Deuteronomy 31:8-18

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;)

13 also that the sons of them, that now know not, may hear, and that they dread their Lord God in all days in which they live in the land to which ye shall go to get, when (the) Jordan is passed. (and also so that their children, who now do not know, can listen, and learn to fear the Lord their God/and learn to revere the Lord their God, in all the days in which they live in the land to which ye shall go to get, after that ye have crossed over the Jordan River.)

14 And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! the days of thy death be nigh; call thou Joshua, and stand ye in the tabernacle of witnessing, that I command to him (and stand ye together in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, so that I can give him his charge, or his commission). Therefore Moses and Joshua went, and they stood in the tabernacle of (the) witnessing;

15 and the Lord appeared there in a pillar of cloud, that stood in the entering of the tabernacle (that stood at the entrance to the Tabernacle).

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people shall rise up, and it shall do fornication, or idolatry, going after alien gods in the land, into which it shall enter, that it dwell therein; there it shall forsake me, and shall make void the bond of peace, which I covenanted with it. (And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! soon thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that is, thou shalt die, and then this people shall rise up, and they shall do fornication, or idolatry, going after foreign, or other, gods in the land, into which they shall enter, to live there; and they shall forsake me there, and they shall make void, or shall break, the covenant, which I made with them.)

17 And my strong vengeance shall be wroth against that people in that day, and I shall forsake it, and I shall hide my face from it, and it shall be into devouring; all evils and tormentings shall find it, so that it say in that day, Verily for the Lord is not with me, these evils have found me. (And my strong vengeance shall be stirred against them in that day, and I shall forsake them, and I shall hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and torments shall find them, so that they say on that day, Truly these evils have found us, because the Lord is not with us.)

18 Soothly I shall hide my face, and cover it in that day, for all the evils which this people hath done, for it hath followed alien gods. (And I shall hide my face, and cover it on that day, for all the evils which this people hath done, for they have followed foreign, or other, gods.)

Deuteronomy 31:8-18 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.