Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 330
318
IMMERSE
•
BEGINNINGS
30:20–31:14
you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God,
obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to
your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land
the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
When Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the people of
Israel, he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead
you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’ But the
Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the
nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will
lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.
“The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. The Lord will hand over
to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have
commanded you. So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do
not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead
of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him,
“Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land
that the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the
one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. Do not be afraid
or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be
with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the
priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of
Israel. Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh
year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, you must read this
Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before
the Lord your God at the place he chooses. Call them all t ogether—men,
women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may
hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and
carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn
to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are
crossing the Jordan to occupy.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die. Call
Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle, so that I may commission
