Deuteronomy 31
1WHEN Moses had finished speaking all these words, to all the children of Israel,
2he said to them, I am now a hundred and twenty years old. I shall no more be able to go out, and come in before you: for the Lord hath said to me, Thou shalt not cross the Jordan.
3The Lord thy God, Who goeth before thee, will Himself drive out those nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them; and Joshua is to go before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.
4The Lord thy God will indeed do to them as He did to Seon, and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side the Jordan, and to their land—in the same manner as the Lord rooted them out, and delivered them up to you. And you shall do to them as I have commanded you.
6Act manfully, and be strong; fear not, nor be fainthearted, nor terrified at them; for the Lord thy God, Who goeth before you, is with you—is among you. May He never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
7Then Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous, and strong; for thou shalt go before this people, into the land which the Lord solemnly promised your fathers to give them; and thou shalt put them in possession of it;
8and the Lord, who marcheth with thee, will not leave thee nor forsake thee. Fear not, nor be dismayed.
9Now Moses had written the words of this law in a book; so he gave it to the priests, the children of Levi, who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to the elders of the children of Israel.
10And Moses gave them a charge on that day saying, At the end of every seven years, at the Solemnity of the Release, during the festival of tabernacles,
11when all Israel assemble, 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 hearing.
12Let the people be assembled, the men, and the women, and the children, and the proselyte who is in your cities, that they may hear, and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God; and let them hearken to do all the words of this law.
13And let their children who have not known, hearken, and learn to fear the Lord thy God, all the days they live in the land to which you are going, to cross the Jordan, there to take possession of it.
14Now when the Lord said to Moses, Behold the time of thy death approacheth, call Joshua, and stand at the doors of the tabernacle of the testimony, and I will give him a charge; thereupon Moses went with Joshua to the tabernacle of the testimony, and they stood at the doors of the tabernacle of the testimony,
15and the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood at the doors of the tabernacle of the testimony. And while the pillar of the cloud stood at the doors of the tabernacle of the testimony,
16the Lord said to Moses, Behold when thou sleepest with thy fathers, this people will rise up, and go a-whoring after the strange gods of the land to which they are going. And when they forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them,
17I shall be provoked to wrath against them that day, and I will leave them, and turn away My face from them. and they shall be devoured. And when many evils and afflictions shall befall them, then will one say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have befallen me.
18But I will turn away My face from them, on that day, because of all their wickedness which they have committed, because they have turned to strange gods.
19Now therefore write the words of this Ode and teach it to the children of Israel, and put it into their mouth, that this Ode may be an open witness for me among the children of Israel.
20For when I bring them into that good land, which I solemnly promised their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat, and be satiated, and they will turn to strange gods, and serve them, and provoke Me, and break My covenant;
21but this Ode will rise up, and witness against them; for it shall never be forgotten out of their mouth, nor out of the mouth of their seed: for I know their wickedness, what they do even now before I have brought them into that good land which I solemnly promised their fathers.
22So Moses wrote the Ode that day and taught it to the children of Israel.
23And the Lord gave a charge to Joshua, and said, Be courageous, and strong, for thou shalt conduct the children of Israel into the land which the Lord solemnly promised them, and he will be with thee.
24Now when Moses had made an end of writing all the words of this law in a book, even to the close,
25he gave a charge to the Levites, who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
26Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it shall be there for a witness against thee;
27for I know thy contentious disposition, and thy stiff neck. For even now while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against God; how then can it be otherwise after my death?
28Assemble before me the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your under officers, that I may speak in their hearing all these words and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
29For I know that after my death you will commit iniquity, and turn aside out of the way which I commanded you, and evils will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil before the Lord, to provoke Him to wrath by the works of your hands.
30Then for a conclusion Moses spoke in the hearing of all the congregation the words of this Ode: