Deuteronomy 31:12-32:10

English Standard Version

¹²^(A)Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, ¹³and that their children, ^(B)who have not known it, ^(C)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, ^(D)as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses, ^(E)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^(F)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵And ^(G)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, ^(H)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^(I)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^(J)forsake me and ^(K)break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^(L)I will forsake them and ^(M)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, ^(N)‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^(O)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 ^(P)they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹“Now therefore write ^(Q)this song and ^(R)teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(S)a witness for me against the people of Israel. ²⁰For when I have brought them into the land ^(T)flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and ^(U)grown fat, ^(V)they will turn to other gods and serve them, and ^(W)despise me and ^(X)break my covenant. ²¹And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ^(Y)a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For ^(Z)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^(AA)And the Lord^[a] commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ^(AB)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. ^(AC)I will be with you.”

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

The Song of Moses

³⁰Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:

32 “Give ear, ^(AP)O heavens, and I will speak,
    and let ^(AQ)the earth hear the words of my mouth.
²May ^(AR)my teaching drop as the rain,
    my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
    and ^(AS)like showers upon the herb.
³For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    ascribe ^(AT)greatness to our God!

⁴^(AU)“The Rock, ^(AV)his work is perfect,
    for ^(AW)all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and ^(AX)without iniquity,
    just and upright is he.
⁵They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children ^(AY)because they are blemished;
    they are ^(AZ)a crooked and twisted generation.
⁶Do you thus repay the Lord,
    you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he ^(BA)your father, who ^(BB)created you,
    who ^(BC)made you and established you?
⁷^(BD)Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
^(BE)ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you.
⁸When the Most High ^(BF)gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he ^(BG)divided mankind,
he fixed the borders^[b] of the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of God.^[c]
⁹But the Lord's portion is his people,
    Jacob his allotted heritage.

¹⁰“He found him ^(BH)in a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he ^(BI)encircled him, he cared for him,
he ^(BJ)kept him as the apple of his eye.