Moses commissions Joshua
1Moses 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 told me, “You will not cross this Jordan.” 3Yahweh your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He himself will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross over ahead of you, as Yahweh has said. 4Yahweh will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5Yahweh will hand them over to you, and you are to do to them exactly as I have commanded you. 6Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. 7Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land Yahweh swore to their fathers to give them, and you will secure their inheritance in it. 8Yahweh himself will go before you; he will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged.
The law entrusted to the priests and elders
9Moses wrote down 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. 10Moses commanded them: At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, during the Festival of Booths, 11when all Israel comes to appear before Yahweh your God at the place he chooses, you are to read this law aloud before all Israel, in their hearing. 12Assemble the people — men, women, children, and the foreigner within your gates — so that they may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, and carefully do all the words of this law, 13and so that their children, who do not yet know it, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, all the days you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
Yahweh warns of Israel’s future unfaithfulness
14Yahweh said to Moses: “Your days are approaching their end. Summon Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting, 15and Yahweh appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent. 16Yahweh said to Moses: “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 they are entering. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with them. 17My anger will burn against them on that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them. They will be devoured, and many disasters and troubles will come upon them, so that on that day they will say, ‘Have these disasters not come upon us because our God is no longer among us?’ 18But I will surely hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done, in turning to other gods. 19Now write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, so that this song may be my witness against the Israelites. 20For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey that I swore to their fathers, and they eat their fill and grow fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant. 21When many disasters and troubles come upon them, this song will testify against them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten from the mouths of their descendants. For I know what they are inclined to do even now, before I have brought them into the land I swore to give.” 22So Moses wrote down this song that very day and taught it to the Israelites. 23And Yahweh commissioned Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I myself will be with you.”
The book of the law placed beside the ark
24When Moses had finished writing down the words of this law in a book, from beginning to end, 25he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh: 26Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and let it remain there as a witness against you. 27For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against Yahweh while I am still alive and with you today, how much more after my death! 28Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so 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 become corrupt and turn from the way I have commanded you, and disaster will come upon you in days to come, because you will do evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking him to anger with the work of your hands. 30Then Moses spoke the words of this song in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel, from beginning to end:
