Deuteronomy 31:4-14

4 And the Lord thy God shall do to them as he did to Seon and Og the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan, and to their land, as he destroyed them.

5 And the Lord has delivered them to you; and ye shall do to them, as I charged you.

6 Be courageous and strong, fear not, neither be cowardly neither be afraid before them; for the Lord your God that advances with you in the midst of you, neither will he by any means forsake thee, nor desert thee.

7 And Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous and strong; for thou shalt go in before this people into the land which the Lord sware to your fathers to give to them, and thou shalt give it to them for an inheritance.

8 And the Lord that goes with thee shall not forsake thee nor abandon thee; fear not, neither be afraid.

9 And Moses wrote the words of this law in a book, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to the elders of the sons of Israel.

10 And Moses charged them in that day, saying, After seven years, in the time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

11 when all Israel come together to appear before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, ye shall read this law before all Israel in their ears,

12 having assembled the people, the men, and the women, and the children, and the stranger that is in your cities, that they may hear, and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God; and they shall hearken to do all the words of this law.

13 And their sons who have not known shall hear, and shall learn to fear the Lord thy God all the days that they live upon the land, into which ye go over Jordan to inherit it.

14 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, the days of thy death are at hand; call Joshua, and stand ye by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and I will give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went to the tabernacle of testimony, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony.

Deuteronomy 31:4-14 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. the nations.