The big picture
Moses, Israel's ageing leader, is nearing death before the people cross Jordan, the river into their promised land. Joshua, his appointed successor, will lead them. Israel is the people bound to God by the covenant Moses has taught. The law must remain available after its teacher is gone, and every generation must hear it. God also gives a song that will bear witness when the people later abandon their promises.
In this chapter
- Joshua Will Lead with God's Help Deuteronomy 31:1-8
At 120, Moses tells Israel he will no longer lead their movements.
- The Law Must Be Read Publicly Deuteronomy 31:9-13
Moses writes the law and gives it to the priests who carry the ark, the sacred chest of God's covenant, and to the elders.
- God Foretells the People's Betrayal Deuteronomy 31:14-18
God calls Moses and Joshua to the meeting tent as Moses' death approaches.
- A Song Will Witness Against Rebellion Deuteronomy 31:19-23
God commands Moses to write and teach a song so it remains in the people's mouths.
- The Written Law Becomes a Witness Deuteronomy 31:24-30
After finishing the law in a book, Moses tells the Levites who carry the ark to place it beside that sacred chest.
Central truth
Before his death, Moses equips Joshua to lead and preserves God's words, while God warns that Israel will later break its covenant.
Scripture beside the summary
Deuteronomy · King James Version · 30Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Joshua Will Lead with God's Help
At 120, Moses tells Israel he will no longer lead their movements. God has also forbidden him to cross Jordan. God himself will go before them and defeat the nations, while Joshua leads the people into their inheritance. Moses recalls the defeats of Sihon and Og, earlier enemy kings, as grounds for courage. He then calls Joshua before everyone and encourages him. The change of human leader does not mean the loss of God's presence or the failure of his promise.
In everyday life
The outgoing station chief introduces her successor before the whole emergency crew and confirms that the service's support remains in place. The incoming chief receives a real task, but does not inherit it alone. The team hears the same assurance together. Joshua relies on God's continuing presence, not an organisation's resources.
Notice
Deuteronomy 31:8 Joshua is assured that God goes before him and will not abandon him. The successor's courage rests on continuing divine help rather than matching Moses' personal strength.
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
King James Version1And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.
4And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
5And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
7And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
The Law Must Be Read Publicly
Moses writes the law and gives it to the priests who carry the ark, the sacred chest of God's covenant, and to the elders. Every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles during the release year, they must read it aloud at God's chosen place. Men, women, children and foreign residents must gather to hear, learn and obey. Children who have not known it need this teaching too. Keeping a written copy is therefore joined to repeated public hearing, so the next generation receives more than an inherited object.
In everyday life
A night school librarian brings the handbook out of its locked cabinet for a scheduled reading with new learners and staff. Possessing the book is not enough if the people governed by it never hear its contents. She makes room for those unable to read alone. Israel hears God's covenant law at an appointed festival.
Notice
Deuteronomy 31:13 Children without earlier knowledge are specifically included. The law must be taught afresh, because belonging to the next generation does not automatically supply understanding.
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
King James Version9And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.
10And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
11When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
13And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
Deuteronomy 31:14-18
God Foretells the People's Betrayal
God calls Moses and Joshua to the meeting tent as Moses' death approaches. He appears in a pillar of cloud at its entrance. God tells Moses that after his death the people will worship the gods of the land and break the covenant. He will hide his face, withdrawing his protective presence, and many troubles will follow. The people will ask whether the disasters come because God is no longer among them. The warning concerns a future abandonment of the relationship already given, not a failure to receive it.
In everyday life
An assessor at the railway warns the outgoing manager that staff are already treating required checks as optional. She describes the failures that will follow if that habit continues after his retirement. The warning interrupts a handover that otherwise sounds reassuring. God announces Israel's future betrayal with knowledge no human assessor possesses.
Notice
Deuteronomy 31:16 The leadership handover itself includes a warning about the people's future disloyalty. God's promise to be with Joshua does not mean every later choice of the people will receive approval.
Deuteronomy 31:14-18
King James Version14And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
15And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.
16And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
18And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
Deuteronomy 31:19-23
A Song Will Witness Against Rebellion
God commands Moses to write and teach a song so it remains in the people's mouths. When they prosper in the land and turn to other gods, the remembered words will witness against them. God already knows their present inclinations before bringing them in. Moses writes and teaches the song that day. Joshua then receives the charge to lead Israel into the promised land, with God's assurance of his presence. Warning and commissioning stand together rather than cancelling one another's purpose.
In everyday life
The road safety educator teaches children a short verse they can repeat years later when choosing how to cross. Its remembered words remain available when an adult instructor is absent. The rhyme can expose a dangerous choice as well as guide a safe one. Moses' song bears witness for God against covenant rebellion.
Notice
Deuteronomy 31:21 The song remains in later descendants' mouths. Its remembered words can confront a generation that did not stand with Moses when the warning was first given.
Deuteronomy 31:19-23
King James Version19Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
20For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
21And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
22Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
23And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
Deuteronomy 31:24-30
The Written Law Becomes a Witness
After finishing the law in a book, Moses tells the Levites who carry the ark to place it beside that sacred chest. It will stand as a witness against the people. Moses says their present stubbornness gives reason to expect worse rebellion after his death. He summons the elders and officers and calls heaven and earth as witnesses. He then speaks the song to the whole assembly. His last preparations preserve both written words and words the people will learn to repeat aloud.
In everyday life
The departing tunnels inspector seals the safety record in its case beside the portal and reads the duties to the incoming team. Her retirement will not remove the written terms under which work proceeds. Later crews can check their acts against the same pages. Moses preserves a witness to God's covenant rather than a site record.
Notice
Deuteronomy 31:26 The book is placed beside the ark as a witness. Its role includes confronting disobedience, not only preserving a respected object connected with Moses.
Deuteronomy 31:24-30
King James Version24And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
26Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
27For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?
28Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
29For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
30And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Deuteronomy 31:1 begins with “And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.”
Where the chapter turns
Deuteronomy 31:17 forms a natural hinge: “Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many…”
The final note
Deuteronomy 31:30 leaves the reader with “And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, Moses, Israel, land, children, covenant help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
