Finally, the LORD will bring you back to Egypt by ship, a place that I said you'd never see again. There you'll try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you."

These are the terms of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelis in the land of Moab in addition to the covenant that he made with them in Horeb.

Moses called all Israel together and addressed them: "You saw everything that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his whole country.

Yet to this day, the LORD hasn't given you a heart that understands, eyes that perceive, and ears that discern.

You didn't have bread to eat or wine or anything intoxicating to drink, so that you would learn that I am the LORD your God.

Then you reached this place, where King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan had come out to meet and fight with us, but we defeated them.

We captured their land and handed it as an inheritance to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant, carrying them out so that you'll be wise in everything you do."

to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God and into the oath that he is about to make with you today,

so that he will elevate you to be a people for him. And he will be God to you, just as he promised you and swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

but with whoever is here with us standing in the presence of the LORD our God today, as well as with those who aren't here with us today."

Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or a tribe whose heart is turning away from the LORD your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit,

because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say: "I will have a peaceful life, even though I'm determined to be stubborn.' By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.'

"The LORD won't forgive such a person. Instead, the zealous anger of the LORD will blaze against him. All the curses that were written in this book will fall on him. Then the LORD will wipe out his memory from under heaven.

The LORD will set him apart from all the tribes of Israel for destruction, according to the curses of the covenant that were written in this Book of the Law."

"Then the generation to come your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the LORD will inflict on it.

All the nations will ask, "Why did the LORD do this to this land? What is the meaning of this fierce and great anger?'

"Because they've abandoned the covenant of their LORD, the God of their ancestors that he had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped other gods whom they had not known and whom he did not assign to them.

For this reason, the anger of the LORD raged against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that were written in this book.

The LORD uprooted them from the land in his anger, wrath, and great fury, deporting them to another land, and that's the way things are today.'

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but what has been revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, so that we might observe the words of this Law."

"When all these things happen to you both the blessings and the curses that I've presented to you and you take them seriously in all the nations where the LORD your God will deport you,

and when you you and your descendants, that is will have returned to him and obeyed all the commands that I'm giving you today with all your heart and soul,

then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and will show compassion to you. He will gather you from among the nations where he had scattered you.

Even if the LORD had banished you to the ends of the heavens, the LORD your God will gather you from there

and he'll bring you to the land that your ancestors inherited. You'll possess it, you'll prosper, and you'll greatly multiply more than your ancestors did.

and the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all that you do, along with your children, your livestock, and the produce of your fields, because the LORD your God will again be delighted with you for good, just as he was delighted with your ancestors,

if you obey him and keep his commands and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you return to him with all your heart and soul.

They aren't in the heavens, so you have to ask, "Who'll go up to the heavens for us and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?'

And they aren't beyond the seas either, so you have to ask, "Who'll cross the sea and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?'

No, the word is very near you it's within your mouth and heart for you to attain."

That's why I'm commanding you today to love the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by observing his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live long, increase, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter to possess.

But if you turn your heart away, and do not obey, but instead if you stray away to worship and serve other gods,

I'm declaring to you today that you will surely be destroyed. You won't live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and possess.

I call heaven and earth to testify against you today! I've set life and death before you today: both blessings and curses. Choose life, that it may be well with you you and your children.

Love the LORD your God, obey his voice, and cling to him, because he is your life even your long life so that you may live in the land that the LORD promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Moses went and explained these things to everyone in Israel.

Then he concluded, "I'm now 120 years old. I'm not able to get around anymore,

and the LORD told me, "You won't be crossing the Jordan River.' But the LORD your God is crossing over before you. He will destroy these nations in front of you and you will dispossess them. As for Joshua, he will cross over before you, just as the LORD promised.

The LORD will do to them just as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when he destroyed them.

The LORD will hand them over to you, so you can do to them what I've instructed you to do.

Be strong and courageous. Don't fear or tremble before them, because the LORD your God will be the one who keeps on walking with you he won't leave you or abandon you."

Then Moses called on Joshua and told him in the presence of everyone in Israel, "Be strong and courageous, because you'll bring this people to the land that the LORD your God had promised to give your ancestors. You will be the one who causes them to possess it.

Indeed, the LORD is the one who will keep on walking in front of you. He'll be with you and won't leave you or abandon you, so never be afraid and never be dismayed."

Then Moses wrote down this Law and gave it to the Levitical priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and to all of Israel's leaders.

when all of Israel comes to appear in the presence of the LORD your God at the place that he'll choose, read this Law aloud to them.

Gather the people the men, women, children, and the foreigners that live in your cities so they may hear and fear the LORD your God, and so they may be careful to obey the words contained in this Law.

Their children who don't know will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan River to possess."

Then the LORD told Moses: "Look! Because your time to die is approaching, call Joshua, present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, and then I will commission him." Moses and Joshua complied and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Look! You are about to join your ancestors. Afterwards, this people will rebel and commit prostitution with the foreign gods of the land that they are about to enter to possess. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I made with them.

When that happens, my anger will burn against them, because they will have abandoned me. I'll hide my face from them, they will be consumed, and many evils and distresses will find them. When this happens, they will say, "These troubles have happened to us because God isn't among us.'

I'll surely hide my face in that day on account of the evil that they will have done for they turned to other gods."

"Now write this song and teach it to the Israelis. Put this song in their very mouths, so that it will be a witness for me against the Israelis,

because after I've brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised to their ancestors by an oath, they'll eat, grow fat, and then they'll turn to other gods and serve them, while despising me and breaking my covenant.

Then, when many evils and troubles will have come upon them, this song will serve as a witness against them, since their descendants won't fail to sing it. I know the plan that they are devising even before I bring them into the land that I promised them by an oath."

So Moses wrote the song that very day and taught it to the Israelis.

Then the LORD charged Nun's son Joshua, "Be strong and courageous, because you'll bring the Israelis to the land that I promised to them by an oath. I'll be with you."

he gave this charge to the descendants of Levi who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD:

because I know that after my death, you'll surely act wickedly and turn from the road that I've instructed you. As a result, evil will fall on you in days to come, because you'll act wickedly in the sight of the LORD, causing him to become angry due to your behavior."

So Moses spoke the words of this song to the very end in front of the entire assembly of Israel.

Hear, heavens, and I will speak! Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!

May my instructions descend like rain and may my words flow like dew, as light rain upon the grass, and as showers upon new plants.

For I'll proclaim the name of our LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God!

This is not the way to repay the LORD, is it, you foolish and witless people? Is he not your father, who bought you, formed you, and established you?

When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance, when he separated the human race, he set boundaries for the people according to the number of the children of God.

Like an eagle stirs its nest, hovering near its young, spreading out his wings to take him and carry him on his pinions,

They provoked him to jealousy over foreigners and to anger over detestable things.

They sacrificed to demons not to the real God gods whom they didn't know, new neighbors who had recently appeared, whom your ancestors never feared.

They provoked me to jealousy over non-gods, and to be angry over their vanity. Now I'll provoke them to jealousy over a non-people; and over a foolish nation I'll provoke them to anger.

For a fire breaks out in my anger burning to the deepest part of the afterlife, consuming the earth and its produce and igniting the foundations of the mountains.

I'll bury them in misfortunes and bring them to an end with my arrows.

if it weren't for dreading the taunting of their enemies otherwise, their adversary might misinterpret and say, "Our power is great. It isn't the LORD who made all of this happen."'"

O, that they were wise to understand this and consider their future!

How can one person chase a thousand of them and two put a myriad to flight, unless their Rock delivers them and the LORD gives them up?

For their rock isn't like our Rock, as even our enemies admit.

To me belong vengeance and recompense. In due time their feet will slip, because their time of calamity is near and the things prepared for them draw near.

For the LORD will vindicate his people and bring comfort to his servants, because he will observe that their power has waned, when neither prisoner nor free person remain.

"I solemnly swear to heaven I say "As certainly as I'm alive and living forever,

"Sing for joy, nations! Sing for joy, people who belong to him! For he'll avenge the blood of his servants, turn on his adversary, and cleanse both his land and his people."

When Moses had finished addressing all of these words to all Israel,

he told them, "Take to heart my entire testimony against you today. Command your children to observe carefully every word of this Law,

because they're not just empty words for you they are your very life. Through these instructions you will live long in the land that you are about to cross over the Jordan River to possess."

Later that day, the LORD told Moses,

"Ascend this Abarim mountain range toward Mount Nebo in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and look out over the land of Canaan that I'm about to give to the Israelis as a possession.

You will die on the mountain that you are about to ascend and be taken to be with your ancestors, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was taken to be with his ancestors.

Both of you acted unfaithfully against me among the Israelis at Meribah-kadesh in the desert of Zin, when you failed to uphold my holiness among the Israelis.

You'll see the land from a distance, but you won't be able to enter the land that I am about to give to the Israelis."

Indeed, lover of people, all of his holy ones are in your control. They gather at your feet to do as you have instructed.

"May Reuben live and not die, though his numbers are few."

He declared this about Judah: "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah and return him to his people. With his own strength he fights for himself, and you will be of assistance against his enemies."

About Levi he said: "Let your Thummim and Urim be with the man to whom you showed gracious love, whom you tested at Massah and with whom you struggled at the waters of Meribah,

the one who told his mother and father, "I don't know them,' and who would neither acknowledge his brothers nor know his own children. For they kept your word and guarded your covenant.

They will teach your ordinances to Jacob, and your Law to Israel. They will offer incense as a pleasant aroma to you and a whole burnt offering upon your altar.

About Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the LORD will live confidently, the Most High protecting him all day long, and resting in his bosom."

About Joseph he said: "May the blessing of the LORD be on his land: dew from the choicest of the heavens, and from the depths beneath;

May the firstborn of his bull be honorable to him, and may his horns be those of a wild ox. With them may he push people all together, to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh."

They will call the nations to the mountain, and there they will offer righteous sacrifices, for they'll draw from the abundance of the sea and from the hidden treasures of the sand."

may your bolts be made of iron and bronze, and may your strength be sufficient for each day you live."

"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens with its lofty clouds to help you.

So Israel lives in confidence, isolated as the fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens rain down dew.