Deuteronomy

Chapter 31

1 AND Moses went and spoke all these words to all Israel.

2 And he said to them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no longer go out and come in; and the LORD has said to me, You shall not cross the Jordan.

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

4 And the LORD shall do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their lands, which he destroyed.

5 And the LORD shall deliver them also before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.

6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor tremble before them; for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you.

7 Then Moses called Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.

8 And it is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, nor forsake you; fear not, neither tremble, nor be dismayed.

9 And Moses wrote this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried 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 time of the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles,

11 When all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

12 Gather the people together, men and women and children and the stranger who is within your cities, that they may hear, and that they may learn and revere the LORD your God and observe and do all the words of this law;

13 And that their children, who have not known anything, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

14 And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, the day is coming when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

15 And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of 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 astray after strange gods of the land where they go to dwell among them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will turn away my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not in our midst?

18 And I will surely turn away from them in that day for all the evils which they have done, in that they have gone astray after other gods.

19 Now therefore write this song for them, and teach it to the children of Israel; and put it into their mouths; this song will be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For I will bring them into the land which I swore to their fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey; and when they have eaten and are full, and live in luxury, then they will go astray after other gods and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

21 And when many evils and troubles are befallen them, then this song shall be read before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their inclination and all that they do here this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers.

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

23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said to him, Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to their fathers; and I will be with you.

24 And when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, and they were finished,

25 He commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you.

27 For I know how rebellious and stiffnecked you are; behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?

28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes and your scribes, that I may speak these words to you, and call heaven and earth to witness against you.

29 For I know that after my death you will surely become corrupt and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; when you have done evil in the sight of the LORD and have provoked him to anger through the work of your hands.

30 And Moses spoke the words of this song before all the congregation of the children of Israel, until they were ended.