Memorize Deuteronomy 31:8

Darby Translation

And Jehovah, he it is that goeth before thee: he will be with thee; he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.

Deuteronomy 31:8, Darby Translation

27 words · about five minutes a day for five days ·

Start memorizing Deuteronomy 31:8 →

Free, no account, nothing to install. The path opens with this verse already in it. Or print a practice sheet: the verse, its blanks, its first letters, and lines to copy it out by hand.

The five steps

  1. Meet the verse. Hear it read aloud, then echo it phrase by phrase, with a small hand motion for each phrase.
  2. Fill the gaps. About a third of the words become blanks. Say it out loud, supplying them; peek if you need to, trying is the point.
  3. Half hidden. Most of the words are gone now. Say it once more at bedtime; sleep locks it in overnight.
  4. First letters. Every word reduced to its first letter. Recite it with only those to guide you.
  5. All by yourself. Nothing but the reference. One confident recite, then it goes into your Verse Book to come back for review.

Each step makes a fine "tonight's step" spread over five days, and nothing is locked: the numbered dots jump anywhere. How to memorize Bible verses walks through the whole method.

Why it works

Three of the most replicated findings in learning science: retrieval practice (pulling a word from memory strengthens it more than rereading it), spacing (short tries on separate days beat one long one), and sleep (a verse said at bedtime is consolidated overnight). The blanks grow in stages so that every try is hard enough to count and never so hard that you give up.

Deuteronomy 31:8 in context

Deuteronomy 31 announces Moses’ approaching death and publicly commissions Joshua with courage. Moses writes the law for reading every seventh year before the whole community, places it beside the ark as a witness, and begins teaching Israel a song for future generations.

Read Deuteronomy 31:8 in its chapter · Deuteronomy 31, in the Darby Translation.

Verses that keep it company

Deuteronomy 31:8 is on Bible verses about fear.

In other translations

BSB · Berean Standard BibleKJV · King James VersionNET · New English TranslationWEB · World English BibleASV · American Standard (1901)YLT · Young's Literal Translation

The reference is the same in every one; the path lets you switch mid-way, and pasting any wording you like works too.