15. The Lord appeared at the Tent in a tall cloud. The tall cloud stood over the entrance of the Tent.
16. The Lord said to Moses, “You will die soon. And after you have gone to be with your ancestors, these people will not continue to be faithful to me. They will break the agreement I made with them. They will leave me and begin worshiping other gods—the false gods of the land where they are going.
17. At that time I will become very angry with them, and I will leave them. I will refuse to help them, and they will be destroyed. Terrible things will happen to them, and they will have many troubles. Then they will say, ‘These bad things happened to us because our God is not with us.’
18. And I will refuse to help them, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods.
19. “So write down this song, and teach it to the Israelites. Teach them to sing this song. Then this song will be a witness for me against the Israelites.
20. I will take them into the land that I promised to give to their ancestors—a land filled with many good things. And they will have all they want to eat. They will have a rich life. But then they will turn to other gods and serve them. They will turn away from me and break my agreement.
21. Then many terrible things will happen to them. They will have many troubles. At that time their descendants will still know this song, and it will show them how wrong they are. I have not yet taken them into the land I promised to give them. But I already know what they are planning to do there.”
22. So that same day Moses wrote down the song and taught it to the Israelites.
23. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and brave. You will lead the Israelites into the land I promised them, and I will be with you.”
24. Moses carefully wrote all these teachings in a book. When he finished,
25. he gave a command to the Levites. (These men carry the Lord’S Box of the Agreement.) Moses said,
26. “Take this Book of Teachings and put it by the side of the Box of the Agreement of the Lord your God. Then it will be a witness against you.