Deuteronomy 31

Joshua Will Follow Moses

¹ Moses came and spoke the following words to all Israel. ² He said to them:

“I am now one hundred twenty years old. I can no longer go out and come back. ^[1] The Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross over this Jordan.’

³ “The Lord your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy those nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua is the one who will cross over before you, as the Lord promised. ⁴ The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and as he did to their lands when he destroyed them. ⁵ The Lord will hand them over to you, and you are to deal with them according to the whole set of commands that I gave you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be terrified before them, because the Lord your God is going with you. He will not abandon you and he will not forsake you.”

⁷ Moses called Joshua and said to him in the view of all Israel:

“Be strong and courageous, because you will go with this people into the land that the Lord promised to your fathers with an oath, and you will divide it among them as their possession. ⁸ The Lord himself will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will not abandon you, and he will not forsake you. Do not be afraid and do not be overwhelmed.”

Reading the Law

⁹ Then Moses wrote down this law, and he gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Moses commanded them:

“At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the year of the release, at the Festival of Shelters, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear in the presence of the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you are to read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Gather the people—the men, the women, the children, and the alien who resides within your gates—so that they may hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God and to be careful to carry out all the words of this law. ¹³ Their children also, who do not know the law, are to hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God all the time that you live on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

The Transition to Joshua

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time is approaching for you to die. Summon Joshua and stand at the Tent of Meeting, and I will commission him.”

So Moses and Joshua went and stood at the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵ Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. ¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses:

“You are about to lie down with your fathers, but this people will rise up and prostitute themselves to the foreign gods among them in the land they are about to enter. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with them. ¹⁷ My anger will burn against them on that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them. They will be on the verge of being devoured, and many evils and distresses will find them. They will say on that day, ‘Haven’t these evil things found us because our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ Yet I will hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

¹⁹ “So now, write down this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths so this song will be my witness against the people of Israel. ²⁰ When I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised by oath to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and grow fat, and they then turn to other gods and serve them, when they despise me and break my covenant, ²¹ and many evils and distresses find them, then this song will testify against them as a witness, because it will not be forgotten or gone from the mouths of their descendants. I certainly know the inclination that they are developing today before I bring them to the land that I have promised on oath.”

²² So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the people of Israel.

²³ Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said to him:

“Be strong and courageous, because you will bring the people of Israel into the land that I have promised to them with an oath, and I will be with you.”

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, ²⁵ he gave this command to the Levites, who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord:

²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law, and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, and let it remain there as a witness against you. ²⁷ I certainly know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even while I am still alive and among you today, you are rebels against the Lord. So how much more after my death! ²⁸ Assemble all the elders of your tribes and your officials before me, and I will speak all these words in their hearing, and I will call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. ²⁹ I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way that I have commanded you, and that evil will come on you in future days when you do evil in the sight of the Lord by provoking him to anger by the work of your hands.”

Moses’ Song

³⁰ Then Moses spoke the words of this song in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel, from beginning to end: