Deuteronomy_Chapter 31

Moses went and told all the Israelites

Say, I’m 120 years old now and can’t go in and out as usual. The Lord also said to me, You shall not cross this Jordan River.

The Lord your God will guide you over and destroy these nations before you, and you will possess their land. Joshua will guide you over, just as the Lord has said.

The Lord will treat them as he did to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their kingdom, whom he destroyed before.

The Lord will deliver them to you. Do to them all the commands I command you.

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor fear them, for the Lord your God is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you.

Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in front of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous.’. For you will enter with this people the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give. You also need to make them inherit that land as a profession.

The Lord will walk before you. He will be with you, he will not leave you or abandon you. Don’t be afraid, don’t be panicked.

Moses wrote this law and handed it over to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and all the elders of Israel.

Moses commanded them, saying, In the last year of the seven years, during the regular Feast of Tabernacles in the year of exemption,

All Israel came to the place chosen by the Lord your God to appear before him. At that time, read this law to all Israel in front of them.

Gather together their men, women, children, and those who reside in the city, so that they may hear and learn, so that they may fear the Lord your God, observe and do all the words of this law,

And it will also enable their children, who have not known this law, to hear and learn to fear the Lord your God. They will continue to do so in the land where you will cross the Jordan River to inherit and live.

The Lord said to Moses, Your time of death is approaching. Call Joshua and let the two of you stand in the tent of meeting, so that I may charge him. So Moses and Joshua went and stood inside the tent of meeting.

The Lord appeared in the pillar of cloud in the tent of meeting, and the pillar of cloud stopped above the door of the tent of meeting.

And the Lord said to Moses, You will sleep with your ancestors. This people will rise up and commit adultery after foreign gods in the land they are going to, abandoning me and breaking the covenant I have made with them among the people of that land.

At that time, my anger will erupt against them. I will also abandon them, hide my face from them, so that they will be swallowed up, and many troubles and disasters will come upon them. On that day they will say, Will not these troubles come upon us because our God is not among us?

At that time, because of all the evil they have done towards other gods, I will surely hide my face from them.

Now write a song, teach the Israelites, and pass it on to them, so that it bears witness to their wrongdoing.

Because I brought them into the land that I swore to their ancestors, flowing with milk and honey, where they ate and were full, and their bodies became fat. They will turn to other gods, serve them, despise me, and break my covenant.

At that time, many troubles and disasters will come upon them, and this song will be a witness before them, and their descendants will recite it in their mouths without forgetting. Before I brought them to the land I swore to promise, I knew all their thoughts.

On that day, Moses wrote a song to teach the Israelites.

The Lord commanded Joshua, the son of Nun, to be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to them. I will be with you.

Moses wrote the words of this law in a book, and when he had finished writing them,

And he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord, saying,

Place this book of the law by the ark of the Lord your God, so that you may bear witness against the Israelites there.

Because I know you are rebellious and stiff necked. I am still alive with you today, yet you have rebelled against the Lord, let alone after my death?

Gather together all the elders and officials of your tribe, so that I may hear these words to them and call heaven and earth to witness their wrongdoing.

I know that after my death, you will be completely corrupted, deviating from the way I commanded you, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, and provoking him to anger with the work of your hands. In the future, calamity will come upon you.

Moses spoke all the words of this song to the entire Israelite community.