Deuteronomy 31:9-29

New King James Version

The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years

⁹ So Moses wrote this law ^(A)and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(B)who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the ^(C)year of release, ^(D)at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to ^(E)appear before the Lord your God in the ^(F)place which He chooses, ^(G)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12 (H)Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their children, ^(I)who have not known it, ^(J)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(K)“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that ^(L)I may ^[a]inaugurate him.”

So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁵ Now ^(M)the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will ^[b]rest with your fathers; and this people will ^(N)rise and ^(O)play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will ^(P)forsake Me and ^(Q)break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger shall be ^(R)aroused against them in that day, and ^(S)I will forsake them, and I will ^(T)hide My face from them, and they shall be ^[c]devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ^(U)‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is ^(V)not among us?’ ¹⁸ And ^(W)I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(X)a witness for Me against the children of Israel. ²⁰ When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves ^(Y)and grown fat, ^(Z)then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it shall be, ^(AA)when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for ^(AB)I know the inclination ^(AC)of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”

²² Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. ^23 (AD)Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ^(AE)“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴ So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, ²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law, ^(AF)and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there ^(AG)as a witness against you; ^27 (AH)for I know your rebellion and your ^(AI)stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing ^(AJ)and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will ^(AK)become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And ^(AL)evil will befall you ^(AM)in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”