Remember and Obey

11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep his mandate and his statutes, ordinances, and commands. Understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:

His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;(A) his signs and the works he did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;(B) what he did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and he destroyed them(C) completely;[a] what he did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place; and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.(D)

Your own eyes have seen(E) every great work the Lord has done.

“Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit, and so that you may live long(F) in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(G) 10 For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand[b] as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it(H) from the beginning to the end of the year.

13 “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 I[c] will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,(I) and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil.(J) 15 I[d] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.(K) 16 Be careful(L) that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.(M) 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you.(N) He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain;(O) the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land(P) the Lord is giving you.

18 “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol[e] on your foreheads.[f] 19 Teach them to your children,(Q) talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates,(R) 21 so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.(S) 22 For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, and remain faithful[g] to him— 23 the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.(T) 24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.(U) Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River[h] to the Mediterranean Sea.(V) 25 No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as he has promised you.(W)

A Blessing and a Curse

26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:(X) 27 there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today, 28 and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks[i] of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it, 32 be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.

Footnotes

  1. 11:4 Lit to this day
  2. 11:10 Lit foot
  3. 11:14 DSS, Sam, LXX read he
  4. 11:15 DSS, Sam, LXX read He
  5. 11:18 Or phylactery; Mt 23:5
  6. 11:18 Lit symbol between your eyes; Ex 13:16; Dt 6:8
  7. 11:22 Lit and hold on
  8. 11:24 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg, Vg read the great river, the river Euphrates
  9. 11:30 Sam, LXX, Syr, Aq, Sym read oak; Gn 12:6

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