Deuteronomy 31:4-18

English Standard Version

⁴And the Lord will do to them ^(A)as he did to Sihon ^(B)and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them ^(C)according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. ⁶^(D)Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, ^(E)for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. ^(F)He will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷Then ^(G)Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(H)“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. ⁸It is the Lord ^(I)who goes before you. He will be with you; ^(J)he will not leave you or forsake you. ^(K)Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law

⁹Then Moses ^(L)wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(M)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰And Moses commanded them, ^(N)“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at ^(O)the Feast of Booths, ¹¹when all Israel comes ^(P)to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, ^(Q)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹²^(R)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, ^(S)who have not known it, ^(T)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, ^(U)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, ^(V)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^(W)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵And ^(X)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, ^(Y)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^(Z)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^(AA)forsake me and ^(AB)break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^(AC)I will forsake them and ^(AD)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, ^(AE)‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^(AF)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 ^(AG)they have turned to other gods.