Deuteronomy 31–34

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ²“I am now a hundred and twenty years oldⁱ and I am no longer able to lead you.^j The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’^{k 3}The Lord your God himself will cross^l over ahead of you.^m He will destroy these nationsⁿ before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross^o over ahead of you, as the Lord said. ⁴And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,^p the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. ⁵The Lord will deliver^q them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. ⁶Be strong and courageous.^r Do not be afraid or terrified^s because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;^t he will never leave you^u nor forsake^v you.”

⁷Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^w to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^x and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. ⁸The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^y he will never leave you nor forsake you.^z Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

⁹So Moses wrote^a down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^b the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^c during the Festival of Tabernacles,^{d 11}when all Israel comes to appear^e before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^f you shall read this law^g before them in their hearing. ¹²Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn^h to fearⁱ the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³Their children,^j who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death^k is near. Call Joshua^l and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^m” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.ⁿ

¹⁵Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^{o 16}And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^p and these people will soon prostitute^q themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^r me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷And in that day I will become angry^s with them and forsake^t them; I will hide^u my face^v from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^w and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’^{x 18}And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹“Now write^y down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^z for me against them. ²⁰When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^a and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^b and worship them,^c rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^{d 21}And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^e this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^f even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” ²²So Moses wrote^g down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³The Lord gave this command^h to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,ⁱ for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

²⁴After Moses finished writing^j in a book the words of this law^k from beginning to end, ²⁵he gave this command to the Levites who carried^l the ark of the covenant of the Lord: ²⁶“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.^{m 27}For I know how rebelliousⁿ and stiff-necked^o you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! ²⁸Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.^{p 29}For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^q and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^r will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

32Listen,^s you heavens,^t and I will speak;

hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^u

²Let my teaching fall like rain^v

and my words descend like dew,^w

like showers^x on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

³I will proclaim^y the name of the Lord.^z

Oh, praise the greatness^a of our God!

⁴He is the Rock,^b his works are perfect,^c

and all his ways are just.

A faithful God^d who does no wrong,

upright^e and just is he.^f

⁵They are corrupt and not his children;

to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^g

⁶Is this the way you repay^h the Lord,

you foolishⁱ and unwise people?^j

Is he not your Father,^k your Creator,^a

who made you and formed you?^l

⁷Remember the days of old;^m

consider the generations long past.ⁿ

Ask your father and he will tell you,

your elders, and they will explain to you.^o

⁸When the Most High^p gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided all mankind,^q

he set up boundaries^r for the peoples

according to the number of the sons of Israel.^bs

⁹For the Lord’s portion^t is his people,

Jacob his allotted inheritance.^u

¹⁰In a desert^v land he found him,

in a barren and howling waste.^w

He shielded^x him and cared for him;

he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^y

¹¹like an eagle that stirs up its nest

and hovers over its young,^z

that spreads its wings to catch them

and carries them aloft.^a

¹²The Lord alone led^b him;^c

no foreign god was with him.^d

¹³He made him ride on the heights^e of the land

and fed him with the fruit of the fields.

He nourished him with honey from the rock,^f

and with oil^g from the flinty crag,

¹⁴with curds and milk from herd and flock

and with fattened lambs and goats,

with choice rams of Bashan^h

and the finest kernels of wheat.ⁱ

You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^j

¹⁵Jeshurun^ck grew fat^l and kicked;

filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.

They abandoned^m the God who made them

and rejected the Rockⁿ their Savior.

¹⁶They made him jealous^o with their foreign gods

and angered^p him with their detestable idols.

¹⁷They sacrificed^q to false gods,^r which are not God—

gods they had not known,^s

gods that recently appeared,^t

gods your ancestors did not fear.

¹⁸You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;

you forgot^u the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The Lord saw this and rejected them^v

because he was angered by his sons and daughters.^w

²⁰“I will hide my face^x from them,” he said,

“and see what their end will be;

for they are a perverse generation,^y

children who are unfaithful.^z

²¹They made me jealous^a by what is no god

and angered me with their worthless idols.^b

I will make them envious by those who are not a people;

I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.^c

²²For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,^d

one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.^e

It will devour^f the earth and its harvests^g

and set afire the foundations of the mountains.^h

²³“I will heap calamitiesⁱ on them

and spend my arrows^j against them.

²⁴I will send wasting famine^k against them,

consuming pestilence^l and deadly plague;^m

I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,ⁿ

the venom of vipers^o that glide in the dust.^p

²⁵In the street the sword will make them childless;

in their homes terror^q will reign.^r

The young men and young women will perish,

the infants and those with gray hair.^s

²⁶I said I would scatter^t them

and erase their name from human memory,^u

²⁷but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,

lest the adversary misunderstand^v

and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;

the Lord has not done all this.’ ”^w

²⁸They are a nation without sense,

there is no discernment^x in them.

²⁹If only they were wise and would understand this^y

and discern what their end will be!^z

³⁰How could one man chase a thousand,

or two put ten thousand to flight,^a

unless their Rock had sold them,^b

unless the Lord had given them up?^c

³¹For their rock is not like our Rock,^d

as even our enemies concede.^e

³²Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom^f

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are filled with poison,^g

and their clusters with bitterness.^h

³³Their wine is the venom of serpents,

the deadly poison of cobras.ⁱ

³⁴“Have I not kept this in reserve

and sealed it in my vaults?^j

³⁵It is mine to avenge;^k I will repay.^l

In due time their foot will slip;^m

their day of disaster is near

and their doom rushes upon them.ⁿ”

³⁶The Lord will vindicate his people^o

and relent^p concerning his servants^q

when he sees their strength is gone

and no one is left, slave^r or free.^d

³⁷He will say: “Now where are their gods,

the rock they took refuge in,^s

³⁸the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?^t

Let them rise up to help you!

Let them give you shelter!

³⁹“See now that I myself am he!^u

There is no god besides me.^v

I put to death^w and I bring to life,^x

I have wounded and I will heal,^y

and no one can deliver out of my hand.^z

⁴⁰I lift my hand^a to heaven and solemnly swear:

As surely as I live forever,^b

⁴¹when I sharpen my flashing sword…