1 And Moses {Mosheh: Covenant Mediator} went and spoke these words {devarim: fundamental revelation} to all Israel.
2 And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to go out or come in. And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Witness} has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan {Yarden: boundary river}.’”
3 The LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Champion} is crossing before you. He will destroy these nations {goyim: foreign peoples} from before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua is crossing before you just as the LORD has spoken.
4 And the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Defender} will do to them just as He did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land {eretsam: their territory}, whom He destroyed.
5 And the LORD {YHWH, Promise Fulfiller} will give them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment {mitzvah: divinely ordained instruction} which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be terrified before them, because the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheicha, Faithful Companion} is the One who goes with you; He will not let you go {yarpe: slacken, release} or abandon you.
7 Then Moses called Joshua and spoke to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you are to go with this people into the land that the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Fulfiller} swore to their fathers to give them, and you will cause them to inherit {tanchilennah: legal possession} it.”
8 And the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Guide} is the One who goes before you; He will be with you {immakh: by your side}. He will not let you go or forsake you. Do not fear, and do not be dismayed.
9 So Moses wrote down this law {torah: instruction} and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD {YHWH, Lawgiver}, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 And Moses {Mosheh: Covenant Mediator} commanded them, saying, “At the end of seven years {shanim: complete cycles}, at the appointed season of the year of release, during the festival of booths,”
11 When all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Lord and Judge} in the place which He will choose, you shall read this law {torah: instruction and teaching} before all Israel in their hearing.
12 Assemble the people—the men, the women, the little ones, and your sojourner {ger: resident alien} who is within your gates—so that they may hear and so that they may learn, and so that they may fear the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Upholder} your God, and observe to do all the words of this law.
13 And their children who have not known will hear and will learn to fear the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guardian} your God {Elohim, Divine Instructor} all the days that you live on the land that you cross the Jordan to possess.
14 And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Commander} said to Moses, “Behold, your days have drawn near to die; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting {ohel mo‛ed: appointed place}, and I will command him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
15 And the LORD {YHWH, Manifest Presence} appeared in the tent in a pillar {amud: upright column} of cloud, and the pillar of the cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
16 And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guardian} said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down {shokhev: rest in death} with your fathers, and this people will arise and prostitute themselves after the foreign gods of the land to which they are entering, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I made with them.”
17 And My anger {appi: burning wrath} will flare up against them on that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed. Many evils and troubles will find them. Then, on that day, they will say, “Is it not because My God {Elohai: Covenant Watcher} is not in My midst that these evils have found me?”
18 But I {YHWH, Disciplining Judge} will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil {ra’ah: moral corruption} that he has done, for he turned to other gods.
19 And now, write for yourselves this song {shir: poetic composition}, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouth, so that this song may be for Me {Elohim, Covenant Witness} as a witness among the sons of Israel.
20 When I bring them into the land which I swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they eat, are satisfied, and become well-fed, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and they will despise Me {YHWH, Faithful Promise-Keeper} and break My covenant {beriti: binding pledge}.
21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness {le‘ed: formal legal attestation}, for it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I {YHWH, Foreknowing Judge} know their disposition, even today, before I bring them into the land to which I have sworn.
22 And Moses wrote down this song {hashirah: lyrical prophecy} that very day and taught it to the sons of Israel {bnei yisrael: covenant community}.
23 And He {YHWH, Divine Commander} commanded Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore {nishba’ti: solemn oath} to them, and I Myself will be with you.”
24 And it happened, when Moses {Mosheh: Lawgiver} finished writing all the words of this law {torah: divine instruction} in a book, until their completion,
25 Then Moses commanded the Levites {haleviyim: tribal servants}, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Giver}, saying,
26 Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guardian} your God, and it will be there as a witness {ed: legal testimony} against you.
27 For I know your rebellion {mered: revolt} and your stiff neck; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious with the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}—how much more after my death?
28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, and I will speak these words in their hearing {ozneihem: idiom for listening} and will call-as-witness {oidah: solemn summons} the heavens and the earth against them.
29 For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly {hashkhet: absolute moral ruin} and turn aside from the way which I commanded you. Calamity will come upon you in the latter days because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}, provoking Him by the work of your hands.
30 And Moses {Mosheh: Lawgiver} spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until their completion {tummam: full conclusion}.