Final Speeches and the Death of Moses
Joshua Is Appointed the Leader of Israel
1 Moses again spoke to the whole nation of Israel:
2 I am 120 years old, and I am no longer able to be your leader. And besides that, the Lord your God has told me that he won't let me cross the Jordan River. 3-5 But he has promised that he and Joshua will lead you across the Jordan to attack the nations that live on the other side. The Lord will destroy those nations just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings. Just remember—whenever you capture a place, kill everyone who lives there.
6 Be brave and strong! Don't be afraid of the nations on the other side of the Jordan. The Lord your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.
7 Then Moses called Joshua up in front of the crowd and said:
Joshua, be brave and strong as you lead these people into their land. The Lord made a promise long ago to Israel's ancestors that this land would someday belong to Israel. That time has now come, and you must divide up the land among the people. 8 The Lord will lead you into the land. He will always be with you and help you, so don't ever be afraid of your enemies.
Read These Laws
9 Moses wrote down all of these laws and teachings and gave them to the priests and the leaders of Israel. The priests were from the Levi tribe, and they carried the sacred chest that belonged to the Lord. 10-11 Moses told these priests and leaders:
Each year the Israelites must come together to celebrate the Festival of Shelters at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. You must read these laws and teachings to the people at the festival every seventh year, the year when loans do not need to be repaid. 12-13 Everyone must come—men, women, children, and even the foreigners who live in your towns. And each new generation will listen and learn to worship the Lord their God with fear and trembling and to do exactly what is said in God's Law.
Israel Will Reject the Lord
14 The Lord told Moses, “You will soon die, so bring Joshua to the sacred tent, and I will appoint him the leader of Israel.”
Moses and Joshua went to the sacred tent, 15 and the Lord appeared in a thick cloud right over the entrance to the tent. 16 The Lord said:
Moses, you will soon die. But Israel is going into a land where other gods are worshiped, and Israel will reject me and start worshiping these gods. The people will break the agreement I made with them, 17 and I will be so furious that I will abandon them and ignore their prayers. I will send disasters and suffering that will nearly wipe them out. Finally, they will realize that the disasters happened because I abandoned them. 18 They will pray to me, but I will ignore them because they were evil and started worshiping other gods.
19 Moses and Joshua, I am going to give you the words to a new song. Write them down and teach the song to the Israelites. If they learn it, they will know what I want them to do, and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me. 20 I am bringing them into the land that I promised their ancestors. It is a land rich with milk and honey, and the Israelites will have more than enough food to eat. But they will get fat and turn their backs on me and start worshiping other gods. The Israelites will reject me and break the agreement that I made with them.
21 When I punish the Israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters, I will remind them that they know the words to this song, so they have no excuse for not obeying me.
I will give them the land that I promised, but I know the way they are going to live later on.
22 Moses at once wrote down the words to the song, and he taught it to the Israelites.
23 The Lord told Joshua, “Be brave and strong! I will help you lead the people of Israel into the land that I have promised them.”
24 Moses wrote down all these laws and teachings in a book, 25 then he went to the Levites who carried the sacred chest and said:
26 This is The Book of God's Law. Keep it beside the sacred chest that holds the agreement the Lord your God made with Israel. This book is proof that you know what the Lord wants you to do. 27 I know how stubborn and rebellious you and the rest of the Israelites are. You have rebelled against the Lord while I have been alive, and it will only get worse after I am gone. 28 So call together the leaders and officials of the tribes of Israel. I will bring this book and read every word of it to you, and I will call the sky and the earth as witnesses that all of you know what you are supposed to do.
29 I am going to die soon, and I know that in the future you will stop caring about what is right and what is wrong, and so you will disobey the Lord and stop living the way I told you to live. The Lord will be angry, and terrible things will happen to you.
The Song of Moses
30 Moses called a meeting of all the people of Israel, so he could teach them the words to the song that the Lord had given him. And here are the words:
Josua omushikuli waMoses
1 Opo nee Moses okwa ya ndele okwa lombwela Ovaisraeli aveshe eendjovo edi; 2 ndele ta ti kuvo: “Nena eli nda wanifa omido efele nomilongo mbali. Ame nghi dulu vali okupita nokuuya mo, nOmwene okwa lombwela nge: ‘Ito tauluka omulonga ou waJordan.’ 3 Omwene Kalunga keni, Ye ote ke mu tetekela okutauluka. Ye ota ka hanauna po oiwana oyo komesho yeni, ndele tamu ke i taataa mo moshilongo shayo. Josua te mu kwatele komesho, ngaashi Omwene a tongele. 4 NOmwene ngaashi a ningile Sihon naOg, eehamba dOvaamori noshilongo shado, odo Ye e di hanauna po. 5 Omwene te va yandje momake eni, ndele nye mu noku va ningila naanaa pashipango ame nde shi mu lombwela. 6 Kala wa pama nokunyatipala. Ino tila. Ino va haluka. Osheshi Omwene Kalunga koye ta ende pamwe naave. Ye ite ku efa ndele ite ku fii po.”
7 Opo nee Moses okwa ifana Josua nokwe mu lombwela moipafi yOvaisraeli ndele ta ti: “Kala wa pama, nyatipala, osheshi ove to ka ya mo novana ava medu olo, Omwene e li udanekela ooxo nokwaana e li va pe; ndele ove to ke li va tukulila efyuululo. 8 NOmwene ote ku tetekele. Ye ota ka kala naave. Ye ite ku efa ndele ite ku fii po. Ino tila. Ino haluka.”
Omudo omutiheyali keshe omhango i nokuleshelwa ovanhu
9 Ndele Moses okwa shangela membo omhango ei, nokwe li yandja kovapristeli, Ovalevi, ava va li ve nokuhumbata oshikefa shehangano lOmwene nokovakulunhu vOvaisraeli. 10 Ndele Moses okwe va lombwela ndele ta ti: “Pexulilo lomudo omutiheyali; mefimbo la pangelwa, momudo wemangululo, moshivilo shomatwali, 11 Ovaisraeli aveshe eshi tave uya va holoke koshipala shOmwene Kalunga koye monhele oyo Ye te ke i hoolola, ove u nokulesha omhango ei moipafi yOvaisraeli aveshe, momatwi avo. 12 Ongela oshiwana, ovalumenhu novakainhu nounona nomunailongo woye, ou e li peenhu doye, opo va shiive okuuda nokulongwa okutila Omwene Kalunga keni nokudiinina shili eendjovo adishe domhango ei. 13 Nounona ava inave i shiiva, ve nokuuda nokulongwa okutila Omwene Kalunga keni momafiku aeshe nye tamu kala mu nomwenyo moshilongo omo tamu i okutauluka Jordan, mu ke shi nangale.”
Eliteeko lOvaisraeli tali shiivifwa
14 NOmwene okwa lombwela Moses, ndele ta ti: “Tala, omafiku oye taa ehene, ove u nokufya. Ifana Josua ndele indeni mu ka kale ofika metwali leongalo, Ame ndi shiive oku mu lombwela omalombwelo ange.” Opo nee Moses naJosua va ya va ka kale ofika metwali leongalo. 15 NOmwene okwa holoka moluudi loshilemo metwali, fimbo oluudi loshilemo la kanghama poshivelo shetwali.
16 Opo nee Omwene okwa lombwela Moses, ndele ta ti: “Tala, ove to ka nangala pooxo, novanhu ava tava ka fikama, ndele tava ka shikula oikalunga imwe yomoshilongo omo tava i, ndele tave ke liteeka nge nokuteya po ehangano Ame nde li ninga navo. 17 Opo nee mefiku tuu olo, ehandu lange tali ke va xwamena, ndele Ame ohandi ke va efa noku va holeka oshipala shange, ndele tava ka hanaunwa po, noiponga ihapu noluhepo tali uya kombada yavo. Opo nee mefiku tuu olo tava ka tya: Oiponga ei inai uya mbela kombada yetu, Kalunga ketu eshi ehe mo mokati ketu? 18 Ndelenee Ame mefiku tuu olo, ohandi ka holeka shili oshipala shange kuvo omolwowii aushe vo ve u ninga, shaashi va ama koikalunga imwe.
19 “Onghee hano lishangeleni eimbilo eli ndele li longeni ovana vaIsrael. Li tula momakanya avo, opo eimbilo olo li ninge kwaame ondobwedi okupa ovana vaIsrael oushima. 20 Osheshi Ame ohandi ke va twala mo moshilongo nde shi udanekela ooxo nokwaana, oshilongo tashi kunguluka omashini nomaadi eenyiki, ndele vo otava ka lya nokukuta nokwoondoka. Opo nee vo tave ke liameka koikalunga imwe noku i longela, ndele tava ka dina nge nokuteya po ehangano lange. 21 Ndele oiponga ihapu noluhepo, eshi tali uya kombada yavo, eimbilo eli tali ka ninga ondobwedi moipafi yavo oku va pa oushima, osheshi itali ka dimbuwa mo momakanya oludalo lavo, osheshi omadiladilo avo Ame ondi a shii, aa tave a diladila nonena eli nokuli, fimbo inandi va twala moshilongo nde shi va udanekela nokwaana.”
22 Opo nee Moses okwa shangela membo eimbilo olo mefiku tuu olo, nokwe li longa ovana vaIsrael. 23 Ndele Ye okwa lombwela Josua yaNun ndele ta ti: “Kala wa pama ndele nyatipala, osheshi ove oto ka twala ovana vaIsrael moshilongo nde shi va udanekela nokwaana; ndele Ame ohandi ka kala pamwe nanye.”
24 Ndele Moses eshi a mana okushangela membo eendjovo domhango ei, 25 Moses okwa lombwela Ovalevi ava hava humbata oshikefa shehangano lOmwene, ndele ta ti: 26 “Tambuleni embo eli lomhango mu li tulike pomunghulo woshikefa shehangano lOmwene Kalunga keni, opo li kale ko ondobwedi oku mu pa oushima. 27 Osheshi okwaanya kwoye noukukutu wofingo yoye ondi u shii. Nye eshi mwa li mu nondubo nOmwene nena, fimbo ame ndi nomwenyo, otamu ka kala mwa tya ngahelipi ame ngeenge nda fi? 28 Shiveni ovakulunhu aveshe vomapata eni novapashukili veni, va ongale pwaame, opo ndi shiive okwiifana eulu nedu, a ninge eendobwedi. 29 Osheshi ame ndi shi shii nokutya, konima yefyo lange nye otamu ka yapuka mo mondjila nde i mu lombwela, opo omupya tau ke mu hanga pexulilo lomafiku, shaashi nye otamu ka ninga osho shii momesho Omwene, eshi tamu mu handukifa noilonga yomake eni.”
Eimbilo laMoses kelombwelo laKalunga
30 Opo nee Moses okwa tonga moipafi yoshiongalele ashishe shaIsrael eendjovo deimbilo eli fiyo okexulilo lalo:
