he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’
- KJV And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
- NKJV And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’
- NASB And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today; I am no longer able to go out and come in, and the Lord has told me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’
- NLT he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At 120 years old, Moses announces he will not lead them across the Jordan. God's purposes continue even as his servants pass on.
Overview
Moses acknowledges his age and his exclusion from entering Canaan, recalling God's earlier decree. His humble acceptance of God's will, even in personal disappointment, models submission to the Lord. The passing of Moses and the continuance of God's plan remind us that God's work does not depend on any one servant, but on the Lord who raises up successors and ultimately gives the true and eternal leader in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Deut 34:7Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.
- Num 27:17who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
- 1 Kgs 3:7And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.
- Num 20:12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
- Deut 3:26–27But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.
- Exod 7:7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
- 2 Pet 1:13–14I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body,
- Deut 1:37The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
- Josh 14:10–11Now behold, as the LORD promised, He has kept me alive these forty-five years since He spoke this word to Moses, while Israel wandered in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old,
- Acts 20:25Now I know that none of you among whom I have preached the kingdom will see my face again.
- Acts 7:23When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
- Num 27:13–14After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was;
- Ps 90:10The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
- Deut 32:48–52On that same day the LORD said to Moses,
- 2 Sam 21:17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”
- Deut 4:21–22The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 31:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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