< Deuteronomy 31 >

1 And Moses finished speaking all these words to all the children of Israel;
Once Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the Israelites,
2 and said to them, I am this day a hundred and twenty years [old]; I shall not be able any longer to come in or go out; and the Lord said to me, You shall not go over this Jordan.
he told them, I'm now a hundred and twenty years old. I can't get around like I used to, and the Lord has told me, “You are not to cross the Jordan.”
3 The Lord your God who goes before you, he shall destroy these nations before you, and you shall inherit them: and [it shall be] Joshua that goes before your face, as the Lord has spoken.
The Lord your God himself is going to lead you across. He will destroy these nations as you advance, and you will take over their land. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the Lord said.
4 And the Lord your God shall do to them as he did to Seon and Og the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan, and to their land, as he destroyed them.
The Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them.
5 And the Lord has delivered them to you; and you shall do to them, as I charged you.
The Lord will hand them over to you, and you will deal with them exactly as I've told you.
6 Be courageous and strong, fear not, neither be cowardly neither be afraid before them; for [it is] the Lord your God that advances with you in the midst of you, neither will he by any means forsake you, nor desert you.
Be strong! Be brave! Don't be frightened or terrified of them, because the Lord your God will go with you. He won't ever leave you or abandon you.
7 And Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous and strong; for you shall go in before this people into the land which the Lord sware to your fathers to give to them, and you shall give it to them for an inheritance.
Moses called for Joshua and told him in front of all the Israelites, “Be strong! Be brave! You will accompany this people into the country that the Lord promised to give their forefathers, and you are to allocate it for them to own.
8 And the Lord that goes with you shall not forsake you nor abandon you; fear not, neither be afraid.
The Lord himself goes ahead of you. He will be with you. He won't ever leave you or abandon you. Don't be afraid and don't be discouraged.”
9 And Moses wrote the words of this law in a book, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to the elders of the sons of Israel.
Moses wrote this law down and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the Israelite elders.
10 And Moses charged them in that day, saying, After seven years, in the time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
Moses gave them these orders, At the end of every seven years, the year when debts are canceled during the Festival of Shelters,
11 when all Israel come together to appear before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their ears,
and when all the Israelites comes before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you must read this law in the for everyone to hear.
12 having assembled the people, the men, and the women, and the children, and the stranger that is in your cities, that they may hear, and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God; and they shall listen to do all the words of this law.
Have the people gather together—the men, women, children, and the foreigners living with you—so that they can listen and learn to respect the Lord your God and to carefully observe all the instructions of this law.
13 And their sons who have not known shall hear, and shall learn to fear the Lord your God all the days that they live upon the land, into which you go over Jordan to inherit it.
Then their children who don't know the law will listen and learn to respect the Lord your God as the whole time you live in the country that you are going to take over after you cross the Jordan.
14 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, the days of your death are at hand; call Joshua, and stand you by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and I will give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went to the tabernacle of testimony, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony.
Then the Lord told Moses, “Listen, you are soon going to die. Tell Joshua to meet you, and then both of you are to come and stand before me at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may appoint him as leader.” Moses and Joshua went to stand before the Lord at the Tent of Meeting.
15 And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony; and the pillar of the cloud stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony.
The Lord appeared there at the tent in a pillar of cloud. The cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.
16 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, into which they are entering: and they will forsake me, and break my covenant, which I made with them.
The Lord told Moses, “You will join your ancestors in death, and these people are going to prostitute themselves by worshiping the foreign gods of the country they are entering. They will abandon me and break the agreement I've made with them.
17 And I will be very angry with them in that day, and I will leave them and turn my face away from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and afflictions shall come upon them; and they shall say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have come upon me.
Then I will abandon them and turn away from them, so they will be destroyed, and they will experience many disasters and problems. At that time they'll say, ‘We're suffering these disasters because our God has abandoned us!’
18 And I will surely turn away my face from them in that day, because of all their evil doings which they have done, because they turned aside after strange gods.
Then I will definitely ignore them because of all the evil they have done by worshiping other gods.
19 And now write the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel, and you shall put it into their mouth, that this song may witness for me amongst the children of Israel to their face.
So write down this song and teach it to the Israelites. Help them learn to sing it, so it will provide evidence for me against them.
20 For I will bring them into the good land, which I sware to their fathers, to give to them a land flowing with milk and honey: and they shall eat and be filled and satisfy [themselves]; then will they turn aside after other gods, and serve them, and they will provoke me, and break my covenant.
Once I've led them into the country that I promised to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will have plenty to eat and will do well. Then they will go and worship other gods, and they will abandon me and break my agreement.
21 And this song shall stand up to witness against them; for they shall not forget it out of their mouth, or out of the mouth of their seed; for I know their wickedness, what they are doing here this day, before I have brought them into the good land, which I sware to their fathers.
Once they've experienced plenty of trouble and suffering, this song will testify against them, because their descendants won't forget the words. I know what they're like, even before I lead them into the country that I promised to give them.”
22 And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
Right then Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites.
23 And he charged Joshua, and said, Be courageous and strong, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land, which the Lord sware to them, and he shall be with you.
Then the Lord appointed Joshua son of Nun as leader, and told him, “Be strong! Be brave! For you are going to lead the Israelites into the country that I promised to give them, and I will be with you.”
24 And when Moses finished writing all the words of this law in a book, even to the end,
After Moses had finished writing down this Law in a book from start to finish,
25 then he charged the Levites who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
he ordered the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement:
26 Take the book of this law, and you shall put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it shall be there amongst you for a testimony.
“Place this book of the Law beside the Ark of the Lord your God's Agreement, so that it will be kept there as a evidence against you.
27 For I know your provocation, and your stiff neck; for yet during my life with you at this day, you have been provoking in your conduct towards God: how shall you not also be so after my death?
I know how stubborn and rebellious you are. If you've already started rebelling against the Lord while I'm still alive, how much worse will you get after I die?
28 Gather together to me the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your officers, that I may speak in their ears all these words; and I call both heaven and earth to witness against them.
Summon all the elders of your tribes and all your officers to gather here before me so that I can tell them this directly and call on heaven and earth as witnesses against them.
29 For I know that after my death you will utterly transgress, and turn aside out of the way which I have commanded you; and evils shall come upon you in the latter days, because you will do evil before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of your hands. And Moses spoke all the words of this song even to the end, in the ears of the whole assembly.
I know that after my death you will become completely immoral, leaving the path I have ordered you to follow. In the future, evil things will happen to you because of the evil sins you commit in the sight of the Lord, making him angry by what you do.”
Then Moses recited all the words of this song as the Israelites listened.

< Deuteronomy 31 >