Deuteronomy 31

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

Once Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the Israelites,

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.

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 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 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 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 what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them.

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 hand them over to you, and you will deal with them exactly as I've told you.

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! 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 commanded them, saying, At the end of [every] seven years, at the fixed time of the year of release, on 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 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.

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 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;

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 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.

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 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.

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

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 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.

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 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?

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 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.

Then I will definitely ignore them because of all the evil they have done by worshiping 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 down this song on the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

Right then Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites.

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

After Moses had finished writing down this Law in a book from start to finish,

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

he ordered the Levites who carried 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.

“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 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?

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 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.

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 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.

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.”

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

Then Moses recited all the words of this song as the Israelites listened.