1Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
2He said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to go out and come in, and Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’
3Yahweh your God—he himself is crossing over before you; he himself will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua—he is the one crossing over before you, as Yahweh has spoken.
4And Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, whom he destroyed.
5Yahweh will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to every commandment that I have commanded you.
6Be strong and be courageous; do not fear and do not be terrified before them, for Yahweh your God—he is the one going with you; he will not fail you nor forsake you.”
7Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall come with this people into the land that Yahweh swore to their fathers to give to them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
8And Yahweh—he is the one going before you; he will be with you; he will not fail you nor forsake you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”
9So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.
10And 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,
11when all Israel comes to appear before Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12Assemble the people—the men and the women and the little ones and your sojourner who is within your gates—so that they may hear and so that they may learn and fear Yahweh your God and be careful to do all the words of this law,
13and their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God all the days that you live on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess there.”
14Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days have drawn near to die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
15And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
16And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will rise up and prostitute themselves after the foreign gods of the land into whose midst they are going, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have cut with them.
17Then my anger will burn against him on that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured; and many evils and troubles will find them, and on that day he will say, ‘Is it not because my God is not in my midst that these evils have found me?’
18And I will surely hide my face on that day, on account of all the evil that he has done, because he turned to other gods.
19So now, write for yourselves this song and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel.
20For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey that I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and they will spurn me and break my covenant.
21And it will come about, when many evils and troubles have found them, that this song will testify before them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring; for I know their inclination, what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore.”
22So Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the sons of Israel.
23And he commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land that I swore to them, and I myself will be with you.”
24And it came about, when Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, to their completion,
25that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying,
26“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and it shall be there as a witness against you.
27For I myself know your rebelliousness and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh—and how much more after my death!
28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
29For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do what is evil in the eyes of Yahweh, provoking him to anger by the work of your hands.”
30Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, to their completion:
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