Deuteronomy 31:1-5

Succession of Moses by Joshua

31:1 Then Moses went ¹  and spoke these words ²  to all Israel. 31:2 He said to them, “Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, ³  and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’ 31:3 As for the Lord your God, he is about to cross over before you; he will destroy these nations before you and dispossess them. As for Joshua, he is about to cross before you just as the Lord has said. 31:4 The Lord will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their land, which he destroyed. 31:5 The Lord will deliver them over to you and you will do to them according to the whole commandment I have given you.

[31:1]  ¹ tc For the MT reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “he went”), the LXX and Qumran have וַיְכַל (vaykhal, “he finished”): “So Moses finished speaking,” etc. The difficult reading of the MT favors its authenticity.

[31:1]  ² tn In the MT this refers to the words that follow (cf. NIV, NCV).

[31:2]  ³ tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”