Deuteronomy 31

1 And Moses went and spoke these words unto all Israel.

So Moses said all these things to Israel.

2 And he said unto them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I am not able any more to go out and come in; for the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

Then he said to them, I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to go out and come in: and the Lord has said to me, You are not to go over Jordan.

3 The Lord thy God it is who goeth over before thee; he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt dispossess them: Joshua it is who goeth over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

The Lord your God, he will go over before you; he will send destruction on all those nations, and you will take their land as your heritage: and Joshua will go over at your head as the Lord has said.

4 And the Lord will do unto them as he hath done to Sichon and to 'Og, the kings of the Emorites, and unto their land, whom he hath destroyed.

The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, whom he put to destruction.

5 And the Lord will give them up before you; and ye shall do unto them according unto the whole of the commandment which I have commanded you.

The Lord will give them up into your hands, and you are to do to them as I have given you orders.

6 Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid and be not dismayed on account of them; for the Lord thy God it is that goeth with thee; he will not let thee fail, nor forsake thee.

Be strong and take heart, and have no fear of them: for it is the Lord your God who is going with you; he will not take away his help from you.

7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him before the eyes of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage; for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give unto them; and thou shalt divide it for them as a possession.

Then Moses sent for Joshua, and before the eyes of all Israel said to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go with this people into the land which the Lord, by his oath to their fathers, has given them; by your help they will take it for their heritage.

8 And the Lord it is that goeth before thee; he will be with thee, he will not let thee fail, nor will he forsake thee: fear not, nor be thou discouraged.

It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not take away his help from you or give you up: so have no fear.

9 And Moses wrote down this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.

Then Moses put all this law in writing, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, and to all the responsible men of Israel.

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of [every] seven years, at the fixed time of the year of release, on the feast of tabernacles,

And Moses said to them, At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the ending of debts, at the feast of tents,

11 When all Israel come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he will choose, shalt thou read this law in the presence of all Israel in their hearing.

When all Israel has come before the Lord your God in the place named by him, let a reading be given of this law in the hearing of all Israel.

12 Assemble the people together, the men, and the women, and the children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates; in order that they may hear, and in order that they may learn how they are to fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;

Make all the people come together, men and women and children, and anyone from another country who is with you, so that hearing they may become wise in the fear of the Lord your God, and take care to do all the words of this law;

13 And that their children, who have not yet any knowledge, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, all the days which ye live in the land whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.

And so that your children, to whom it is new, may give ear and be trained in the fear of the Lord your God, while you are living in the land which you are going over Jordan to take for your heritage.

14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die; call Joshua, and place yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge: and Moses and Joshua went, and placed themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

At that time the Lord said to Moses, The day of your death is near: send for Joshua, and come to the Tent of meeting so that I may give him his orders. So Moses and Joshua went to the Tent of meeting.

15 And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle.

And the Lord was seen in the Tent in a pillar of cloud resting by the door of the Tent.

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers: and then will this people rise up, and go astray after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be in the midst of them, and they will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

And the Lord said to Moses, Now you are going to rest with your fathers; and this people will be false to me, uniting themselves to the strange gods of the land where they are going; they will be turned away from me and will not keep the agreement I have made with them.

17 And my anger shall be kindled against them on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be given to be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall overtake them; and they will say on that day, Is it not, because my God is not in the midst of me, that these evils have overtaken me?

In that day my wrath will be moved against them, and I will be turned away from them, veiling my face from them, and destruction will overtake them, and unnumbered evils and troubles will come on them; so that in that day they will say, Have not these evils come on us because our God is not with us?

18 But I will assuredly hide my face on that day on account of all the evils which they have wrought, because they have turned unto other gods.

Truly, my face will be turned away from them in that day, because of all the evil they have done in going after other gods.

19 Now therefore write ye for yourselves this song, and teach it the children of Israel, put it in their mouth; in order that this song may become for me a witness against the children of Israel.

Make then this song for yourselves, teaching it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I have sworn unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat: then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

For when I have taken them into the land named in my oath to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they have made themselves full of food and are fat, then they will be turned to other gods and will give them worship, no longer honouring me or keeping my agreement.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles have befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouth of their seed; for I know their inclination which they have shown, even this day, before I have brought them into the land which I have sworn.

Then when evils and troubles without number have overtaken them, this song will be a witness to them, for the words of it will be clear in the memories of their children: for I see the thoughts which are moving in their hearts even now, before I have taken them into the land of my oath.

22 And Moses wrote down this song on the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

So that same day Moses made this song, teaching it to the children of Israel.

23 And he gave a charge unto Joshua the son of Nun, and said, Be strong and of a good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have sworn unto them; and I will be with thee.

Then he gave orders to Joshua, the son of Nun, saying to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go at the head of the children of Israel into the land which I made an oath to give them; and I will be with you.

24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

Now after writing all the words of this law in a book till the record of them was complete,

25 That Moses commanded the Levites, the bearers of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

Moses said to the Levites who were responsible for taking up the ark of the Lord's agreement,

26 Take this book of the law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there against thee for a witness.

Take this book of the law and put it by the ark of the Lord's agreement, so that it may be a witness against you.

27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, have ye been rebellious against the Lord, and how much more after my death?

For I have knowledge of your hard and uncontrolled hearts: even now, while I am still living, you will not be ruled by the Lord; how much less after my death?

28 Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers; and I will speak in their ears these words, and I will call as witnesses against them the heavens and the earth.

Get together before me all those who are in authority in your tribes, and your overseers, so that I may say these things in their hearing, and make heaven and earth my witnesses against them.

29 For I know that after my death ye will to a surety become corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and that the evil will befall you in the latter days, when ye do the evil in the eyes of the Lord, to incense him through the work of your hands.

For I am certain that after my death you will give yourselves up to sin, wandering from the way which I have given you; and evil will overtake you in the end, because you will do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath by the work of your hands.

30 And Moses spoke in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

Then in the hearing of all the meeting of Israel, Moses said the words of this song, to the end.