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Deuteronomy 31-32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Deuteronomy 31-32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Joshua Becomes Moses’s Successor
31 When Moses had finished speaking all[a] these words to all Israel, 2 he said to them, “I am now one hundred twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, and the Lord has told me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’(A) 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua also will cross over before you, as the Lord promised.(B) 4 The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 The Lord will give them over to you, and you shall deal with them in full accord with the command that I have given to you.(C) 6 Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”(D)
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them, and you will put them in possession of it.(E) 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”(F)
The Law to Be Read Every Seventh Year
9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.(G) 10 Moses commanded them, “Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of remission, during the Festival of Booths,[b](H) 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.(I) 12 Assemble the people—men, women, and children, as well as the aliens residing in your towns—so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and to observe diligently all the words of this law(J) 13 and so that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”(K)
Moses and Joshua Receive God’s Charge
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Your time to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting,(L) 15 and the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.(M)
16 The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them.(N) 17 My anger will be kindled against them on that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?’(O) 18 On that day I will surely hide my face on account of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. 19 Now, therefore, write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their ancestors, and they have eaten their fill and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant.(P) 21 And when many terrible troubles come upon them, this song will confront them as a witness because it will not be lost 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 that I promised them on oath.”(Q) 22 That very day Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites.(R)
23 Then the Lord[c] commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and bold, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them; I will be with you.”(S)
24 When Moses had finished writing down in a book the words of this law to the very end, 25 Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,(T) 26 “Take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; let it remain there as a witness against you.(U) 27 For I know well how rebellious and stubborn you are. If you already have been so rebellious toward the Lord while I am still alive among you, how much more after my death!(V) 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may recite these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.(W) 29 For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, turning aside from the way that I have commanded you. In time to come trouble will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”(X)
The Song of Moses
30 Then Moses recited the words of this song, to the very end, in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
let the earth hear the words of my mouth.(Y)
2 May my teaching drop like the rain,
my speech condense like the dew,
like gentle rain on grass,
like showers on new growth.(Z)
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord,
ascribe greatness to our God!(AA)
4 The Rock, his work is perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God, without deceit,
just and upright is he;(AB)
5 yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him,[d]
a perverse and crooked generation.(AC)
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father who created you,
who made you and established you?(AD)
7 Remember the days of old;
consider the years long past;
ask your father, and he will inform you,
your elders, and they will tell you.(AE)
8 When the Most High[e] apportioned the nations,
when he divided humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the gods;[f](AF)
9 the Lord’s own portion was his people,
Jacob his allotted share.(AG)
10 He sustained[g] him in a desert land,
in a howling wilderness waste;
he shielded him, cared for him,
guarded him as the apple of his eye.(AH)
11 As an eagle stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
as it spreads its wings, takes them up,
and bears them aloft on its pinions,(AI)
12 the Lord alone guided him;
no foreign god was with him.(AJ)
13 He set him atop the heights of the land
and fed him with[h] produce of the field;
he nursed him with honey from the crags,
with oil from flinty rock,(AK)
14 curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat of lambs and rams,
Bashan bulls and goats,
together with the choicest wheat—
you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.(AL)
15 Jacob ate his fill;[i]
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked.
You grew fat, bloated, and gorged!
He abandoned God who made him
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.(AM)
16 They made him jealous with strange gods;
with abhorrent things they provoked him.(AN)
17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to deities they had never known,
to new ones recently arrived,
whom your ancestors had not feared.(AO)
18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you;[j]
you forgot the God who gave you birth.(AP)
19 The Lord saw it and was jealous;[k]
he spurned[l] his sons and daughters.(AQ)
20 He said, ‘I will hide my face from them;
I will see what their end will be,
for they are a perverse generation,
children in whom there is no faithfulness.(AR)
21 They made me jealous with what is no god,
provoked me with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with what is no people,
provoke them with a foolish nation.(AS)
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger
and burns to the depths of Sheol;
it devours the earth and its increase
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.(AT)
23 I will heap disasters upon them,
spend my arrows against them:(AU)
24 wasting hunger,
burning consumption,
bitter pestilence.
The teeth of beasts I will send against them,
with venom of things crawling in the dust.(AV)
25 In the street the sword shall bereave,
and in the chambers terror
for young man and woman alike,
nursing child and old gray head.(AW)
26 I said, “I will make an end of them[m]
and blot out the memory of them from humankind,”(AX)
27 but I feared provocation by the enemy,
for their adversaries might misunderstand
and say, “Our hand is triumphant;
it was not the Lord who did all this.” ’(AY)
28 They are a nation void of sense;
there is no understanding in them.
29 If they were wise, they would understand this;
they would discern what their end would be.(AZ)
30 How could one have routed a thousand
and two put a myriad to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
the Lord had given them up?(BA)
31 Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock;
our enemies are fools.[n](BB)
32 Their vine comes from the vinestock of Sodom,
from the vineyards of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of serpents,
the cruel venom of asps.(BC)
34 Is not this laid up in store with me,
sealed up in my treasuries,(BD)
35 for the day of vengeance[o] and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip?
Because the day of their calamity is at hand;
their doom comes swiftly.(BE)
36 Indeed, the Lord will vindicate his people,
have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone,
neither bond nor free remaining.(BF)
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge,(BG)
38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their libations?
Let them rise up and help you;
let them be your protection!
39 See now that I, even I, am he;
there is no god besides me.
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
and no one can deliver from my hand.(BH)
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven
and swear, As I live forever,
41 when I whet my flashing sword
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and will repay those who hate me.(BI)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the long-haired enemy.’(BJ)
43 Praise, O heavens,[p] his people;
worship him, all you gods![q]
For he will avenge the blood of his children[r]
and take vengeance on his adversaries;
he will repay those who hate him[s]
and cleanse the land for his people.”[t](BK)
44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua[u] son of Nun. 45 When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today; give them as a command to your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this law.(BL) 47 This is no trifling matter for you but rather your very life; through it you may live long in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”(BM)
Moses’s Death Foretold
48 On that very day the Lord addressed Moses as follows: 49 “Ascend this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites for a possession;(BN) 50 you shall die there on the mountain that you ascend and shall be gathered to your kin, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his kin, 51 because both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, by failing to maintain my holiness among the Israelites.(BO) 52 Although you may view the land from a distance, you shall not enter it, the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”(BP)
Footnotes
- 31.1 Q ms Gk: MT Moses went and spoke
- 31.10 Or Tabernacles
- 31.23 Heb he
- 32.5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 32.8 Traditional rendering of Heb Elyon
- 32.8 Q ms Compare Gk Tg: MT the Israelites
- 32.10 Sam Gk Compare Tg: MT found
- 32.13 Sam Gk Syr Tg: MT he ate
- 32.15 Q mss Sam Gk: MT lacks Jacob ate his fill
- 32.18 Or that fathered you
- 32.19 Q mss Gk: MT lacks was jealous
- 32.19 Cn: Heb he spurned because of provocation
- 32.26 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 32.31 Gk: Heb judges
- 32.35 Sam Gk: MT vengeance is mine
- 32.43 Q ms Gk: MT nations
- 32.43 Q ms Gk: MT lacks this line
- 32.43 Q ms Gk: MT his servants
- 32.43 Q ms Gk: MT lacks this line
- 32.43 Q ms Sam Gk Vg: MT his land his people
- 32.44 Sam Gk Syr Vg: MT Hoshea
Deuteronomy 31-32
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31-32
New International Version
Joshua to Succeed Moses
31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old(A) and I am no longer able to lead you.(B) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’(C) 3 The Lord your God himself will cross(D) over ahead of you.(E) He will destroy these nations(F) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross(G) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,(H) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliver(I) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous.(J) Do not be afraid or terrified(K) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;(L) he will never leave you(M) nor forsake(N) you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said(O) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,(P) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;(Q) he will never leave you nor forsake you.(R) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Public Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote(S) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried(T) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,(U) during the Festival of Tabernacles,(V) 11 when all Israel comes to appear(W) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,(X) you shall read this law(Y) before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn(Z) to fear(AA) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children,(AB) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Israel’s Rebellion Predicted
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death(AC) is near. Call Joshua(AD) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.(AE)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.(AF)
15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.(AG) 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,(AH) and these people will soon prostitute(AI) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake(AJ) me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry(AK) with them and forsake(AL) them; I will hide(AM) my face(AN) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters(AO) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’(AP) 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 “Now write(AQ) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness(AR) for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,(AS) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods(AT) and worship them,(AU) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.(AV) 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them,(AW) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,(AX) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote(AY) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The Lord gave this command(AZ) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,(BA) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
24 After Moses finished writing(BB) in a book the words of this law(BC) from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried(BD) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.(BE) 27 For I know how rebellious(BF) and stiff-necked(BG) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.(BH) 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt(BI) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster(BJ) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”
The Song of Moses
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
32 Listen,(BK) you heavens,(BL) and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(BM)
2 Let my teaching fall like rain(BN)
and my words descend like dew,(BO)
like showers(BP) on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaim(BQ) the name of the Lord.(BR)
Oh, praise the greatness(BS) of our God!
4 He is the Rock,(BT) his works are perfect,(BU)
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(BV) who does no wrong,
upright(BW) and just is he.(BX)
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(BY)
6 Is this the way you repay(BZ) the Lord,
you foolish(CA) and unwise people?(CB)
Is he not your Father,(CC) your Creator,[a]
who made you and formed you?(CD)
7 Remember the days of old;(CE)
consider the generations long past.(CF)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.(CG)
8 When the Most High(CH) gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,(CI)
he set up boundaries(CJ) for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b](CK)
9 For the Lord’s portion(CL) is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.(CM)
10 In a desert(CN) land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.(CO)
He shielded(CP) him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(CQ)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,(CR)
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.(CS)
12 The Lord alone led(CT) him;(CU)
no foreign god was with him.(CV)
13 He made him ride on the heights(CW) of the land
and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(CX)
and with oil(CY) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(CZ)
and the finest kernels of wheat.(DA)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(DB)
15 Jeshurun[c](DC) grew fat(DD) and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(DE) the God who made them
and rejected the Rock(DF) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(DG) with their foreign gods
and angered(DH) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(DI) to false gods,(DJ) which are not God—
gods they had not known,(DK)
gods that recently appeared,(DL)
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot(DM) the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(DN)
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(DO)
20 “I will hide my face(DP) from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(DQ)
children who are unfaithful.(DR)
21 They made me jealous(DS) by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.(DT)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(DU)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(DV)
one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(DW)
It will devour(DX) the earth and its harvests(DY)
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(DZ)
23 “I will heap calamities(EA) on them
and spend my arrows(EB) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(EC) against them,
consuming pestilence(ED) and deadly plague;(EE)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(EF)
the venom of vipers(EG) that glide in the dust.(EH)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terror(EI) will reign.(EJ)
The young men and young women will perish,
the infants and those with gray hair.(EK)
26 I said I would scatter(EL) them
and erase their name from human memory,(EM)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the adversary misunderstand(EN)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done all this.’”(EO)
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernment(EP) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(EQ)
and discern what their end will be!(ER)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,(ES)
unless their Rock had sold them,(ET)
unless the Lord had given them up?(EU)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(EV)
as even our enemies concede.(EW)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(EX)
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(EY)
and their clusters with bitterness.(EZ)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.(FA)
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
and sealed it in my vaults?(FB)
35 It is mine to avenge;(FC) I will repay.(FD)
In due time their foot will slip;(FE)
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.(FF)”
36 The Lord will vindicate his people(FG)
and relent(FH) concerning his servants(FI)
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slave(FJ) or free.[d]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,(FK)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(FL)
Let them rise up to help you!
Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am he!(FM)
There is no god besides me.(FN)
I put to death(FO) and I bring to life,(FP)
I have wounded and I will heal,(FQ)
and no one can deliver out of my hand.(FR)
40 I lift my hand(FS) to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,(FT)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(FU)
and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(FV) on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.(FW)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(FX)
while my sword devours flesh:(FY)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice,(FZ) you nations, with his people,[e][f]
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;(GA)
he will take vengeance on his enemies(GB)
and make atonement for his land and people.(GC)
44 Moses came with Joshua[g](GD) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,(GE) so that you may command(GF) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(GG) By them you will live long(GH) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Moses to Die on Mount Nebo
48 On that same day the Lord told Moses,(GI) 49 “Go up into the Abarim(GJ) Range to Mount Nebo(GK) in Moab, across from Jericho,(GL) and view Canaan,(GM) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die(GN) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died(GO) on Mount Hor(GP) and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh(GQ) in the Desert of Zin(GR) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.(GS) 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;(GT) you will not enter(GU) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua
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