Joshua to Succeed Moses

¹So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. ²And he said to them, “I am d120 years old today. I am no longer able to ego out and come in. The Lord has said to me, f‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³The Lord your God ghimself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, has the Lord has spoken. ⁴And the Lord will do to them ias he did to Sihon jand Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them kaccording to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. ⁶lBe strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, mfor it is the Lord your God who goes with you. nHe will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷Then oMoses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, l“Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ⁸It is the Lord pwho goes before you. He will be with you; nhe will not leave you or forsake you. qDo not fear or be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law

⁹Then Moses rwrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, swho carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰And Moses commanded them, t“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at uthe Feast of Booths, ¹¹when all Israel comes vto appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, wyou shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹²xAssemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, ¹³and that their children, ywho have not known it, zmay hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, aas long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses, b“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that cI may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵And dthe Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses, b“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ewhore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will fforsake me and gbreak my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and hI will forsake them and ihide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, j‘Have not these evils come upon us because kour God is not among us?’ ¹⁸And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because lthey have turned to other gods.

¹⁹“Now therefore write mthis song and nteach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be oa witness for me against the people of Israel. ²⁰For when I have brought them into the land pflowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and qgrown fat, rthey will turn to other gods and serve them, and sdespise me and gbreak my covenant. ²¹And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ta witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For uI know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” ²²So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

²³vAnd the Lord1 commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, w“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. xI will be with you.”

²⁴When Moses had finished ywriting the words of this law in a book to the very end, ²⁵Moses commanded zthe Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, ²⁶“Take this Book of the Law aand put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for ba witness against you. ²⁷For I know how rebellious and cstubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, dyou have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! ²⁸Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak ethese words in their ears and fcall heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹For I know that after my death gyou will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And hin the days to come ievil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, jprovoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel: