Deuteronomy 31:1-13

1So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

2And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come in and go out [as your spiritual and military leader], and the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’

3It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will go across before you [to lead you], just as the Lord has said.

4The 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.

5The Lord will hand them over to you, and you shall do to them in accordance with all the commandments which I have commanded you.

6Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble in dread before them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”

7Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all [the people of] Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance.

8It is the Lord who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

9So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

10Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of year when debts are forgiven, at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles),

11when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all [the people of] Israel so that they may hear.

12Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) within your cities, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], and be careful to obey all the words of this law.

13Their children, who have not known [the law], will hear and learn to fear [and worship] the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”