Joshua the New Leader of Israel^(A)

31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them: “I ^(B)am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer ^(C)go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ^(D)‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God ^(E)Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^(F)Joshua himself crosses over before you, just ^(G)as the Lord has said. ^4 (H)And the Lord will do to them ^(I)as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. ^5 (J)The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. ^6 (K)Be strong and of good courage, ^(L)do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, ^(M)He is the One who goes with you. ^(N)He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

⁷ Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(O)“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. ⁸ And the Lord, ^(P)He is the One who goes before you. ^(Q)He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years

⁹ So Moses wrote this law ^(R)and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(S)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 ^(T)year of release, ^(U)at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to ^(V)appear before the Lord your God in the ^(W)place which He chooses, ^(X)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12 (Y)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, ^(Z)who have not known it, ^(AA)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, ^(AB)“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that ^(AC)I may ^[a]inaugurate him.”

So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁵ Now ^(AD)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 ^(AE)rise and ^(AF)play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will ^(AG)forsake Me and ^(AH)break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger shall be ^(AI)aroused against them in that day, and ^(AJ)I will forsake them, and I will ^(AK)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, ^(AL)‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is ^(AM)not among us?’ ¹⁸ And ^(AN)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 ^(AO)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 ^(AP)and grown fat, ^(AQ)then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it shall be, ^(AR)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 ^(AS)I know the inclination ^(AT)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 (AU)Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ^(AV)“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, ^(AW)and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there ^(AX)as a witness against you; ^27 (AY)for I know your rebellion and your ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will ^(BB)become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And ^(BC)evil will befall you ^(BD)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.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended:

The Greatest Commandment

6 “Now this is ^(A)the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, ^2 (B)that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, ^(C)and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Therefore hear, O Israel, and ^[a]be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may ^(D)multiply greatly ^(E)as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—^(F)‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

^4 (G)“Hear, O Israel: ^[b]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ^5 (H)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, ^(I)with all your soul, and with all your strength.

⁶ “And ^(J)these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ^7 (K)You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ^8 (L)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^9 (M)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Caution Against Disobedience

¹⁰ “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He ^[c]swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities ^(N)which you did not build, ¹¹ houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—^(O)when you have eaten and are full— ¹² then beware, lest you forget the ^(P)Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ¹³ You shall ^(Q)fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and ^(R)shall take oaths in His name. ¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, ^(S)the gods of the peoples who are all around you ¹⁵ (for ^(T)the Lord your God is a jealous God ^(U)among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

^16 (V)“You shall not ^[d]tempt the Lord your God ^(W)as you ^[e]tempted Him in Massah. ¹⁷ You shall ^(X)diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. ¹⁸ And you ^(Y)shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, ^19 (Z)to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.

^20 (AA)“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt ^(AB)with a mighty hand; ²² and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. ²³ Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He ^[f]swore to our fathers. ²⁴ And the Lord commanded us to ^[g]observe all these ^[h]statutes, ^(AC)to fear the Lord our God, ^(AD)for our good always, that ^(AE)He might preserve us alive, as it is ^[i]this day. ²⁵ Then ^(AF)it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

Remember the Lord Your God

8 “Every commandment which I command you today ^(A)you must ^[a]be careful to observe, that you may live and ^(B)multiply,^[b] and go in and possess the land of which the Lord ^[c]swore to your fathers. ² And you shall remember that the Lord your God ^(C)led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and ^(D)test you, ^(E)to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. ³ So He humbled you, ^(F)allowed you to hunger, and ^(G)fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall ^(H)not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. ^4 (I)Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. ^5 (J)You should ^[d]know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.

⁶ “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, ^(K)to walk in His ways and to fear Him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, ^(L)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ^10 (M)When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

¹¹ “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ^12 (N)lest—when you have eaten and are ^[e]full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are ^[f]multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ^14 (O)when your heart ^[g]is lifted up, and you ^(P)forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who ^(Q)led you through that great and terrible wilderness, ^(R)in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; ^(S)who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with ^(T)manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, ^(U)to do you good in the end— ¹⁷ then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, ^(V)for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, ^(W)that He may ^[h]establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, ^(X)I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, ^(Y)so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

Israel’s Rebellions Reviewed^(Z)

9 “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, ² a people great and tall, the ^(AA)descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ ³ Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who ^(AB)goes over before you as a ^(AC)consuming fire. ^(AD)He will destroy them and bring them down before you; ^(AE)so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.

^4 (AF)“Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is ^(AG)because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. ^5 (AH)It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may ^[i]fulfill the ^(AI)word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ⁶ Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a ^(AJ)stiff-necked^[j] people.

⁷ “Remember! Do not forget how you ^(AK)provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. ^(AL)From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. ⁸ Also ^(AM)in Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. ^9 (AN)When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and ^(AO)forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ^10 (AP)Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire ^(AQ)in^[k] the day of the assembly. ¹¹ And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

¹² “Then the Lord said to me, ^(AR)‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have ^(AS)quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’

¹³ “Furthermore ^(AT)the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed ^(AU)they are a ^[l]stiff-necked people. ^14 (AV)Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and ^(AW)blot out their name from under heaven; ^(AX)and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’

^15 (AY)“So I turned and came down from the mountain, and ^(AZ)the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶ And ^(BA)I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and ^(BB)broke them before your eyes. ¹⁸ And I ^(BC)fell^[m] down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ^19 (BD)For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was angry with you, to destroy you. ^(BE)But the Lord listened to me at that time also. ²⁰ And the Lord was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ²¹ Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I ^(BF)threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

²² “Also at ^(BG)Taberah and ^(BH)Massah and ^(BI)Kibroth Hattaavah you ^[n]provoked the Lord to wrath. ²³ Likewise, ^(BJ)when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ^(BK)you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. ^24 (BL)You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

^25 (BM)“Thus I ^[o]prostrated myself before the Lord; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the Lord had said He would destroy you. ²⁶ Therefore I prayed to the Lord, and said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people and ^(BN)Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷ Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, ²⁸ lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” ²⁹ Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’