Deuteronomy 31:2-8

2 He said to them, I am one hundred twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and the LORD has said to me, You shall not go over this Yarden.

3 The LORD your God, he will go over before you; he will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them: [and] Yehoshua, he shall go over before you, as the LORD has spoken.

4 The LORD will do to them as he did to Sichon and to `Og, the kings of the Amori, and to their land; whom he destroyed.

5 The LORD will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the mitzvah which I have commanded you.

6 Be strong and of good courage, don't be afraid, nor be scared of them: for the LORD your God, he it is who does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you.

7 Moshe called to Yehoshua, and said to him in the sight of all Yisra'el, Be strong and of good courage: for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.

8 The LORD, he it is who does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.

Deuteronomy 31:2-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 31

Moses being old, and knowing he should quickly die, and must not go over Jordan with the people of Israel, acquaints them with it, and encourages them and Joshua to go over notwithstanding, and not be afraid of their enemies, since the Lord would go with them, and deliver them into their hands, De 31:1-8; and having written the law, he delivered it to the priests, and ordered that it should be read at the end of every seven years before all the people, that they and theirs might learn it, and fear the Lord, De 31:9-13; and whereas the death of Moses was very near, and the Lord foreseeing the people would quickly fall into idolatry, which would bring great calamities upon them, he directed Moses to write a song, which should be a witness for him, and against them, in ages to come; which Moses accordingly did, De 31:14-22; and Moses having given a charge to Joshua, and finished the writing of the law in a book, gave it to the Levites to put it in the side of the ark, De 31:23-27; and then ordered the chief of the tribes to be gathered together, that he might deliver the song, which by the direction and under the inspiration of God he had written, De 31:28-30; which song is recorded in De 32:1-43.