Deuteronomy 31

31 ¹ Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

Joshua Steps Forward

² He said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to lead you, and our Father has said to me, 'You will not cross this Jordan.'" ³ Your Father himself will cross over ahead of you; he will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross over ahead of you, as our Father has spoken. ⁴ Our Father will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵ Our Father will give them over to you, and you are to do to them exactly as I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for your Father is the one who goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

⁷ Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that our Father swore to their ancestors to give them, and you will give it to them as their inheritance. ⁸ Our Father himself goes before you; he will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

The Law Entrusted to Israel

⁹ So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of our Father, and to all the elders of Israel.

Read It to Everyone

¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the appointed time of the year of release, during the Festival of Booths, ¹ 1 v10 Festival of Booths: a week-long fall harvest celebration where families built and lived in temporary shelters to recall Israel's wilderness journey. ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before your Father in the place he will choose, read this law aloud to all Israel. ¹² Assemble the people—the men, the women, the children, and the foreigner residing in your towns—so that they may listen and learn to fear your Father and be careful to obey all the words of this law. ¹³ Then their children, who do not know this law, will hear it and learn to fear your Father as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

Our Father Commissions Joshua

¹⁴ Our Father said to Moses, "The time of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.

A Father Who Knows What's Coming

¹⁵ Then our Father appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.

¹⁶ And our Father said to Moses, "Look, you are about to lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will rise up and prostitute themselves after the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with them. ¹⁷ On that day my anger will burn against them, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. Many disasters and troubles will come upon them, and on that day they will say, 'Haven't these disasters come upon us because our God is not among us?' ¹⁸ And I will surely hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods.

¹⁹ So write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey that I swore to their ancestors, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, spurning me and breaking my covenant. ²¹ And when many disasters and troubles come upon them, this song will confront them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten from the mouths of their descendants. For I know the inclination they are forming even now, before I have brought them into the land I swore to give them."

²² So Moses wrote down this song that same day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ Then our Father commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to give them, and I myself will be with you."

The Book Beside the Ark

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, from beginning to end, ²⁵ he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of our Father: ²⁶ "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of your Father, that it may remain there as a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. If you have been rebellious against our Father while I am still alive and with you today, how much more after my death! ²⁸ Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers, so that I may speak these words to them and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn aside from the way I have commanded you. And in the days to come disaster will fall upon you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of our Father, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands."

Moses Recites the Song

³⁰ Then Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end before the whole assembly of Israel.