Bible Gateway passage: Deuteronomy 31:6-24 - New International Version (2024)

⁶Be strong and courageous.^(A) Do not be afraid or terrified^(B) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;^(C) he will never leave you^(D) nor forsake^(E) you.”

⁷Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^(F) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^(G) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. ⁸The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^(H) he will never leave you nor forsake you.^(I) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

⁹So Moses wrote^(J) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^(K) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^(L) during the Festival of Tabernacles,^{(M) 11}when all Israel comes to appear^(N) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^(O) you shall read this law^(P) before them in their hearing. ¹²Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn^(Q) to fear^(R) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³Their children,^(S) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death^(T) is near. Call Joshua^(U) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^(V)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.^(W)

¹⁵Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^{(X) 16}And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(Y) and these people will soon prostitute^(Z) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(AA) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷And in that day I will become angry^(AB) with them and forsake^(AC) them; I will hide^(AD) my face^(AE) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(AF) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’^{(AG) 18}And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹“Now write^(AH) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^(AI) for me against them. ²⁰When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^(AJ) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^(AK) and worship them,^(AL) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^{(AM) 21}And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^(AN) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^(AO) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” ²²So Moses wrote^(AP) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³The Lord gave this command^(AQ) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,^(AR) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

²⁴After Moses finished writing^(AS) in a book the words of this law^(AT) from beginning to end,

Cross references

1. Deuteronomy 31:6 : ver 7, 23; Jos 1:6, 9, 18; 10:25; 1Ch 22:13; 28:20; 2Ch 32:7
2. Deuteronomy 31:6 : Jer 1:8, 17; Eze 2:6
3. Deuteronomy 31:6 : S Ge 28:15; S Dt 1:29; 20:4; S Mt 28:20
4. Deuteronomy 31:6 : Ps 56:9; 118:6
5. Deuteronomy 31:6 : S Dt 4:31; 1Sa 12:22; 1Ki 6:13; Ps 94:14; Isa 41:17; Heb 13:5*
6. Deuteronomy 31:7 : ver 23; Nu 27:23
7. Deuteronomy 31:7 : Jos 1:6
8. Deuteronomy 31:8 : S Ex 13:21
9. Deuteronomy 31:8 : S Ge 28:15; S Dt 4:31
10. Deuteronomy 31:9 : S Ex 17:14
11. Deuteronomy 31:9 : ver 25; 1Ch 15:2
12. Deuteronomy 31:10 : S Dt 15:1
13. Deuteronomy 31:10 : S Ex 23:16; Dt 16:13
14. Deuteronomy 31:11 : S Dt 16:16
15. Deuteronomy 31:11 : Dt 12:5
16. Deuteronomy 31:11 : Jos 8:34-35; 2Ki 23:2; Ne 8:2
17. Deuteronomy 31:12 : Dt 4:10
18. Deuteronomy 31:12 : Hag 1:12; Mal 1:6; 3:5, 16
19. Deuteronomy 31:13 : S Dt 11:2
20. Deuteronomy 31:14 : S Ge 25:8; S Nu 27:13
21. Deuteronomy 31:14 : Nu 27:23; Dt 34:9; Jos 1:1-9
22. Deuteronomy 31:14 : S Nu 27:19
23. Deuteronomy 31:14 : Ex 33:9-11
24. Deuteronomy 31:15 : S Ex 33:9
25. Deuteronomy 31:16 : S Ge 15:15
26. Deuteronomy 31:16 : S Ex 34:15; Dt 4:25-28; Jdg 2:12
27. Deuteronomy 31:16 : Jdg 10:6, 13; 1Ki 9:9; 18:18; 19:10; Jer 2:13; 5:19; 19:4
28. Deuteronomy 31:17 : Dt 32:16; Jdg 2:14, 20; 10:7; 2Ki 13:3; 22:13; Ps 106:29, 40; Jer 7:18; 21:5; 36:7
29. Deuteronomy 31:17 : Jdg 6:13; 2Ch 15:2; 24:20; Ezr 8:22; Ps 44:9; Isa 2:6
30. Deuteronomy 31:17 : Dt 32:20; Isa 1:15; 45:15; 53:3; 54:8
31. Deuteronomy 31:17 : Job 13:24; Ps 13:1; 27:9; 30:7; 104:29; Isa 50:6; Jer 33:5; Eze 39:29; Mic 3:4
32. Deuteronomy 31:17 : Jer 4:20; Eze 7:26
33. Deuteronomy 31:17 : Nu 14:42; Hos 9:12
34. Deuteronomy 31:19 : ver 22
35. Deuteronomy 31:19 : S Ge 31:50
36. Deuteronomy 31:20 : Dt 6:10-12
37. Deuteronomy 31:20 : Ps 4:2; 16:4; 40:4; Jer 13:25; Da 3:28; Am 2:4
38. Deuteronomy 31:20 : Dt 8:19; 11:16-17
39. Deuteronomy 31:20 : ver 16
40. Deuteronomy 31:21 : S Dt 4:30
41. Deuteronomy 31:21 : 1Ch 28:9; Hos 5:3; Jn 2:24-25
42. Deuteronomy 31:22 : ver 19
43. Deuteronomy 31:23 : S ver 7
44. Deuteronomy 31:23 : Jos 1:6
45. Deuteronomy 31:24 : Dt 17:18; 2Ki 22:8
46. Deuteronomy 31:24 : Dt 28:58