Deuteronomy 31

Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. He said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ The LORD your God himself will cross before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself will cross before you, as the LORD has spoken. The LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. The LORD will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be terrified before them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall enter with this people into the land the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. The LORD is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” 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. Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time of the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people, the men, the women, the little ones, and the resident foreigner within your gates, so that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, being careful to do all the words of this law. Their children who have not known these things shall hear and learn to fear the LORD your God all the days you live on the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” The LORD said to Moses, “See, your days draw near for you to die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.” Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent. The LORD said to Moses, “See, you are about to lie down with your fathers, and this people will rise and prostitute itself after the foreign gods of the land it is entering. It will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with it. My anger will burn against it that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and it shall be devoured. Many evils and troubles shall find it, and that day it shall say, ‘Have not these evils found me because my God is not in my midst?’ I will surely hide my face that day because of all the evil it has done, for it has turned to other gods. Now write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the Israelites. Put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. For I will bring it into the land I swore to its fathers, flowing with milk and honey. It will eat and be satisfied and grow fat, then turn to other gods, serve them and despise me, and break my covenant. When many evils and troubles find it, this song shall answer before it as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of its descendants. For I know the inclination it has today, before I bring it into the land I swore.” Moses wrote this song that day and taught it to the Israelites. He commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.” When Moses had finished writing the words of this law on a scroll, to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may be there as a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Even today, while I am still alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death! Gather to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way I commanded you. Calamity will befall you in the days to come, because you will do what is evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of your hands.” Moses spoke in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel the words of this song in full:

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