Deuteronomy 31:1-13 ▼

1 When Moses (drawn out) had finished speaking [When Moses went out and spoke] these words to all Israel (he wrestles with God),

2 he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD {YHWH} has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan (flowing down).’

3 The LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua (YHWH saves) will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said.

4 And the LORD {YHWH} will do to them as He did to Sihon (warrior) and Og (long-necked), the kings of the Amorites (sayers), when He destroyed them along with their land.

5 The LORD {YHWH} will deliver them over to you⁺, and you⁺ must do to them exactly as I have commanded you⁺.

6 Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you .”

7 Then Moses (drawn out) called for Joshua (YHWH saves) and said to him in the presence of all Israel (he wrestles with God), “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD {YHWH} swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

8 The LORD {YHWH} Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

9 So Moses (drawn out) wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD {YHWH}, and to all the elders of Israel (he wrestles with God).

10 Then Moses (drawn out) commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot),

11 when all Israel (he wrestles with God) comes before the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.

12 Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your⁺ God {YHWH Eloheikem} and to follow carefully all the words of this law.

13 Then their children who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the LORD your⁺ God {YHWH Eloheikem}, as long as you⁺ live in the land that you⁺ are crossing the Jordan (flowing down) to possess.”