Be Strong and Courageous

1So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2And 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.’ 3It 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. 4And 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. 5And Yahweh will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6Be 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.”

7Then 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. 8And 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.”

9So 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. 10Then 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, 11when 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. 12Assemble 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. 13And 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.”

Yahweh Has Moses Write a Song

14Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, [†]the time for you to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. 16And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have cut with them. 17Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’ 18But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.

19“So now, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. 20For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them and spurn Me and break My covenant. 21Then it will be, when many evils and troubles have found them, that this song will answer them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of their seed); for I know their intent which they are [†]developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” 22So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua Is Commissioned

23Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

24And it happened, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, 25that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, 26“Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there as a witness against you. 27For I know your rebellion and your [†]stiff-neck; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; how much more, then, after my death? 28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 29For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the last days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

30Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete: