Deuteronomy 31

Modern English Version

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² He said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer come and go. Also, the Lord has said to me, ‘You may not cross over the Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, you will possess them, and Joshua will cross over before you, just as the Lord has said. ⁴ The Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, which He destroyed. ⁵ The Lord will give them up before you, so that you may do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, it is He 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 of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will enable them to inherit it. ⁸ The Lord, He goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Do not fear, nor be dismayed.”

⁹ Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of the cancellation of debts, at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel has come to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He will choose, you must read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Gather the people together, men, women, children, and your foreigner who is within your towns, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law. ¹³ Their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, your days draw near when you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

¹⁵ The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tent. ¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to lie down with your fathers, and this people will rise up and begin to prostitute themselves after the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they are going to be among them, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger will burn against them on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured, and many disasters and troubles will befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil things which they shall have done, in that they turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore write yourself this song and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it on their mouths, so 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 become fat, then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and provoke Me, and break My covenant. ²¹ Then when many disasters and troubles have fallen on them, this song will testify against them as a witness, for it must not be forgotten from the mouths of their descendants. For I know their intention which they are developing even now, before I have brought them into the land which I promised.” ²² Therefore, Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

²³ He gave Joshua, the son of Nun, an exhortation, and said, “Be strong and of a good courage, for you will bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, until they were completed, ²⁵ then Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law, and put it inside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may be there for a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Even now, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and disaster will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel: