Introduction

1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness,^(A) in the Arabah opposite Suph,^[a] between Paran^(B) and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth,^(C) and Di-zahab. ² It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. ³ In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him to say to them. ⁴ This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.^{(D) 5} Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

Departure from Horeb

⁶ “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb: ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷ Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and their neighbors in the Arabah, the hill country, the Judean foothills,^[b] the Negev and the sea coast—to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon as far as the Euphrates River.^{[c] 8} See, I have set the land before you. Enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers^(E) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their future descendants.’^(F)

Leaders for the Tribes

⁹ “I said to you at that time: I can’t bear the responsibility for you on my own. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has so multiplied you that today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky.^{(G) 11} May Yahweh, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times more, and bless you as He promised you. ¹² But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself? ¹³ Appoint for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will make them your leaders.

¹⁴ “You replied to me, ‘What you propose to do is good.’

¹⁵ “So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and set them over you as leaders: officials for thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes. ¹⁶ I commanded your judges at that time: Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge rightly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident. ¹⁷ Do not show partiality when deciding a case;^(H) listen to small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God.^(I) Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it. ¹⁸ At that time I commanded you about all the things you were to do.^(J)

Israel’s Disobedience at Kadesh-barnea

¹⁹ “We then set out from Horeb and went across all the great and terrible wilderness you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us. When we reached Kadesh-barnea, ²⁰ I said to you: You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹ See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

²² “Then^(K) all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.’ ²³ The plan seemed good to me, so I selected 12 men from among you, one man for each tribe. ²⁴ They left and went up into the hill country and came to the Valley of Eshcol, scouting the land. ²⁵ They took some of the fruit from the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us back a report: ‘The land the Lord our God is giving us is good.’^(L)

²⁶ “But you were not willing to go up, rebelling against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ You grumbled in your tents^(M) and said, ‘The Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they would destroy us, because He hated us. ²⁸ Where can we go? Our brothers have discouraged us,^(N) saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens.^(O) We also saw the descendants of the Anakim^(P) there.’

²⁹ “So I said to you: Don’t be terrified or afraid of them!^{(Q) 30} The Lord your God who goes before you^(R) will fight for you,^(S) just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. ³¹ And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place. ³² But in spite of this you did not trust the Lord your God, ³³ who went before you on the journey to seek out a place for you to camp. He went in the fire by night and in the cloud by day to guide you on the road you were to travel.

³⁴ “When the Lord heard your^[d] words, He grew angry and swore an oath: ³⁵ ‘None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers,^{(T) 36} except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the Lord completely.’

³⁷ “The Lord was angry with me also because of you and said: ‘You will not enter there either.^{(U) 38} Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.^{(V) 39} Your little children, whom you said would be plunder, your sons who^[e] don’t know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰ But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.’^(W)

⁴¹ “You answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ Then each of you put on his weapons of war and thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.

⁴² “But the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them: Don’t go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from being defeated by your enemies.’^{(X) 43} So I spoke to you, but you didn’t listen. You rebelled against the Lord’s command and defiantly went up into the hill country. ⁴⁴ Then the Amorites who lived there came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir as far as Hormah.^{(Y) 45} When you returned, you wept before the Lord, but He didn’t listen to your requests or pay attention to you. ⁴⁶ For this reason you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.^[f]

Journey past Seir

2 “Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we traveled around the hill country of Seir for many days. ² The Lord then said to me, ³ ‘You’ve been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north. ⁴ Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. ⁵ Don’t fight with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even an inch of it,^[g] because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession. ⁶ You may purchase food from them with silver, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.^{(Z) 7} For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.^(AA) He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you this past 40 years, and you have lacked nothing.’

Journey past Moab

⁸ “So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road and from Elath and Ezion-geber. We traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab. ⁹ The Lord said to me, ‘Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.’”^(AB)

¹⁰ The Emim, a great and numerous people as tall as the Anakim, had previously lived there. ¹¹ They were also regarded as Rephaim,^(AC) like the Anakim, though the Moabites called them Emim.^{(AD) 12} The Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out, destroying them completely^[h] and settling in their place, just as Israel did in the land of its possession the Lord gave them.

¹³ “The Lord said, ‘Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.’ So we crossed the Zered Valley.^{(AE) 14} The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley was 38 years until the entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ Indeed, the Lord’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp until they had all perished.

Journey past Ammon

¹⁶ “When all the fighting men had died among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord spoke to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ When you get close to the Ammonites, don’t show any hostility to them or fight with them, for I will not give you any of the Ammonites’ land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.’”^(AF)

²⁰ This too used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim, ²¹ a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. The Lord destroyed the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they drove them out and settled in their place. ²² This was just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and have lived in their place until now. ²³ The Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor,^[i] destroyed the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and settled in their place.

Defeat of Sihon the Amorite

²⁴ “The Lord also said, ‘Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land over to you. Begin to take possession of it; engage him in battle. ²⁵ Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.’

²⁶ “So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon from the Wilderness of Kedemoth, saying, ²⁷ ‘Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left.^{(AG) 28} You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot, ²⁹ just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’ ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.

³¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.’ ³² So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz. ³³ The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army. ³⁴ At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves. ³⁶ There was no city that was inaccessible to^[j] us, from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead.^(AH) The Lord our God gave everything to us. ³⁷ But you did not go near the Ammonites’ land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River,^(AI) the cities of the hill country, or any place that the Lord our God had forbidden.^(AJ)

Call to Obedience

4 “Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ² You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it,^(A) so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you. ³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.^{(B) 4} But you who have remained faithful^[a] to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵ Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. ⁶ Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷ For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to Him? ⁸ And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

⁹ “Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.^{(C) 10} The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people before Me, and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’ ¹¹ You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a dense, black cloud. ¹² Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.^{(D) 13} He declared His covenant^(E) to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which He wrote on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

Worshiping the True God

¹⁵ “For your own good, be extremely careful—because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb— ¹⁶ not to act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, ¹⁷ or the form of any beast on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth. ¹⁹ When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the array of heaven—do not be led astray to bow down and worship them. The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven. ²⁰ But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today.

²¹ “The Lord was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land^(F) the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.^{(G) 22} I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land. ²³ Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that He made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything He has forbidden you. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,^(H) a jealous God.^(I)

²⁵ “When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish^(J) from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors^[b] among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you. ²⁸ There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. ²⁹ But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.^{(K) 30} When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him. ³¹ He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant^(L) with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.^(M)

³² “Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created man on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of? ³³ Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.^{(N) 36} He let you hear His voice from heaven to instruct you.^(O) He showed you His great fire on earth, and you heard His words from the fire.^{(P) 37} Because He loved^(Q) your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power, ³⁸ to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance,^(R) as is now taking place. ³⁹ Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep His statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

Cities of Refuge

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east. ⁴² Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive: ⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.^(S)

Introduction to the Law

⁴⁴ This is the law Moses gave the Israelites. ⁴⁵ These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt, ⁴⁶ across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east, ⁴⁸ from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon) ⁴⁹ and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.

The Greatest Command

6 “This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.^{(A) 2} Do this so that you may fear^(B) the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. ³ Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.^(C)

⁴ “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.^{[a](D) 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.^{(E) 6} These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.^{(F) 7} Repeat them to your children.^(G) Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol^[b] on your forehead.^{[c](H) 9} Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Remembering God through Obedience

¹⁰ “When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, ¹¹ houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant^(I)—and when you eat and are satisfied,^{(J) 12} be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.^{(K) 13} Fear Yahweh your God, worship Him, and take your oaths in His name.^{(L) 14} Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, ¹⁵ for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God.^(M) Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and wipe you off the face of the earth. ¹⁶ Do not test^(N) the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah.^{(O) 17} Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes He has commanded you. ¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land^(P) the Lord your God swore to give your fathers,^{(Q) 19} by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.^(R)

²⁰ “When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. ²² Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, ²³ but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers. ²⁴ The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. ²⁵ Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

Remember the Lord

8 “You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land^(A) the Lord swore to your fathers. ² Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. ³ He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.^{(B) 4} Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these 40 years.^{(C) 5} Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. ⁶ So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and fearing Him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,^(D) a land with streams of water, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills; ⁸ a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper. ¹⁰ When you eat and are full,^(E) you will praise the Lord your God for the good land^(F) He has given you.

¹¹ “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His command—the ordinances and statutes—I am giving you today. ¹² When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, ¹³ and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, ¹⁴ be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.^{(G) 15} He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous^[a] snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint-like rock for you. ¹⁶ He fed you in the wilderness with manna^(H) that your fathers had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ ¹⁸ but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant He swore to your fathers,^(I) as it is today. ¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will perish.^{(J) 20} Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.

Warning against Self-Righteousness

9 “Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.^{(K) 2} The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim.^(L) You know about them and you have heard it said about them, ‘Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?’^{(M) 3} But understand that today the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you^(N) as a consuming fire; He will devastate and subdue them before you. You will drive them out and destroy them swiftly, as the Lord has told you. ⁴ When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness. ⁵ You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ⁶ Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land^(O) to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Israel’s Rebellion and Moses’ Intercession

⁷ “Remember^(P) and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place. ⁸ You provoked the Lord at Horeb, and He was angry enough with you to destroy you. ⁹ When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant the Lord made with you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. ¹⁰ On the day of the assembly the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by God’s finger. The exact words were on them, which the Lord spoke to you from the fire on the mountain. ¹¹ The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, at the end of the 40 days and 40 nights.

¹² “The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go down immediately from here. For your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast image for themselves.’ ¹³ The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁴ Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.’

¹⁵ “So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. ¹⁶ I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. ¹⁷ So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes. ¹⁸ Then I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights; I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and provoking Him to anger. ¹⁹ I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you,^(Q) because He was about to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me on that occasion.^{(R) 20} The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. ²¹ I took the sinful calf you had made, burned it up, and crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as fine as dust. Then I threw it into the stream that came down from the mountain.^(S)

²² “You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.^{(T) 23} When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, He said, ‘Go up and possess the land I have given you’; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey Him.^{(U) 24} You have been rebelling against the Lord ever since I have^[b] known you.^(V)

²⁵ “I fell down in the presence of the Lord 40 days and 40 nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you. ²⁶ I prayed to the Lord:

Renewing the Covenant

29 ^[a]These are the words of the covenant^(A) the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb. ^2 [b]Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his entire land. ³ You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders.^{(B) 4} Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.^{(C) 5} I led you 40 years in the wilderness; your clothes and the sandals on your feet did not wear out; ⁶ you did not eat bread or drink wine or beer—so that you might know that I am Yahweh your God. ⁷ When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them. ⁸ We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.^{(D) 9} Therefore, observe the words of this covenant^(E) and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.

¹⁰ “All of you are standing today before the Lord your God—your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel, ¹¹ your children, your wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water— ¹² so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which He is making with you today, so that you may enter into His oath ¹³ and so that He may establish you today as His people and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ¹⁴ I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, ¹⁵ but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not here today.

Abandoning the Covenant

¹⁶ “Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled. ¹⁷ You saw their detestable images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them. ¹⁸ Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.^{(F) 19} When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt,^[c] thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land. ²⁰ The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven, ²¹ and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

²² “Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the Lord has inflicted on it. ²³ All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord demolished in His fierce anger.^{(G) 24} All the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ ²⁵ Then people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which He had made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ They began to worship other gods, bowing down to gods they had not known—gods that the Lord had not permitted them to worship.^{(H) 27} Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, and He brought every curse written in this book on it. ²⁸ The Lord uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and threw them into another land where they are today.’ ²⁹ The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

Returning to the Lord

30 “When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, ² and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing^[d] everything I am giving you today, ³ then He will restore your fortunes,^[e] have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.^{(I) 4} Even if your exiles are at the ends of the earth,^[f] He will gather you and bring you back from there.^{(J) 5} The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it.^(K) He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than He did your fathers. ⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your heart^(L) and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live. ⁷ The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. ⁸ Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today. ⁹ The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands^(M) with children,^[g] the offspring of your livestock, and your land’s produce. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, ¹⁰ when you obey the Lord your God by keeping His commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Choose Life

¹¹ “This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ ¹³ And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ ¹⁴ But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.^{(N) 15} See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.^{(O) 16} For^[h] I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live^[i] and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not live long in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life^(P) so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰ love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful^[j] to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers^(Q) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Joshua Takes Moses’ Place

31 Then Moses continued to speak these^[k] words to all Israel, ² saying, “I am now 120 years old; I can no longer act as your leader.^[l] The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross this Jordan.’^{(R) 3} The Lord your God is the One who will cross ahead of you.^(S) He will destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the Lord has said.^{(T) 4} The Lord will deal with them as He did Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when He destroyed them.^{(U) 5} The Lord will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous;^(V) don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with you;^(W) He will not leave you or forsake you.”^(X)

⁷ Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with^[m] this people into the land the Lord swore to give to their fathers.^(Y) You will enable them to take possession of it. ⁸ The Lord is the One who will go before you.^(Z) He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you.^(AA) Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

⁹ Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation,^(AB) during the Festival of Booths,^{(AC) 11} when all Israel assembles^[n] in the presence of the Lord your God at the place He chooses, you are to read this law aloud before all Israel.^{(AD) 12} Gather the people—men, women, children, and foreigners living within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear^(AE) the Lord your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law. ¹³ Then their children^(AF) who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “The time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting so that I may commission him.” When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting, ¹⁵ the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.^(AG)

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon commit adultery with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break the covenant^(AH) I have made with them. ¹⁷ My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey.^[o] Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, ‘Haven’t these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?’ ¹⁸ I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. ¹⁹ Therefore write down this song^(AI) for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it,^[p] so that this song may be a witness for Me against the Israelites. ²⁰ When I bring them into the land I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(AJ) they will eat their fill^(AK) and prosper.^[q] They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising Me and breaking My covenant.^{(AL) 21} And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because^[r] their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do,^[s] even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.” ²² So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ The Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”^(AM)

Moses Warns the People

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word^[t] of this law, ²⁵ he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, ²⁶ “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are rebelling against the Lord now, while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after I am dead! ²⁸ Assemble all your tribal elders and officers before me so that I may speak these words directly to them and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.^{(AN) 29} For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, infuriating Him with what your hands have made.”^{(AO) 30} Then Moses recited aloud every single word^[u] of this song to the entire assembly of Israel:

Song of Moses

⁴⁴ Moses came with Joshua^[ap] son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people. ⁴⁵ After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶ he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law. ⁴⁷ For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses’ Impending Death

⁴⁸ On that same day the Lord spoke to Moses,^{(BF) 49} “Go up Mount Nebo in the Abarim range in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan I am giving the Israelites as a possession. ⁵⁰ Then you will die on the mountain that you go up, and you will be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.^{(BG) 51} For both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence. ⁵² Although from a distance you will view the land that I am giving the Israelites, you will not go there.”^(BH)

Moses’ Blessings

33 This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave the Israelites before his death.^{(BI) 2} He said:

⁷ He said this about Judah:

⁸ He said about Levi:

¹² He said about Benjamin:

¹³ He said about Joseph:

¹⁸ He said about Zebulun:

²⁰ He said about Gad:

²² He said about Dan:

²³ He said about Naphtali:

²⁴ He said about Asher:

Moses’ Death

34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah,^(CD) which faces Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan, ² all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean^[bn] Sea, ³ the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. ⁴ The Lord then said to him, “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’^(CE) I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said. ⁶ He buried him^[bo] in the valley^(CF) in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.^{(CG) 7} Moses was 120 years old when he died; his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not left him. ⁸ The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

⁹ Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹⁰ No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.^{(CH) 11} He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do against the land of Egypt—to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land, ¹² and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.