Joshua to Succeed Moses 1And Moyses went and spake these wordes vnto all Israel, 2And sayd vnto them: I am an hundred and twentie yeres olde this day, and can no more go out and in: Also the Lorde hath sayd vnto me, Thou shalt not go ouer this Iordane. 3The Lorde thy God he wyll go ouer before thee, and he wyll destroy these nations before thee, and thou shalt possesse them: And Iosuah he shall go before thee, as the Lorde hath sayde: 4And the Lorde shall do vnto them, as he dyd to Sehon and Og kynges of the Amorites, and vnto the lande of them whom he destroyed. 5And the Lorde shall geue them ouer before your face, that ye may do vnto them accordyng vnto all the comaundementes which I haue comaunded you. 6Plucke vp your heartes therfore, and be strong, dreade not, nor be afrayde of them: for the Lorde thy God hym selfe doth go with thee, he shall not fayle thee, nor forsake thee. 7And Moyses called vnto Iosuah, and sayd vnto him in the sight of all Israel: Be strong & of good courage, for thou must go with this people vnto the lande which the Lord hath sworne vnto their fathers to geue them, and thou shalt geue it them to inherite. 8And the Lorde he doth go before thee, he shalbe with thee, he shall not fayle thee, neither forsake thee: feare not therfore, nor be discomfyted. The Reading of the Law 9And Moyses wrote this lawe, and deliuered it vnto the priestes the sonnes of Leui which bare the arke of the testament of the Lorde, and vnto all the elders of Israel. 10And Moyses comaunded them, saying: Euery seuenth yere, in the solempnitie of the free yere, euen in the feast of tabernacles, 11When all Israel is come to appeare before the Lorde thy God in the place which he hath chosen: thou shalt reade this lawe before all Israel, that they may heare it. 12Gather the people together, men, women, and children, and the straunger that is within thy gates, that they may heare, and learne, and feare the Lorde your God, and kepe and obserue all the wordes of this lawe, 13And that their children which knowe nothyng, may heare, and learne to feare the Lorde your God, as long as ye lyue in the lande whyther ye go ouer Iordane to possesse it. God Commissions Joshua 14And the Lorde sayde vnto Moyses: Beholde, thy dayes are come that thou must dye: Call Iosuah therfore, and stande ye in the tabernacle of the congregatio, that I may geue him a charge. And Moyses and Iosuah went & stood in the tabernacle of the congregation. 15And the Lorde appeared in the tabernacle, euen in the piller of the cloude: and the piller of the cloude stoode ouer the doore of the tabernacle. 16And the Lorde sayde vnto Moyses: Beholde, thou shalt sleepe with thy fathers, and this people wyll ryse vp, and go a whoryng after straunge gods of the lande whyther they go, and wyll forsake me, and breake the appoyntmet which I haue made with them. 17And then my wrath wyll waxe hot against them in that day, & I wil forsake them, & wyll hide my face from them, and they shalbe consumed, and much aduersitie and tribulations shall come vpon them, so that then they wyll say: Are not these troubles come vpon me, because God is not with me? 18And I also wyll surely hyde away my face in that day, for all the euyls sake which they shall haue wrought, in that they are turned vnto straunge gods. 19Nowe therfore write ye this song for you, and teache it the children of Israel, and put it in their mouthes, that this song may be my witnesse agaynst the children of Israel. 20For I wyll bryng them into the lande which I sware vnto their fathers, that floweth with mylke and honye: and they shall eate, and fyll them selues, and waxe fat, and turne vnto strauge gods, and serue them, and blaspheme me, and breake my couenaunt. 21And when much mischiefe and tribulation is come vpon them, this song shall aunswere them as a witnesse: For it shall not be forgotten out of the mouthes of their seede: for I knowe their imagination, which they go about euen nowe, before I haue brought the into the lande which I sware. 22Moyses therfore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. 23And he gaue Iosuah the sonne of Nun a charge, and sayde: Be bolde and strong, for thou shalt bryng the children of Israel into the lande which I sware vnto them: & I wil be with thee. The Law Placed in the Ark 24And when Moyses had made an ende of writing the wordes of this lawe in a booke, vntyll he had finished them, 25Moyses commaunded the Luites, which bare the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde, saying: 26Take ye the booke of this lawe, and put it in the syde of the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde your God, that it may be there for a witnesse agaynst thee. 27For I knowe thy rebellion and thy stiffe necke: whyle I am yet alyue with you this day, ye haue ben disobedient vnto the Lorde, and howe much more after my death? 28Gather vnto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speake these wordes in their eares, and call heauen and earth to recorde against them. 29For I am sure, that after my death ye will vtterly be corrupt, and turne from the way which I haue commaunded you: and tribulation wyll come vpon you in the latter dayes, because ye shall haue wrought wickednesse in the syght of the Lorde, to prouoke hym through the workes of your handes.
Moses Begins His Song 30And Moyses spake in the eares of all the congregation of Israel the wordes of this song, vntyll he had ended them. |