Moses Encourages the People

1And Moses goeth and speaketh these words unto all Israel, 2and he saith unto them, ‘A son of a hundred and twenty years [am] I to-day; I am not able any more to go out and to come in, and Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou dost not pass over this Jordan, 3‘Jehovah thy God He is passing over before thee, He doth destroy these nations from before thee, and thou hast possessed them; Joshua — he is passing over before thee as Jehovah hath spoken, 4and Jehovah hath done to them as he hath done to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorite, and to their land, whom He destroyed. 5And Jehovah hath given them before your face, and ye have done to them according to all the command which I have commanded you; 6be strong and courageous, fear not, nor be terrified because of them, for Jehovah thy God [is] He who is going with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee.’

Joshua to Succeed Moses

(Numbers 27:18-23)

7And Moses calleth for Joshua, and saith unto him before the eyes of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for thou — thou dost go in with this people unto the land which Jehovah hath sworn to their fathers to give to them, and thou — thou dost cause them to inherit it; 8and Jehovah [is] He who is going before thee, He himself is with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.’

The Reading of the Law

(Nehemiah 8:1-8)

9And Moses writeth this law, and giveth it unto the priests (sons of Levi, those bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah), and unto all the elders of Israel, 10and Moses commandeth them, saying, ‘At the end of seven years, in the appointed time, the year of release, in the feast of booths, 11in the coming in of all Israel to see the face of Jehovah in the place which He chooseth, thou dost proclaim this law before all Israel, in their ears. 12‘Assemble the people, the men, and the women, and the infants, and thy sojourner who [is] within thy gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn, and have feared Jehovah your God, and observed to do all the words of this law; 13and their sons, who have not known, do hear, and have learned to fear Jehovah your God all the days which ye are living on the ground whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it.’

God's Charge to Joshua

14And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Lo, thy days have drawn near to die; call Joshua, and station yourselves in the tent of meeting, and I charge him;’ and Moses goeth — Joshua also — and they station themselves in the tent of meeting, 15and Jehovah is seen in the tent, in a pillar of a cloud; and the pillar of the cloud standeth at the opening of the tent. 16And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Lo, thou art lying down with thy fathers, and this people hath risen, and gone a-whoring after the gods of the stranger of the land into the midst of which it hath entered, and forsaken Me, and broken My covenant which I made with it; 17and Mine anger hath burned against it in that day, and I have forsaken them, and hidden My face from them, and it hath been for consumption, and many evils and distresses have found it, and it hath said in that day, Is it not because that my God is not in my midst — these evils have found me? 18and I certainly hide My face in that day for all the evil which it hath done, for it hath turned unto other gods.

19‘And now, write for you this song, and teach it the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song is to Me for a witness against the sons of Israel, 20and I bring them in unto the ground which I have sworn to their fathers — flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten, and been satisfied, and been fat, and have turned unto other gods, and they have served them, and despised Me, and broken My covenant. 21‘And it hath been, when many evils and distresses do meet it, that this song hath testified to its face for a witness; for it is not forgotten out of the mouth of its seed, for I have known its imagining which it is doing to-day, before I bring them in unto the land of which I have sworn.’ 22And Moses writeth this song on that day, and doth teach it the sons of Israel,

23and He commandeth Joshua son of Nun, and saith, ‘Be strong and courageous, for thou dost bring in the sons of Israel unto the land which I have sworn to them, and I — I am with thee.’

The Law Placed in the Ark

24And it cometh to pass, when Moses finisheth to write the words of this law on a book till their completion, 25that Moses commandeth the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying, 26‘Take this Book of the Law, and thou hast set it on the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and it hath been there against thee for a witness; 27for I — I have known thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; lo, in my being yet alive with you to-day, rebellious ye have been with Jehovah, and also surely after my death. 28‘Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your authorities, and I speak in their ears these words, and cause to testify against them the heavens and the earth, 29for I have known that after my death ye do very corruptly, and have turned aside out of the way which I commanded you, and evil hath met you in the latter end of the days, because ye do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to make Him angry with the work of your hands.’

Moses Begins his Song

30And Moses speaketh in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, till their completion: —