Chronological Plan

¹“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the LORD your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions.

²If at that time you and your children return to the LORD your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today,

³then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you.

⁴Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the LORD your God will gather you from there and bring you back again.

⁵The LORD your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!

⁶“The LORD your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!

⁷The LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you.

⁸Then you will again obey the LORD and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

⁹“The LORD your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the LORD will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors.

¹⁰The LORD your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.

¹¹“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach.

¹²It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’

¹³It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’

¹⁴No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

¹⁵“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.

¹⁶For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹⁷“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods,

¹⁸then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

¹⁹“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

²⁰You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

¹When Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the people of Israel,

²he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’

³But the LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the LORD promised.

⁴“The LORD will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites.

⁵The LORD will hand over to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have commanded you.

⁶So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

⁷Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, “Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land.

⁸Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

⁹So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters,

¹¹you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the LORD your God at the place he chooses.

¹²Call them all together — men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns — so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions.

¹³Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the LORD your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle, so that I may commission him there.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle.

¹⁵And the LORD appeared to them in a pillar of cloud that stood at the entrance to the sacred tent.

¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them.

¹⁷Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say, ‘These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’

¹⁸At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods.

¹⁹“So write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Help them learn it, so it may serve as a witness for me against them.

²⁰For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors — a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat. But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant.

²¹And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.”

²²So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites.

²³Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

²⁴When Moses had finished writing this entire body of instruction in a book,

²⁵he gave this command to the Levites who carried the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant:

²⁶“Take this Book of Instruction and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, so it may remain there as a witness against the people of Israel.

²⁷For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still alive and am here with you, you have rebelled against the LORD. How much more rebellious will you be after my death!

²⁸“Now summon all the elders and officials of your tribes, so that I can speak to them directly and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

²⁹I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the LORD’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.”

³⁰So Moses recited this entire song publicly to the assembly of Israel: