The <sc>Lordsc> will force you and your king<n id="1" /> whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there.

instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty<n id="1" /> you will serve your enemies whom the <sc>Lordsc> will send against you. They<n id="2" /> will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you.

When such a person<n id="1" /> hears the words of this oath he secretly<n id="2" /> blesses himself<n id="3" /> and says, &#8220;I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.&#8221;<n id="4" /> This will destroy<n id="5" /> the watered ground with the parched.<n id="6" />

The generation to come &#8211; your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places &#8211; will see<n id="1" /> the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the <sc>Lordsc> has brought on it.

Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant, and to all Israel&#8217;s elders.

when all Israel comes to appear before the <sc>Lordsc> your God in the place he chooses, you must read this law before them<n id="1" /> within their hearing.

Then their children, who have not known this law,<n id="1" /> will also hear about and learn to fear the <sc>Lordsc> your God for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.&#8221;p>

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!

and the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> commissioned Joshua son of Nun, &#8220;Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness.<n id="1" /> Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the <sc>Lordsc>; you will be even more rebellious after my death!<n id="2" />

he said to them, &#8220;Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho.<n id="1" /> The <sc>Lordsc> showed him the whole land &#8211; Gilead to Dan,

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him;<n id="1" /> and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the <sc>Lordsc> had commanded Moses.

Indeed, may the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you<n id="1" /> just as he said he would!

I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they<n id="1" /> should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens<n id="2" /> and judge fairly,<n id="3" /> whether between one citizen and another<n id="4" /> or a citizen and a resident foreigner.<n id="5" />

Then they took<n id="1" /> some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, &#8220;The land that the <sc>Lordsc> our God is about to give us is good.&#8221;p>

&#8220;Not a single person<n id="1" /> of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors!

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea<n id="1" /> just as the <sc>Lordsc> told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.

Instruct<n id="1" /> these people as follows: &#8216;You are about to cross the border of your relatives<n id="2" /> the descendants of Esau,<n id="3" /> who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.