The Death of Moses
Chapter 34[a]
1 Moses climbed up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,[b] the peak of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. The Lord showed him the entire land, from Gilead to Dan, 2 as well as all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all of the land of Judah up to the western sea, 3 the Negeb, the district of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palms, up to Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you are not going to cross over into it.”
5 Moses, the servant of the Lord, died in the land of Moab, as the Lord had foretold. 6 He buried him[c] in the land of Moab, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, but up to the present no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyesight was not weak, nor was his strength diminished.
8 The Israelites grieved for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the prescribed period of weeping and mourning for Moses was over.
9 Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with a spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him. The Israelites obeyed him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
10 Never again has a prophet arisen in Israel like Moses who knew the Lord face to face, 11 who performed such miraculous signs and wonders that the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to his officials and to his entire land. 12 No one has had his mighty power or performed the great and terrible deeds that he did in the sight of all of Israel.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 34:1 The story is told with restraint, for the Bible rejects any cult of personality. No one will know where Moses is buried; his tomb, unlike that of the patriarchs, will remain unknown. A life of unparalleled intimacy with God was Moses’ personal privilege (see Ex 33:11; Num 12:7-8).
- Deuteronomy 34:1 Nebo is 2,700 feet high, Pisgah 3,067 feet; they are 2 miles distant from each other.
- Deuteronomy 34:6 He buried him: we are not told precisely where. Apparently the burial of Moses was not a communal event, but personally taken care of by God.