Deuteronomy 31:3-13

3 The LORD thy God, he will pass in front of thee, and he will destroy these Gentiles from before thee, and thou shalt inherit them; Joshua shall be the one who shall pass before thee, as the LORD has said.

4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them whom he destroyed.

5 And the LORD shall give them up before your face that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.

6 Be strong and of a good courage; fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the LORD thy God is he that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.

7 And Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage, for thou shalt enter in with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn unto their fathers to give them, and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

8 And the LORD is he that doth go before thee; he will be with thee; he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

9 And Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the beginning of the seventh year, in the appointed time of the year of release, in the feast of the tabernacles,

11 when all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

12 Gather the people together, men and women and children and thy strangers that are within thy gates, that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the LORD your God and observe to do all the words of this law,

13 and that their children, who have not known any thing, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God all the days that ye live in the land unto which ye are to pass the Jordan to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 31:3-13 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.