Deuteronomy 31:1-13

Moses' Last Counsel

1 So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

2 And he said to them, "I am ¹a hundred and twenty years old today; ²I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, '³You shall not cross this Jordan.'

3 "⁴It is the LORD your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. ⁵Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the LORD has spoken.

4 "The LORD 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.

5 "⁶The LORD will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.

6 "⁷Be strong and courageous, ⁸do not be afraid or tremble at them, for ⁹the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. ¹⁰He will not fail you or forsake you."

7 Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "¹¹Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

8 "¹²The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. ¹³He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

9 So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi ¹⁴who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

10 Then Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of every seven years, at the time of ¹⁵the year of remission of debts, at the ¹⁶Feast of Booths,

11 when all Israel comes ¹⁷to appear before the LORD your God at ¹⁸the place which He will choose, ¹⁹you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing.

12 "Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and ²⁰learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.

13 "Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long * as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."

Deuteronomy 31:1-13 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.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 34:7
• 2. Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 3:7
• 3. Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:27
• 4. Deuteronomy 9:3
• 5. Numbers 27:18
• 6. Deuteronomy 7:2
• 7. Joshua 10:25; 1 Chronicles 22:13
• 8. Deuteronomy 1:29; Deuteronomy 7:18; Deuteronomy 20:1
• 9. Deuteronomy 20:4
• 10. Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5
• 11. Deuteronomy 1:38; Deuteronomy 3:28
• 12. Exodus 13:21; Exodus 33:14
• 13. Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5
• 14. Num 4:5, 6, 15; Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 31:25, 26; Joshua 3:3
• 15. Deuteronomy 15:1, 2
• 16. Leviticus 23:34; Deuteronomy 16:13
• 17. Deuteronomy 16:16
• 18. Deuteronomy 12:5
• 19. Joshua 8:34; 2 Kings 23:2
• 20. Deuteronomy 4:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "your alien"
• [b]. Lit "gates"
• [c]. Lit "where"
• [d]. Lit "possess it"