Deuteronomy 31

₁Moses talked to all the Israelites ₂and said: ‘I am 120 years old and I can not walk far anymore. The Lord told me that I will not go to the other side of this Jordan River. ₃The Lord your God Himself will go before you to the other side of the river. He will destroy these people and He will give their land to you. It will belong to you. Joshua will go before you to the other side of the river as the Lord said. ₄The Lord will do the same to these nations as He did to the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, and their land. He destroyed them all. ₅The Lord will help you defeat these nations and you must do everything to them that I tell you. ₆You must be strong and brave. Don't be afraid, and do not fear them because the Lord your God Himself is going with you, He will help you and He will not leave you alone.’

₇Moses called Joshua and he talked to him in front of all the Israelites. He said: ‘You must be strong and brave because you must lead these people into the land that God promised to give to their forefathers. You must give these people the land to belong to them. ₈The Lord Himself is going before you, He will be with you, He will help you and He will not leave you alone. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged.’

₉Moses wrote down these laws and he gave them to the priests who were the descendants of Levi, the priests who carried the covenant box of the Lord. He also gave the laws to the leaders_of_Israel. _10-11Moses told them: ‘You must read these laws to all the Israelites every 7th year, in the Sabbath year, when you must tell people who owe you money to keep it as they do not have to pay it back. You must read these laws at the Feast_of_shelters, when all the Israelites come and stand before the Lord your God at the place that He will choose. ₁₂You must call all the people to come together, all the men, women, children and the strangers who live in your towns, so that they can listen and learn and also honour the Lord your God and do everything that these laws say. ₁₃Their children who do not know these laws must listen to them and they must learn always to honour the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land on the other side of the Jordan River, the land that you are going to take for yourselves.’

₁₄The Lord said to Moses: ‘Listen, you will die very soon. Call Joshua, and come and stand in the tent where I appear to the Israelites so that I can tell Joshua what he must do.’

Moses and Joshua went and stood in front of the tent. ₁₅The Lord appeared to them in a cloud before the tent, and then the cloud moved to the door of the tent. ₁₆The Lord said to Moses: ‘You are going to die and then these people will stop worshipping Me. They will start serving the gods of the nations of the land where the Israelites are going. My people will turn away from Me and they will break my covenant that I have made with them. ₁₇I will become very angry with them. I will go away from them and I will not listen to them. They will have all sorts of trouble. They will suffer and then they will say: “We are suffering because our God is not with us.” ₁₈But I will not listen to them because they have done wrong, because they have started worshipping other gods.

₁₉That is why you must write down this song and teach it to the Israelites. They must know that when they sing this song, it will be a witness for Me against them. ₂₀I have brought them into the land that I promised to give to their forefathers, a land with a lot of food, milk and honey. They will eat enough and become fat and then they will start worshipping other gods. They will not respect Me and they will break my covenant. ₂₁When they suffer because of all their troubles, this song will be a witness against them, because their children and descendants will remember this song. Yes, I have not yet brought the Israelites into the land that I have promised to give them, but I know what they are thinking and what they will do.’

₂₂Moses wrote down the words of this song on that day and he taught it to the Israelites. ₂₃The Lord told Joshua, son of Nun: ‘You must be strong and courageous, because you will bring the Israelites into the land that I have promised them and I will be with you.’

₂₄Moses wrote all the laws in a book ₂₅and then he told the Levites who carry the covenant box of the Lord: ₂₆‘Take these laws and put them next to the covenant box of the Lord your God. They must stay there to be a witness against you, ₂₇because I know that you are stubborn and rebellious. You have rebelled_against God while I am alive, and after I have died you will be even more rebellious. ₂₈Call all the chiefs of your tribes and your leaders, so that I can tell them these things and call heaven and earth to be witnesses against them, ₂₉because I know that after my death you will become bad and do wrong, and you will stop living like I told you. Then you will suffer a lot because you do things which the Lord hates. You will make Him sad and angry because of the things you do.’

₃₀Moses said all the words of this song to the congregation of Israel.