Deuteronomy 31

1 And Moses goeth and speaketh these words unto all Israel,

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

2 and he saith unto them, 'A son of a hundred and twenty years [am] I to-day; I am not able any more to go out and to come in, and Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou dost not pass 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 'Jehovah thy God He is passing over before thee, He doth destroy these nations from before thee, and thou hast possessed them; Joshua — he is passing over before thee as Jehovah 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 Jehovah hath done to them as he hath done to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorite, and to their land, whom He 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 Jehovah hath given them before your face, and ye have done to them according to all the command 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 courageous, fear not, nor be terrified because of them, for Jehovah thy God [is] He who is going with thee; He doth not fail thee 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 calleth for Joshua, and saith unto him before the eyes of all Israel, 'Be strong and courageous, for thou — thou dost go in with this people unto the land which Jehovah hath sworn to their fathers to give to them, and thou — thou dost cause them to inherit it;

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 Jehovah [is] He who is going before thee, He himself is with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.'

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 writeth this law, and giveth it unto the priests (sons of Levi, those bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah), 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 commandeth them, saying, 'At the end of seven years, in the appointed time, the year of release, in the feast of booths,

Moses gave them these orders, At the end of every seven years, the year when debts are canceled during the Festival of Shelters,

11 in the coming in of all Israel to see the face of Jehovah in the place which He chooseth, thou dost proclaim 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 'Assemble the people, the men, and the women, and the infants, and thy sojourner who [is] within thy gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn, and have feared Jehovah your God, and observed 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, do hear, and have learned to fear Jehovah your God all the days which ye are living on the ground whither ye are passing 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 Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Lo, thy days have drawn near to die; call Joshua, and station yourselves in the tent of meeting, and I charge him;' and Moses goeth — Joshua also — and they station themselves in the tent of meeting,

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 Jehovah is seen in the tent, in a pillar of a cloud; and the pillar of the cloud standeth at the opening of the tent.

The Lord appeared there at the tent in a pillar of cloud. The cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

16 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Lo, thou art lying down with thy fathers, and this people hath risen, and gone a-whoring after the gods of the stranger of the land into the midst of which it hath entered, and forsaken Me, and broken My covenant which I made with it;

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 Mine anger hath burned against it in that day, and I have forsaken them, and hidden My face from them, and it hath been for consumption, and many evils and distresses have found it, and it hath said in that day, Is it not because that my God is not in my midst — these evils have found 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 certainly hide My face in that day for all the evil which it hath done, for it hath turned unto other gods.

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

19 'And now, write for you this song, and teach it the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song is to Me for a witness against the sons 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 and I bring them in unto the ground which I have sworn to their fathers — flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten, and been satisfied, and been fat, and have turned unto other gods, and they have served them, and despised Me, and broken 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 hath been, when many evils and distresses do meet it, that this song hath testified to its face for a witness; for it is not forgotten out of the mouth of its seed, for I have known its imagining which it is doing to-day, before I bring them in unto the land of 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 writeth this song on that day, and doth teach it the sons of Israel,

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

23 and He commandeth Joshua son of Nun, and saith, 'Be strong and courageous, for thou dost bring in the sons of Israel unto the land which I have sworn to them, and I — I am 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 cometh to pass, when Moses finisheth to write the words of this law on a book till their completion,

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

25 that Moses commandeth the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying,

he ordered the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement:

26 'Take this Book of the Law, and thou hast set it on the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and it hath been 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 — I have known thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; lo, in my being yet alive with you to-day, rebellious ye have been with Jehovah, and also surely 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 authorities, and I speak in their ears these words, and cause to testify 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 have known that after my death ye do very corruptly, and have turned aside out of the way which I commanded you, and evil hath met you in the latter end of the days, because ye do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to make Him angry with 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 speaketh in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, till their completion: —

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