Deuteronomy 31 records the final public acts of Moses before his death: his farewell words to Israel, the handing of leadership to Joshua, and the instruction to preserve the law and a song as a witness. People read this chapter to understand why Moses stepped aside, what God promised the new leader, and why Israel’s future depended on remembering the covenant. It is short, but it holds some of the most personal and sobering moments in the Torah.
Deuteronomy 31 Summary
The chapter opens with Moses telling Israel that at 120 years old he can no longer lead them across the Jordan. He reassures the people that the LORD himself will go before them, and he names Joshua as the one who will lead them in. The emphasis is on courage and faithfulness rather than on Moses’ own strength.
Moses then commissions Joshua in front of the whole nation, and the LORD calls both men to the Tent of Meeting. There God speaks plainly about Israel’s future unfaithfulness and its consequences, and he tells Moses to write a song that will testify against the people when hard times come. The chapter ends with Moses finishing the book of the law and charging the Levites to keep it beside the ark of the covenant.
Background and Setting
Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Pentateuch, and it is presented as a series of speeches Moses gave on the plains of Moab just before Israel entered Canaan. Tradition attributes the book to Moses, while many scholars see it as shaped over centuries by later editors, though the book itself places the words in Moses’ mouth. Most scholarly dating places its final form in the seventh century BC, though the material it preserves is considered much older.
The first audience is the generation that came out of Egypt and was now about to cross the river into the promised land. Chapter 31 sits near the book’s close, after the great sermons of chapters 5 to 30 and before the song of chapter 32 and the blessings of chapter 33. It marks the moment when the teaching ends and the handover of leadership begins.
Deuteronomy 31 Section by Section
Verses 1-6: The Leader Who Will Not Cross Over
2 He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3 The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as the LORD has spoken.
Deuteronomy 31:2-3 (WEB)
Moses is candid about his age and his limits. He does not pretend the people can rely on him alone; instead he points them to the LORD, who will go over the Jordan ahead of them and clear the way. Moses’ words shift the focus from a single human leader to the God who has kept the promise to Abraham’s descendants.
Verse 6 gives the people a command and a promise together: be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, because the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. Courage here is not based on confidence in a strategy or in Israel’s own power. It rests on the presence and faithfulness of God, who will not fail or forsake them.
Verses 7-8: Joshua Commissioned Before the People
7 Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 The LORD himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:7-8 (WEB)
Moses calls Joshua publicly, in the sight of all Israel, and repeats the same words of encouragement he gave the people. The commissioning is a formal act, but it is also personal: Joshua is told that he will lead a people whose inheritance was sworn to their ancestors long before. The leadership is given with a clear reminder that the land belongs to God’s promise, not to any one man’s achievement.
Joshua’s role is therefore one of faithful continuation. He will lead the people into the land, but the one who makes the journey possible is the LORD who goes before them. The verses show that succession in Israel was not about charisma but about trust in God’s word.
Verses 9-13: The Law Read Aloud to Every Generation
11 When all Israel has come to appear before the LORD your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law…
Deuteronomy 31:11-12 (WEB)
Moses writes the law and entrusts it to the priests and elders, and he sets a rhythm for public reading every seven years at the feast of tents. The gathering includes men, women, children, and foreigners living among Israel, so that everyone hears the words and learns to fear the LORD. The law is meant to be heard and absorbed, not simply stored.
The purpose is stated plainly in the chapter: so that the children who have not known the law may learn it too. Each generation has to be taught afresh, and the reading of Scripture in community becomes the means by which covenant faithfulness is passed on.
Verses 14-18: The Tent of Meeting and the Warning of Failure
16 The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’
Deuteronomy 31:16-17 (WEB)
The LORD speaks to Moses in the Tent of Meeting, appearing in a pillar of cloud, and tells him that his death is near. God also foresees that Israel will turn to the gods of the land and break the covenant, and he says his anger will be kindled and his face hidden from them. The warning is hard and does not soften the reality of human rebellion.
Yet the passage does not end in despair. The warning is given so that the people will recognize the cause of their trouble when it comes, and God’s judgment is framed within a relationship that still exists. The chapter insists that the consequences of unfaithfulness are real, and that the covenant calls for honest self-examination.
Verses 19-22: The Song as a Witness
19 “Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. 21 It will happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their ways and what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”
Deuteronomy 31:19-21 (WEB)
God instructs Moses to write a song and teach it to Israel, so that it will stand as a witness against them when they forget. The song will be put in their mouths, and it will not be forgotten by their descendants. Moses writes it the same day and teaches it to the people, which shows how seriously the command is taken.
The song functions as memory in a form people can carry. When suffering comes, the words will testify to what God said would happen and call Israel back to the covenant. Chapter 32 continues this theme directly, and this passage explains why such a song was needed at all.
Verses 23-30: Joshua Strengthened and the Book Entrusted
26 “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the LORD your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death?
Deuteronomy 31:26-27 (WEB)
God again encourages Joshua, promising to be with him as he brings Israel into the land. Moses then finishes writing the law in a book and commands the Levites to place it beside the ark of the covenant as a witness. The placement signals that the written law has a lasting authority in the life of the community.
Moses ends with a candid assessment of the people, knowing their rebellious tendencies and expecting that they will corrupt themselves after his death. The chapter closes on a note of sober honesty: the book is there to testify against Israel’s failures, but it is also the means by which God’s people can return to him. The final verse notes that Moses spoke the words of the song to the whole assembly until they were finished.
Key Themes in Deuteronomy 31
- Divine presence: The repeated promise that the LORD goes before and with Israel grounds all courage and leadership in God rather than in human ability.
- Succession in leadership: Moses passes his role to Joshua in a public and formal way, showing that God’s work continues through chosen servants.
- Public teaching of the law: Reading the law to every generation and every group, including foreigners, makes covenant faithfulness a shared responsibility.
- Honest warning of failure: God openly foresees Israel’s rebellion, which keeps the covenant relationship from becoming a comfortable assumption.
- Memory as witness: The written law and the song are preserved so that people can recognize God’s words when they fail and return to him.
Lessons From Deuteronomy 31 for Today
Many people face the end of a role they have held for years, whether a parent handing over a family business or a pastor preparing to retire. Moses shows a healthy way to step aside: he names his successor clearly, encourages him in public, and trusts that the work belongs to God rather than to one person. Leaders today can take the same posture by equipping others and speaking blessing over them.
The chapter also speaks to anyone who feels anxious about an uncertain future, such as a student starting a new school or a family moving to an unfamiliar city. Verse 6 and verse 8 repeat the same assurance: the LORD goes with you and will not fail or forsake you. That promise does not remove difficulty, but it changes the ground on which a person stands.
Finally, the call to teach the law to children and to gather the whole community to hear Scripture reminds parents, teachers, and church members that faith is handed down. A family reading a Bible passage together at the kitchen table, or a small group discussing a hard text on a weeknight, is doing the kind of remembering this chapter asks for.
Questions for Reflection
- When have you had to trust God’s presence more than your own abilities, and what did that look like?
- Who in your life needs to be encouraged or commissioned for a new responsibility, and how could you do that this week?
- How does your community make space for children and newcomers to hear and learn God’s word?
- What might it mean for you to keep a witness, such as a journal or a song, that reminds you of God’s faithfulness during hard seasons?
A Prayer From Deuteronomy 31
Lord, you have promised to go before me and to be with me when I cannot see the way ahead. I confess that I often lean on my own strength or on the people around me instead of on you. Help me to be strong and courageous because you are faithful, not because I feel ready. Teach me to pass on what I have received to those who come after me, and to remember your words when the road gets hard. Keep me near to you and steady in your word. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Moses not cross into the promised land?
Deuteronomy 31 states that the LORD had told Moses he would not go over the Jordan, and the chapter presents this as Moses’ personal limit within God’s plan. The focus is not on Moses’ failure but on the fact that God will lead Israel through Joshua. The narrative keeps God, not Moses, at the center of the people’s future.
What is the song mentioned in Deuteronomy 31?
God commands Moses to write a song and teach it to Israel so that it will serve as a witness against them when they turn away. Chapter 32 contains the song itself, which Moses recites before the assembly. Its purpose is to keep God’s covenant and warnings alive in the memory of each generation.
Why was the law read every seven years in Deuteronomy 31?
The chapter instructs that at the feast of tents in the set year of release, the whole nation should gather to hear the law read aloud. The reading includes men, women, children, and foreigners so that everyone may learn to fear the LORD and keep his words. It was a regular practice meant to shape the community’s shared faith.
