. You must divide it up among them. They will each receive their share. ⁸The Lord himself will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will never leave you. He’ll never desert you. So don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope.”

The Law Must Be Read

⁹I wrote down that law. I gave it to the priests, who are sons of Levi. They carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. I also gave the law to all of the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Then I commanded them, “You must read this law at the end of every seven years. Do it in the year when you forgive people what they owe. Read it during the Feast of Booths. ¹¹That’s when all of the people of Israel come to appear in front of the Lord your God at the holy tent. It will be at the place he will choose. You must read this law to them.