Deuteronomy 31:14-29

English Standard Version

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^(B)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵And ^(C)the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses, ^(D)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^(E)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^(F)forsake me and ^(G)break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^(H)I will forsake them and ^(I)hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ^(J)‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^(K)our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because ^(L)they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹“Now therefore write ^(M)this song and ^(N)teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(O)a witness for me against the people of Israel. ²⁰For when I have brought them into the land ^(P)flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and ^(Q)grown fat, ^(R)they will turn to other gods and serve them, and ^(S)despise me and ^(T)break my covenant. ²¹And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ^(U)a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For ^(V)I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” ²²So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

²³^(W)And the Lord^[a] commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ^(X)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. ^(Y)I will be with you.”

²⁴When Moses had finished ^(Z)writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, ²⁵Moses commanded ^(AA)the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, ²⁶“Take this Book of the Law ^(AB)and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for ^(AC)a witness against you. ²⁷For I know how rebellious and ^(AD)stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, ^(AE)you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! ²⁸Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak ^(AF)these words in their ears and ^(AG)call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹For I know that after my death ^(AH)you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And ^(AI)in the days to come ^(AJ)evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AK)provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”