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Deuteronomy 31:1-8
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
New International Version
Joshua to Succeed Moses
31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old(A) and I am no longer able to lead you.(B) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’(C) 3 The Lord your God himself will cross(D) over ahead of you.(E) He will destroy these nations(F) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross(G) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,(H) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliver(I) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous.(J) Do not be afraid or terrified(K) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;(L) he will never leave you(M) nor forsake(N) you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said(O) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,(P) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;(Q) he will never leave you nor forsake you.(R) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
King James Version
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
King James Version
31 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3 The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.
4 And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
5 And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
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Deuteronomy 31:14-15
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31:14-15
New International Version
Israel’s Rebellion Predicted
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death(A) is near. Call Joshua(B) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.(C)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.(D)
15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.(E)
Deuteronomy 31:14-15
King James Version
Deuteronomy 31:14-15
King James Version
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou 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 a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.
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Deuteronomy 31:23
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31:23
New International Version
23 The Lord gave this command(A) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,(B) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
Deuteronomy 31:23
King James Version
Deuteronomy 31:23
King James Version
23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
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Deuteronomy 31:16-22
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31:16-22
New International Version
16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,(A) and these people will soon prostitute(B) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake(C) me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry(D) with them and forsake(E) them; I will hide(F) my face(G) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters(H) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’(I) 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 “Now write(J) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness(K) for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,(L) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods(M) and worship them,(N) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.(O) 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them,(P) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,(Q) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote(R) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 31:16-22
King James Version
Deuteronomy 31:16-22
King James Version
16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be 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 hide 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 among us?
18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
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Deuteronomy 31:24-32:47
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31:24-32:47
New International Version
24 After Moses finished writing(A) in a book the words of this law(B) from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried(C) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.(D) 27 For I know how rebellious(E) and stiff-necked(F) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.(G) 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt(H) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster(I) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”
The Song of Moses
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
32 Listen,(J) you heavens,(K) and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(L)
2 Let my teaching fall like rain(M)
and my words descend like dew,(N)
like showers(O) on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaim(P) the name of the Lord.(Q)
Oh, praise the greatness(R) of our God!
4 He is the Rock,(S) his works are perfect,(T)
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(U) who does no wrong,
upright(V) and just is he.(W)
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(X)
6 Is this the way you repay(Y) the Lord,
you foolish(Z) and unwise people?(AA)
Is he not your Father,(AB) your Creator,[a]
who made you and formed you?(AC)
7 Remember the days of old;(AD)
consider the generations long past.(AE)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.(AF)
8 When the Most High(AG) gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,(AH)
he set up boundaries(AI) for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b](AJ)
9 For the Lord’s portion(AK) is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.(AL)
10 In a desert(AM) land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.(AN)
He shielded(AO) him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(AP)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,(AQ)
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.(AR)
12 The Lord alone led(AS) him;(AT)
no foreign god was with him.(AU)
13 He made him ride on the heights(AV) of the land
and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(AW)
and with oil(AX) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(AY)
and the finest kernels of wheat.(AZ)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(BA)
15 Jeshurun[c](BB) grew fat(BC) and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(BD) the God who made them
and rejected the Rock(BE) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(BF) with their foreign gods
and angered(BG) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(BH) to false gods,(BI) which are not God—
gods they had not known,(BJ)
gods that recently appeared,(BK)
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot(BL) the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(BM)
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(BN)
20 “I will hide my face(BO) from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(BP)
children who are unfaithful.(BQ)
21 They made me jealous(BR) by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.(BS)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(BT)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(BU)
one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(BV)
It will devour(BW) the earth and its harvests(BX)
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(BY)
23 “I will heap calamities(BZ) on them
and spend my arrows(CA) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(CB) against them,
consuming pestilence(CC) and deadly plague;(CD)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(CE)
the venom of vipers(CF) that glide in the dust.(CG)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terror(CH) will reign.(CI)
The young men and young women will perish,
the infants and those with gray hair.(CJ)
26 I said I would scatter(CK) them
and erase their name from human memory,(CL)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the adversary misunderstand(CM)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done all this.’”(CN)
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernment(CO) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(CP)
and discern what their end will be!(CQ)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,(CR)
unless their Rock had sold them,(CS)
unless the Lord had given them up?(CT)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(CU)
as even our enemies concede.(CV)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(CW)
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(CX)
and their clusters with bitterness.(CY)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.(CZ)
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
and sealed it in my vaults?(DA)
35 It is mine to avenge;(DB) I will repay.(DC)
In due time their foot will slip;(DD)
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.(DE)”
36 The Lord will vindicate his people(DF)
and relent(DG) concerning his servants(DH)
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slave(DI) or free.[d]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,(DJ)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(DK)
Let them rise up to help you!
Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am he!(DL)
There is no god besides me.(DM)
I put to death(DN) and I bring to life,(DO)
I have wounded and I will heal,(DP)
and no one can deliver out of my hand.(DQ)
40 I lift my hand(DR) to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,(DS)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(DT)
and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(DU) on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.(DV)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(DW)
while my sword devours flesh:(DX)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice,(DY) you nations, with his people,[e][f]
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;(DZ)
he will take vengeance on his enemies(EA)
and make atonement for his land and people.(EB)
44 Moses came with Joshua[g](EC) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,(ED) so that you may command(EE) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(EF) By them you will live long(EG) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua
Deuteronomy 31:24-32:47
King James Version
Deuteronomy 31:24-32:47
King James Version
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare 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 for a witness against thee.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?
28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.
32 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3 Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
12 So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35 To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
36 For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
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