Deuteronomy 31
Moses encourages the people, and Josue, who is appointed to succeed him. He delivers the law to the priests. God foretells that the people will often forsake him, and that he will punish them. He commands Moses to write a canticle, as a constant remembrancer of the law.
1And so, Moses went out, and he spoke all these words to all of Israel. 2And he said to them: “Today, I am one hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to go out and return, especially since the Lord has also said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ 3Therefore, the Lord your God will go across before you. He himself will abolish all these nations in your sight, and you shall possess them. And this man Joshua shall go across before you, just as the Lord has spoken. 4And the Lord will do to them just as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, and he will wipe them away. 5Therefore, when the Lord will have delivered these to you also, you shall act similarly toward them, just as I have instructed you. 6Act manfully and be strengthened. Do not be afraid, and do not dread at the sight of them. For the Lord your God himself is your commander, and he will neither dismiss nor abandon you.” 7And Moses called Joshua, and, before all of Israel, he said to him: ‘Be strong and valiant. For you shall lead this people into the land which the Lord swore that he would give to their fathers, and you shall divide it by lot. 8And the Lord, who is your commander, will himself be with you. He will neither renounce nor abandon you. Do not be afraid, and do not dread.” 9And so, Moses wrote this law, and he handed 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 he instructed them, saying: “After seven years, in the year of remission, at the solemnity of the Feast of Tabernacles, 11when all of Israel has convened in order to appear in the sight of the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord will choose, you shall read the words of this law before all of Israel, in their hearing. 12And when the people have gathered together, men as well as women and little children, and the new arrivals who are within your gates, they shall listen so that they may learn, and may fear the Lord your God, and may keep and fulfill all the words of this law, 13and also so that their sons, who are now ignorant, may be able to listen, and may fear the Lord their God all the days that they live in the land to which you will travel, crossing the Jordan in order to obtain it.” 14And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, the days of your death draw near. Call Joshua, and stand in the tabernacle of the testimony, so that I may instruct him.” Therefore, Moses and Joshua went and stood in the tabernacle of the testimony. 15And the Lord appeared there, in a pillar of cloud, which stood at the entrance of the tabernacle. 16And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up and will fornicate after foreign gods, in the land which they will enter so that they may live in it. In that place, they will forsake me, and they will make void the covenant that I have formed with them. 17And my fury will be enraged against them in that day. And I will abandon them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured. Every evil and affliction will find them, so much so that they will say in that day: ‘Truly, it is because God is not with me that these evils have found me.’ 18But I will hide myself, and I will conceal my face in that day, because of all the evils that they have done, because they have followed strange gods. 19And so, write this canticle now, and teach it to the sons of Israel, so that they may retain it in memory, and may chant it by mouth, and so that this verse may be a testimony to me among the sons of Israel. 20For I will lead them into the land, about which I swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. And when they have eaten, and have been satiated and fattened, they will turn aside to foreign gods, and they will serve them. And they will disparage me, and they will nullify my covenant. 21And after many evils and afflictions have overwhelmed them, this canticle will answer them as a testimony; it shall never pass into oblivion, away from the mouths of their offspring. For I know their thoughts and what they are about to do today, even before I lead them into the land which I have promised to them.” 22Therefore, Moses wrote the canticle, and he taught it to the sons of Israel. 23And the Lord instructed Joshua, the son of Nun, and he said: “Be strong and valiant. For you shall lead the sons of Israel into the land which I have promised, and I will be with you.” 24Therefore, after Moses had written the words of this law in a volume, and had finished it, 25he instructed the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 26“Take this book, and place it inside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may be there as a testimony against you. 27For I know your contentiousness and your very stiff neck. Even while I am still living and entering with you, you have always acted with contention against the Lord. How much more so when I will be dead? 28Gather to me all those greater by birth throughout your tribes, as well as your teachers, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and I will call heaven and earth as witnesses against them. 29For I know that, after my death, you will act with iniquity, and you will quickly depart from the way that I have instructed to you. And so, evils will meet you in the end time, when you will have done evil in the sight of the Lord so as to provoke him through the works of your hands.” 30Thus did Moses speak, in the hearing of the entire assembly of Israel, the words of this canticle, and he completed it to its very end.
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