Joshua to Succeed Moses
(Numbers 27:18–23)

1And Moses had finished speaking† these words to all Israel, 2and he said to them, “I am a son of a hundred and twenty years today; I cannot anymore go out and come in, and YHWH has said to me, ‘You shall not pass over this Jordan.’

3YHWH your God—He will pass over before your faces. He will destroy these nations from before your faces, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua—he will pass over before your faces as YHWH has spoken. 4And YHWH will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorite, and to their land, when He destroyed them.

5And YHWH will give them over to you⁺, that you⁺ may do to them according to every commandment that I have commanded you⁺. 6Be strong and be of good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them, for YHWH your God is He who is going with you. He will not fail you and He will not forsake you.†”

7And Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the eyes of all Israel, “Be strong and be of good courage, for you—you must go with this people to the land that YHWH has sworn to their fathers to give to them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8And YHWH is He who is going before you; He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Fear not, nor be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law
(Nehemiah 8:1–8)

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

10And Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, in the Feast of the Booths,† 11when all Israel comes to appear before the face of YHWH your God in the place that He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their ears.

12Gather together the people, the men, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourner who is within your gates, that they may hear, and so that they may learn and fear YHWH your⁺ God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13and that their children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear YHWH your⁺ God all the days that you⁺ are living in the land that you⁺ are passing over the Jordan to possess.”

God Commissions Joshua

14And YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, the day has drawn near when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.”

And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. 15And YHWH appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tent.

16And YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, you are lying down with your fathers, and this people will rise up and play the prostitute with the gods of the foreigners of the land which he is entering, there in the midst; and he will forsake Me and break My covenant that I have made with him.

17And My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and distresses will find them,

so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not upon that our God is not in my midst that these evils have found me?’

18And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.

19And now write down for yourselves this song, and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. 20When I have brought them to the land that I have sworn to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and they will spurn Me and break My covenant. 21And it shall come to pass when many evils and distresses have come upon him, that this song will testify to his face as a witness, for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of his seed. For I know the inclination that he is doing today, even before I bring him to the land of which I have sworn.”

22And Moses wrote this song in that day, and he taught it to the sons of Israel.

23And He commanded Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and be of good courage, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

The Law Placed in the Ark

24And it came to pass, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book until it was complete, 25that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of YHWH, saying, 26“Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of YHWH your⁺ God, that it may be there as a witness against you. 27For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, in my being yet alive with you⁺ this day, you⁺ have been rebellious against YHWH; how much more surely after my death!

28Gather to me all the elders of your⁺ tribes, and your⁺ officers, that I may speak in their ears these words and call to witness against them the heavens and the earth. 29For I know that after my death, you⁺ will become utterly corrupt and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you⁺, and evil will meet you⁺ in the latter days, because you⁺ will do evil in the eyes of YHWH to provoke Him to anger through the work of your⁺ hands.”

Moses Begins His Song

30And Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended: