“Be Strong and Courageous”

¹Moses went and spoke these words to all of Israel. ²He told them, "I'm 120 years old today. I can no longer lead you in and out of battle. And the LORD has told me, 'You will not cross the Jordan.' ³But the LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations in your path so you can take their land. Joshua will lead you across, just as the LORD has promised. ⁴The LORD will do to them exactly what he did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their land — he wiped them out completely. ⁵The LORD will hand them over to you, and you must deal with them exactly as I've commanded you. ⁶Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid of them or let them intimidate you, because the LORD your God is the one going with you. He will never fail you or abandon you." ⁷Then Moses called Joshua forward and said to him in front of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, because you are the one who will lead this people into the land the LORD promised their ancestors. You will help them take possession of it. ⁸The LORD himself goes ahead of you. He will be with you. He won't fail you or abandon you. Don't be afraid, and don't lose heart." ⁹Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests — the descendants of Levi who carried the ark of the LORD's covenant — and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Moses gave them this command: "At the end of every 7 years, during the year of debt cancellation, at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹when all Israel comes to stand before the LORD your God at the place he chooses, you must read this law out loud so that all Israel can hear it. ¹²Gather everyone together — men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns — so they can listen, learn, and fear the LORD your God, and carefully follow every word of this law. ¹³Their children who don't yet know this law must also hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God for as long as you live in the land you're crossing the Jordan to possess." ¹⁴The LORD said to Moses, "The time of your death is near. Bring Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting so I can commission him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵The LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent. ¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, "Look, you will sleep with your fathers. Then this people will rise up and go whoring after the gods of the foreigners of the land where they are going to live among them. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them." ¹⁷When that happens, my anger will burn against them. I will abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be destroyed, and disaster after disaster will crash down on them. Then they'll say, 'Aren't these terrible things happening because our God is no longer with us?' ¹⁸And I will absolutely hide my face from them on that day because of all the evil they've done by turning to other gods. ¹⁹So write down this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Make them memorize it, so that this song will serve as my witness against them. ²⁰When I bring them into the land I promised their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat until they are full and grow fat. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them, provoking me and breaking my covenant. ²¹When wave after wave of disaster and trouble hits them, this song will stand as a witness against them, because their descendants will never forget it. I already know the intentions forming in their hearts, even now, before I've brought them into the land I promised." ²²That same day, Moses wrote down the song and taught it to the people of Israel. ²³Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, "Be strong and courageous, because you will bring the people of Israel into the land I promised them. I will be with you."