God
had freed his people from slavery in Egypt. For forty years in the
wilderness the Israelites learnt that they could trust God. They also learnt
how people can live side-by-side with one another.
The men and women who had departed from Egypt with Moses all died in
the desert. Moses, too, grew old. He knew that he was going to die. He
therefore blessed the people. He said: How happy are you O Israel! Who is
like you, a people rescued by the Lord? Then he climbed up to the summit of MountNebo. There the Lord showed
the whole land of Canaan, that he had promised
to his people. Moses died there on the frontier of the Promised Land. For God
had told him: I will let you see the land, but you shall not cross into it.
The Israelites mourned over Moses for thirty days.
