Chapter 31
1 And Moses went and spoke these words unto all
Israel.
2 And he said unto them: 'I am a hundred and twenty years old
this day; I can no more go out and come in; and HaShem hath said unto me: Thou
shalt not go over this Jordan.
3 HaShem thy G-d, He will go over before thee; He will
destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt dispossess them; and
Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as HaShem hath spoken.
4 And HaShem will do unto them as He did to Sihon and to Og,
the kings of the Amorites, and unto their land; whom He destroyed.
5 And HaShem will deliver them up before you, and ye shall do
unto them according unto all the commandment which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted
at them; for HaShem thy G-d, He it is 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 good courage; for thou shalt go with this
people into the land which HaShem hath sworn unto their fathers to give them;
and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8 And HaShem, He it is 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, that bore the ark of the covenant of HaShem, and unto all the
elders of Israel.
10 And Moses commanded them, saying: 'At the end of every
seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of
tabernacles,
11 when all Israel is come to appear before HaShem thy G-d in
the place which He shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in
their hearing.
12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little
ones, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that
they may learn, and fear HaShem your G-d, and observe to do all the words of
this law;
13 and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and
learn to fear HaShem your G-d, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over
the Jordan to possess it.'
14 And HaShem said unto Moses: 'Behold, thy days approach
that thou must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting,
that I may give him a charge.' And Moses and Joshua went, and presented
themselves in the tent of meeting.
15 And HaShem appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud; and
the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent.
16 And HaShem said unto Moses: 'Behold, thou art about to
sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go astray after the
foreign gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me,
and break My covenant which I have made with them.
17 Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day,
and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be
devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will
say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our G-d is not among
us?
18 And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the
evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou
it the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a
witness for Me against the children of Israel.
20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I
swore unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten
their fill, and waxen fat; and turned unto other gods, and served them, and
despised Me, and broken My covenant;
21 then it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles
are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for
it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their
imagination how they do even now, before I have brought them into the land which
I swore.'
22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the
children of Israel.
23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said: 'Be
strong and of good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the
land which I swore unto them; and I will be with thee.'
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing
the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 that Moses commanded the Levites, that bore the ark of the
covenant of HaShem, saying:
26 'Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the
ark of the covenant of HaShem your G-d, that it may be there for a witness
against thee.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; behold,
while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against HaShem;
and how much more after my death?
28 Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your
officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth
to witness against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will in any wise deal
corruptly, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will
befall you in the end of days; because ye will do that which is evil in the
sight of HaShem, to provoke Him through the work of your hands.'
30 And Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel
the words of this song, until they were finished:
Sources: Portions copyright © 1997 by Benyamin Pilant, All Rights Reserved
JPS Electronic Edition, based on the 1917 JPS translation, Copyright © 1998 by Larry Nelson, All Rights Reserved
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