The Lord Will Bless His People
1I have told you about all these blessings and curses. The Lord your God will bring them on you. Then you will think carefully about the blessings and curses. You will think about them everywhere the Lord your God scatters you among the nations. 2You and your children will return to the Lord your God. You will obey him with all your heart and with all your soul. That will be according to everything I’m commanding you today. 3When all that happens, the Lord your God will bless you with great success again. He will be very kind to you. He’ll bring you back from all the nations where he scattered you. 4Suppose you have been forced to go away to the farthest land on earth. The Lord your God will bring you back even from there. 5He will bring you to the land that belonged to your people of long ago. You will take it over. He’ll make you better off than your people were. He’ll cause there to be more of you than there were of them. 6The Lord your God will keep you from being stubborn. He’ll do the same thing for your children and their children. Then you will love him with all your heart and with all your soul. And you will live. 7The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies. They hated you and hunted you down. 8You will obey the Lord again. You will obey all his commands that I’m giving you today. 9Then the Lord your God will give you great success in everything you do. You will have many children. Your livestock will have many little ones. Your crops will do very well. The Lord will take delight in you again. He’ll give you success. That’s what he did for your people of long ago. 10But you must obey the Lord your God. You must keep his commands and rules. They are written in this Book of the Law. You must turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Choose Life, Not Death
11What I’m commanding you today is not too hard for you. It isn’t beyond your reach. 12It isn’t up in heaven. So you don’t have to ask, “Who will go up into heaven to get it? Who will announce it to us so we can obey it?” 13And it isn’t beyond the ocean. So you don’t have to ask, “Who will go across the ocean to get it? Who will announce it to us so we can obey it?” 14No, the message isn’t far away at all. In fact, it’s really near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart so that you can obey it.
15Today I’m giving you a choice. You can have life and success. Or you can have death and harm. 16I’m commanding you today to love the Lord your God. I’m commanding you to live exactly as he wants you to live. You must obey his commands, rules and laws. Then you will live. There will be many of you. The Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
17Don’t let your hearts turn away from the Lord. Instead, obey him. Don’t let yourselves be drawn away to other gods. And don’t bow down to them and worship them. 18If you do, I announce to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You are about to go across the Jordan River and take over the land. But you won’t live there very long.
19I’m calling for the heavens and the earth to be witnesses against you this very day. I’m offering you the choice of life or death. You can choose either blessings or curses. But I want you to choose life. Then you and your children will live. 20And you will love the Lord your God. You will obey him. You will remain true to him. The Lord is your very life. He will give you many years in the land. He promised to give that land to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
30
主に立ち返るなら
1これらのことがみな起こり、外国へ追いやられても、絶望してはいけません。その時にはもう一度、この祝福とのろいのことをよく考えなさい。 2そしてあなたの神、主のもとに立ち返りたいなら、今日、私が与える律法に、あなたも子どもたちも心から従いなさい。 3そうすれば主は、囚われの身から救い出してくださいます。あなたをかわいそうに思い、いったんは散り散りに追いやった国々から集めてくださるのです。 4-5たとえ地の果てにいようと、心配はいりません。主は必ず見つけ出し、あなたの先祖の地に連れ戻します。そして国を取り戻したら、先祖たちの時よりも、さらに祝福され、もっとよくしていただけるでしょう。 6あなたも、子どもたちも、孫たちもみな、心をきよめられ、心から主を愛するようになり、イスラエルは生き返るのです。 7-8主のもとに立ち返り、今日、私の命じる戒めをすべて守るなら、主はのろいを取り去り、あなたを憎んで迫害する敵に、それをそのまま下します。 9反対に、あなたのすることは再び栄えるようになります。子どもたちに恵まれ、家畜はどんどん増え、豊かな収穫をあげるでしょう。昔の先祖たちのように、あなたも心に留めていただけるからです。 10この律法の書にある戒めを守り、主に立ち返るなら、主は必ず喜んでくださいます。
11これらの律法を守るのは決してむりなことではありません。 12この律法は手の届かない天にあるわけではないからです。あなたは、聞こうにも聞こえず、守ろうにも守れず、かといって地上に届けてくれる者もいないと、途方にくれることはありません。 13また、だれも伝えてくれないほど遠い海のかなたにあるわけでもありません。 14むしろ、いつでも守れるように、すぐ近くに、あなたの唇、あなたの心にあるのです。
15いいですか、これは生きるか死ぬかの問題です。主に従って生きるか、従わないで死ぬかの、どちらかしかありません。 16私は今日、主を愛し、その道に従い、律法を守るようにと命じました。そのとおりにすれば生きることができます。主はあなたと、もうすぐあなたのものになる地とを祝福し、大きな国民としてくださるでしょう。 17しかし、心が離れ、その教えに耳も傾けず、外国の神々を拝んだりすれば、 18今はっきり断言しますが、必ず滅びます。あなたのものになる地で、いつまでも幸せに生きることはできません。 19さあ、天と地が証人です。どちらを選びますか。生きることですか、それとも死ぬことですか。祝福ですか、のろいですか。もちろん、あなたのためにも子孫のためにも、生きるほうを選ぶべきです。 20主はあなたのいのちです。あなたの神、主を愛し、信頼し、ご命令に従いなさい。そうすれば、先祖アブラハム、イサク、ヤコブに約束された地で平安に生きられます。」
