Two Leaders: Moshe's Legacy Continued in Yehoshua's leadership

(1) And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. (2) And he said: The LORD came from Sinai, And rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, And He came from the myriads holy, At His right hand was a fiery law unto them. (3) Yea, He loveth the peoples, All His holy ones—they are in Thy hand; And they sit down at Thy feet, Receiving of Thy words. (4) Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. (5) And there was a king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together. (6) Let Reuben live, and not die In that his men become few. (7) And this for Judah, and he said: Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, And bring him in unto his people; His hands shall contend for him, And Thou shalt be a help against his adversaries. (8) And of Levi he said: Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one, Whom Thou didst prove at Massah, With whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; (9) Who said of his father, and of his mother: ‘I have not seen him’; Neither did he acknowledge his brethren, Nor knew he his own children; For they have observed Thy word, And keep Thy covenant. (10) They shall teach Jacob Thine ordinances, And Israel Thy law; They shall put incense before Thee, And whole burnt-offering upon Thine altar. . (11) Bless, LORD, his substance, And accept the work of his hands; Smite through the loins of them that rise up against him, And of them that hate him, that they rise not again. (12) Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him; He covereth him all the day, And He dwelleth between his shoulders. (13) And of Joseph he said: Blessed of the LORD be his land; For the precious things of heaven, for the dew, And for the deep that coucheth beneath, (14) And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, And for the precious things of the yield of the moons, (15) And for the tops of the ancient mountains, And for the precious things of the everlasting hills, (16) And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, And the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush; Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, And upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brethren. (17) His firstling bullock, majesty is his; And his horns are the horns of the wild-ox; With them he shall gore the peoples all of them, even the ends of the earth; And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh. (18) And of Zebulun he said: Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out, And, Issachar, in thy tents. (19) They shall call peoples unto the mountain; There shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they shall suck the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand. (20) And of Gad he said: Blessed be He that enlargeth Gad; He dwelleth as a lioness, And teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head. (21) And he chose a first part for himself, For there a portion of a ruler was reserved; And there came the heads of the people, He executed the righteousness of the LORD, And His ordinances with Israel. . (22) And of Dan he said: Dan is a lion’s whelp, That leapeth forth from Bashan. (23) And of Naphtali he said: O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, And full with the blessing of the LORD: Possess thou the sea and the south. (24) And of Asher he said: Blessed be Asher above sons; Let him be the favoured of his brethren, And let him dip his foot in oil. (25) Iron and brass shall be thy bars; And as thy days, so shall thy strength be. (26) There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun, Who rideth upon the heaven as thy help, And in His excellency on the skies. (27) The eternal God is a dwelling-place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He thrust out the enemy from before thee, And said: ‘Destroy.’ (28) And Israel dwelleth in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of corn and wine; Yea, his heavens drop down dew. (29) Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee? A people saved by the LORD, The shield of thy help, And that is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall dwindle away before thee; And thou shalt tread upon their high places.

(1) And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, even Gilead as far as Dan; (2) and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the hinder sea; (3) and the South, and the Plain, even the valley of Jericho the city of palm-trees, as far as Zoar. (4) And the LORD said unto him: ‘This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying: I will give it unto thy seed; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.’ (5) So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. (6) And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor; and no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. (7) And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. (8) And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; so the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended. (9) And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. (10) And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face; (11) in all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; (12) and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel.

(1) Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’minister, saying: (2) ’Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. (3) Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spoke unto Moses. (4) From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. (5) There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (6) Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them. (7) Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest. (8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy ways prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (9) Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ (10) Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying: (11) ’Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying: Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.’ (12) And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, spoke Joshua, saying: (13) ’Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, you, saying: The LORD your God giveth you rest, and will give you this land. (14) Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall abide in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but ye shall pass over before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and shall help them; (15) until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as unto you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them; then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and possess it, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising.’ (16) And they answered Joshua, saying: ‘All that thou hast commanded us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. (17) According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee; only the LORD thy God be with thee, as He was with Moses. (18) Whosoever he be that shall rebel against thy commandment, and shall not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death; only be strong and of good courage.’

(1) And it was after the death of Moshe: It links with the Torah that has just finished with the passing away of Moshe and there is the coupling.

(1) Moshe, my servant, died: And our Rabbis explain (תמורה טז א) upon three thousand halachot which came about during the days of mourning for Moshe, Yehoshua came and asked and Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him, Moshe my servant has died and the Torah in his name I called out and he said to him, go and lead them into war

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(1) And Joshua commanded: On the day that the period of crying in mourning for Moses ceased.

(8) This book of the Torah: The Torah which was in front of them.