Deuteronomy 31
King James Version
31 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3 The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.
4 And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
5 And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.
10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
11 When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
15 And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.
16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?
28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.
Deuteronomy 31
Lexham English Bible
Succession, Deposition, and Recitation of Text
31 And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today;[a] I am not able to go out and to come in any longer, and Yahweh said to me, ‘You may not cross this Jordan.’ 3 Yahweh your God is about to cross before you;[b] he will destroy these nations before you,[c] and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will be crossing before you,[d] just as Yahweh promised.[e] 4 And Yahweh will do to them just as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and to their land, which he destroyed with them. 5 And Yahweh will deliver them to you before you,[f] and you shall do to them according to every commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and be courageous; you should not be afraid, and you should not be in dread from their presence,[g] for Yahweh your God is the one going with you; he will not leave you alone and he will not forsake you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua, and he said to him in the presence of all Israel,[h] “Be strong and be courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that Yahweh swore to their ancestors[i] to give to them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance. 8 Yahweh is the one going before you;[j] he will be with you, and he will not leave you alone, and he will not forsake you; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be discouraged.” 9 So Moses wrote this law, and he gave it to the priests, the descendants[k] of Levi, the ones carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 Then Moses commanded them, saying,[l] “At the end of seven years, in the time of the year for canceling debts during the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before[m] Yahweh their God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.[n] 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little children and your aliens that are in your towns,[o] so that they may hear and so that they may learn and they may revere Yahweh your God, and they shall diligently observe[p] all the words of this law. 13 And then their children,[q] who have not known, they too may hear, and they may learn to revere Yahweh their God all the days that you live[r] on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to get there[s] to take possession of it.”
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, you are about to die;[t] call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of assembly,[u] so that I may instruct him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in[v] the tent of assembly.[w] 15 And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a column of cloud, and the column of the cloud stood at the entrance of the tent. 16 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, you are about to lie down with your ancestors,[x] and this people will arise and they[y] will play the prostitute after the foreign gods[z] of the land to which they are going.[aa] 17 And my anger shall flare up against them[ab] on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they[ac] shall become as prey, and disasters and troubles shall find[ad] them,[ae] and they[af] shall say on that day, ‘Is it not because our[ag] God is not in our[ah] midst that these disasters have found[ai] us?’[aj] 18 But I will certainly hide my face on that day, because of all of the evil that they[ak] did because they[al] turned to other gods.
19 “And so then write this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites;[am] put it in their mouth, so that this song may be for me as a witness against the Israelites.[an] 20 For when I bring them[ao] into the land that I swore to their[ap] ancestors,[aq] a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill,[ar] and they[as] will become fat, and then they[at] will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they[au] will break my covenant. 21 And then[av] many disasters and troubles will come upon them,[aw] and this song will give evidence before them[ax] as a witness, because it will not be forgotten from out of the mouth of their descendants,[ay] for I know their[az] inclination that they[ba] are having today[bb] before I have brought them[bc] into the land that I swore.” 22 And Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.[bd]
23 Then he[be] told Joshua the son of Nun, and said to him, “Be strong and be courageous, for you shall bring the Israelites[bf] into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
24 And then when Moses finished writing[bg] the words of this law on the scroll until they were complete,[bh] 25 then Moses commanded the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying,[bi] 26 “Take the scroll of this law and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and it will be there as a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck even now while I am still alive with you today,[bj] rebelling against Yahweh, and how much more[bk] after my death. 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak in their ears these words, and that I may call as witness against them heaven and earth. 29 For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil[bl] in the eyes of Yahweh, provoking him with the work of your hands.”[bm] 30 So Moses spoke into the ears of the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete.[bn]
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 31:2 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 31:3 Literally “to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 31:3 Literally “to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 31:3 Literally “to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 31:3 Literally “spoke”
- Deuteronomy 31:5 Literally “will give them Yahweh to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 31:6 Literally “not you should dread from their face”
- Deuteronomy 31:7 Literally “before the eyes of all Israel”
- Deuteronomy 31:7 Or “their fathers”
- Deuteronomy 31:8 Literally “to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 31:9 Or “sons”
- Deuteronomy 31:10 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 31:11 Literally “at/in the coming of all of Israel to see”
- Deuteronomy 31:11 Literally “in their ears”
- Deuteronomy 31:12 Literally “gates”
- Deuteronomy 31:12 Literally “they shall keep to do”
- Deuteronomy 31:13 Hebrew “child”
- Deuteronomy 31:13 Literally “that you are alive”
- Deuteronomy 31:13 Literally “there”
- Deuteronomy 31:14 Literally “are near your days to die”
- Deuteronomy 31:14 Or “meeting”
- Deuteronomy 31:14 Or “at”
- Deuteronomy 31:14 Or “meeting”
- Deuteronomy 31:16 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 31:16 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:16 Literally “the gods of the foreigner/foreign person of the land”
- Deuteronomy 31:16 Literally “which he is going to”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Literally “shall become my nose against it/him”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Or “encounter”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Hebrew “him”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Hebrew “my” but represents all the people
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Hebrew “my”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Or “encountered”
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Hebrew “me”
- Deuteronomy 31:18 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:18 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:19 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 31:19 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Hebrew “him,” referring to the people
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Hebrew “his”
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Literally “he will eat and he will be satisfied”
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:20 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Literally “And it shall happen”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Hebrew “him”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Hebrew “him”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Hebrew “his offspring/descendant”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Hebrew “his”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Hebrew “he”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 31:21 Hebrew “him”
- Deuteronomy 31:22 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 31:23 That is, Yahweh
- Deuteronomy 31:23 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 31:24 Literally “And it happened as/when to finish Moses to write”
- Deuteronomy 31:24 Literally “until their to be complete/”
- Deuteronomy 31:25 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 31:27 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 31:27 Literally “and also for/indeed”
- Deuteronomy 31:29 Hebrew “the evil”; the definite article indicates the general concept of evil
- Deuteronomy 31:29 Literally “to provoke him with/by the work of your hands”
- Deuteronomy 31:30 Literally “until their to be complete”
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