11 Love the Lord your God. Do what he tells you to do. Always obey his rules, his laws and his commands. 2 Remember that today I am speaking to you who have seen his powerful acts! Your children did not see the great things that the Lord your God did to teach you. You saw for yourselves how great, strong and powerful he is. 3 But your children did not see the great miracles that he did in Egypt. He punished Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his people. 4 You saw how God destroyed Egypt's army, with all their horses and chariots. They were chasing after you to catch you. But God caused the water of the Red Sea to cover them, so that they drowned. 5 Your children did not see all the things that the Lord did in the desert as he brought you here. 6 They did not see how he punished Dathan and Abiram, Eliab's sons, from Reuben's tribe. God caused the earth to open up in the middle of the Israelites' camp. These men fell down into the hole and they disappeared. Their families, their tents and everything that they had all disappeared in the hole. 7 Remember that I am speaking to you, the people who have seen the Lord 's powerful acts.
8 So you must obey all the commands that I am giving to you today. If you do that, you will be able to go across the Jordan River into Canaan. You will be strong enough to take the land for yourselves and live there. 9 Then you will enjoy a long life in that land. It is the land that the Lord promised to give to your ancestors and to their descendants. It is a land where there is plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone.
10 The land that you are going into is not like the land of Egypt, where you lived before. There, when you planted seeds, you had to take water to them. It was like a garden where you grow vegetables. 11 But now you are going across the Jordan River into a different kind of land. It has hills and valleys. Rain falls from the sky and makes the ground wet. 12 The Lord your God takes care of the land there. He watches over it every day, through the whole year.
13 So listen carefully to the commands that I am giving to you today. Love the Lord your God and serve him in everything that you think and in everything that you do. 14 If you do that, he makes this promise to you: ‘I will send rain on your land at the right time each year. There will be rain in autumn and rain in spring. [ a ] Then your crops will give you food. You will also have grapes to make wine and olives to make oil. 15 I will make grass grow in your fields for your animals to eat. You will have as much food as you want to eat.’
16 But be careful! Do not turn away from the Lord so that you worship other gods. Do not let those things deceive you. 17 If you do that, the Lord will be very angry with you. He will not send rain down from the sky. The land will no longer give you food to eat. Then you will soon die. You will no longer be able to live in the good land that the Lord is giving to you.
18 Continue to think carefully about these commands in everything that you do. Tie them as signs onto your hands so that you remember them. Also tie them around your heads. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit together at home. Talk about them as you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the wood beside the doors of your houses and on your gates. 21 Do these things so that you and your descendants will live long lives in the land. It is the land that the Lord promised to give to your ancestors. You will continue to live there while there is still a sky above the earth.
22 Be careful to obey these commands that I am giving to you. Love the Lord your God. Live in a way that pleases him. Be faithful to him.
23 If you do that, the Lord will chase out all those nations as you move into the land. They are greater and stronger than you are, but you will take the land from them. 24 Every piece of ground that you walk on will belong to you. The borders of your land will go from the desert in the south as far as Lebanon in the north. They will go from the Euphrates river in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 25 Nobody will be able to stop you. The Lord your God will cause everyone in the other nations to be afraid of you. They will shake with fear. He has promised to do that, everywhere that you go in the land.
26 Today I am telling you to choose. Do you want God to bless you? Or do you want God to curse you? 27 The Lord your God will bless you if you obey his commands that I am giving to you today. 28 But he will curse you if you refuse to obey his commands. If you turn away from him and you serve other gods that are new to you, he will curse you! 29 When the Lord brings you into the land where you will live, do this: Speak aloud God's blessings from Mount Gerizim. Speak his curses from Mount Ebal. 30 You know where these mountains are. They are west of the Jordan River, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley. They are near Gilgal town, where the oak trees of Moreh are.
31 Soon you will go across the Jordan River. You will take for yourselves the land that the Lord your God is giving to you. It will belong to you as your home. 32 When you are there, be careful to obey his laws and his teaching that I am giving to you today.
11 “So you must love the Lord your God. You must do what he tells you to do and always obey his laws, rules, and commands. 2 Remember today all the great things the Lord your God has done to teach you. It was you, not your children, who saw those things happen and lived through them. You saw how great he is. You saw how strong he is, and you saw the powerful things he does. 3 You, not your children, saw the miracles he did in Egypt. You saw what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. 4 You, not your children, saw what he did to the Egyptian army—to their horses and chariots. They were chasing you, but you saw him cover them with the water from the Red Sea. You saw how the Lord completely destroyed them. 5 It was you, not your children, who saw everything he did for you in the desert until you came to this place. 6 You saw what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab from Reuben’s family. All the Israelites watched as the ground opened up like a mouth and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and all of their servants and animals. 7 It was you, not your children, who saw all the great things the Lord did.
8 “So you must obey every command I tell you today. Then you will be strong. And you will be able to go across the Jordan River and take the land that you are ready to enter. 9 Then you will live a long life in that country. The Lord promised to give that land to your ancestors and all their descendants. It is a land filled with many good things. [ a ] 10 The land that you will get is not like the land of Egypt that you came from. In Egypt you planted your seeds and used your feet to pump water from the canals to water your fields like a vegetable garden. 11 But the land that you will soon get is not like that. In Israel there are mountains and valleys, and the land gets its water from the rain that falls from the sky. 12 The Lord your God cares for that land. The Lord your God watches over it, from the beginning to the end of the year.
13 “The Lord says, ‘You must listen carefully to the commands I give you today: You must love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. If you do that, 14 I will send rain for your land at the right time. I will send the autumn rain and the spring rain. Then you can gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will make grass grow in your fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.’
16 “He says, ‘Be careful! Don’t be fooled. Don’t turn away from me to serve other gods and to bow down to them.’ 17 If you do that, the Lord will become very angry with you. He will shut the skies, and there will be no rain. The land will not make a harvest, and you will soon die in the good land that the Lord is giving you.
18 “Remember these commands I give you. Keep them in your hearts. Write them down and tie them on your hands and wear them on your foreheads as a way to remember my laws. 19 Teach these laws to your children. Talk about these things when you sit in your houses, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 20 Write these commands on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. 21 Then both you and your children will live a long time in the land that the Lord promised to give to your ancestors. You will live there as long as the skies are above the earth.
22 “Be careful to obey every command I have told you to follow: Love the Lord your God, follow all his ways, and be faithful to him. 23 Then, when you go into the land, the Lord will force all those other nations out. You will take the land from nations that are larger and more powerful than you. 24 All the land you walk on will be yours. Your land will go from the desert in the south all the way to Lebanon in the north. It will go from the Euphrates River in the east all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will make the people fear you wherever you go in that land. That is what he promised you before.
26 “Today I am giving you a choice. You may choose the blessing or the curse. 27 You will get the blessing if you listen and obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have told you today. 28 But you will get the curse if you refuse to listen and obey the commands of the Lord your God. So don’t stop living the way I command you today, and don’t follow other gods that you don’t know.
29 “The Lord your God will lead you to your land. You will soon go in and take that land. At that time you must go to the top of Mount Gerizim and read the blessings to the people from there. And then you must go to the top of Mount Ebal and read the curses to the people from there. 30 These mountains are on the other side of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites living in the Jordan Valley. These mountains are toward the west, not far from the oak trees of Moreh near the town of Gilgal. 31 You will go across the Jordan River. You will take the land that the Lord your God is giving you. This land will belong to you. When you are living in this land, 32 you must carefully obey all the laws and rules I give you today.
11 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
2 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,
3 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;
4 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;
5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
6 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:
7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.
8 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;
9 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.
11 “You shall therefore ( A ) love the Lord your God, and always ( B ) keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. 2 Know this day ( C ) that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the [ a ] discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, 3 and ( D ) His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; 4 and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, ( E ) when He made the water of the [ b ] Red Sea [ c ] engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord [ d ] completely eliminated them; 5 and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; 6 and ( F ) what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and ( G ) every living thing that [ e ] followed them, among all Israel— 7 but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.
8 “You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, ( H ) so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; 9 and ( I ) so that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their [ f ] descendants, ( J ) a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it [ g ] by your foot like a vegetable garden. 11 But ( K ) the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; ( L ) the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it, from the [ h ] beginning even to the end of the year.
13 “And it shall come about, ( M ) if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, ( N ) to love the Lord your God and to serve Him ( O ) with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that [ i ] ( P ) He will provide rain for your land in its season, the [ j ] ( Q ) early and [ k ] late rain, so that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 [ l ] ( R ) He will also provide grass in your field for your cattle, and ( S ) you will eat and be satisfied. 16 [ m ] ( T ) Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them. 17 Otherwise, ( U ) the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will ( V ) shut up the sky ( W ) so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce; then ( X ) you will quickly perish from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
18 “ ( Y ) You shall therefore take these words of mine to [ n ] heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your [ o ] hand, and they shall be as [ p ] frontlets [ q ] on your forehead. 19 ( Z ) You shall also teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 20 ( AA ) And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that ( AB ) your days and the days of your sons may be increased on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as [ r ] ( AC ) long as the heavens are above the earth. 22 For if you are ( AD ) careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, ( AE ) to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and ( AF ) cling to Him, 23 then the Lord will [ s ] ( AG ) dispossess all these nations from you, and you will [ t ] ( AH ) dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 ( AI ) Every place on which the sole of your foot steps shall be yours; ( AJ ) your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as [ u ] the western sea. 25 ( AK ) No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will [ v ] instill the dread of you and the fear of you in all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.
26 “ ( AL ) See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the ( AM ) blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the ( AN ) curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, [ w ] by following other gods which you have not known.
29 “And it shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, ( AO ) that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite ( AP ) Gilgal, beside ( AQ ) the [ x ] oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and ( AR ) you shall possess it and live in it, 32 and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am placing before you today.
11 Love ( A ) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. ( B ) 2 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 ) 3 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 ) 4 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. 5 It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, 6 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. 7 But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done. ( L )
8 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 ) 9 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.
