The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Deuteronomy 31
1 Moses went and spoke these words to
all Israel.
2 He said to them, “I am one hundred
twenty years old today. I can no more go
out and come in. Yahweh has said to me,
‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’
3 Yahweh your God himself will go over
before you. He will destroy these nations
from before you, and you shall dispossess
them. Joshua will go over before you, as
Yahweh has spoken.
4 Yahweh will do to them as he did to
Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites,
and to their land, when he destroyed them.
5 Yahweh will deliver them up before
you, and you shall do to them according to
all the commandment which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and courageous. Don’t be
afraid or scared of them, for Yahweh your
God himself is who goes with you. He will
not fail you nor forsake you.”
7 Moses called to Joshua, and said to him
in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and
courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn
to their fathers to give them; and you shall
cause them to inherit it.
8 Yahwehhimselfis who goesbefore you.
He will be with you. He will not fail you
nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be
discouraged.”
9 Moses wrote this law and delivered it
to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore
the ark ofYahweh’s covenant, andto allthe
elders of Israel.
10 Moses commanded them, saying, “At
the endof every sevenyears, inthe settime
ofthe year of release, in the feast of booths,
11 when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which
he will choose, you shall read this law
before all Israel in their hearing.
12 Assemble the people, the men and the
women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they
may hear, learn, fear Yahweh your God,
and observe to do all the words of this law,
13 and that their children, who have not
known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the
land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”
14 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your
days approach that you must die. Call
Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent
of Meeting, that I may commission him.”
Moses and Joshua went, and presented
themselves in the Tent of Meeting.
15 Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud,
and the pillar of cloud stood
over the Tent’s door.
16 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you
shall sleep with your fathers. This people
will rise up and play the prostitute after
the strange gods of the land where they
go to be among them, and will forsake me
and break my covenant which I have made
with them.
17 Then my anger shall be kindled
against them in that day, and I will forsake
them, and I will hide my face from them,
and they shall be devoured, and many
evils and troubles shall come on them; so
thatthey will say in that day, ‘Haven’tthese
evils come on us because our God is not
among us?’
18 I will surely hide my face in that day
for all the evil which they have done, in
that they have turned to other gods.
19 “Now therefore write this song for
yourselves, and teach it to the children of
Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this
song may be a witness for me against the
children of Israel.
20 For when I have brought them into the
land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have
eaten and filled themselves, and grown
fat, then they will turn to other gods, and
serve them, and despise me, and break my
covenant.
21 It will happen, when many evils and
troubles have come on them, that this song
will testify before them as a witness; for it
will not be forgotten out of the mouths of
their descendants; for I know their ways
and what they are doing today, before I
have brought them into the land which I
promised them.”
22 So Moses wrote this song the same day,
and taught it to the children of Israel.
23 He commissioned Joshua the son of
Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous;
for you shall bring the children of Israel
into the land which I swore to them. I will
be with you.”
24 When Moses had finished writing the
words ofthis law in a book, untilthey were
finished,
25 Moses commanded the Levites, who
bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, saying,
26 “Take this book of the law, and put it
by the side ofthe ark of Yahweh your God’s
covenant,thatit may be there for a witness
against you.
27 For I know your rebellion and your
stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive
with you today, you have been rebellious
against Yahweh. How much more after my
death?
28 Assemble to me all the elders of your
tribes and your officers, that I may speak
these words in their ears, and call heaven
and earth to witness against them.
29 For I know that after my death you will
utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away
from the way which I have commanded
you; and evil will happen to you in the
latter days, because you will do that which
is evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to
anger through the work of your hands.”
30 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song,
until they were finished.