Add parallel Print Page Options

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love the Lord your God. Do what he requires. Always obey his rules, laws and commands. Remember 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. They 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. They 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. Your children didn’t see what he did for you in the desert before you arrived here. They 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. But with your own eyes you saw all the great things the Lord has done.

So 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. You 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. 10 You 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. 11 But 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. 12 It’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.

13 So 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. 14 Then 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. 15 He’ll provide grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.

16 But 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. 17 If 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. 18 So 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. 19 Teach 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. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates. 21 Then 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.

22 So 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. 23 Then 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. 24 Every 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. 25 No 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.

26 Listen to me. I’m setting a blessing and a curse in front of you today. 27 I’m giving you the commands of the Lord your God today. You will be blessed if you obey them. 28 But 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. 29 The 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. 30 As 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. 31 You 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. 32 When you do, make sure you obey all the rules and laws I’m giving you today.

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love(A) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.(B) Remember today that your children(C) were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:(D) his majesty,(E) his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;(F) the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;(G) what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,(H) how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea[a](I) as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, and what he did(J) to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened(K) its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.(L)

Observe therefore all the commands(M) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,(N) and so that you may live long(O) in the land the Lord swore(P) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(Q) 10 The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,(R) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys(S) that drinks rain from heaven.(T) 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes(U) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

13 So if you faithfully obey(V) the commands I am giving you today—to love(W) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul(X) 14 then I will send rain(Y) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,(Z) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass(AA) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.(AB)

16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.(AC) 17 Then the Lord’s anger(AD) will burn against you, and he will shut up(AE) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,(AF) and you will soon perish(AG) from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.(AH) 19 Teach them to your children,(AI) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.(AJ) 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,(AK) 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many(AL) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.(AM)

22 If you carefully observe(AN) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love(AO) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast(AP) to him— 23 then the Lord will drive out(AQ) all these nations(AR) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.(AS) 24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours:(AT) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River(AU) to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror(AV) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.(AW)

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing(AX) and a curse(AY) 27 the blessing(AZ) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey(BA) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,(BB) which you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim(BC) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal(BD) the curses.(BE) 30 As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,(BF) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.(BG) 31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession(BH) of the land the Lord your God is giving(BI) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, 32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:4 Or the Sea of Reeds

11 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

And 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,

And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

And 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;

And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

And 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:

But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.

Therefore 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;

And 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:

11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

12 A 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.

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,

14 That 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.

15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

17 And 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.

19 And 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.

20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

21 That 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;

23 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

24 Every 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.

25 There 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;

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

28 And 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.

29 And 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.

30 Are 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?

31 For 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.

32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

Love and Obedience Rewarded

11 “Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the [a]chastening of the Lord your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm— His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: (A)how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day; what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; and (B)what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was [b]in their possession, in the midst of all Israel— but your eyes have (C)seen every great [c]act of the Lord which He did.

“Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may (D)be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, and (E)that you may prolong your days in the land (F)which the Lord [d]swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, (G)‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; 11 (H)but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; (I)the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly [e]obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then (J)I[f] will give you the rain for your land in its season, (K)the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 (L)And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may (M)eat and be [g]filled.’ 16 Take heed to yourselves, (N)lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and (O)serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest (P)the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He (Q)shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and (R)you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “Therefore (S)you shall [h]lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your (T)soul, and (U)bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 (V)You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 (W)And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that (X)your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like (Y)the days of the heavens above the earth.

22 “For if (Z)you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and (AA)to hold fast to Him— 23 then the Lord will (AB)drive out all these nations from before you, and you will (AC)dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24 (AD)Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: (AE)from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the [i]Western Sea, shall be your territory. 25 No man shall be able to (AF)stand [j]against you; the Lord your God will put the (AG)dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

26 (AH)“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 (AI)the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 28 and the (AJ)curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29 Now it shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the (AK)blessing on Mount Gerizim and the (AL)curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, (AM)beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? 31 For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. 32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:2 discipline
  2. Deuteronomy 11:6 at their feet
  3. Deuteronomy 11:7 work
  4. Deuteronomy 11:9 promised
  5. Deuteronomy 11:13 Lit. listen to
  6. Deuteronomy 11:14 So with MT, Tg.; Sam., LXX, Vg. He
  7. Deuteronomy 11:15 satisfied
  8. Deuteronomy 11:18 Lit. put
  9. Deuteronomy 11:24 Mediterranean
  10. Deuteronomy 11:25 before