Deuteronomy 31:9-13·~1 min

The Reading of the Law

Moses writes the law and entrusts it to the priests and elders. He then sets the appointed time for its public reading at the end of every seven years during the Feast of Tabernacles.

S⁹o Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles,

Verse 9Moses writes this law and gives it to the Levitical priests who carry the ark and to all the elders of Israel.

It places the written law into Israel's official custody.

Verse 10He commands that at the end of every seven years, in the year of debt remission during the Feast of Tabernacles, the law is to be read.

It sets the fixed time for covenant remembrance.

When all Israel appears before the LORD, the law is to be read aloud to everyone, including children and foreigners. The aim is that each generation will hear, learn to fear the LORD, and keep His words in the land they are entering.

¹¹when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel. ¹²Assemble the people— men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates— so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³Then their children who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Verse 11When all Israel comes before the LORD at the place He chooses, the law is to be read in their hearing.

It makes the reading a gathered act before God.

Verse 12Men, women, children, and the foreigners within Israel's gates are all to be assembled so they may hear, learn to fear the LORD, and keep this law carefully.

It widens the audience and names the purpose of the reading.

Verse 13Their children, who do not yet know the law, will also hear and learn to fear the LORD throughout their life in the land across the Jordan.

It extends covenant hearing into the next generation.

Passage shape

A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.

vv. 9-10
Moses writes the law and entrusts it to the priests and elders. He then sets the appointed time for its public reading at the end of every seven years during the Feast of Tabernacles.
This paragraph establishes both the written law and its recurring moment of proclamation.
9 10
vv. 11-13
When all Israel appears before the LORD, the law is to be read aloud to everyone, including children and foreigners. The aim is that each generation will hear, learn to fear the LORD, and keep His words in the land they are entering.
It explains who must hear the law and why this public reading matters.
11 12 13

Section summaryMoses writes down the law and gives it into Israel's keeping. He orders that at the Feast of Tabernacles in every seventh year it be read aloud before the whole people, so each generation may hear, learn, and fear the LORD.

Role in the chapterThis section provides a durable public practice for remembering the covenant after Moses is gone. It keeps the law in the ears of Israel, not only in a written scroll.