Deuteronomy 31:9-13
New English Translation
The Deposit of the Covenant Text
9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders. 10 He[a] commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts,[b] at the Feast of Shelters,[c] 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses, you must read this law before them[d] within their hearing. 12 Gather the people—men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners[e] in your villages—so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the words of this law. 13 Then their children, who have not known this law,[f] will also hear about and learn to fear the Lord your God for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 31:10 tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Deuteronomy 31:10 tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּה (shemittah), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the procedure whereby debts of all fellow Israelites were to be canceled. Since the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated God’s own deliverance of and provision for his people, this was an appropriate time for Israelites to release one another. See note on this word at Deut 15:1.
- Deuteronomy 31:10 tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת (khag hassukkot, “festival of huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. See note on the name of the festival in Deut 16:13.sn For the regulations on this annual festival see Deut 16:13-15.
- Deuteronomy 31:11 tn Heb “before all Israel.”
- Deuteronomy 31:12 sn The ger (גֵּר) “foreign resident” or “naturalized citizen,” (see Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:10-13) could make sacrifices (Lev 17:8; 22:18; Num 15:14) and participate in Israel’s religious festivals: Passover Exod 12:48; Day of Atonement Lev 16:29; Feast of Weeks Deut 16:10-14; Feast of Tabernacles/Temporary Shelters Deut 31:12.
- Deuteronomy 31:13 tn The phrase “this law” is not in the Hebrew text, but English style requires an object for the verb here. Other translations also supply the object which is otherwise implicit (cf. NIV “who do not know this law”; TEV “who have never heard the Law of the Lord your God”).
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
World English Bible
9 Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of booths, 11 when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, learn, fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”
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