Deuteronomy 31 - 32 - Legacy Standard Bible

Deuteronomy 31 - 32

Be Strong and Courageous

So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ 3 It is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as Yahweh has spoken. 4 And Yahweh will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. 5 And Yahweh will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or be in dread of them, for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” 7 Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8 And Yahweh is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” 9 So 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. 10 Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of the remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before Yahweh your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and little ones and the 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. 13 And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, all the days you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

Yahweh Has Moses Write a Song

14 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15 And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. 16 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have cut with them. 17 Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’ 18 But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods. 19 “So now, write this song for yourselves 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. 20 For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them and spurn Me and break My covenant. 21 Then it will be, when many evils and troubles have found them, that this song will answer them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of their seed); for I know their intent which they are developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua Is Commissioned

23 Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.” 24 And it happened, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, 25 that 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, that it may be there as a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebellion and your stiff-neck; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; how much more, then, after my death? 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the last days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

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

“Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak;

And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Let what I have learned drop as the rain,

My speech distill as the dew,

As the droplets on the fresh grass

And as the showers on the herb.

For I proclaim the name of Yahweh;

Ascribe greatness to our God!

The Rock! His work is perfect,

For all His ways are just;

A God of faithfulness and without injustice,

Righteous and upright is He.

They have acted corruptly toward Him,

They are not His children because of their defect;

But are a perverse and crooked generation.

Do you thus repay Yahweh,

O people who are wickedly foolish and without wisdom?

Is not He your Father who has bought you?

He has made you and established you.

Remember the ancient days,

Consider the years from generation to generation.

Ask your father, and he will declare to you,

Your elders, and they will speak to you.

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,

When He separated the sons of man,

He set the boundaries of the peoples

According to the number of the sons of Israel.

For Yahweh’s portion is His people;

Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.

He found him in a desert land,

And in the howling waste of a wilderness;

He encircled him; He cared for him;

He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,

That hovers over its young,

He spread His wings and caught them;

He carried them on His pinions.

Yahweh alone guided him,

And there was no foreign god with him.

He made him ride on the high places of the earth,

And he ate the produce of the field;

And He made him suck honey from the rock,

And oil from the flinty rock,

Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,

With fat of lambs,

And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,

With the finest of the wheat—

And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.

“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—

You grew fat, thick, and sleek—

Then he abandoned God who made him,

And treated the Rock of his salvation with wicked foolishness.

They made Him jealous with strange gods;

With abominations they provoked Him to anger.

They sacrificed to demons who were not God,

To gods whom they have not known,

New gods who came lately,

Whom your fathers did not dread.

You neglected the Rock who begot you,

And forgot the God who brought you forth.

“And Yahweh saw this and spurned them

Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.

Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them;

I will see what their end shall be;

For they are a perverse generation,

Sons in whom is no faithfulness.

They have made Me jealous with what is not God;

They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;

I will provoke them to anger with a wickedly foolish nation,

For a fire is kindled in My anger,

And it burns to the lowest part of Sheol,

And it consumes the earth with its produce,

And it sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

‘I will heap calamities on them;

I will exhaust My arrows on them.

They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague

And bitter destruction;

And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,

With the venom of crawling things of the dust.

Outside the sword will bereave,

And inside terror—

Both choice man and virgin,

The nursing baby with the man of gray hair.

I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;

I will cause the memory of them to cease from men,”

Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,

Lest their adversaries misjudge,

Lest they say, “Our hand is triumphant,

And Yahweh has not done all this.”’

“For they are a nation where counsel perishes,

And there is no discernment in them.

Would that they were wise, that they had insight into this,

That they would understand their future!

How could one pursue one thousand,

And two put ten thousand to flight,

Unless their Rock had sold them,

And Yahweh had handed them over?

Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves judge this.

For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,

And from the fields of Gomorrah;

Their grapes are grapes of poison,

Their clusters, bitter.

Their wine is the venom of serpents,

And the deadly poison of cobras.

‘Is it not laid up in store with Me,

Sealed up in My treasuries?

Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,

In due time their foot will stumble;

For the day of their disaster is near,

And the impending things are hastening upon them.’

For Yahweh will render justice to His people,

And will have compassion on His slaves,

When He sees that their strength is gone,

And there is none remaining, bond or free.

And He will say, ‘Where are their gods,

The rock in which they sought refuge?

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

And drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise up and help you,

Let them be your hiding place!

See now that I, I am He,

And there is no god besides Me;

It is I who put to death and give life.

I have wounded, and it is I who heal,

And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven,

And say, as I live forever,

If I sharpen My flashing sword,

And My hand takes hold on judgment,

I will render vengeance on My adversaries,

And I will repay those who hate Me.

I will make My arrows drunk with blood,

And My sword will devour flesh,

With the blood of the slain and the captives,

From the long‑haired leaders of the enemy.’

O nations, cause His people to shout for joy;

For He will avenge the blood of His slaves,

And He will render vengeance on His adversaries,

And He will atone for His land and His people.”

44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 Then Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 and he said to them, “Place in your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to be careful to do, even all the words of this law. 47 For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Go Up Mount Nebo

48 And Yahweh spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. 50 Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you both acted unfaithfully with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you both did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”