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Moses’ Last Counsel
31 So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am (A)a hundred and twenty years old today; (B)I am no longer able to come and go, and the Lord has said to me, ‘(C)You shall not cross this Jordan.’ 3 (D)It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. (E)Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken. 4 The Lord will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. 5 (F)The Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6 (G)Be strong and courageous, (H)do not be afraid or tremble at them, for (I)the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. (J)He will not fail you or forsake you.”
7 Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “(K)Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8 (L)The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. (M)He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
9 So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi (N)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of (O)the year of remission of debts, at the (P)Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes (Q)to appear before the Lord your God at (R)the place which He will choose, (S)you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and [a]the alien who is in your [b]town, so that they may hear and (T)learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live on the land [c]which you are about to cross the Jordan to [d]possess.”
Israel Will Fall Away
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, [e](U)the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” (V)So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15 (W)The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. 16 The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, (X)you are about to lie down with your fathers; and (Y)this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and (Z)will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. 17 (AA)Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and (AB)I will forsake them and (AC)hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘(AD)Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ 18 But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.
19 “Now therefore, (AE)write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it [f]on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. 20 (AF)For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and (AG)become [g]prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant. 21 Then it shall come about, (AH)when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the [h]lips of their descendants); for (AI)I know their intent which they are [i]developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” 22 (AJ)So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.
Joshua Is Commissioned
23 (AK)Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “(AL)Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and (AM)I will be with you.”
24 It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites (AN)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, 26 “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may [j]remain there as a witness against you. 27 For I know (AO)your rebellion and (AP)your [k]stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death? 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and (AQ)call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will (AR)act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”
30 Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete:
The Song of Moses
32 “(AS)Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 “(AT)Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
(AU)As the droplets on the fresh grass
And as the showers on the herb.
3 “(AV)For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
(AW)Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 “(AX)The Rock! His work is perfect,
(AY)For all His ways are [l]just;
(AZ)A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
5 “[m](BA)They have acted corruptly toward Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
(BB)But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 “Do you thus (BC)repay the Lord,
(BD)O foolish and unwise people?
(BE)Is not He your Father who has bought you?
(BF)He has made you and established you.
7 “Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
(BG)Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
8 “(BH)When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of [n]man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
(BI)According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 “(BJ)For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 “(BK)He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as (BL)the pupil of His eye.
11 “(BM)Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
(BN)He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
12 “(BO)The Lord alone guided him,
(BP)And there was no foreign god with him.
13 “(BQ)He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
(BR)And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And (BS)oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
(BT)With the finest of the wheat—
And of the (BU)blood of grapes you drank wine.
15 “(BV)But [o]Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—
You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—
(BW)Then he forsook God (BX)who made him,
And scorned (BY)the Rock of his salvation.
16 “(BZ)They made Him jealous with strange gods;
(CA)With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 “(CB)They sacrificed to demons who were not God,
(CC)To gods whom they have not known,
(CD)New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not dread.
18 “You neglected (CE)the Rock who begot you,
(CF)And forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 “(CG)The Lord saw this, and spurned them
(CH)Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20 “Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
(CI)I will see what their end shall be;
(CJ)For they are a perverse generation,
(CK)Sons in whom is no faithfulness.
21 ‘(CL)They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their [p](CM)idols.
(CN)So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
22 (CO)For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And burns to the lowest part of [q]Sheol,
(CP)And consumes the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘(CQ)I will heap misfortunes on them;
(CR)I will use My arrows on them.
24 ‘(CS)They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by [r]plague
(CT)And bitter destruction;
(CU)And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,
(CV)With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 ‘(CW)Outside the sword will bereave,
And inside terror—
(CX)Both young man and virgin,
The nursling with the man of gray hair.
26 ‘I would have said, “(CY)I will cut them to pieces,
(CZ)I will remove the memory of them from men,”
27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “(DA)Our hand is [s]triumphant,
And the Lord has not done all this.”’
8 “And I say to you, everyone who (A)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; 9 but (B)he who denies Me before men will be denied (C)before the angels of God. 10 (D)And everyone who [a]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. 11 When they bring you before (E)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not (F)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; 12 for (G)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Covetousness Denounced
13 Someone [b]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “(H)Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 Then He said to them, “(I)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” 16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. 17 And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, (J)you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘(K)You fool! This very night [c](L)your soul is required of you; and (M)now who will own what you have prepared?’ 21 So is the man who (N)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
22 And He said to His disciples, “(O)For this reason I say to you, [d]do not worry about your [e]life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the (P)ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor (Q)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! 25 And which of you by worrying can add a single [f](R)hour to his [g]life’s span? 26 If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even (S)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? (T)You men of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not (U)keep worrying. 30 For [h]all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek His kingdom, and (V)these things will be added to you. 32 (W)Do not be afraid, (X)little flock, for (Y)your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
33 “(Z)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, (AA)an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 For (AB)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
32 In spite of all this they (A)still sinned
And (B)did not believe in His wonderful works.
33 So He brought (C)their days to an end in [a]futility
And their years in sudden terror.
34 When He killed them, then they (D)sought Him,
And returned and searched (E)diligently for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their (F)rock,
And the Most High God their (G)Redeemer.
36 But they (H)deceived Him with their mouth
And (I)lied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not (J)steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But He, being (K)compassionate, [b](L)forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And often He [c](M)restrained His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.
39 Thus (N)He remembered that they were but (O)flesh,
A [d](P)wind that passes and does not return.
40 How often they (Q)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And (R)grieved Him in the (S)desert!
41 Again and again they [e](T)tempted God,
And pained the (U)Holy One of Israel.
42 They (V)did not remember (W)His [f]power,
The day when He (X)redeemed them from the adversary,
43 When He performed His (Y)signs in Egypt
And His (Z)marvels in the field of Zoan,
44 And (AA)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of (AB)flies which devoured them,
And (AC)frogs which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their crops to the (AD)grasshopper
And the product of their labor to the (AE)locust.
47 He [g]destroyed their vines with (AF)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave over their (AG)cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He (AH)sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
[h]A band of destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But (AI)gave over their life to the plague,
51 And (AJ)smote all the firstborn in Egypt,
The (AK)first issue of their virility in the tents of (AL)Ham.
52 But He (AM)led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness (AN)like a flock;
53 He led them (AO)safely, so that they did not fear;
But (AP)the sea engulfed their enemies.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.