Deuteronomy 31

Joshua the New Leader of Israel

31Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ²And he said to them: “I ^aam one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer ^bgo out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ^c‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ ³The Lord your God ^dHimself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^eJoshua himself crosses over before you, just ^fas the Lord has said. ^4gAnd the Lord will do to them ^has He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. ⁵ⁱThe Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. ^6jBe strong and of good courage, ^kdo not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, ^lHe is the One who goes with you. ^mHe will not leave you nor forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ⁿ“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. ⁸And the Lord, ^oHe is the One who goes before you. ^pHe will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years

⁹So Moses wrote this law ^qand delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^rwho bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the ^syear of release, ^tat the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹when all Israel comes to ^uappear before the Lord your God in the ^vplace which He chooses, ^wyou shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12xGather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, ¹³and that their children, ^ywho have not known it, ^zmay hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, ^a“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that ^bI may ¹inaugurate him.”

So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁵Now ^cthe Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will ²rest with your fathers; and this people will ^drise and ^eplay the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will ^fforsake Me and ^gbreak My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷Then My anger shall be ^haroused against them in that day, and ⁱI will forsake them, and I will ^jhide My face from them, and they shall be ³devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ^k‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is ^lnot among us?’ ¹⁸And ^mI will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹“Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be ⁿa witness for Me against the children of Israel. ²⁰When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves ^oand grown fat, ^pthen they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹Then it shall be, ^qwhen many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for ^rI know the inclination ^sof their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”

²²Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. ^23tThen He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ^u“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when 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, ^vand put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there ^was a witness against you; ^27xfor I know your rebellion and your ^ystiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? ²⁸Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing ^zand call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹For I know that after my death you will ^abecome utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And ^bevil will befall you ^cin the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

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