Deuteronomy 30:11-31:8

English Standard Version

The Choice of Life and Death

¹¹ “For this commandment that I command you today ^(A)is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. ^12 (B)It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

¹⁵ “See, ^(C)I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God^[a] that I command you today, ^(D)by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,^[b] then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if ^(E)your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, ^18 (F)I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, ^(G)blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ²⁰ loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice ^(H)and holding fast to him, for ^(I)he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in ^(J)the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them, “I am ^(K)120 years old today. I am no longer able to ^(L)go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ^(M)‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God ^(N)himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, ^(O)as the Lord has spoken. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them ^(P)as he did to Sihon ^(Q)and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵ And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them ^(R)according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. ^6 (S)Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, ^(T)for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. ^(U)He will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷ Then ^(V)Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(W)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ⁸ It is the Lord ^(X)who goes before you. He will be with you; ^(Y)he will not leave you or forsake you. ^(Z)Do not fear or be dismayed.”