Deuteronomy 31:6

Deuteronomy 31:6, in plain English

Moses gives them the most important command: be strong and courageous, because the Lord your God is going with you and will never abandon you.

Why it's here

You can feel the weight here. Moses knows they're about to face their biggest challenge—crossing into hostile territory. Fear would be natural. So he's not giving them a pep talk about their own strength; he's pointing them to God's presence. That's what courage actually looks like in Scripture—not the absence of fear, but trust in God despite it.

Who's speaking

Moses is speaking to all Israel.

Where it sits in the story

This promise—that God will never leave or forsake them—becomes a refrain throughout Israel's history. It's what they'll cling to in hard times, and it's what you and I still hold onto today.

The scholarly reading

Moses exhorts Israel to courage grounded not in military superiority but in YHWH's covenantal presence—a repeated assurance that God will neither abandon nor fail them.

Language and setting

The rhetoric of strength and courage (חֲזַק וֶאֱמַץ, chazak we'ematz) appears formulaically at critical transitions (Joshua 1:6-7, 1 Chronicles 28:20). The negative construction 'do not be afraid' (אַל־תִּירְאוּ, al-tir'u) echoes Exodus 14:13. Theologically, this verse embodies what we might call 'covenantal ontology'—Israel's security derives not from tactical advantage but from relational standing with the Divine. The promise 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' (לֹא אֶעְזְבְךָ וְלֹא אַעֲזֹבְךָ, lo e'ezv'cha v'lo a'azov'cha) employs emphatic negation through infinitive absolute, linguistically reinforcing absolute reliability.

Voice

Moses to Israel.

Significance

This reassurance establishes the spiritual foundation that sustains Israel throughout Joshua's campaigns and prefigures Jesus's word to disciples in Matthew 28:20, creating continuity between Old and New Testament soteriology.

4And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, when He destroyed them along with their land.

5The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.

6Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

7Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

8The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Read all of Deuteronomy 31 — Moses commissions Joshua and writes the law in a book. He knows they'll rebel — and writes a song to remind them why.