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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Deuteronomy 31 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/deuteronomy/31.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/deuteronomy/31-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Deuteronomy 31</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../deuteronomy/30.htm" title="Deuteronomy 30">◄</a> Deuteronomy 31 <a href="../deuteronomy/32.htm" title="Deuteronomy 32">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="ms2">Final Speeches and the Death of Moses</h3><h3 class="s1">Joshua Is Appointed the Leader of Israel</h3><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_1"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.1" class="v5_31_1">1</span>Moses again spoke to the whole nation of Israel:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_2"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.2" class="v5_31_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I am 120 years old, and I am no longer able to be your leader. And besides that, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God has told me that he won't let me cross the Jordan River. </span><span class="v5_31_3"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.3-Deut.31.5" class="v5_31_3">3-5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.3-Deut.31.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But he has promised that he and Joshua will lead you across the Jordan to attack the nations that live on the other side. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> will destroy those nations just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings. Just remember—whenever you capture a place, kill everyone who lives there.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_6"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.6" class="v5_31_6">6</span>Be brave and strong! Don't be afraid of the nations on the other side of the Jordan. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_7"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.7" class="v5_31_7">7</span>Then Moses called Joshua up in front of the crowd and said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_7">Joshua, be brave and strong as you lead these people into their land. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> made a promise long ago to Israel's ancestors that this land would someday belong to Israel. That time has now come, and you must divide up the land among the people. </span><span class="v5_31_8"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.8" class="v5_31_8">8</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The <span class="nd">Lord</span> will lead you into the land. He will always be with you and help you, so don't ever be afraid of your enemies.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Read These Laws</h3><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_9"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.9" class="v5_31_9">9</span>Moses wrote down all of these laws and teachings and gave them to the priests and the leaders of Israel. The priests were from the Levi tribe, and they carried the sacred chest that belonged to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. </span><span class="v5_31_10"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.10-Deut.31.11" class="v5_31_10">10-11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.10-Deut.31.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Moses told these priests and leaders:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_10">Each year the Israelites must come together to celebrate the Festival of Shelters at the place where the <span class="nd">Lord</span> chooses to be worshiped. You must read these laws and teachings to the people at the festival every seventh year, the year when loans do not need to be repaid.<a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.10-Deut.31.11!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v5_31_12"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.12-Deut.31.13" class="v5_31_12">12-13</span>Everyone must come—men, women, children, and even the foreigners who live in your towns. And each new generation will listen and learn to worship the <span class="nd">Lord</span> their God with fear and trembling and to do exactly what is said in God's Law.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Israel Will Reject the <span class="nd">Lord</span></h3><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_14"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.14" class="v5_31_14">14</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> told Moses, “You will soon die, so bring Joshua to the sacred tent, and I will appoint him the leader of Israel.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_14">Moses and Joshua went to the sacred tent, </span><span class="v5_31_15"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.15" class="v5_31_15">15</span>and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> appeared in a thick cloud right over the entrance to the tent. </span><span class="v5_31_16"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.16" class="v5_31_16">16</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_16">Moses, you will soon die. But Israel is going into a land where other gods are worshiped, and Israel will reject me and start worshiping these gods. The people will break the agreement I made with them, </span><span class="v5_31_17"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.17" class="v5_31_17">17</span>and I will be so furious that I will abandon them and ignore their prayers. I will send disasters and suffering that will nearly wipe them out. Finally, they will realize that the disasters happened because I abandoned them. </span><span class="v5_31_18"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.18" class="v5_31_18">18</span>They will pray to me, but I will ignore them because they were evil and started worshiping other gods.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_19"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.19" class="v5_31_19">19</span>Moses and Joshua, I am going to give you the words to a new song. Write them down and teach the song to the Israelites. If they learn it, they will know what I want them to do, and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me. </span><span class="v5_31_20"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.20" class="v5_31_20">20</span>I am bringing them into the land that I promised their ancestors. It is a land rich with milk and honey, and the Israelites will have more than enough food to eat. But they will get fat and turn their backs on me and start worshiping other gods. The Israelites will reject me and break the agreement that I made with them.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_21"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.21" class="v5_31_21">21</span>When I punish the Israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters, I will remind them that they know the words to this song, so they have no excuse for not obeying me.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_21">I will give them the land that I promised, but I know the way they are going to live later on.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_22"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.22" class="v5_31_22">22</span>Moses at once wrote down the words to the song,<a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and he taught it to the Israelites.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_23"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.23" class="v5_31_23">23</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.31.23!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The <span class="nd">Lord</span> told Joshua, “Be brave and strong! I will help you lead the people of Israel into the land that I have promised them.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_24"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.24" class="v5_31_24">24</span>Moses wrote down all these laws and teachings in a book, </span><span class="v5_31_25"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.25" class="v5_31_25">25</span>then he went to the Levites who carried the sacred chest and said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_26"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.26" class="v5_31_26">26</span>This is <span class="bk">The Book of God's Law</span>. Keep it beside the sacred chest that holds the agreement the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God made with Israel. This book is proof that you know what the <span class="nd">Lord</span> wants you to do. </span><span class="v5_31_27"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.27" class="v5_31_27">27</span>I know how stubborn and rebellious you and the rest of the Israelites are. You have rebelled against the <span class="nd">Lord</span> while I have been alive, and it will only get worse after I am gone. </span><span class="v5_31_28"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.28" class="v5_31_28">28</span>So call together the leaders and officials of the tribes of Israel. I will bring this book and read every word of it to you, and I will call the sky and the earth as witnesses that all of you know what you are supposed to do.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_31_29"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.29" class="v5_31_29">29</span>I am going to die soon, and I know that in the future you will stop caring about what is right and what is wrong, and so you will disobey the <span class="nd">Lord</span> and stop living the way I told you to live. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> will be angry, and terrible things will happen to you.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Song of Moses</h3><p class="par"><span class="v5_31_30"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.31.30" class="v5_31_30">30</span>Moses called a meeting of all the people of Israel, so he could teach them the words to the song that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had given him. And here are the words:</span></p><p class="b"></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.10,11 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">every seventh year … repaid: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 15.1,2 and the note there.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.22 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the words to the song: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 32.1-43.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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