31
Moses appointed Joshua to succeed him
1 When Moses/I finished saying all that to the Israeli people,
2 he/I said to them, “Now I am 120 years old. I am no longer able to go everywhere that you go (OR, to be your leader). Furthermore, Yahweh has told me that I will not cross the Jordan River.
3 But Yahweh our God will go ahead of you. He will enable you to destroy the nations that are living there, in order that you can occupy their land. Joshua will be your leader, which is what Yahweh already told me.
4 Yahweh will do to those nations what he did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amor people-group when he destroyed their armies [MTY].
5 Yahweh will enable you to conquer those nations, but you must kill all of the people of those nations, which is what I have commanded you to do.
6 Be brave and confident. Do not be afraid of those people. Do not forget that it is Yahweh our God who will go with you. He will always help [LIT] you and never abandon you.”
7 Then Moses/I summoned Joshua, and while all the Israeli people were listening, he/I said to him, “Be brave and confident. You are the one who will lead these people into the land that Yahweh promised to our ancestors that he would give to them, and you will enable them to occupy it.
8 It is Yahweh who will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will always help [LIT] you. He will never abandon you. So do not be afraid or dismayed.”
The laws are to be read periodically
9 Moses/I wrote down all these laws on two scrolls and gave one scroll to the priests, who carried the chest containing the Ten Commandments, and gave the other scroll to the Israeli elders.
10 Moses/I told them, “At the end of every seven years, at the time that all debts are canceled, read this to the people during the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters.
11 Read it to all the Israeli people when they gather at the place that Yahweh chooses for them to worship him.
12 Gather together everyone—men, women, children, even the foreigners who are living in your towns—in order that they may hear these laws and learn to revere Yahweh our God, and to faithfully obey everything that is written in these laws.
13 If they do that, your descendants who have never known these laws will hear them and will also learn to revere Yahweh our God, during all the years that they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan River to occupy.”
Moses predicted their disobedience
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Listen carefully. You will soon die. Summon Joshua, and you go to the Sacred Tent with him, in order that I may appoint him to be the new leader.” So Joshua and Moses/I went to the Sacred Tent.
15 There Yahweh appeared to them/us in a pillar of cloud, and that cloud was close to the door of the tent.
16 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “You will soon die [EUP]. Then these people will become unfaithful [MET] to me. They will abandon me and ◄break/stop obeying► the agreement that I made with them. They will begin to worship the foreign/pagan gods that are worshiped by the people of the land that they will enter.
17 When that happens, I will become very angry with them. I will abandon them [DOU] and I will no longer help them [IDM], and I will destroy them {they will be destroyed}. Many terrible things will happen to them, with the result that they will say, ‘We are certain that [RHQ] these things are happening to us because our God is no longer with us.’
18 And because of all the evil things that they will have done, and especially because they will have started to worship other gods, I will refuse to help [IDM] them.
19 “So, I am going to give you a song. Write it on a scroll and teach it to the Israeli people and cause them to memorize it. It will be like a witness that accuses them.
20 I am about to take them into a very fertile [IDM] land, a land that I solemnly promised their ancestors that I would give to them. There they will have plenty to eat, with the result that their stomachs will always be full and they will become fat. But then they will turn to other gods and start to worship them, and they will despise me and ◄break/stop obeying► the agreement that I made with them.
21 And they will experience many terrible disasters. After that happens, their descendants will never forget this song, and it will be like a witness that says, ‘Now you know why Yahweh punished your ancestors.’ I will soon take them into the land that I vowed that I would give to them; but now, before I do that, I know what they are thinking that they will do when they are living there.”
22 So on the day that Yahweh gave Moses/me this song, he/I wrote it down, and he/I taught it to the Israeli people.
23 Then Yahweh ◄appointed/set apart► Joshua and said to him, “Be brave and confident, because you will lead the Israeli people into the land that I vowed that I would give to them. And I will be with you.”
24 Then Moses/I finished writing on a scroll all the laws that Yahweh had told to him/me.
25 Then Moses/I told the descendants of Levi, who were carrying the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments,
26 “Take this scroll on which these laws are written, and place it beside the Sacred Chest that contains the agreement that Yahweh our God made with you, in order that it may remain there to testify about what Yahweh will do to the people if they disobey him.
27 I say this because I know that these people are very stubborn [DOU]. They have rebelled against Yahweh all during the time that I have been with them, and they will rebel much more after I die!
28 So gather all the elders of the tribes and your officials, in order that I can tell them the words of this song, and request all those who are in heaven and on the earth to be witnesses to testify against these people.
29 I say that because I know that after I die, the people will become very wicked. They will turn away from doing everything that I have commanded them to do. And in the future, because of all the evil things that they will do, they will cause Yahweh to become angry with them. And he will cause them to experience disasters.”
The song that Moses sang to them
30 Then, while all the Israeli people listened, Moses/I sang/recited this entire song to them: