Deuteronomy 29-31
New Catholic Bible
Moses’ Third Address
Chapter 29
Recalling Past Blessings. 1 Moses summoned all of the Israelites and said to them, You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord did for you in Egypt, to Pharaoh and to his officials and to the entire land. 2 With your own eyes you have seen those great trials, the miraculous signs, and great wonders, 3 [a]but until now the Lord has not yet given you a heart that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 4 During the forty years that I led you in the desert, your clothes did nor tatter, nor did the sandals on your feet wear out. 5 You ate no bread and drank no wine or strong drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord, your God. 6 When you reached this place, Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 7 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.
Exhortation To Be Faithful. 8 Therefore, carefully heed the words of this covenant and observe them, so that you might prosper in all that you do. 9 Today all of you are standing before the Lord, your God: the leaders of your tribes and your elders, your chief men and all of the men of Israel 10 together with your little ones, your wives, as well as the foreigners who live in your camp and who cut your firewood and draw your water. 11 You are entering into a covenant with the Lord, your God, and into his oath that the Lord, your God, is making with you today. 12 Today he is making you his people so that he might be your God, as he promised you and swore under oath with your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 13 I am not making this covenant, this oath, only with you 14 who are standing here with us before the Lord, your God, but also with those who are not here today. 15 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through various nations on the way here. 16 You saw their abominations in their midst, idols of wood and stone, silver and gold. 17 Make sure that there is no man, nor woman, nor clan, nor tribe whose heart turns away from the Lord, our God, today to go and serve the gods of these nations; make sure there is no root among you that bears bitterness or wormwood. 18 Let no one who hears this curse bless himself in his heart saying, “I have peace in my heart because of the cleverness of my thoughts,” as though he could sweep away both watered and dry soil.[b] 19 The Lord will not forgive, for his wrath and his zeal will burn out against that man. All the curses that are written in this book will descend upon him, and the Lord will blot his name from under the heavens. 20 The Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, all of the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law.
21 Punishment for Unfaithfulness. Your descendants in later generations and foreigners from distant lands will see all of the carnage that has come upon the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. 22 The whole land will be a burning waste of brimstone and salt. Nothing will be planted there, nothing will sprout up, no vegetation will grow there. It will be like the destruction of Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim which the Lord destroyed in his anger and his wrath.
23 All the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done these things to this land? Why this furious, terrible anger?” 24 The answer will be, “Because they have forsaken their covenant with the Lord, the God of their fathers, that he made with them when he brought them up out of the land of Egypt. 25 They went off and served other gods, worshiping gods that they did not know, gods that he had not given to them. 26 Therefore, the Lord’s anger raged against this land, bringing down upon it all the curses that are written in this book. 27 In anger and wrath the Lord uprooted them out of the land; with great indignation he cast them out into another land where they still are today.” 28 To the Lord, our God, belongs the mystery,[c] but these things have been revealed to us and to our children so that we may observe all of the words of this law.
Chapter 30
God’s Forgiveness and Blessing. 1 When all of these blessings and curses come upon you that I have set before you and you call them to mind wherever you are dispersed among all of the nations, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord, your God, and you obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and all your soul, 3 then the Lord, your God, will have compassion on you in your captivity, and he will bring you back, gathering you from all the nations where the Lord, your God, has scattered you. 4 The Lord, your God, will gather and fetch you back, even if your exiles are in the outermost parts of the heavens. 5 The Lord, your God, will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed so that you might possess it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord, your God, will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your offspring so that you might love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and that you might live. 7 The Lord, your God, will cause all of these curses to come upon your enemies and those who hated and persecuted you. 8 You shall once again obey the voice of the Lord and observe all of his commandments that I have given you today. 9 The Lord, your God, will make you bountiful in all of your undertakings, your offspring, your livestock, and the produce from your land; the Lord will take as much delight in bringing you prosperity as the Lord delighted in your fathers 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord and observe his commandments and his statutes that are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and your whole soul.
11 [d]This commandment that I give you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too distant from you. 12 It is not in the heavens that you should say, “Who will go up into the heavens to bring it down to us so that we might hear it and observe it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, “Who will cross over the sea to bring it to us so that we might hear it and observe it?” 14 No, the word is very near to you, it is in your heart and in your mouth, so that you might do it.
15 Israel’s Choice. See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil. 16 If you obey the command that I give you today, to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways, and to observe his commandments, statutes, and decrees, then you will live and multiply, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
17 But if your hearts turn away so that you will not listen, and you are drawn away to worship other gods and to serve them, 18 then, as I swear to you today, you will surely perish. You will not live a long time in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to enter and to possess.
19 I call upon the heavens and the earth to witness today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life, so that you and your descendants might live 20 loving the Lord, your God, obeying his voice, and holding on to him, for he is life and length of days to you, and so that you might dwell in the land that the Lord promised to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Chapter 31
The Appointment of Joshua. 1 Moses continued to speak these words to all of Israel, 2 and he said to them: I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I am no longer able to go about freely.[e] The Lord has told me, “You will not go over this Jordan.” 3 The Lord, your God, himself will go over before you. He will destroy all of these nations before you so that you might dispossess them. Joshua will lead you over, as the Lord has decreed. 4 The Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 The Lord will deliver them up to you so that you can do to them everything that I ordered you to do. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord, your God, is going forth with you. He will never leave you or abandon you.
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him before all of the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord, their God, promised their fathers to give to them. You will give it to them as an inheritance. 8 Do not be afraid or dismayed, the Lord will go before you; he will not fail or forsake you.”
The Reading of the Law. 9 Then Moses wrote down this law and he handed it over to the priests, the Levites, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and to all of the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, the feast of canceling debts, the Feast of Booths, 11 when all of Israel comes before the Lord in the place that he has chosen, you are to proclaim it in the hearing of all of Israel. 12 Gather together the people, the men, the women, the children, and the foreigner who lives in your towns, so that they might hear it and learn to fear the Lord, your God, so they might carefully observe the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not yet know it, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord, your God, the whole time that you are living in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to enter and possess.”
14 Commissioning Joshua. The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the day is approaching when you will die. Summon Joshua and present yourselves before the tent of meeting so that I can commission him.”[f] Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15 The Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.
16 Predicting Israel’s Rebellion. The Lord said to Moses, “You will soon sleep with your fathers, but this people will rise up and prostitute themselves with foreign gods from the land that they are entering. They will forsake and break the covenant that I have made with them. 17 On the day that I become angry with them and forsake them, I will hide my face from them, and they will be consumed. Many disasters and difficulties will fall upon them. On that day they will say, ‘Have these disasters happened to us because our God is not with us?’ 18 I will certainly hide my face that day on account of all their wickedness in turning to other gods. 19 Now write this song and teach it to the Israelites. Put it in their mouths, so that this song can be a witness for me against the Israelites. 20 When I brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land that I promised to their fathers, and when they ate their fill and flourished, they will turn to other gods and serve them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 When many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know their inclinations even before I bring them into the land that I promised them by oath.”
22 So Moses wrote down this song that day, and he taught it to the Israelites. 23 The Lord commissioned Joshua, the son of Nun, saying to him, “Be strong and courageous for you will lead the Israelites into the land that I promised them and I will be with you.”
24 [g]When Moses had entirely finished writing the words of this law in a book, 25 Moses gave a command to the Levites who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, 26 “Take this book of the law and put it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, your God, so that it can bear witness against you 27 for I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you rebel against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more so will you be after my death. 28 Gather all the elders of your tribes and your officials before me so that I can proclaim these words in their hearing and call upon the heavens and the earth to give witness against them. 29 I know that after my death you will be totally perverse. You will turn away from the way that I have commanded of you. In days to come disasters will shower down upon you because you will have done what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the works of your hands.”
30 Moses then recited in the hearing of the Israelites the words of this entire song.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 29:3 Even the most overwhelming occurrences are not enough to rouse belief unless God gives the grace to believe.
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Sweep away both watered and dry soil: this expression used natural events to describe the results of God’s wrath indicating that those who turned away from the Lord would bring hardship on the good soil (watered) and bad (dry) alike.
- Deuteronomy 29:28 Mystery: refers to what we cannot know and need not know. Our job is to listen to God and keep his law.
- Deuteronomy 30:11 The word of God is accessible to all people forever in Scripture, so that all might accept it with an open and willing heart.
- Deuteronomy 31:2 Go about freely: despite his advanced years, Moses was not physically or mentally disabled (Deut 34:7). His movement was restricted by God who denied Moses’ crossing over into Canaan.
- Deuteronomy 31:14 This verse is to be connected with verse 23 (see Jos 1:1-9).
- Deuteronomy 31:24 Upon completing the writing of the law, Moses instructed the priests to place it beside the Ark of the Covenant, designating its sacredness.
