Deuteronomy 31:2-12

2 and said to them, I am today of an hundred and twenty years, I may no further go out and go in, most(ly) since also the Lord said to me, Thou shalt not pass this Jordan. (and said to them, Today I am a hundred and twenty years old, and I can no longer go out and come in, and the Lord hath said to me, Thou shalt not cross over this Jordan River.)

3 Therefore thy Lord God shall pass before thee (And so the Lord thy God shall cross over before thee); he shall do away these folks in thy sight, and thou shalt wield them; and this Joshua shall go before thee, (in the lead,) as the Lord spake.

4 And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sihon, and to Og, the kings of (the) Amorites, and to their land; and he shall do them away.

5 Therefore when the Lord hath betaken to you also them (And so when the Lord hath also delivered them to you), ye shall do in like manner to them, as I have commanded to you.

6 Do ye manly, and be ye comforted (Be ye strong, and be ye encouraged); do not ye dread in heart, neither dread ye at the sight of them, for thy Lord God himself is thy leader, and he shall not leave thee, neither forsake thee.

7 And Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all the multitude of the sons of Israel, Be thou comforted, and be thou strong (Be thou encouraged, and be thou strong); for thou shalt lead this people into the land that the Lord swore that he shall give to their fathers; and thou shalt part it by lot.

8 And the Lord himself, which is your leader (And the Lord himself, who is your leader), shall be with thee, he shall not leave [thee], neither forsake thee; do not thou dread outward(ly), neither dread thou in heart.

9 Therefore Moses wrote this law, and betook it to the priests, the sons of Levi, that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, and to all the elder men of Israel. (And so Moses wrote this law, and gave it to the levitical priests, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.)

10 And Moses commanded to them, and said, After seven years, in the year of remission, (or release,) in the solemnity of tabernacles, (And Moses commanded to them, and said, After seven years, in the Year of Restoration, or the Year of Forgiveness, at the Feast of Tabernacles,)

11 when all men of Israel shall come together, that they appear in the sight of their Lord God, in the place which the Lord choose, thou shalt read the words of this law before all Israel, while they hear, (when all the people of Israel shall come together, so that they can come before the Lord their God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou shalt read the words of this law before all Israel, while they hear,)

12 and while all the people is gathered together, as well to men, as to women, to little children, and to comelings that be within thy gates; that they hear, and learn, and dread your Lord God, and keep and [ful]fill all the words of this law; (and while all the people is gathered together, men and women, and little children, and the newcomers who be within thy gates; so that they can listen, and learn, and fear the Lord your God/and revere the Lord your God, and obey and fulfill all the words of this law;)

Deuteronomy 31:2-12 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.