Deuteronomy 31-32 New International Version

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ²“I am now a hundred and twenty years old^(A) and I am no longer able to lead you.^(B) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’^(C) ³The Lord your God himself will cross^(D) over ahead of you.^(E) He will destroy these nations^(F) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross^(G) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. ⁴And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,^(H) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. ⁵The Lord will deliver^(I) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. ⁶Be strong and courageous.^(J) Do not be afraid or terrified^(K) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;^(L) he will never leave you^(M) nor forsake^(N) you.”

⁷Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^(O) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^(P) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. ⁸The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^(Q) he will never leave you nor forsake you.^(R) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

⁹So Moses wrote^(S) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^(T) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^(U) during the Festival of Tabernacles,^(V) ¹¹when all Israel comes to appear^(W) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^(X) you shall read this law^(Y) before them in their hearing. ¹²Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn^(Z) to fear^(AA) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³Their children,^(AB) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death^(AC) is near. Call Joshua^(AD) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^(AE)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.^(AF)

¹⁵Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^(AG) ¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(AH) and these people will soon prostitute^(AI) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(AJ) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷And in that day I will become angry^(AK) with them and forsake^(AL) them; I will hide^(AM) my face^(AN) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(AO) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’^(AP) ¹⁸And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹“Now write^(AQ) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^(AR) for me against them. ²⁰When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^(AS) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^(AT) and worship them,^(AU) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^(AV) ²¹And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^(AW) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^(AX) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” ²²So Moses wrote^(AY) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³The Lord gave this command^(AZ) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,^(BA) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

²⁴After Moses finished writing^(BB) in a book the words of this law^(BC) from beginning to end, ²⁵he gave this command to the Levites who carried^(BD) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: ²⁶“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.^(BE) ²⁷For I know how rebellious^(BF) and stiff-necked^(BG) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! ²⁸Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.^(BH) ²⁹For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^(BI) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^(BJ) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

32 Listen,^(BK) you heavens,^(BL) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^(BM)
²Let my teaching fall like rain^(BN)
    and my words descend like dew,^(BO)
like showers^(BP) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

³I will proclaim^(BQ) the name of the Lord.^(BR)
    Oh, praise the greatness^(BS) of our God!
⁴He is the Rock,^(BT) his works are perfect,^(BU)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God^(BV) who does no wrong,
    upright^(BW) and just is he.^(BX)

⁵They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^(BY)
⁶Is this the way you repay^(BZ) the Lord,
    you foolish^(CA) and unwise people?^(CB)
Is he not your Father,^(CC) your Creator,^[a]
    who made you and formed you?^(CD)

⁷Remember the days of old;^(CE)
    consider the generations long past.^(CF)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.^(CG)
⁸When the Most High^(CH) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,^(CI)
he set up boundaries^(CJ) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.^[b]^(CK)
⁹For the Lord’s portion^(CL) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.^(CM)

¹⁰In a desert^(CN) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.^(CO)
He shielded^(CP) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^(CQ)
¹¹like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,^(CR)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.^(CS)
¹²The Lord alone led^(CT) him;^(CU)
    no foreign god was with him.^(CV)

¹³He made him ride on the heights^(CW) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,^(CX)
    and with oil^(CY) from the flinty crag,
¹⁴with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan^(CZ)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.^(DA)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^(DB)

¹⁵Jeshurun^[c]^(DC) grew fat^(DD) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned^(DE) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock^(DF) their Savior.
¹⁶They made him jealous^(DG) with their foreign gods
    and angered^(DH) him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷They sacrificed^(DI) to false gods,^(DJ) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,^(DK)
    gods that recently appeared,^(DL)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
¹⁸You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot^(DM) the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The Lord saw this and rejected them^(DN)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.^(DO)
²⁰“I will hide my face^(DP) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,^(DQ)
    children who are unfaithful.^(DR)
²¹They made me jealous^(DS) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.^(DT)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.^(DU)
²²For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,^(DV)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.^(DW)
It will devour^(DX) the earth and its harvests^(DY)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.^(DZ)

²³“I will heap calamities^(EA) on them
    and spend my arrows^(EB) against them.
²⁴I will send wasting famine^(EC) against them,
    consuming pestilence^(ED) and deadly plague;^(EE)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,^(EF)
    the venom of vipers^(EG) that glide in the dust.^(EH)
²⁵In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror^(EI) will reign.^(EJ)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.^(EK)
²⁶I said I would scatter^(EL) them
    and erase their name from human memory,^(EM)
²⁷but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand^(EN)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”^(EO)

²⁸They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment^(EP) in them.
²⁹If only they were wise and would understand this^(EQ)
    and discern what their end will be!^(ER)
³⁰How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,^(ES)
unless their Rock had sold them,^(ET)
    unless the Lord had given them up?^(EU)
³¹For their rock is not like our Rock,^(EV)
    as even our enemies concede.^(EW)
³²Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom^(EX)
    and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,^(EY)
    and their clusters with bitterness.^(EZ)
³³Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.^(FA)

³⁴“Have I not kept this in reserve
    and sealed it in my vaults?^(FB)
³⁵It is mine to avenge;^(FC) I will repay.^(FD)
    In due time their foot will slip;^(FE)
their day of disaster is near
    and their doom rushes upon them.^(FF)”

³⁶The Lord will vindicate his people^(FG)
    and relent^(FH) concerning his servants^(FI)
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave^(FJ) or free.^[d]
³⁷He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,^(FK)
³⁸the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offerings?^(FL)
Let them rise up to help you!
    Let them give you shelter!

³⁹“See now that I myself am he!^(FM)
    There is no god besides me.^(FN)
I put to death^(FO) and I bring to life,^(FP)
    I have wounded and I will heal,^(FQ)
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.^(FR)
⁴⁰I lift my hand^(FS) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,^(FT)
⁴¹when I sharpen my flashing sword^(FU)
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance^(FV) on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.^(FW)
⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood,^(FX)
    while my sword devours flesh:^(FY)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

⁴³Rejoice,^(FZ) you nations, with his people,^[e]^[f]
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;^(GA)
he will take vengeance on his enemies^(GB)
and make atonement for his land and people.^(GC)

⁴⁴Moses came with Joshua^[g]^(GD) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. ⁴⁵When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,^(GE) so that you may command^(GF) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. ⁴⁷They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.^(GG) By them you will live long^(GH) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

⁴⁸On that same day the Lord told Moses,^(GI) ⁴⁹“Go up into the Abarim^(GJ) Range to Mount Nebo^(GK) in Moab, across from Jericho,^(GL) and view Canaan,^(GM) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. ⁵⁰There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die^(GN) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died^(GO) on Mount Hor^(GP) and was gathered to his people. ⁵¹This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh^(GQ) in the Desert of Zin^(GR) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.^(GS) ⁵²Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;^(GT) you will not enter^(GU) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua

Cross references

New International Version (NIV)