Deuteronomy 31:19-29

31:19 Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites. Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites! 31:20 For after I have brought them ¹  to the land I promised to their ²  ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they ³  eat their fill ⁴  and become fat, then they ⁵  will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant. 31:21 Then when ⁶  many disasters and distresses overcome them ⁷  this song will testify against them, ⁸  for their ⁹  descendants will not forget it. ¹⁰  I know the ¹¹  intentions they have in mind ¹²  today, even before I bring them ¹³  to the land I have promised.” 31:22 So on that day Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites, 31:23 and the Lord ¹⁴  commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” ¹⁵ 

Anticipation of Disobedience

31:24 When Moses finished writing on a scroll the words of this law in their entirety, 31:25 he ¹⁶  commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, 31:26 “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. It will remain there as a witness against you, 31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. ¹⁷  Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! ¹⁸  31:28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ¹⁹  corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly ²⁰  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ²¹ 

Joshua 24:24-29

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship ²²  the Lord our God and obey him.” ²³ 

24:25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement ²⁴  for the people, and he established rules and regulations ²⁵  for them in Shechem. 24:26 Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s shrine. 24:27 Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against you, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us. ²⁶  It will be a witness against you if ²⁷  you deny your God.” 24:28 When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land. ²⁸ 

An Era Ends

24:29 After all this ²⁹  Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten.

Joshua 24:1

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord

24:1 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Psalms 71:18

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ³⁰ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ³¹ 

Psalms 71:2

71:2 Vindicate me by rescuing me! ³² 

Listen to me! ³³  Deliver me! ³⁴ 

Psalms 2:2

2:2 The kings of the earth ³⁵  form a united front; ³⁶ 

the rulers collaborate ³⁷ 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ³⁸ 

Hebrews 11:4

11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith ³⁹  he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith ⁴⁰  he still speaks, though he is dead.

[31:20]  ¹ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:20]  ² tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:20]  ³ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “and are satisfied.”

[31:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “Then it will come to pass that.”

[31:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it will not be forgotten from the mouth of his seed.”

[31:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:21]  ¹² tn Heb “which he is doing.”

[31:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the Lord” in the translation for clarity. See also the note on the word “you” later in this verse.

[31:23]  ¹⁵ tc The LXX reads, “as the Lord promised them, and he will be with you.” This relieves the problem of Moses apparently promising to be with Joshua as the MT reads on the surface (“I will be with you”). However, the reading of the LXX is clearly an attempt to clarify an existing obscurity and therefore is unlikely to reflect the original.

[31:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[31:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

[31:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “How much more after my death?” The Hebrew text has a sarcastic rhetorical question here; the translation seeks to bring out the force of the question.

[31:29]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ²¹ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[24:24]  ²² tn Or “will serve.”

[24:24]  ²³ tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

[24:25]  ²⁴ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[24:25]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”

[24:27]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all the words of the Lord which he spoke with us.”

[24:27]  ²⁷ tn Or “lest,” “so that you might not.”

[24:28]  ²⁸ tn Heb “And Joshua sent the people away, each to his inheritance.”

[24:29]  ²⁹ tn Heb “after these things.”

[71:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[71:2]  ³² tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me and deliver me.” Ps 31:1 omits “and deliver me.”

[71:2]  ³³ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[71:2]  ³⁴ tn Ps 31:2 adds “quickly” before “deliver.”

[2:2]  ³⁵ sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[11:4]  ³⁹ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”

[11:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”