Deuteronomy 31

Deuteronomy 31:1 Then Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel,

Deuteronomy 31:2 saying, “I am now 120 years old; I am no longer able to continue to go out and come in. Yahveh has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

Deuteronomy 31:3 Yahveh your God is the one who will cross ahead of you. He will exterminate these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as Yahveh has said.

Deuteronomy 31:4 Yahveh will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he exterminated them.

Deuteronomy 31:5 Yahveh will give them over to your face, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and tough; don’t be terrified of their faces. You see, Yahveh, your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.”

Deuteronomy 31:7 Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and tough, because you will go with this people into the land Yahveh swore to give to their fathers. You will enable them to take possession of it.

Deuteronomy 31:8 Yahveh is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Deuteronomy 31:9 Moses wrote down this instruction, and he gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the ark of Yahveh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:10 Moses commanded them, and this is what he said: “At the end of every seven years, at the same time in the year of debt revoking, during the Festival of Huts,

Deuteronomy 31:11 when all Israel assembles in the presence of Yahveh your God at the place he chooses, you are to read this instruction aloud before all Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:12 Collect the people – men, women, dependents, and the guests within your city gates– so that they may listen and learn to fear Yahveh your God and be careful to do all the words of this instruction.

Deuteronomy 31:13 Then their children who do not know the instruction will listen and learn to fear Yahveh your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of.”

Deuteronomy 31:14 Yahveh said to Moses, ” Notice the time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the conference[1] tent so that I may command him.” When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the conference tent,

Deuteronomy 31:15 Yahveh appeared at the tent in a column[2] of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

Deuteronomy 31:16 Yahveh said to Moses, “Notice you are about to lie down with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have established with them.

Deuteronomy 31:17 My nose will burn at them on that day; I will abandon them and hide my face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day, they will say, ‘Haven’t these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us? ‘

Deuteronomy 31:18 I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

Deuteronomy 31:19 Therefore, write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; place it on their lips so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 31:20 When I bring them into the land I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:21 And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. You see, I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.”

Deuteronomy 31:22 So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 31:23 Yahveh commanded Joshua, son of Nun, and this is what he said, “Be strong and tough, because you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

Deuteronomy 31:24 When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this instruction,

Deuteronomy 31:25 he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of Yahveh’s covenant, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this book of the instruction and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahveh your God so that it may stay there as a witness against you.

Deuteronomy 31:27 You see, I know how rebellious and hard-necked you are. Notice, if you are rebelling against Yahveh now, while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after I am dead!

Deuteronomy 31:28 Collect all your tribal elders and officers before me so that I may speak these words directly to them and call sky and land as witnesses against them.

Deuteronomy 31:29 For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future because you will do what is evil in Yahveh’s sight, angering him with what your hands have made.”

Deuteronomy 31:30 Then Moses recited aloud every single word of this song to the entire collected assembly of Israel:

[1]‎ אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד= conference tent.

[2] עַמּוּד= column.

Deuteronomy 31 quotes:

“The structure of chapter 31 provides important insight into its meaning. Within Deuteronomy’s larger structure, it begins the final section (chs. 31 – 34) as a frame to chapters 1 – 3. In this respect, it importantly reminds all Israel at the outset of the Lord’s intent to go ahead of his people and destroy the nations which they will encounter across the Jordan, as he did to Sihon and Og on the eastern side of the Jordan. Yet Israel must be strong and courageous in carrying out this task (v. 6). At the same time, Moses’ imminent death (vv. 2, 16) and Joshua’s succession and encouragement (cf. 1:38 and 3:28), using the same terms/language given to Israel, are located at important junctures within the chapter (vv. 7–8, 14 and 23). At the structural heart of the chapter (vv. 14–23), the Lord appears at the Tent of Meeting to speak of Moses’ imminent death and Joshua’s commission. Israel will prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land that they are entering, and thus break the covenant. This will lead to Yahweh hiding his face from them (vv. 17– 18). The response to this situation is a written song, which will serve as a perpetual witness against Israel in time to come (vv. 19–22). On either side of this centrepiece is the written law first given to the priests, the sons of Levi, to be read publicly every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles to an assembly of all the people, in four categories: men, women, children and aliens (vv. 9–13). Then at verses 24–29, the written Book of the Law is given to the Levites to place beside the ark of the covenant, as a passive witness against Israel, anticipating their future rebellion and corruption. This leads to a second assembly (v. 28) of all the elders and officials (possibly also four in number; cf. 29:10[ET]), echoing the gravity of the assembly at Horeb (cf. 4:10), as a counterpart to verse 12. They gather as Israel’s responsible leaders, in view of certain future failure and the danger of replicating the sin of the golden calf episode (vv. 27 and 29). In the meantime, the Lord, through Moses, will speak these words to them, which probably means the words of the song to follow in verse 30, and at the same time he calls upon the third witness of heaven and earth against their inevitable apostasy, thus fulfilling the maximum requirement of the law (17:6; 19:15).”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“The approaching decease of Moses, which has already been anticipated (see 1:37–38 and 3:23–29), now becomes the central focus for the remaining chapters of the book.1 Moses is aware of his approaching death, and in the light of that fact he once again encourages the people in their faith and takes care of some final practical matters relating to the covenant community. First he encourages the people as a whole (vv. 1–6), and then, in the presence of the people, he encourages Joshua in particular, who would soon be assuming the role of leadership (vv. 7–8).”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 369). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.