Deuteronomy 31

1 And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel;

Once Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the Israelites,

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 Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

he told them, I'm now a hundred and twenty years old. I can't get around like I used to, and the Lord has told me, “You are not to cross the Jordan.”

3 Jehovah thy God, he will go over before thee, he will destroy these nations from before thee, that thou mayest take possession of them: Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as Jehovah hath said.

The Lord your God himself is going to lead you across. He will destroy these nations as you advance, and you will take over their land. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the Lord said.

4 And Jehovah will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed.

The Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them.

5 And when Jehovah giveth them up before you, ye shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.

The Lord will hand them over to you, and you will deal with them exactly as I've told you.

6 Be strong and courageous, fear them not, neither be afraid of them; for Jehovah thy God, he it is that goeth with thee; he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Be strong! Be brave! Don't be frightened or terrified of them, because the Lord your God will go with you. He won't ever leave you or abandon you.

7 And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and courageous, for thou must go with this people into the land which Jehovah hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Moses called for Joshua and told him in front of all the Israelites, “Be strong! Be brave! You will accompany this people into the country that the Lord promised to give their forefathers, and you are to allocate it for them to own.

8 And Jehovah, he it is that goeth before thee: he will be with thee; he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

The Lord himself goes ahead of you. He will be with you. He won't ever leave you or abandon you. Don't be afraid and don't be discouraged.”

9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and to all the elders of Israel.

Moses wrote this law down and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the Israelite elders.

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the set time of the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles,

Moses gave them these orders, At the end of every seven years, the year when debts are canceled during the Festival of Shelters,

11 when all Israel cometh to appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he will choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their ears.

and when all the Israelites comes before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you must read this law in the for everyone to hear.

12 Gather the people together, the men, and the women, and the children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Jehovah your God, and take heed to do all the words of this law;

Have the people gather together—the men, women, children, and the foreigners living with you—so that they can listen and learn to respect the Lord your God and to carefully observe all the instructions of this law.

13 and that their children who do not know it may hear it and learn, that they may fear Jehovah your God, as long as ye live in the land, whereunto ye pass over the Jordan to possess it.

Then their children who don't know the law will listen and learn to respect the Lord your God as the whole time you live in the country that you are going to take over after you cross the Jordan.

14 And Jehovah said to Moses, Lo, the days are near for thee to die; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.

Then the Lord told Moses, “Listen, you are soon going to die. Tell Joshua to meet you, and then both of you are to come and stand before me at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may appoint him as leader.” Moses and Joshua went to stand before the Lord at the Tent of Meeting.

15 And Jehovah appeared at the tent in the pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.

The Lord appeared there at the tent in a pillar of cloud. The cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

16 And Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land into which they enter, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

The Lord told Moses, “You will join your ancestors in death, and these people are going to prostitute themselves by worshiping the foreign gods of the country they are entering. They will abandon me and break the agreement I've made with them.

17 And 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 befall them, and they will say in that day, Have not these evils befallen me because my God is not in my midst?

Then I will abandon them and turn away from them, so they will be destroyed, and they will experience many disasters and problems. At that time they'll say, ‘We're suffering these disasters because our God has abandoned us!’

18 And I will entirely hide my face in that day for all the evils that they have wrought, because they turned unto other gods.

Then I will definitely ignore them because of all the evil they have done by worshiping other gods.

19 And now, write ye this song, 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.

So write down this song and teach it to the Israelites. Help them learn to sing it, so it will provide evidence for me against them.

20 For I shall bring them into the land which I swore unto their fathers, which floweth with milk and honey; and they will eat and fill themselves, and wax fat, and will turn unto other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.

Once I've led them into the country that I promised to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will have plenty to eat and will do well. Then they will go and worship other gods, and they will abandon me and break my agreement.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles have befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their imagination which they are forming already this day, before I bring them into the land which I have sworn [unto them].

Once they've experienced plenty of trouble and suffering, this song will testify against them, because their descendants won't forget the words. I know what they're like, even before I lead them into the country that I promised to give them.”

22 And Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

Right then Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites.

23 And [Jehovah] commanded Joshua the son of Nun, and said, Be strong and courageous; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have sworn unto them; and I will be with thee.

Then the Lord appointed Joshua son of Nun as leader, and told him, “Be strong! Be brave! For you are going to lead the Israelites into the country that I promised to give them, and I will be with you.”

24 And it came to pass, when Moses had ended writing the words of this law in a book, until their conclusion,

After Moses had finished writing down this Law in a book from start to finish,

25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying,

he ordered the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement:

26 Take this book of the law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee;

“Place this book of the Law beside the Ark of the Lord your God's Agreement, so that it will be kept there as a evidence against you.

27 for I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck. Lo, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah; and how much more after my death!

I know how stubborn and rebellious you are. If you've already started rebelling against the Lord while I'm still alive, how much worse will you get after I die?

28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and take heaven and earth to witness against them.

Summon all the elders of your tribes and all your officers to gather here before me so that I can tell them this directly and call on heaven and earth as witnesses against them.

29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and will turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and mischief will befall you at the end of days; because ye do evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

I know that after my death you will become completely immoral, leaving the path I have ordered you to follow. In the future, evil things will happen to you because of the evil sins you commit in the sight of the Lord, making him angry by what you do.”

30 And Moses spoke in the ears of the whole congregation of Israel the words of this song, until their conclusion.

Then Moses recited all the words of this song as the Israelites listened.