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Deuteronomy 31
Deut
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Chapter 31
IV.
THE LAST DAYS OF MOSES
Joshua and his mission
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Moses proceeded to address these words to the whole of Israel,
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‘I am one hundred and twenty years old now, and can no longer come and go as I will. Yahweh has said to me, “You shall not cross this Jordan”.
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It is Yahweh your God who will cross it at your head to destroy these nations facing you and dispossess them; and Joshua too shall cross at your head, as Yahweh has said.
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Yahweh will treat them as he treated Sihon and Og the Amorite kings and their land, destroying them.
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Yahweh will hand them over to you, and you will deal with them in exact accordance with the commandments I have enjoined on you.
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Be strong, stand firm, have no fear of them, no terror, for Yahweh your God is going with you; he will not fail you or desert you.’
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Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, ‘Be strong, stand firm; you are going with this people into the land Yahweh swore to their fathers he would give them; you are to give it into their possession.
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Yahweh himself will lead you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do not be disheartened by anything.’
The ritual reading of the Law
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Moses committed this Law to writing and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.
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And Moses gave them this command: ‘At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the year of remission, at the feast of Tabernacles,
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when the whole of Israel comes to look on the face of Yahweh your God in the place he chooses,
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you must proclaim this Law in the hearing of all Israel. ‘Call the people together, men, women, children, and the stranger who lives with you, for them to hear it and learn to fear Yahweh your God and keep and observe all the words of this Law.
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Their children, who as yet do not know it, shall hear it and learn to fear Yahweh your God for as long as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.’
Yahweh’s instructions
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Yahweh said to Moses, ‘And now the time draws near when you must die. Summon Joshua and take your stand at the Tent of Meeting, that I may give him his orders.’ And Moses and Joshua came and took their stand at the Tent of Meeting.
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And Yahweh showed himself at the Tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the door of the Tent.
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Yahweh said to Moses, ‘And now you will soon be sleeping with your fathers. This people will start playing the harlot, following the alien gods of the land they are invading. They will desert me and break this covenant of mine that I have made with them.
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On that day my anger shall blaze against them; I will forsake them and hide my face from them. A host of disasters and misfortunes will overtake them to devour them, and when that day comes they will say, “If such disasters overtake me, surely Yahweh my God cannot be with me?”
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Yes indeed, I shall hide my face that day for all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.
The song of witness
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‘Now write down this song which you must use; teach it to the sons of Israel, put it into their mouths that it may be a witness on my behalf against the sons of Israel;
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against Israel whom I am bringing into the land I swore to his fathers I would give him, a land where milk and honey flow; against Israel who will eat and take his fill and grow fat, then turn to other gods to serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.
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When a host of disasters and misfortunes overtake him, this song shall stand as Witness against him, for his descendants must not forget it. Yes, even today, before I have brought him to the land I promised on oath, I know what plans he has in mind.’
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So on that same day, Moses wrote out this song and taught it to the sons of Israel.
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He gave Joshua son of Nun this order: ‘Be strong and stand firm, for you are to bring the sons of Israel to the land I swore I would give them, and I myself will be with you.’
The Law placed beside the ark
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When Moses had finished writing in a book the words of this Law to the very end,
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he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of Yahweh’s covenant:
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“Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. Let it lie there as a witness against you.
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For I know how defiant you are and how stubborn. If today while I am still alive and with you, you defy Yahweh, how much more will you defy him after my death!
Israel assembles to hear the song
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‘Gather round me all the elders of your tribes, and your scribes, so that I may let them hear these words and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
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For I know that after my death you are sure to act perversely; you will leave the way I have marked out for you; in days to come disaster will fall on you for doing what is displeasing to Yahweh, provoking him by your behaviour.’
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Then in the hearing of Israel’s full assembly Moses spoke the words of this song to the very end:
Chapters of Deuteronomy
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
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