DEUTERONOMY 31

Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I cannot any longer go out and come in; and Yehowah has said to me, You shall not cross this Jordan. 3 Yehowah your God who goes over before you will destroy these nations before you, so that you will dispossess them; Joshua also will go over before you, as Yehowah has spoken. 4 And Yehowah will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land which he destroyed. 5 And Yehowah will deliver them up before you, and you shall deal with them in accordance with every commandment which I have given you. 6 Be courageous and strong; do not be afraid or be in dread of them; for Yehowah your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you alone or forsake you.

7 Then Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be courageous and strong; for you shall go with this people into the land which Yehowah has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall enable them to inherit it. 8 And Yehowah is the one who will go before you; he will be with you, and will not leave you alone or forsake you; do not be afraid or discouraged.

9 So Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yehowah, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, and said, At the end of each seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel has come to appear before Yehowah your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Call the people together, the men, women, and children, and the settler who is within your gates, so that they may hear, and learn, and fear Yehowah your God, and take care to observe all the words of this law, 13 and so that their sons who have not known it shall hear it, and learn to fear Yehowah your God, all the time you live in the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

14 Then Yehowah said to Moses, The time has now come for you to die: call Joshua, and take your stand in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him. So Moses and Joshua went and took their stand in the tent of meeting. 15 And Yehowah appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tent.

16 And Yehowah said to Moses, Now you are about to lie with your fathers; and this people will rise up and commit adultery with the gods which will be in their midst in the foreign land into which they are going; so they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17 And my anger will flare up against them at that time, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them; and they will say at that time, Is it not because our God is not in our midst that these evils have come on us? 18 And as for me, I will certainly hide my face at that time because of all the evil which they will do, by turning to other gods. 19 Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. 20 For I will bring them to the land which I promised to their fathers, which flows with milk and honey; and they will eat and be satisfied, and grow fat; and they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles come on them, this song will stand before them as a witness, for it shall never be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants; for I know the way their minds are already working, before I have brought them into the land which I promised to them. 22 So Moses wrote this song at that time, and taught it to the sons of Israel.

23 And he commanded Joshua the son of Nun, and said, Be courageous and strong; for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I have promised to them; and I will be with you.

24 And when Moses had finished writing the words of this law on a scroll, and they were complete, 25 Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yehowah, and said, 26 Take this scroll of the law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of Yehowah your God, so that it may be there as a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebelliousness and your stiff necks; see, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yehowah; and how much more will you be after my death? 28 Summon all the elders of your tribes and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their ears, and may call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will corrupt yourselves completely, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will fall on you in time to come, because you will do evil in the sight of Yehowah, provoking him to anger by the work of your hands.

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