Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 31:16-21 
Context31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, 1 and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they 2 are going. They 3 will reject 4 me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 5 31:17 At that time 6 my anger will erupt against them 7 and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome 8 them 9 so that they 10 will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters 11 overcome us 12 because our 13 God is not among us 14 ?’ 31:18 But I will certainly 15 hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they 16 will have done by turning to other gods. 31:19 Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites. Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites! 31:20 For after I have brought them 17 to the land I promised to their 18 ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they 19 eat their fill 20 and become fat, then they 21 will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant. 31:21 Then when 22 many disasters and distresses overcome them 23 this song will testify against them, 24 for their 25 descendants will not forget it. 26 I know the 27 intentions they have in mind 28 today, even before I bring them 29 to the land I have promised.”
1 tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”
2 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
4 tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).
5 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
6 tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.
7 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
8 tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”
9 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
10 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
11 tn Heb “evils.”
12 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
13 tn Heb “my.”
14 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
15 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
16 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
17 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
18 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
19 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
20 tn Heb “and are satisfied.”
21 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
22 tn Heb “Then it will come to pass that.”
23 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
24 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
25 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
26 tn Heb “it will not be forgotten from the mouth of his seed.”
27 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
28 tn Heb “which he is doing.”
29 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
