Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 31:16-30 
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.” 31:22 So on that day Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites, 31:23 and the Lord 30 commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” 31
31:24 When Moses finished writing on a scroll the words of this law in their entirety, 31:25 he 32 commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, 31:26 “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. It will remain there as a witness against you, 31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. 33 Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! 34 31:28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally 35 corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly 36 before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” 37 31:30 Then Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel.
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.
30 tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the
31 tc The LXX reads, “as the
32 tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
33 tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
34 tn Heb “How much more after my death?” The Hebrew text has a sarcastic rhetorical question here; the translation seeks to bring out the force of the question.
35 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”
36 tn Heb “do the evil.”
37 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
