Deuteronomy 31:28 (YLT)

Passage

`Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your authorities, and I speak in their ears these words, and cause to testify against them the heavens and the earth,

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 31:26 `Take this Book of the Law, and thou hast set it on the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and it hath been there against thee for a witness;

Deuteronomy 31:27 for I--I have known thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; lo, in my being yet alive with you to-day, rebellious ye have been with Jehovah, and also surely after my death.

Deuteronomy 31:28 `Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your authorities, and I speak in their ears these words, and cause to testify against them the heavens and the earth,

Deuteronomy 31:29 for I have known that after my death ye do very corruptly, and have turned aside out of the way which I commanded you, and evil hath met you in the latter end of the days, because ye do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to make Him angry with the work of your hands.'

Deuteronomy 31:30 And Moses speaketh in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, till their completion: --

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "assemble", "elders", "tribes", "authorities", "speak", "ears", "words", and "cause". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "assemble" and "elders", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 27's "for I--I have known thy rebellion and..." into verse 29's "for I have known that after my...", so "assemble" and "elders" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "assemble" and "elders" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.