Deuteronomy 31:1 - Prayer Tents

The Charge

31Moses went on and addressed these words to all Israel.H4872H3212H1696H1697H3478

2He said, "I'm 120 years old today. I can't get about as I used to. And GOD told me, 'You're not going to cross this Jordan River.'H559H3967H6242H8141H1121H3117H3201H3318H935H3068H559H5674H3383

3"GOD, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may dispossess them. (And Joshua will cross the river before you, as GOD said he would.)H3068H430H5674H6440H8045H1471H6440H3423H3091H5674H6440H3068H1696

4GOD will give the nations the same treatment he gave the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their land; he'll destroy them.H3068H6213H6213H5511H5747H4428H567H776H8045

5GOD will hand the nations over to you, and you'll treat them exactly as I have commanded you.H3068H5414H6440H6213H4687H6680

6"Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you."H2388H553H3372H6206H6440H3068H430H1980H7503H5800

7Then Moses summoned Joshua. He said to him with all Israel watching, "Be strong. Take courage. You will enter the land with this people, this land that GOD promised their ancestors that he'd give them. You will make them the proud possessors of it.H4872H7121H3091H559H5869H3478H2388H553H935H5971H776H3068H7650H1H5414H5157

8GOD is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you. Don't be intimidated. Don't worry."H3068H1980H6440H7503H5800H3372H2865

9Moses wrote out this Revelation and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Chest of the Covenant of GOD, and to all the leaders of Israel.H4872H3789H8451H5414H3548H1121H3878H5375H727H1285H3068H2205H3478

10And he gave these orders: "At the end of every seven years, the Year-All-Debts-Are-Canceled, during the pilgrim Festival of BoothsH4872H6680H559H7093H7651H8141H4150H8141H8059H2282H5521

11when everyone in Israel comes to appear in the Presence of GOD, your God, at the place he designates, read out this Revelation to all Israel, with everyone listening.H3478H935H7200H6440H3068H430H4725H977H7121H8451H3478H241

12Gather the people together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living among you—so they can listen well, so they may learn to live in holy awe before GOD, your God, and diligently keep everything in this Revelation.H6950H5971H6950H582H802H2945H1616H8179H8085H3925H3372H3068H430H8104H6213H1697H8451

13And do this so that their children, who don't yet know all this, will also listen and learn to live in holy awe before GOD, your God, for as long as you live on the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess."H1121H3045H8085H3925H3372H3068H430H3117H2416H127H5674H3383H3423

14GOD spoke to Moses: "You are about to die. So call Joshua. Meet me in the Tent of Meeting so that I can commission him." So Moses and Joshua went and stationed themselves in the Tent of Meeting.H3068H559H4872H3117H7126H4191H7121H3091H3320H168H4150H6680H4872H3091H3212H3320H168H4150

15GOD appeared in the Tent in a Pillar of Cloud. The Cloud was near the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.H3068H7200H168H5982H6051H5982H6051H5975H6607H168

16GOD spoke to Moses: "You're about to die and be buried with your ancestors. You'll no sooner be in the grave than this people will be up and whoring after the foreign gods of this country that they are entering. They will abandon me and violate my Covenant that I've made with them.H3068H559H4872H7901H1H5971H6965H2181H310H430H5236H776H935H7130H5800H6565H1285H3772

17I'll get angry, oh so angry! I'll walk off and leave them on their own, won't so much as look back at them. Then many calamities and disasters will devastate them because they are defenseless. They'll say, 'Isn't it because our God wasn't here that all this evil has come upon us?'H639H2734H3117H5800H5641H6440H398H7227H7451H6869H4672H559H3117H7451H4672H430H7130

18But I'll stay out of their lives, keep looking the other way because of all their evil: they took up with other gods!H5641H5641H6440H3117H7451H6213H3588H6437H312H430

19"But for right now, copy down this song and teach the People of Israel to sing it by heart. They'll have it then as my witness against them.H3789H7892H3925H1121H3478H7760H6310H7892H5707H1121H3478

20When I bring them into the land that I promised to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they eat and become full and get fat and then begin fooling around with other gods and worshiping them,H935H127H7650H1H2100H2461H1706H398H7646H1878H6437H312H430H5647H5006H6565H1285

21and then things start falling apart, many terrible things happening, this song will be there with them as a witness to who they are and what went wrong. Their children won't forget this song; they'll be singing it. Don't think I don't know what they are already scheming to do, and they're not even in the land yet, this land I promised them."H7227H7451H6869H4672H7892H6030H6440H5707H7911H6310H2233H3045H3336H6213H3117H935H776H7650

22So Moses wrote down this song that very day and taught it to the People of Israel.H4872H3789H7892H3117H3925H1121H3478

23Then GOD commanded Joshua son of Nun saying, "Be strong. Take courage. You will lead the People of Israel into the land I promised to give them. And I'll be right there with you."H3091H1121H5126H6680H559H2388H553H935H1121H3478H776H7650

24After Moses had finished writing down the words of this Revelation in a book, right down to the last word,H4872H3615H3789H1697H8451H5612H8552

25he ordered the Levites who were responsible for carrying the Chest of the Covenant of GOD, saying,H4872H6680H3881H5375H727H1285H3068H559

26"Take this Book of Revelation and place it alongside the Chest of the Covenant of GOD, your God. Keep it there as a witness.H3947H5612H8451H7760H6654H727H1285H3068H430H5707

27"I know what rebels you are, how stubborn and willful you can be. Even today, while I'm still alive and present with you, you're rebellious against GOD. How much worse when I've died!H3045H4805H7186H6203H2416H3117H4784H3068H310H4194

28So gather the leaders of the tribes and the officials here. I have something I need to say directly to them with Heaven and Earth as witnesses.H6950H2205H7626H7860H1696H1697H241H5749H8064H776H5749

29I know that after I die you're going to make a mess of things, abandoning the way I commanded, inviting all kinds of evil consequences in the days ahead. You're determined to do evil in defiance of GOD—I know you are—deliberately provoking his anger by what you do."H3045H310H4194H7843H7843H5493H1870H6680H7451H7122H319H3117H6213H7451H5869H3068H3707H4639H3027

30So with everyone in Israel gathered and listening, Moses taught them the words of this song, from start to finish.H4872H1696H241H6951H3478H1697H7892H8552