1 Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 He said to them, "I am one hundred twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and Yahweh has said to me, 'You shall not go over this Jordan.' 3 Yahweh your God, he will go over before you; he will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them: (and) Joshua, he shall go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken. 4 Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed. 5 Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous, don't be afraid, nor be scared of them: for Yahweh your God, he it is who does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you." 7 Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous: for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 Yahweh, he it is who does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: don't be afraid, neither be dismayed." 9 Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of (every) seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents, 11 when all Israel is come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, 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 Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it." 14 Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him." Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. 15 Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud: and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent. 16 Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where 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 on them; so that they will say in that day, 'Haven't these evils come on us because our God is not among us?' 18 I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have worked, in that they are turned to other gods. 19 "Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to 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 to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. 21 It shall happen, when many evils and troubles are come on 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 which they frame this day, 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 He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them: and I will be with you." 24 It happened, 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, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, 26 "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; and how much more after my death? 28 Assemble to 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 you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands." 30 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.
Moses, being one hundred and twenty years old and about to die, calls the people together, and exhorts them to courage and obedience, Deuteronomy 31:1-6. Delivers a charge to Joshua, Deuteronomy 31:7, Deuteronomy 31:8. Delivers the law which he hod written to the priests, with a solemn charge that they should read it every seventh year, publicly to all the people, Deuteronomy 31:9-13. The Lord calls Moses and Joshua to the tabernacle, Deuteronomy 31:14. He appears to them, informs Moses of his approaching death, and delivers to him a prophetical and historical song, or poem, which he is to leave with Israel, for their instruction and reproof, Deuteronomy 31:15-21. Moses writes the song the same day, and teaches it to the Israelites, Deuteronomy 31:22; gives Joshua a charge, Deuteronomy 31:23; finishes writing the book of the law, Deuteronomy 31:24. Commands the Levites to lay it up in the side of the ark, Deuteronomy 31:25, Deuteronomy 31:26. Predicts their rebellions, Deuteronomy 31:27. Orders the elders to be gathered together, and shows them what evils would befall the people in the latter days, Deuteronomy 31:28, Deuteronomy 31:29, and repeats the song to them, Deuteronomy 31:30.
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 31
Moses being old, and knowing he should quickly die, and must not go over Jordan with the people of Israel, acquaints them with it, and encourages them and Joshua to go over notwithstanding, and not be afraid of their enemies, since the Lord would go with them, and deliver them into their hands, Deuteronomy 31:1; and having written the law, he delivered it to the priests, and ordered that it should be read at the end of every seven years before all the people, that they and theirs might learn it, and fear the Lord, Deuteronomy 31:9; and whereas the death of Moses was very near, and the Lord foreseeing the people would quickly fall into idolatry, which would bring great calamities upon them, he directed Moses to write a song, which should be a witness for him, and against them, in ages to come; which Moses accordingly did, Deuteronomy 31:14; and Moses having given a charge to Joshua, and finished the writing of the law in a book, gave it to the Levites to put it in the side of the ark, Deuteronomy 31:23; and then ordered the chief of the tribes to be gathered together, that he might deliver the song, which by the direction and under the inspiration of God he had written, Deuteronomy 31:28; which song is recorded in Deuteronomy 32:1.
(Deuteronomy 31:1-8) Moses encourages the people, and Joshua.
(Deuteronomy 31:9-13) The law to be read every seventh year.
(Deuteronomy 31:14-22) The Israelites' apostasy foretold, A song given to be witness against them.
(Deuteronomy 31:22-30) The law delivered to the Levites.
IV. Moses' Farewell and Death - Deuteronomy 31-34
With the renewal of the covenant, by the choice set before the people between blessing and curse, life and death, Moses had finished the interpretation and enforcement of the law (Deuteronomy 1:5), and brought the work of legislation to a close. But in order that the work to which the Lord had called him might be thoroughly completed, it still remained for him, before his approaching death, to hand over the task of leading the people into Canaan to Joshua, who had been appointed as his successor, to finish writing out the laws, and to hand over the book of the law to the priests. The Lord also directed him to write an ode, as a witness against the people, on account of their obstinacy, and teach it to the Israelites. To these last arrangements and acts of Moses, which are narrated in ch. 31 and 32, there are added in ch. 33 the blessing with which this man of god bade farewell to the tribes of Israel, and in ch. 34 the account of his death, with which the Pentateuch closes.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.