by Septuagint
[10] Ye all stand to-day before the Lord your God, the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your officers, every man of Israel, [11] your wives, and your children, and the stranger who is in the midst of your camp, from your hewer of wood even to your drawer of water, [12] that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God and into his oaths, as many as the Lord thy God appoints thee this day; [13] that he may appoint thee to himself for a people, and he shall be thy God, as he said to thee, and as he sware to thy fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob. [14] And I do not appoint to you alone this covenant and this oath; [15] but to those also who are here with you to-day before the Lord your God, and to those who are not here with you to-day.
[16] For ye know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, how we came through the midst of the nations through whom ye came. [17] And ye beheld their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which are among them. [18] Lest there be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart has turned aside from the Lord your God, having gone to serve the gods of these nations; lest there be in you a root springing up with gall and bitterness. [19] And it shall be if one shall hear the words of this curse, and shall flatter himself in his heart, saying, Let good happen to me, for I will walk in the error of my heart, lest the sinner destroy the guiltless with him: [20] God shall by no means be willing to pardon him, but then the wrath of the Lord and his jealousy shall flame out against that man; and all the curses of this covenant shall attach themselves to him, which are written in this book, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. [21] And the Lord shall separate that man for evil of all the children of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in the book of this law.
[22] And another generation shall say — even your sons who shall rise up after you, and the stranger who shall come from a land afar off, and shall see the plagues of that land and their diseases, which the Lord has sent upon it, [23] brimstone and burning salt, (the whole land shall not be sown, neither shall any green thing spring, nor rise upon it, as Sodom and Gomorrha were overthrown, Adama and Seboim, which the Lord overthrew in his wrath and anger:) — [24] and all the nations shall say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land? what is this great fierceness of anger? [25] And men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, the things which he appointed to their fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt: [26] and they went and served other gods, which they knew not, neither did he assign them to them. [27] And the Lord was exceedingly angry with that land to bring upon it according to all the curses which are written in the book of this law. [28] And the Lord removed them from their land in anger, and wrath, and very great indignation, and cast them out into another land as at present.
[29] The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, to do all the words of this law.
Chapter 30
[1] And it shall come to pass when all these things shall have come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thy face, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, wherein the Lord shall have scattered thee, [2] and shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice, according to all things which I charge thee this day, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; [3] then the Lord shall heal thine iniquities, and shall pity thee, and shall again gather thee out from all the nations, among which the Lord has scattered thee. [4] If thy dispersion be from one end of heaven to the other, thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and thence will the Lord thy God take thee. [5] And the Lord thy God shall bring thee in from thence into the land which thy fathers have inherited, and thou shalt inherit it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. [6] And the Lord shall purge thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
[7] And the Lord thy God will put these curses upon thine enemies, and upon those that hate thee, who have persecuted thee. [8] And thou shalt return and hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and shall keep his commands, all that I charge thee this day. [9] And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in every work of thine hands, in the offspring of thy body, and in the offspring of thy cattle, and in the fruits of thy land, because the Lord thy God will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: [10] if thou wilt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments, and his ordinances, and his judgments written in the book of this law, if thou turn to the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
[11] For this command which I give thee this day is not grievous, neither is it far from thee. [12] It is not in heaven above, as if there were one saying, Who shall go up for us into heaven, and shall take it for us, and we will hear and do it? [13] Neither is it beyond the sea, saying, Who will go over for us to the other side of the sea, and take it for us, and make it audible to us, and we will do it? [14] The word is very near thee, in thy mouth, and in thine heart, and in thine hands to do it.
[15] Behold, I have set before thee this day life and death, good and evil. [16] If thou wilt hearken to the commands of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his ordinances, and his judgments; then ye shall live, and shall be many in number, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all the land into which thou goest to inherit it. [17] But if thy heart change, and thou wilt not hearken, and thou shalt go astray and worship other gods, and serve them, [18] I declare to you this day, that ye shall utterly perish, and ye shall by no means live long upon the land, into which ye go over Jordan to inherit it. [19] I call both heaven and earth to witness this day against you, I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: choose thou life, that thou and thy seed may live; [20] to love the Lord thy God, to hearken to his voice, and cleave to him; for this is thy life, and the length of thy days, that thou shouldest dwell upon the land, which the Lord sware to thy fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them.
Chapter 31
[1] And Moses finished speaking all these words to all the children of Israel; [2] and said to them, I am this day a hundred and twenty years old; I shall not be able any longer to come in or go out; and the Lord said to me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. [3] The Lord thy God who goes before thee, he shall destroy these nations before thee, and thou shalt inherit them: and it shall be Joshua that goes before thy face, as the Lord has spoken. [4] And the Lord thy God shall do to them as he did to Seon and Og the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan, and to their land, as he destroyed them. [5] And the Lord has delivered them to you; and ye shall do to them, as I charged you. [6] Be courageous and strong, fear not, neither be cowardly neither be afraid before them; for it is the Lord your God that advances with you in the midst of you, neither will he by any means forsake thee, nor desert thee. [7] And Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous and strong; for thou shalt go in before this people into the land which the Lord sware to your fathers to give to them, and thou shalt give it to them for an inheritance. [8] And the Lord that goes with thee shall not forsake thee nor abandon thee; fear not, neither be afraid.
[9] And Moses wrote the words of this law in a book, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to the elders of the sons of Israel.
[10] And Moses charged them in that day, saying, After seven years, in the time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, [11] when all Israel come together to appear before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, ye shall read this law before all Israel in their ears, [12] having assembled the people, the men, and the women, and the children, and the stranger that is in your cities, that they may hear, and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God; and they shall hearken to do all the words of this law. [13]
And their sons who have not known shall hear, and shall learn to fear the Lord thy God all the days that they live upon the land, into which ye go over Jordan to inherit it.
[14] And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, the days of thy death are at hand; call Joshua, and stand ye by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and I will give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went to the tabernacle of testimony, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony. [15] And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony; and the pillar of the cloud stood by the doors of the tabernacle of testimony. [16] And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, into which they are entering: and they will forsake me, and break my covenant, which I made with them. [17] And I will be very angry with them in that day, and I will leave them and turn my face away from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and afflictions shall come upon them; and they shall say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have come upon me. [18] And I will surely turn away my face from them in that day, because of all their evil doings which they have done, because they turned aside after strange gods.
[19] And now write the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel, and ye shall put it into their mouth, that this song may witness for me among the children of Israel to their face. [20] For I will bring them into the good land, which I sware to their fathers, to give to them a land flowing with milk and honey: and they shall eat and be filled and satisfy themselves; then will they turn aside after other gods, and serve them, and they will provoke me, and break my covenant. [21] And this song shall stand up to witness against them; for they shall not forget it out of their mouth, or out of the mouth of their seed; for I know their wickedness, what they are doing here this day, before I have brought them into the good land, which I sware to their fathers.
[22] And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel. [23] And he charged Joshua, and said, Be courageous and strong, for thou shalt bring the sons of Israel into the land, which the Lord sware to them, and he shall be with thee.
[24] And when Moses finished writing all the words of this law in a book, even to the end, [25] then he charged the Levites who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, [26] Take the book of this law, and ye shall put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it shall be there among you for a testimony. [27] For I know thy provocation, and thy stiff neck; for yet during my life with you at this day, ye have been provoking in your conduct toward God: how shall ye not also be so after my death? [28] Gather together to me the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your officers, that I may speak in their ears all these words; and I call both heaven and earth to witness against them. [29] For I know that after my death ye will utterly transgress, and turn aside out of the way which I have commanded you; and evils shall come upon you in the latter days, because ye will do evil before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of your hands.
And Moses spoke all the words of this song even to the end, in the ears of the whole assembly.
Chapter 32
[1] Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words out of my mouth. [2] Let my speech be looked for as the rain, and my words come down as dew, as the shower upon the herbage, and as snow upon the grass. [3] For I have called on the name of the Lord: assign ye greatness to our God. [4] As for God, his works are true, and all his ways are judgment: God is faithful, and there is no unrighteousness in him; just and holy is the Lord. [5] They have sinned, not pleasing him; spotted children, a froward and perverse generation. [6] Do ye thus recompense the Lord? is the people thus foolish and unwise? did not he himself thy father purchase thee, and make thee, and form thee? [7] Remember the days of old, consider the years for past ages: ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee, thine elders, and they shall tell thee.
[8] When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. [9] And his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of his inheritance. [10] He maintained him in the wilderness, in burning thirst and a dry land: he led him about and instructed him, and kept him as the apple of an eye. [11] As an eagle would watch over his brood, and yearns over his young, receives them having spread his wings, and takes them up on his back: [12] the Lord alone led them, there was no strange god with them. [13] He brought them up on the strength of the land; he fed them with the fruits of the fields; they sucked honey out of the rock, and oil out of the solid rock. [14] Butter of cows, and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams, of calves and kids, with fat of kidneys of wheat; and he drank wine, the blood of the grape. [15] So Jacob ate and was filled, and the beloved one kicked; he grew fat, he became thick and broad: then he forsook the God that made him, and departed from God his Saviour.
[16] They provoked me to anger with strange gods; with their abominations they bitterly angered me. [17] They sacrificed to devils, and not to God; to gods whom they knew not: new and fresh gods came in, whom their fathers knew not. [18] Thou hast forsaken God that begot thee, and forgotten God who feeds thee.
[19] And the Lord saw, and was jealous; and was provoked by the anger of his sons and daughters, [20] and said, I will turn away my face from them, and will show what shall happen to them in the last days; for it is a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faith.
[21] They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God, they have exasperated me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with them that are no nation, I will anger them with a nation void of understanding. [22] For a fire has been kindled out of my wrath, it shall burn to hell below; it shall devour the land, and the fruits of it; it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains. [23] I will gather evils upon them, and will fight with my weapons against them. [24] They shall be consumed with hunger and the devouring of birds, and there shall be irremediable destruction: I will send forth against them the teeth of wild beasts, with the rage of serpents creeping on the ground. [25] Without, the sword shall bereave them of children, and terror shall issue out of the secret chambers; the young man shall perish with the virgin, the suckling with him who has grown old. [26] I said, I will scatter them, and I will cause their memorial to cease from among men. [27] Were it not for the wrath of the enemy, lest they should live long, lest their enemies should combine against them; lest they should say, Our own high arm, and not the Lord, has done all these things.
[28] It is a nation that has lost counsel, neither is there understanding in them. [29] They had not sense to understand: let them reserve these things against the time to come. [30] How should one pursue a thousand, and two rout tens of thousands, if God had not sold them, and the Lord delivered them up? [31] For their gods are not as our God, but our enemies are void of understanding. [32] For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their vine-branch of Gomorrha: their grape is a grape of gall, their cluster is one of bitterness. [33] Their wine is the rage of serpents, and the incurable rage of asps. [34] Lo! are not these things stored up by me, and sealed among my treasures? [35] In the day of vengeance I will recompense, whensoever their foot shall be tripped up; for the day of their destruction is near to them, and the judgments at hand are close upon you. [36] For the Lord shall judge his people, and shall be comforted over his servants; for he saw that they were utterly weakened, and failed in the hostile invasion, and were become feeble: [37] and the Lord said, Where are their gods on whom they trusted? [38] the fat of whose sacrifices ye ate, and ye drank the wine of their drink-offerings? let them arise and help you, and be your protectors. [39] Behold, behold that I am he, and there is no god beside me: I kill, and I will make to live: I will smite, and I will heal; and there is none who shall deliver out of my hands. [40] For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my
right hand, and I will say, I live for ever. [41] For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render judgment to my enemies, and will recompense them that hate me. [42] I will make my weapons drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, it shall glut itself with the blood of the wounded, and from the captivity of the heads of their enemies that rule over them.
[43] Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.
[44] And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel; and Moses went in and spoke all the words of this law in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Naue. [45] And Moses finished speaking to all Israel. [46] And he said to them, Take heed with your heart to all these words, which I testify to you this day, which ye shall command your sons, to observe and do all the words of this law. [47] For this is no vain word to you; for it is your life, and because of this word ye shall live long upon the land, into which ye go over Jordan to inherit it. [48] And the Lord spoke to Moses in this day, saying, [49] Go up to the mount Abarim, this mountain Nabau which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho, and behold the land of Chanaan, which I give to the sons of Israel: [50] and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be added to thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Or, and was added to his people. [51] Because ye disobeyed my word among the children of Israel, at the waters of strife of Cades in the wilderness of Sin; because ye sanctified me not among the sons of Israel. [52] Thou shalt see the land before thee, but thou shalt not enter into it.