Deuteronomy 31:1-13 ▼

1 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.”