1Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
2He said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not go over this Jordan.'"
3"The LORD your God, he will go over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations in front of you, and you will take their land. And Joshua, he will go over ahead of you, as the LORD has said."
4"The LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them."
5"The LORD will give them up to you, so that you may do to them everything I have commanded you."
6"Be strong and have good courage. Do not fear them or be afraid of them. For the LORD your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or leave you."
7Then Moses called Joshua, and said to him in front of all Israel, "Be strong and have good courage. For you must go with this people into the land which the LORD promised on oath to their fathers to give them, and you will divide it among them as their inheritance."
8"The LORD, he is the one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or leave you. Do not fear, and do not lose heart."
9So Moses wrote this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
10And Moses commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, at the set time of the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles,"
11"when all Israel has come to appear before the LORD your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel, so that they hear it."
12"Gather the people together: the men, the women, the children, and the stranger who is inside your gates. Then they may hear, and they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law."
13"And their children, who have known nothing of it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land which you are going over Jordan to take."
14And the LORD said to Moses, "Look, the days are near when you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, so that I may give him his charge." So Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
15And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.
16And the LORD said to Moses, "Look, you are going to sleep with your fathers. And this people will rise up and go after the gods of the strangers of the land where they are going, chasing them like a woman being unfaithful. They will leave me, and break my covenant which I have made with them."
17"Then my anger will burn against them on that day, and I will leave them, and I will hide my face from them, and they will be eaten up. Many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say on that day, 'Have these evils not come upon us because our God is not among us?'"
18"And I will surely hide my face on that day, because of all the evil they will have done, in turning to other gods."
19"So now write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel."
20"For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their fathers, they will eat and fill themselves and grow fat. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant."
21"And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song will speak against them as a witness. For it will not be forgotten by the mouths of their children. For I know what they are planning, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I promised on oath."
22So Moses wrote this song that same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
23And he gave Joshua the son of Nun his charge, and said, "Be strong and have good courage. For you will bring the children of Israel into the land which I promised them on oath, and I will be with you."
24When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, right to the end,
25Moses commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
26"Take this book of the law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may be there as a witness against you."
27"For I know how you rebel, and how stiff your neck is. Look, while I am still alive with you today, you have rebelled against the LORD. How much more, then, after my death?"
28"Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them."
29"For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will come upon you in the days to come, because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, making him angry through the work of your hands."
30And Moses spoke the words of this song in the ears of all the congregation of Israel, right to the end.