Deuteronomy 31 divides between Moses’ public acts — commissioning Joshua, writing the law, and ordering its future recitation — and the LORD’s private disclosure of what Israel will do after Moses dies. The questions in this Deuteronomy 31 quiz draw from all thirty verses of Moses’ hinge chapter.
You can consider doing Deuteronomy 30 quiz on the restoration speech it follows, the Joshua quiz on the book Deuteronomy 31 opens toward, or the whole-book Deuteronomy quiz as a test of the farewell sequence as a whole.
Deuteronomy 31 Quiz Questions and Answers
Question 1: To whom did Moses deliver the law he had written?
- A. To the elders of Israel alone, to keep until Joshua led them over Jordan
- B. To the scribes of the camp, to copy and distribute to every tribe
- C. To the priests the sons of Levi, and to all the elders of Israel
- D. To Joshua the son of Nun alone, as Moses’ appointed heir over all Israel
- E. To the captains of the thousands, to carry before the people in the march
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Answer 1: C — The delivery was twofold: to those who bore the ark and to the civil leadership, binding both priesthood and elders to its custody.
KJV Reference: “And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:9).
Question 2: How old was Moses when he made this declaration?
- A. An hundred and twenty years old
- B. An hundred and ten years old
- C. An hundred and thirty years old
- D. An hundred and fifteen years old
- E. An hundred and five years old
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Answer 2: A — Moses opened with his age as the reason he could no longer go in and out before the people or cross the Jordan.
KJV Reference: “And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in” (Deuteronomy 31:2).
Question 3: Where was the book of the law commanded to be placed?
- A. Outside the altar of burnt offering in the court of the tabernacle
- B. On the table of shewbread within the holy place of the tent
- C. Beside the golden candlestick at the entrance to the tent of meeting
- D. In the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD their God
- E. By the mercy seat within the veil of the holiest place
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Answer 3: D — Placement beside the ark kept the law in permanent proximity to the two tablets of stone, serving as a continuing witness against the people.
KJV Reference: “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31:26).
Question 4: What was the core of Moses’ public charge to Joshua before all Israel?
- A. Fear no king among the nations, for the LORD hath already given thee the victory
- B. Be strong and of good courage, for thou must go with this people into the land
- C. Walk before the LORD with all thy heart, and he will make thy path straight before thee
- D. Speak thou the words of this law to all the people, and they will obey thy voice
- E. Take courage, for the LORD hath chosen thee and set his hand upon thee from this day
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Answer 4: B — Moses’ public charge to Joshua begins with the double command of strength and courage, grounded in Joshua’s role as the one who must bring the people into the land sworn to their fathers.
KJV Reference: “And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them” (Deuteronomy 31:7).
Question 5: What does the LORD foretell Israel will do after Moses’ death?
- A. They will cease to keep the appointed feasts and forget the law of the LORD
- B. They will fight among themselves and fail to drive out the nations of the land
- C. They will forsake the LORD and go after the gods of the strangers of the land
- D. They will set a king over them after the manner of the nations round about them
- E. They will break the covenant and refuse to enter into the promised rest of the land
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Answer 5: C — The LORD’s prediction uses the language of harlotry: the people will “go a whoring” after foreign gods, forsaking the covenant the moment they are no longer under Moses’ watch.
KJV Reference: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me” (Deuteronomy 31:16).
Question 6: When had Moses finished writing the law?
- A. When all the people had assembled at the tabernacle and he had spoken before them
- B. When Joshua had stood before the congregation and received his public charge
- C. When Moses had spoken all the words of the song to the congregation of Israel
- D. When the LORD had ceased speaking with him at the door of the tabernacle
- E. When he had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book
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Answer 6: E — The phrase marks the completion of the whole written law, the moment that triggers Moses’ charge to the Levites to place the book beside the ark.
KJV Reference: “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished” (Deuteronomy 31:24).
Question 7: At what occasion was the law appointed to be read publicly?
- A. At the feast of tabernacles, in the year of release
- B. At the feast of unleavened bread, at the beginning of the year
- C. At the feast of weeks, at the offering of the firstfruits
- D. At the day of atonement, at the close of the seventh month
- E. At the new moon of the first month, at the evening sacrifice
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Answer 7: A — The feast of tabernacles was chosen as the occasion, and the year of release as the interval, combining the most joyful assembly of the year with the sabbatical economic reset.
KJV Reference: “At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles… thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing” (Deuteronomy 31:10-11).
Question 8: What is stated as the purpose of the song commanded to Moses?
- A. That all Israel may praise the LORD for his wonders in the wilderness
- B. That it may be recited at the feast of tabernacles before the congregation
- C. That it may be a witness for the LORD against the children of Israel
- D. That Joshua may teach it to the people in the days when Moses is gone
- E. That all the nations may know the greatness of the LORD their God
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Answer 8: C — The song is not a hymn of praise but a legal instrument: a witness that will speak against Israel when they break the covenant, since the people carry it in their own mouths.
KJV Reference: “Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:19).
Question 9: What does Moses say the LORD will do before Israel?
- A. The LORD will send an angel before them to drive out the nations from the land
- B. The LORD will cause the nations to flee before the sound of the trumpet
- C. The LORD will rain down fire upon the cities of their enemies in the land
- D. The LORD will go over before them and destroy those nations from before them
- E. The LORD will dry up the rivers and break down the walls of their cities before them
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Answer 9: D — Moses grounds Israel’s courage in the LORD’s own prior movement: he goes over first, he destroys first, and Joshua follows in his wake as the human instrument of the same purpose.
KJV Reference: “The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them” (Deuteronomy 31:3).
Question 10: Who is commanded to be gathered to hear the law at its public reading?
- A. Men and women and children, together with the stranger within the gates
- B. The elders, the priests, and all the heads of the tribes of Israel
- C. The men of war and all the captains of thousands and hundreds
- D. All who had come out of Egypt, together with their firstborn children
- E. The Levites and the judges appointed over every thousand of the people
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Answer 10: A — The gathering is deliberately inclusive: no class or status is exempt, and the resident alien shares the obligation to hear with every Israelite household.
KJV Reference: “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 31:12).
Question 11: What reason is given for the command to fear not nor be afraid?
- A. Because the nations are fewer in number than the camp of Israel going in
- B. Because the LORD thy God goes with thee and will not fail nor forsake thee
- C. Because the LORD has given their king and armies into the hand of Moses already
- D. Because the word of the LORD has gone before them to give them the land they seek
- E. Because Moses himself will remain among them until all the LORD’s work is done
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Answer 11: B — The ground of courage is not Israel’s military strength but the character of the God who goes with them: one who will not fail and will not abandon his people.
KJV Reference: “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Question 12: Why does the LORD summon Moses and Joshua to appear in the tabernacle?
- A. To give Moses the final sections of the law he had not yet written down
- B. To show Moses all the land of Canaan from the heights of Pisgah’s peak
- C. To commission Joshua before the ark of the covenant in the holy place of the tent
- D. To deliver the blessing to be spoken over all the twelve tribes of Israel
- E. To charge Joshua before the Lord because Moses’ day to die was near
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Answer 12: E — The LORD names two occasions simultaneously: Moses’ approaching death and Joshua’s need for a formal divine charge, bringing the transition of leadership before God himself in the tabernacle.
KJV Reference: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge” (Deuteronomy 31:14).
Question 13: How often was the law to be read before all Israel?
- A. At the feast of unleavened bread in the first month of every year
- B. Every three years at the beginning of the year of tithing
- C. At the close of the Jubilee cycle in the land every five years
- D. At the end of every seven years in the year of release
- E. Every year on the day of atonement before the whole congregation
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Answer 13: D — The seven-year interval corresponds to the year of release prescribed in Deuteronomy 15, tying the law’s public recitation to the sabbatical economic cycle of the land.
KJV Reference: “And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles… thou shalt read this law” (Deuteronomy 31:10).
Question 14: What will Israel do when they enter the land that floweth with milk and honey?
- A. They will offer burnt offerings and peace offerings at the appointed sanctuary of the LORD
- B. They will set up pillars of the law at the gate of every city in all the land
- C. They will eat and fill themselves, wax fat, and turn to other gods and serve them
- D. They will build a house for the name of the LORD and bring the ark of covenant to rest
- E. They will divide the land by lot among all the tribes and rest from all their enemies
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Answer 14: C — The sequence is exact: eating, filling, fattening, turning. Prosperity itself becomes the occasion for apostasy; the blessing precedes the betrayal and produces it.
KJV Reference: “For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them” (Deuteronomy 31:20).
Question 15: What assurance accompanied the LORD’s charge to Joshua?
- A. Be strong and of good courage, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land
- B. Every place the sole of thy foot shall tread upon I have given unto thee for an inheritance
- C. As I was with Moses so I will be with thee; I will not fail nor forsake thee at all
- D. No man shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life in the land
- E. I will be as a shepherd before thee; none shall make thee afraid nor drive thee back
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Answer 15: A — The charge from the LORD himself in the tabernacle echoes the earlier public charge from Moses but ties it to the explicit purpose: Joshua’s task is to bring the people into the land, not merely to lead them.
KJV Reference: “And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee” (Deuteronomy 31:23).
Question 16: What reason does Moses give for his certainty that Israel will rebel after his death?
- A. He has seen the people murmuring against the LORD throughout all their journeys
- B. He knows their rebellion and stiff neck even while he is yet alive among them
- C. He has spoken the words of the song that will testify against them before God
- D. He was told by the LORD that they will surely forsake the covenant they have made
- E. He saw their fathers go after the gods of Egypt in the days before the exodus
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Answer 16: B — Moses’ argument is comparative: if they are already rebellious while he stands among them alive, death can only make things worse, not better.
KJV Reference: “For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?” (Deuteronomy 31:27).
Question 17: To whose defeat does Moses liken the coming conquest of Canaan?
- A. To Pharaoh and all Egypt, whom the LORD overthrew in the Red Sea
- B. To the Midianites and Amalekites, who were struck down in the wilderness
- C. To the Hittites and Girgashites, who held the fortified cities of the land
- D. To Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them
- E. To the Moabites and Ammonites, who barred Israel’s path through their territory
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Answer 17: D — Sihon and Og serve throughout Deuteronomy as the standing proof that the LORD can and does destroy kings before Israel; here that pattern is extended to the Canaanite nations ahead.
KJV Reference: “And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed” (Deuteronomy 31:4).
Question 18: How did Moses deliver the words of the song to Israel?
- A. He gave the written words to Joshua to read aloud to all the assembly of Israel
- B. He had the Levites sing it before all the people at the door of the tabernacle
- C. He spoke the words of this song in the ears of the congregation of Israel
- D. He commanded the priests to teach it to the people throughout all their dwellings
- E. He wrote it on stone and set it before the camp for all the people to read
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Answer 18: C — Moses delivered it orally, speaking until the song was finished — a direct transmission into the hearing of the whole congregation before his death.
KJV Reference: “And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended” (Deuteronomy 31:30).
Question 19: What will God do when Israel forsakes him and turns to other gods?
- A. He will send a great drought on the land and take back all the blessing of rain
- B. He will scatter them among the nations and sell them into the hand of strangers
- C. He will raise up a prophet against them to declare all his judgments upon them
- D. He will tear down their high places and turn their land into a place of desolation
- E. He will be angered at them and he will forsake them and hide his face from them
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Answer 19: E — The hiding of the face is the precise opposite of the priestly blessing; where the face of the LORD once shone upon Israel, it is now turned away, and the people are left devoured by their own choices.
KJV Reference: “Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured” (Deuteronomy 31:17).
Question 20: What does Moses say to Joshua concerning the LORD?
- A. The LORD goes before thee and will be with thee and will not fail nor forsake thee
- B. The LORD has set his name upon thee; thou art his chosen vessel for this hour
- C. The LORD will give thee wisdom and understanding to judge this people in their causes
- D. The LORD has shown thee all the land of promise and ordained thee to take it now
- E. The LORD will go before thee in fire by night and in cloud by day in all the land
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Answer 20: A — Moses’ personal assurance to Joshua mirrors the assurance already given to all Israel in verse 6, applying the corporate promise directly to the man who must carry it into practice.
KJV Reference: “And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8).
Question 21: To whom did Moses give the command to place the law beside the ark?
- A. To Aaron’s sons the priests, who stood daily before the LORD in the tabernacle
- B. To the elders of Israel, who sat in the gates of every city of the congregation
- C. To Joshua and the captains of the tribes who would lead the crossing of Jordan
- D. To the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD their God
- E. To the scribes and servants of Moses who had written the words in the book
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Answer 21: D — The ark-bearing Levites were the natural custodians; placing the law-book with them tied permanent legal custody to the same hands that carried the covenant tablets inside the ark.
KJV Reference: “That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark” (Deuteronomy 31:25-26).
Question 22: What is the stated purpose for including children in the public reading of the law?
- A. That they may carry all the words of the law in their hearts all their days
- B. That their children who have not known may hear and learn to fear the LORD
- C. That they may teach it to their own children as they sit in their houses
- D. That the young men of each tribe may be set apart to serve at the sanctuary
- E. That the generation after Moses may know the greatness of all his works in the land
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Answer 22: B — The primary goal stated for including children is not sentiment but knowledge transfer: children who have not yet learned the law must hear it so the fear of the LORD passes to each new generation.
KJV Reference: “And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land” (Deuteronomy 31:13).
Question 23: In what form did the LORD appear at the door of the tabernacle?
- A. In a great fire that came down from heaven stood over the door of the tabernacle
- B. In a still small voice heard within the holy of holies by Moses and Joshua alone
- C. In a pillar of cloud, which descended and stood over the door of the tabernacle
- D. In a brightness greater than the sun that filled the whole tent of meeting entirely
- E. In the form of an angel with a drawn sword standing between the ark and Moses
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Answer 23: C — The pillar of cloud was the same sign of divine presence that had accompanied Israel since Sinai; its appearance here publicly validated the transition from Moses to Joshua.
KJV Reference: “And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle” (Deuteronomy 31:15).
Question 24: What role will the song play in Israel’s future?
- A. It will remind the Levites of their duty to teach the law to the congregation
- B. It will be set at the gate of every city as an everlasting testimony to all nations
- C. It will be recited at the feast of tabernacles in every seventh year by the priests
- D. It will be handed to the prophets after Moses to interpret and explain to the people
- E. It will testify against them as a witness and will not be forgotten from their mouths
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Answer 24: E — The song functions as an indestructible legal witness: placed in their mouths so they cannot plead ignorance, and preserved across generations precisely so it can speak against them when judgment comes.
KJV Reference: “And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed” (Deuteronomy 31:21).
Question 25: How does the chapter open?
- A. Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel
- B. Moses called the elders and officers before him to speak
- C. Moses gathered all Israel at the door of the tent of meeting
- D. Moses stood before the congregation and lifted up his voice
- E. Moses wrote these words and gave them to the sons of Levi
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Answer 25: A — The chapter opens with movement: Moses did not summon the people; he went to them. The chapter that begins with his going ends with his speaking the entire song in their ears.
KJV Reference: “And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:1).
Moses was an hundred and twenty years old. His eyes had not dimmed. His strength had not failed. But the LORD said: thy days approach that thou must die. And in those last days, he did not rest. He wrote the whole law. He charged Joshua before all the people. He taught Israel a song that would outlast every generation. He placed the book of the law beside the ark so that when the people drifted — and he knew they would drift — the word would still be there, speaking. There is something worth sitting with in watching a man spend his final hours not arranging for his comfort, but ensuring that the word of God would survive him.
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