Repentance and Forgiveness

1 ^h“And ⁱwhen all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and ^jyou call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and ^kreturn to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God ^lwill restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will ^mgather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 ⁿIf your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. ^oAnd he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And ^pthe Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, ^qso that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 ^rThe Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. ^sFor the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life and Death

11 “For this commandment that I command you today ^tis not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 ^uIt is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15 “See, ^vI have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God¹ that I command you today, ^wby loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,² then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if ^xyour heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 ^yI declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, ^zblessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice ^aand holding fast to him, for ^bhe is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in ^cthe land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Joshua to Succeed Moses

1 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am ^d120 years old today. I am no longer able to ^ego out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ^f‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God ^ghimself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, ^has the Lord has spoken. 4 And the Lord will do to them ⁱas he did to Sihon ^jand Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them ^kaccording to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6 ^lBe strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, ^mfor it is the Lord your God who goes with you. ⁿHe will not leave you or forsake you.”

7 Then ^oMoses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^l“Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord ^pwho goes before you. He will be with you; ⁿhe will not leave you or forsake you. ^qDo not fear or be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law

9 Then Moses ^rwrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^swho carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, ^t“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at ^uthe Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes ^vto appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, ^wyou shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 ^xAssemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, ^ywho have not known it, ^zmay hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, ^aas long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

14 And the Lord said to Moses, ^b“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^cI may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And ^dthe Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, ^b“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^ewhore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^fforsake me and ^gbreak my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^hI will forsake them and ⁱhide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ^j‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^kour God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because ^lthey have turned to other gods.

19 “Now therefore write ^mthis song and ⁿteach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^oa witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land ^pflowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and ^qgrown fat, ^rthey will turn to other gods and serve them, and ^sdespise me and ^gbreak my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ^ta witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For ^uI know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

23 ^vAnd the Lord³ commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ^w“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. ^xI will be with you.”

24 When Moses had finished ^ywriting the words of this law in a book to the very end, 25 Moses commanded ^zthe Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 26 “Take this Book of the Law ^aand put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for ^ba witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and ^cstubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, ^dyou have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak ^ethese words in their ears and ^fcall heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death ^gyou will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And ^hin the days to come ⁱevil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, ^jprovoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:

22 And Moses ^awas instructed in ^ball the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^cmighty in his words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^dto visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ^eAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^f‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort ^gMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^hwhere he became the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ⁱan angel appeared to him ^jin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ^k‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ^l‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^mI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ⁿhave heard their groaning, and ^oI have come down to deliver them. ^pAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^qsaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^rby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^sThis man led them out, performing ^twonders and signs ^uin Egypt and ^vat the Red Sea and ^win the wilderness for ^xforty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^ya prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one ^zwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^athe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^bHe received ^cliving ^doracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^ein their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^f‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And ^gthey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^hwere rejoicing in ⁱthe works of their hands. 42 But ^jGod turned away and ^kgave them over to worship ^lthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: