¹ And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

² And he said to them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said to me, thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

³ The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua he shall go over before thee, as The LORD hath said.

⁴ And the LORD shall do to them as he did to Sihon, and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and to the land of them, whom he destroyed.

⁵ And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.

⁶ Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee, he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

⁷ And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people to the land which the LORD hath sworn to their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

⁸ And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

⁹ And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

¹¹ When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

¹² Convene the people, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy 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:

¹³ And that their children who have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

¹⁴ And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹⁵ And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud; and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁶ And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up, and commit idolatry with the gods of the strangers of the land, whither 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 befall them, so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

¹⁸ And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned to other gods.

¹⁹ Now therefore write ye this song for you, 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 shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

²¹ And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles have befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness: for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they form, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.

²² Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

²³ And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them: and I will be with thee.

²⁴ And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

²⁵ That Moses commanded the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

²⁶ Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

²⁷ For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?

²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.

²⁹ For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

³⁰ And Moses spoke in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until they were ended.

¹ Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

² He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

³ and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant.

⁴ Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵ I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

⁷ Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.

⁸ He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹ They asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He said, "See, in the tent."

¹⁰ He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹² Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

¹³ Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?'

¹⁴ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

¹⁶ The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

¹⁷ Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do,

¹⁸ since Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

¹⁹ For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."

²⁰ Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,

²¹ I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."

²² The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh.

²³ Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?

²⁵ Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"

²⁶ Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

²⁷ Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.

²⁸ What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."

²⁹ He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

³⁰ He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

³¹ He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

³² He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

³³ Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.