Deuteronomy 31
1 And Moses went, and spake these words unto all Israel;
When Moses/I finished saying all that to the Israeli people,
2 and said unto them—A hundred and twenty years old, am I to-day, I can no more go out and come in, —Yahweh indeed hath said unto me, Thou shall not pass over this Jordan.
he/I said to them, “Now I am 120 years old. I am no longer able to go everywhere [that you go] (OR, to be your leader). Furthermore, Yahweh has told me that I will not cross the Jordan [River].
3 Yahweh thy God, is passing over before thee, he, will destroy these nations from before thee so shalt thou dispossess them, —Joshua is passing over before thee, as Yahweh hath spoken.
But Yahweh our God will go ahead of you. He will [enable you to] destroy the nations that are living there, in order that you can occupy their land. Joshua will be your leader, which is what Yahweh already told me.
4 So will Yahweh do unto them as he did unto Sihon and unto Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them whom he destroyed.
Yahweh will do to those nations what he did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amor people-group when he destroyed their armies [MTY].
5 So will Yahweh deliver them up before you, —and ye shall do unto them—according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.
Yahweh will enable you to conquer those nations, but you must [kill all of the people of those nations, which is] what I have commanded you to do.
6 Be firm and bold, do not fear nor tremble because of them, —for Yahweh thy God, it is who is going with thee, he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.
Be brave and confident. Do not be afraid of those people. [Do not forget that] it is Yahweh our God who will go with you. He will always help [LIT] you and never abandon you.”
7 And Moses called for Joshua, and said unto him, in the sight of all Israel. Be firm and bold, for, thou, shalt go with this people into the land which Yahweh sware unto their fathers to give unto them, and, thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
Then Moses/I summoned Joshua, and while all the Israeli people were listening, he/I said to him, “Be brave and confident. You are the one who will lead these people into the land that Yahweh promised to our ancestors that he would give to them, and you will enable them to occupy it.
8 But, Yahweh, it is who is going before thee, he will be with thee, he will not fail thee nor forsake thee, —thou must not fear nor be dismayed.
It is Yahweh who will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will always help [LIT] you. He will never abandon you. So do not be afraid or dismayed.”
9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, —and unto all the elders of Israel.
Moses/I wrote down all these laws [on two scrolls] and gave [one scroll] to the priests, who carried the chest containing the Ten Commandments, and [gave the other scroll] to the Israeli elders.
10 And Moses commanded them, saying, —At the end of seven years in the appointed season of the year of release, during the festival of booths;
Moses/I told them, “At the end of every seven years, at the time that all debts are canceled, [read this to the people] during the Festival of [Living in Temporary] Shelters.
11 when all Israel cometh in to see the face of Yahweh thy God, in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel, in their hearing.
Read it to all the Israeli people when they gather at the place that Yahweh chooses for them to worship him.
12 Call together the people—the men and the women and the little ones, and thy sojourner who is within thy gates, —that they may hear, and that they may learn, so shall they revere Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;
Gather together everyone—men, women, children, even the foreigners [who are living] in your towns—in order that they may hear [these laws] and learn to revere Yahweh our God, and to faithfully obey everything that is written in these laws.
13 and that their children who know not, may hear and learn, that they may revere Yahweh your God, —all the days that ye are living upon the soil, which ye are passing over the Jordan to possess.
[If they do that], your descendants who have never known these laws will hear them and will also learn to revere Yahweh our God, during all the years that they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan [River] to occupy.”
14 Then said Yahweh unto Moses: Lo! thy days have drawn near that thou must die. Call Joshua and station yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may command him. So Moses went, with Joshua, and they took their station in the tent of meeting.
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Listen carefully. You will soon die. Summon Joshua, and you go to the Sacred Tent with him, in order that I may appoint him [to be the new leader].” So Joshua and Moses/I went to the Sacred Tent.
15 And Yahweh appeared in the tent, in a pillar of cloud, —and the pillar of cloud stood, at the entrance of the tent.
There Yahweh appeared to them/us in a pillar of cloud, and that cloud was close to the door of the tent.
16 Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Lo! thou art about to sleep with thy fathers, —and this people will rise up, and go away unchastely after the gods of the foreigners of the land into the midst of whom they are entering, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I solemnised with them.
Yahweh said to Moses/me, “You will soon die [EUP]. Then these people will become unfaithful [MET] to me. They will abandon me and (break/stop obeying) the agreement that I made with them. They will begin to worship the foreign/pagan gods [that are worshiped by the people] of the land that they will enter.
17 Then will mine anger kindle upon them in that day, and I will forsake them and will hide my face from them and they shall be consumed, and many calamities and misfortunes shall find them out, —and they will say, in that day, Is it not because my God is not in my midst, that these calamities have found me out?
When that happens, I will become very angry with them. I will abandon them [DOU] and I will no longer help them [IDM], and I will destroy them {they will be destroyed}. Many terrible things will happen to them, with the result that they will say, ‘[We are certain that] [RHQ] these things are happening to us because our God is no longer with us.’
18 But, I, will utterly, hide, my face, in that day, because of all the wickedness which they have done, in that they have turned away unto other gods.
And because of all the evil things that they will have done, and [especially because] they will have started to worship other gods, I will refuse to help [IDM] them.
19 Now, therefore write ye for you this Song, and teach it unto the sons of Israel put it in their mouths, —that this Song may become for me a witness against the sons of Israel.
“So, [I am going to give you] a song. Write it [on a scroll] and teach it to the Israeli people and cause them to memorize it. It will be like a witness that accuses them.
20 When I bring them upon the soil which I sware unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall eat and be filled and wax fat, then will they turn away unto other gods and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.
I am about to take them into a very fertile [IDM] land, a land that I solemnly promised their ancestors that I would give to them. There they will have plenty to eat, with the result that their [stomachs] will [always] be full and they will become fat. But then they will turn to other gods and start to worship them, and they will despise me and (break/stop obeying) the agreement that I made with them.
21 And it shall come to pass, when many calamities and misfortunes shall find them out, then shall this Song respond to their face, as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouth of their seed, for I know their imagination, which they are forming to-day, ere yet I bring them into the land of which I sware unto their fathers.
And they will experience many terrible disasters. After that happens, their descendants will never forget this song, and it will be like a witness [that says, ‘Now you know why Yahweh punished your ancestors].’ I will soon take them into the land that I vowed that I would give to them; but now, before I do that, I know what they are thinking [that they will do when they are living there].”
22 Moses therefore wrote this Song on that day, —and taught it unto the sons of Israel.
So on the day that [Yahweh gave Moses/me this song], he/I wrote it down, and he/I taught it to the Israeli people.
23 And he commanded Joshua, son of Nun, and said—Be firm and bold, for, thou shalt bring the sons of Israel into the land which I have sworn to them, —and, I, will be with thee.
Then Yahweh (appointed/set apart) Joshua and said to him, “Be brave and confident, because you will lead the Israeli people into the land that I vowed that I would give to 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, upon a scroll, —until he had finished them,
Then Moses/I finished writing on a scroll all the laws that Yahweh had told to him/me.
25 then Moses commanded the Levites, who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying:
Then Moses/I told the descendants of Levi, who were carrying the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments,
26 Take this scroll of the law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, —so shall it be there in thy midst as a witness.
“Take this scroll on which these laws [are written], and place it beside the Sacred Chest that contains the agreement that Yahweh our God made with you, in order that it may remain there to testify [about what Yahweh will do] to the people [if they disobey him].
27 For, I, know thy perverseness, and thy stiff neck, —lo! while I am yet alive with you to-day, ye are, quarrelling, with Yahweh, and how much more after my death?
[I say this] because I know that these people are very stubborn [DOU]. They have rebelled against Yahweh all during the time that I have been [with them], and they will rebel much more after I die!
28 Call together unto me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, —and let me speak in their hearing these words, and let me take to witness against them the heavens and the earth.
So gather all the elders of the tribes and your officials, in order that I can tell them the words [of this song], and request all those who are in heaven and on the earth to be witnesses to testify against these people.
29 For I know that after my death, ye will break faith, and turn aside out of the way which I have commanded you, —and calamity will befall you in the afterpart of the days, because ye will do the thing that is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him with the work of your own hands.
I say that because I know that after I die, the people will become very wicked. They will turn away from doing everything that I have commanded them to do. And in the future, because of all the evil things that they will do, they will cause Yahweh to become angry with them. And he will cause them to experience disasters.”
30 So Moses spake in the hearing of all the convocation of Israel the words of this Song, until they were ended: —
Then, while all the Israeli people listened, Moses/I sang/recited this entire song to them:
