The Message Bible MSG
New Century Version NCV
1 Moses went on and addressed these words to all Israel.
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Then Moses went and spoke these words to all the Israelites:
2 He said, "I'm 120 years old today. I can't get about as I used to. And God told me, 'You're not going to cross this Jordan River.'
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"I am now one hundred twenty years old, and I cannot lead you anymore. The Lord told me I would not cross the Jordan River;
3 "God, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may dispossess them. (And Joshua will cross the river before you, as God said he would.)
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the Lord your God will lead you across himself. He will destroy those nations for you, and you will take over their land. Joshua will also lead you across, as the Lord has said.
4 God will give the nations the same treatment he gave the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their land; he'll destroy them.
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The Lord will do to those nations what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, when he destroyed them and their land.
5 God will hand the nations over to you, and you'll treat them exactly as I have commanded you.
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The Lord will give those nations to you; do to them everything I told you.
6 "Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you."
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Be strong and brave. Don't be afraid of them and don't be frightened, because the Lord your God will go with you. He will not leave you or forget you."
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua. He said to him with all Israel watching, "Be strong. Take courage. You will enter the land with this people, this land that God promised their ancestors that he'd give them. You will make them the proud possessors of it.
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Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in front of the people, "Be strong and brave, because you will lead these people into the land the Lord promised to give their ancestors, and help them take it as their own.
8 God is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you. Don't be intimidated. Don't worry."
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The Lord himself will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you. Don't be afraid and don't worry."
9 Moses wrote out this Revelation and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Chest of the Covenant of God, and to all the leaders of Israel.
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So Moses wrote down these teachings and gave them to the priests and all the older leaders of Israel. (The priests are the sons of Levi, who carry the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord.)
10 And he gave these orders: "At the end of every seven years, the Year-All-Debts-Are-Canceled, during the pilgrim Festival of Booths
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11 when everyone in Israel comes to appear in the Presence of God, your God, at the place he designates, read out this Revelation to all Israel, with everyone listening.
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Then Moses commanded them: "Read these teachings for all Israel to hear at the end of every seven years, which is the year to cancel what people owe. Do it during the Feast of Shelters, when all the Israelites will come to appear before the Lord your God and stand at the place he will choose.
12 Gather the people together - men, women, children, and the foreigners living among you - so they can listen well, so they may learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, and diligently keep everything in this Revelation.
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Gather all the people: the men, women, children, and foreigners living in your towns so that they can listen and learn to respect the Lord your God and carefully obey everything in this law.
13 And do this so that their children, who don't yet know all this, will also listen and learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, for as long as you live on the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess."
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Since their children do not know this law, they must hear it. They must learn to respect the Lord your God for as long as they live in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to take for your own."
14 God spoke to Moses: "You are about to die. So call Joshua. Meet me in the Tent of Meeting so that I can commission him."
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The Lord said to Moses, "Soon you will die. Get Joshua and come to the Meeting Tent so that I may command him." So Moses and Joshua went to the Meeting Tent.
15 God appeared in the Tent in a Pillar of Cloud. The Cloud was near the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
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The Lord appeared at the Meeting Tent in a cloud; the cloud stood over the entrance of the Tent.
16 God spoke to Moses: "You're about to die and be buried with your ancestors. You'll no sooner be in the grave than this people will be up and whoring after the foreign gods of this country that they are entering. They will abandon me and violate my Covenant that I've made with them.
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And the Lord said to Moses, "You will soon die. Then these people will not be loyal to me but will worship the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will leave me, breaking the Agreement I made with them.
17 I'll get angry, oh so angry! I'll walk off and leave them on their own, won't so much as look back at them. Then many calamities and disasters will devastate them because they are defenseless. They'll say, 'Isn't it because our God wasn't here that all this evil has come upon us?'
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Then I will become very angry at them, and I will leave them. I will turn away from them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible things will happen to them. Then they will say, 'It is because God is not with us that these terrible things are happening.'
18 But I'll stay out of their lives, keep looking the other way because of all their evil: they took up with other gods!
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I will surely turn away from them then, because they have done wrong and have turned to other gods.
19 "But for right now, copy down this song and teach the People of Israel to sing it by heart. They'll have it then as my witness against them.
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"Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites. Then have them sing it, because it will be my witness against them.
20 When I bring them into the land that I promised to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they eat and become full and get fat and then begin fooling around with other gods and worshiping them,
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When I bring them into the land I promised to their ancestors, a fertile land, they will eat as much as they want and get fat. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them. They will reject me and break my Agreement.
21 and then things start falling apart, many terrible things happening, this song will be there with them as a witness to who they are and what went wrong. Their children won't forget this song; they'll be singing it. Don't think I don't know what they are already scheming to do, and they're not even in the land yet, this land I promised them."
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Then when many troubles and terrible things happen to them, this song will testify against them, because the song will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they plan to do, even before I take them into the land I promised them."
22 So Moses wrote down this song that very day and taught it to the People of Israel.
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So Moses wrote down the song that day, and he taught it to the Israelites.
23 Then God commanded Joshua son of Nun saying, "Be strong. Take courage. You will lead the People of Israel into the land I promised to give them. And I'll be right there with you."
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Then the Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and brave, because you will lead the people of Israel to the land I promised them, and I will be with you."
24 After Moses had finished writing down the words of this Revelation in a book, right down to the last word,
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After Moses finished writing all the words of the teachings in a book,
25 he ordered the Levites who were responsible for carrying the Chest of the Covenant of God, saying,
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he gave a command to the Levites, who carried the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord.
26 "Take this Book of Revelation and place it alongside the Chest of the Covenant of God, your God. Keep it there as a witness.
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He said, "Take this Book of the Teachings and put it beside the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord your God. It must stay there as a witness against you.
27 "I know what rebels you are, how stubborn and willful you can be. Even today, while I'm still alive and present with you, you're rebellious against God. How much worse when I've died!
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I know how stubborn and disobedient you are. You have disobeyed the Lord while I am alive and with you, and you will disobey even more after I die!
28 So gather the leaders of the tribes and the officials here. I have something I need to say directly to them with Heaven and Earth as witnesses.
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Gather all the older leaders of your tribes and all your officers to me so that I may say these things for them to hear, and so that I may ask heaven and earth to testify against them.
29 I know that after I die you're going to make a mess of things, abandoning the way I commanded, inviting all kinds of evil consequences in the days ahead. You're determined to do evil in defiance of God - I know you are - deliberately provoking his anger by what you do."
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I know that after I die you will become completely evil. You will turn away from the commands I have given you. Terrible things will happen to you in the future when you do what the Lord says is evil, and you will make him angry with the idols you have made."
30 So with everyone in Israel gathered and listening, Moses taught them the words of this song, from start to finish.
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And Moses spoke this whole song for all the people of Israel to hear:
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.