1Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. 2And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day; 5And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; 6And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:11.6 substance…: or, living substance which followed them11.6 was…: Heb. was at their feet 7But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
8Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10¶ For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.11.12 careth…: Heb. seeketh
13¶ And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.11.15 send: Heb. give 16Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
18¶ Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22¶ For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. 24Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. 25There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
26¶ Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 29And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. 32And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.
Love and Obey the Lord
1Love the Lord your God. Do what he requires. Always obey his rules, laws and commands. 2Remember today that your children weren’t the ones the Lord your God guided and corrected. They didn’t see his majesty. They weren’t in Egypt when he reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. 3They didn’t see the signs and the other things he did in Egypt. They didn’t see what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. 4They weren’t there when the Lord destroyed the army of Egypt and its horses and chariots. He swept the waters of the Red Sea over the Egyptians while they were chasing you. He wiped them out forever. 5Your children didn’t see what he did for you in the desert before you arrived here. 6They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. Eliab was from the tribe of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth right in the middle of the Israelite camp. It swallowed up Dathan and Abiram. It swallowed them up together with their families, tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 7But with your own eyes you saw all the great things the Lord has done.
8So obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will be strong enough to go in and take over the land. You will go across the Jordan River and take the land as your own. 9You will live there for a long time. It’s the land the Lord promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children after them. He gave his word when he made that promise. The land has plenty of milk and honey. 10You will enter it and take it over. It isn’t like the land of Egypt. That’s where you came from. You planted your seeds there. You had to water them, just as you have to water a vegetable garden. 11But you will soon go across the Jordan River. The land you are going to take over has mountains and valleys in it. It drinks rain from heaven. 12It’s a land the Lord your God takes care of. His eyes always look on it with favor. He watches over it from the beginning of the year to its end.
13So be faithful. Obey the commands the Lord your God is giving you today. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 14Then the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time. He’ll send rain in the fall and in the spring. You will be able to gather your grain. You will also be able to make olive oil and fresh wine. 15He’ll provide grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.
16But be careful. Don’t let anyone tempt you to do something wrong. Don’t turn away and worship other gods. Don’t bow down to them. 17If you do, the Lord will be very angry with you. He’ll close up the sky. It won’t rain. The ground won’t produce its crops. Soon you will die. You won’t live to enjoy the good land the Lord is giving you. 18So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. 19Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. 20Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates. 21Then you and your children will live for a long time in the land. The Lord promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your family line will continue as long as the heavens remain above the earth.
22So be careful. Obey all the commands I’m giving you to follow. Love the Lord your God. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Remain true to him. 23Then the Lord will drive out all the nations to make room for you. They are larger and stronger than you are. But you will take their land. 24Every place you walk on will belong to you. Your territory will go all the way from the desert to Lebanon. It will go from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. 25No one will be able to stand up against you. The Lord your God will throw the whole land into a panic because of you. He’ll do it everywhere you go, just as he promised you.
26Listen to me. I’m setting a blessing and a curse in front of you today. 27I’m giving you the commands of the Lord your God today. You will be blessed if you obey them. 28But you will be cursed if you don’t obey them. So don’t turn away from the path I’m now commanding you to take. Don’t turn away by worshiping other gods you didn’t know before. 29The Lord your God will bring you into the land to take it over. When he does, you must announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. You must announce the curses from Mount Ebal. 30As you know, those mountains are across the Jordan River. They are on the west side of the Jordan toward the setting sun. They are near the large trees of Moreh. The mountains are in the territory of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah Valley near Gilgal. 31You are about to go across the Jordan River. You will enter the land and take it over. The Lord your God is giving it to you. You will take it over and live there. 32When you do, make sure you obey all the rules and laws I’m giving you today.
