Joshua Leads the People
Deuteronomy 31, verse 1. Now Moses finished speaking these words to the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 31, verse 2. Then he said to them, “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ Deuteronomy 31, verse 3. The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself is also crossing over before you, as the Lord said. Deuteronomy 31, verse 4. Then the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, and their land, when He destroyed them. Deuteronomy 31, verse 5. The Lord gave them over to you, and you will do to them as I commanded you. Deuteronomy 31, verse 6. Be valiant and strong, do not fear nor be afraid of them, nor be terrified before them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes before you and with you and among you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31, verse 7. Then Moses called Joshua and said to him before all Israel, “Be valiant and strong, for you must go before this people to the land the Lord swore to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. Deuteronomy 31, verse 8. But the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, nor be terrified.”
Read the Law Every Seven Years
Deuteronomy 31, verse 9. So Moses wrote the words of this law in a book and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the Lord's covenant, and to the elders of the sons of Israel. Deuteronomy 31, verse 10. Then Moses commanded them on that day, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the Year of Remission, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Deuteronomy 31, verse 11. when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Deuteronomy 31, verse 12. Gather the people together, men and women and offspring, and the resident alien within your cities, so they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and may hear and do all the words of this law; Deuteronomy 31, verse 13. and their sons who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as they live in the land you cross over the Jordan to inherit.”
Final Word to Moses
Deuteronomy 31, verse 14. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the day of your death is near; call Joshua, and stand at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and I shall give him My commandments.” So Moses and Joshua went to the tabernacle of testimony and stood at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony. Deuteronomy 31, verse 15. Now the Lord came down in a cloud and stood at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony; and the pillar of cloud stood at the doors of the tabernacle. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you will sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise and commit fornication with the gods of the foreigners of the land where they go to be among them; and they will forsake Me and break My covenant I made with them. Deuteronomy 31, verse 17. Then I shall be aroused in anger against them in that day; and I will forsake them and turn My face from them. So he shall be a prey, and many evils and troubles shall find him; and he will say in that day, ‘These evils found me because the Lord my God is not with me.’ Deuteronomy 31, verse 18. So I will surely turn My face from them in that day because of all the evil they did, and because they turned to foreign gods. Deuteronomy 31, verse 19. “Now therefore, write the words of this ode and teach it to the children of Israel, and put it in their mouths, that this song may be a testimony for Me among the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 31, verse 20. For I shall bring them to this good land I swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; and they shall eat and be satisfied. Then they will turn to foreign gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. Deuteronomy 31, verse 21. Then this ode will rise up and testify against them; for it will not be forgotten from their mouth, nor from the mouth of their seed, for I know the wickedness they do today, even before I brought them to the land I swore to give them.” Deuteronomy 31, verse 22. Therefore Moses wrote this ode on that day and taught it to the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 31, verse 23. Then Moses commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be valiant and strong; for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land the Lord swore to them; and He shall be with you.” Deuteronomy 31, verse 24. So it was, when Moses completed writing all the words of this law in a book, and when they were finished, Deuteronomy 31, verse 25. he commanded the Levites who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Deuteronomy 31, verse 26. “Take the book of this law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and it shall be there as a testimony against you; Deuteronomy 31, verse 27. for I know your rebellion and stiff neck. For if while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against God, then how much more after my death? Deuteronomy 31, verse 28. Gather to me your chiefs, your elders, your judges, and your teachers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them. Deuteronomy 31, verse 29. For I know that after my death you will become utterly lawless and turn aside from the way I commanded you. Then evil shall befall you in the latter days because you will do evil before the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the works of your hands.”
The Song of Moses
Deuteronomy 31, verse 30. So Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this ode, until they were ended: