Deuteronomy 31

1 And Moses finished speaking all these words to all the children of Israel, 2 and said to them, 2 “I am a hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer come in and go out; and the Lord said to me, You are not to cross this Jordan. [a] 3 The Lord your God, who goes ahead of you — he will destroy these nations in front of you, and you will take them over; and it is Joshua who will go ahead of you, as the Lord has said. 4 And the Lord your God will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the Lord has handed them over to you; and you are to do to them as I charged you. 6 Be brave and strong. Do not be afraid, do not lose your nerve, and do not be frightened of them — for it is the Lord your God who goes forward with you, in the middle of you; he will never let you go and he will never leave you.”

7 And Moses called Joshua and said to him in front of all Israel, 7 “Be brave and strong. For you are the one who will go in ahead of this people, into the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give them; and you are the one who will give it to them as their inheritance. 8 And the Lord, who goes with you, will not let you go and will not abandon you. Do not be afraid and do not lose your nerve.”

9 And Moses wrote the words of this law in a book and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to the elders of the sons of Israel. 10 And Moses charged them that day. He said, 10 “At the end of seven years, at the time of the year of release, at the Feast of Tents, 11 when all Israel comes together to appear before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel — [b] 12 gather the people together, the men and the women and the children and the newcomer who is in your towns, so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and listen and do all the words of this law. 13 And their sons, who have not known it, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, all the days they live on the land you are crossing the Jordan to take.”

14 And the Lord said to Moses, 14 See, the days of your death are close. Call Joshua, and stand at the door of the tent of the witness, and I will give him his charge. 14 And Moses and Joshua went to the tent of the witness and stood at the door of the tent of the witness. 15 And the Lord came down in a cloud and stood at the door of the tent of the witness; and the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tent of the witness.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, 16 See, you are going to sleep with your fathers, and this people will get up and go whoring after the foreign gods of the land they are going into; and they will abandon me and break my covenant, which I made with them. 17 And I will be very angry with them on that day, and I will leave them and turn my face away from them, and they will be eaten up; and many evils and troubles will come on them, and they will say on that day: These evils have come on me because the Lord my God is not with me. 18 And I will certainly turn my face away from them on that day, because of all the evil they have done, because they turned aside after foreign gods. 19 And now write down the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel, and put it into their mouth, so that this song may be my witness among the children of Israel. 20 For I will bring them into the good land I swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; and they will eat and be full and satisfy themselves, and then they will turn aside after other gods and serve them, and they will provoke me and break my covenant. 21 And this song will stand up as a witness against them; for it will not be forgotten out of their mouth or out of the mouth of their descendants. For I know their wickedness — what they are doing here this day, before I have even brought them into the good land I swore to their fathers.

22 And Moses wrote this song that day and taught it to the children of Israel. 23 And he charged Joshua and said, 23 “Be brave and strong, for you are the one who will bring the sons of Israel into the land the Lord swore to them; and he will be with you.”

24 And when Moses had finished writing all the words of this law in a book, right to the end, 25 he charged the Levites who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He said, 26 “Take the book of this law and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it is to be there among you as a witness. [c] 27 For I know how you provoke, and your stiff neck. If you have been provoking God in the way you live while I am still alive among you today — how much more after my death? 28 Gather the heads of your tribes and your elders and your judges and your officers to me, so that I may speak all these words in their hearing; and I call both heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will go completely wrong and turn aside out of the way I have commanded you; and evils will come on you in the days to come, because you will do evil before the Lord, provoking him to anger by the works of your hands.” 30 And Moses spoke all the words of this song, right to the end, in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel. [d]