Beginning

30 “Now when all these things shall come upon you (the blessing or the curse which I have set before you) and you shall turn into your heart among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,

² “and shall return to the LORD your God and obey His Voice in all that I command you this day (you and your children) with all your heart and with all your soul,

³ “then the LORD your God will cause your captives to return, and have compassion upon you, and will return to gather you out of all the people where the LORD your God has scattered you.

⁴ “Though you were cast to the utmost part of Heaven, from there will the LORD your God gather you. And from there will He take you.

⁵ “And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed. And you shall possess it. And He will show you favor and will multiply you above your fathers.

⁶ “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, so that you may love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, so that you may live.

⁷ “And the LORD your God will lay all these curses upon your enemies, and on those who hate you, and who persecute you.

⁸ “Return, therefore, and obey the Voice of the LORD, and do all His Commandments which I command you this day.

⁹ “And the LORD your God will make you plenteous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of the land, for your wealth. For the LORD will turn again and rejoice over you, to do you good (as He rejoiced over your fathers)

¹⁰ “because you shall obey the Voice of the LORD your God — in keeping His Commandments and His Ordinances which are written in the Book of this Law — when you shall return to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹ “For this Commandment which I command you this day is not hidden from you, nor is it far off.

¹² “It is not in Heaven, so that you should say, ‘Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it to us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’

¹³ “Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you should say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it to us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’

¹⁴ “But the Word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, for you to do it.

¹⁵ “Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil,

¹⁶ “in that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His Commandments, and His Ordinances, and His Laws, so that you may live and be multiplied, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land to which you go to possess.

¹⁷ “But if your heart turns away, so that you will not obey but shall be seduced and worship other gods and serve them,

¹⁸ “I pronounce to you this day that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you pass over Jordan to possess.

¹⁹ “I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that you and your seed may live

²⁰ “by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His Voice, and by clinging to Him. For He is your life, and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give them.”

31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel,

² and said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day. I cannot go out and in anymore. Also, the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’

³ “The LORD your God, He will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you. And you shall possess them. Joshua, he shall go before you, as the LORD has said.

⁴ “And the LORD shall do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites (whom He destroyed), and to their land.

⁵ “And the LORD shall give them before you, so that you may do to them according to every Commandment which I have commanded you.

⁶ “Have courage, therefore, and be strong. Do not fear or be afraid of them. For the LORD your God Himself goes with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.”

⁷ And Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be of a good courage and strong. For you shall go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers, to give them. And you shall give it to them to inherit.

⁸ “And the LORD Himself goes before you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you. Do not fear or be discomforted.”

⁹ And Moses wrote this Law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi (who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD) and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying, “Every seventh year, the year of freedom in the Feast of the Tabernacles,

¹¹ “when all Israel shall come to appear before the LORD your God and the place which He shall choose, you shall read this Law before all Israel so that they may hear it.

¹² “Gather the people together — men, women, children, and the stranger who is within your gates — so that they may hear, and that they may learn and fear the LORD your God, and keep and observe all the words of this Law,

¹³ “and that their children who have not known it may hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land to which you go over Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the day has come that you must die. Call Joshua and stand in the Tabernacle of the Congregation so that I may give him a charge.” So, Moses and Joshua went and stood in the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

¹⁵ And the LORD appeared in the Tabernacle, in the pillar of a cloud. And the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the Tabernacle.

¹⁶ And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. And this people will rise up and go a whoring after the gods of a strange land (wherever they go in) and will forsake Me and break My Covenant which I have made with them.

¹⁷ “Therefore, My wrath will grow hot against them on that day. And I will forsake them and will hide My Face from them. Then they shall be consumed. And many adversities and tribulations shall come upon them. “So, then, they will say, ‘Have not these troubles come upon me because God is not with me?’

¹⁸ “But I will surely hide My Face on that day because of all the evil which they shall commit on the day they are turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now, therefore, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, so that this song may be My witness against the children of Israel.

²⁰ “For I will bring them into the land which I swore to their fathers, that flows with milk and honey. And they shall eat, and fill themselves, and grow fat. Then they shall turn to other gods and serve them, and contemn Me and break My Covenant.

²¹ “And then, when many adversities and tribulations shall come upon them, this song shall answer them to their faces as a witness. For it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants. For I know the intent of their imagination even now, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”

²² Moses, therefore, wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel,

²³ and gave Joshua, the son of Nun, a charge, and said, “Be strong and of a good courage. For you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them. And I will be with you.”

²⁴ And when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this Law in a Book — when he had finished them —

²⁵ then Moses commanded the Levites who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, saying,

²⁶ “Take the Book of this Law and put it inside of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may be there for a witness against you.

²⁷ “For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, I am still alive with you this day and you are rebellious against the LORD. How much more so, then, after my death?

²⁸ “Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their audience and call Heaven and Earth to record against them.

²⁹ “For I am sure that after my death, you will be utterly corrupt and turn from the way which I have commanded you. Therefore, evil will come upon you in the end, because you will commit evil in the sight of the LORD by provoking Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

³⁰ Thus Moses spoke the words of this song in the audience of all the Congregation of Israel, until he had ended them.