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29 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. Moses called to all Israel, and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them. We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10 All of you stand today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today, 13 that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, 15 but with those who stand here with us today before Yahweh our God, and also with those who are not here with us today 16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed; 17 and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them); 18 lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; 19 and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry. 20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

22 The generation to come—your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick, 23 that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. 24 Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”

25 Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. 27 Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28 Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”

29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

The Covenant in Moab

29 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which He made with them at Horeb (Sinai).

[a]Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land; the great trials [of Pharaoh] which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great wonders. Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart and mind to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. I have led you in the wilderness forty years; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am the Lord your God [on whom you must depend]. When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us in battle, but we defeated them; and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. So keep the words of this covenant and obey them, so that you may prosper and be successful in everything that you do.

10 “All of you stand today before the Lord your God—your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is in your camps, from [b]the one who chops and gathers your firewood to the one who draws your water— 12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, and into His oath and agreement which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 so that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 “It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this oath, 15 but with those [future Israelites] who are not here with us today, as well as with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God 16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the nations along the way; 17 and you have seen their detestable acts and their [repulsive] idols of wood and stone, [lifeless images] of silver and gold, which they had with them), 18 so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the [false] gods of these nations; so that there will not be among you a root [of idolatry] bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood (bitterness). 19 It will happen that when he (a renegade) hears the words of this oath, and he [c]imagines himself as blessed, saying, ‘I will have peace and safety even though I walk within the stubbornness of my heart [rejecting God and His law], in order that the watered land dwindles away along with the dry [destroying everything],’ 20 the Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but then the anger of the Lord and His [d]jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him; the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 Then the Lord will single him out for disaster from all the tribes of Israel [making an example of him], according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law.

22 Now the next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of this land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say, 23 ‘The whole land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it; it is like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath.’ 24 All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned (broke) the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 For they went and served other gods and worshiped them, [false] gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted (given) to them. 27 So the anger of the Lord burned against this land, bringing on it every curse that is written in this book; 28 and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed and disclosed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may do all of the words of this law.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:2 Ch 29:1 in Hebrew.
  2. Deuteronomy 29:11 This probably refers to a permanent slave population (Josh 9:27).
  3. Deuteronomy 29:19 Lit blesses himself in his heart. That is, the renegade imagines that the agreement is one-sided, requiring God to bless him no matter what he does.
  4. Deuteronomy 29:20 I.e. intolerance of unfaithfulness.

The Covenant Renewed in Moab

29 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the (A)covenant which He made with them in Horeb.

Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: (B)“You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land— (C)the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. Yet (D)the Lord has not given you a heart to [a]perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. (E)And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. (F)Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. (G)You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. And when you came to this place, (H)Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. We took their land and (I)gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. Therefore (J)keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may (K)prosper in all that you do.

10 “All of you stand today before the Lord your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from (L)the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water— 12 that you may enter into covenant with the Lord your God, and (M)into His oath, which the Lord your God makes with you today, 13 that He may (N)establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, (O)just as He has spoken to you, and (P)just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 “I make this covenant and this oath, (Q)not with you alone, 15 but with him who stands here with us today before the Lord our God, (R)as well as with him who is not here with us today 16 (for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, 17 and you saw their [b]abominations and their idols which were among them—wood and stone and silver and gold); 18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, (S)whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, (T)and that there may not be among you a root bearing (U)bitterness or wormwood; 19 and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I [c]follow the (V)dictates of my heart’—(W)as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

20 (X)“The Lord would not spare him; for then (Y)the anger of the Lord and (Z)His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord (AA)would blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord (AB)would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the (AC)Law, 22 so that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they (AD)see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the Lord has laid on it:

23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, (AE)salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, (AF)like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’ 24 All nations would say, (AG)‘Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ 25 Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against this land, (AH)to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. 28 And the Lord (AI)uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:4 understand or know
  2. Deuteronomy 29:17 detestable things
  3. Deuteronomy 29:19 walk in the stubbornness or imagination

Covenant Renewal, Oaths, Restoration, Charges to the Nation

29 [a] These are the words of the covenant that Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the Israelites[b] in the land of Moab besides[c] the covenant that he made with them at Horeb.

And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, “You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; that is, the great trials that your eyes saw, and those great signs and wonders. But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even to this day.[d] And I have led you forty years[e] in the desert; your clothes have not worn out on you,[f] and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.[g] You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. And when you came to this place then Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out to meet you for battle, and we defeated them. And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites[h] and to the Gadites[i] and to the half-tribe of Manasseh. And you must diligently observe the words of this covenant,[j] so that you may succeed in all that you do.

10 “You are standing today,[k] all of you, before[l] Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, 11 your little children, your women and your aliens[m] who are in the midst of your camp, from the choppers[n] of your wood to the drawers[o] of your water, 12 in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God,[p] and into[q] his oath that Yahweh your God is making with you[r] today,[s] 13 in order to establish you today[t] to himself[u] as a people and so that he may be for you as God, just as he promised[v] to you and just as[w] he swore to your ancestors,[x] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

14 “Now I am not making this covenant[y] and this oath with you alone.[z] 15 But with whoever is standing here[aa] with us today[ab] before[ac] Yahweh our God, and with whoever is not standing here[ad] with us today.[ae] 16 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the midst of the nations that you traveled[af] through. 17 And you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood and stone, silver, and gold that were among them, 18 so that there is not[ag] among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe whose heart[ah] turns today[ai] from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood. 19 And then when he hears the words of this oath, then[aj] he will assure himself[ak] in his heart, saying,[al]Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart,’[am] thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched.[an] 20 Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law.

22 “And the next generation, that is, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, when[ao] they will see the plagues of that land and its diseases that Yahweh has inflicted upon it, will say, 23 ‘All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, none of its land will be sown,[ap] and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.’ 24 And all the nations will say, ‘Why[aq] has Yahweh done such a thing[ar] to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?’ 25 And they will say,[as]It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,[at] which he made[au] with them when he brought them out[av] from the land of Egypt. 26 And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he[aw] had not allotted to them. 27 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled[ax] against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, 28 and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, just as it is today.’[ay]

29 “The hidden things belong to Yahweh[az] our God, but the revealed things belong to us[ba] to know and to our children forever,[bb] in order to do all the words of this law.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:1 Deuteronomy 29:1–29 in the English Bible is 28.69–29:28 in the Hebrew Bible
  2. Deuteronomy 29:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Deuteronomy 29:1 Literally “from to alone”
  4. Deuteronomy 29:4 Literally “until the day the this”
  5. Deuteronomy 29:5 Hebrew “year”
  6. Deuteronomy 29:5 Literally “from on you”
  7. Deuteronomy 29:5 Literally “from on your foot”
  8. Deuteronomy 29:8 Hebrew “Reubenite”
  9. Deuteronomy 29:8 Hebrew “Gadite”
  10. Deuteronomy 29:9 Literally “you must keep the words of the covenant the this and you must do them”
  11. Deuteronomy 29:10 Literally “the day”
  12. Deuteronomy 29:10 Literally “to the face of”
  13. Deuteronomy 29:11 Hebrew “alien”
  14. Deuteronomy 29:11 Hebrew “chopper”
  15. Deuteronomy 29:11 Hebrew “drawer”
  16. Deuteronomy 29:12 Literally “for you to go over into the covenant of Yahweh your God”
  17. Deuteronomy 29:12 Or “with”
  18. Deuteronomy 29:12 Literally “cutting with you”
  19. Deuteronomy 29:12 Literally “the day”
  20. Deuteronomy 29:13 Literally “the day”
  21. Deuteronomy 29:13 Literally “for him”
  22. Deuteronomy 29:13 Literally “spoke”
  23. Deuteronomy 29:13 Literally “according to that which”
  24. Deuteronomy 29:13 Or “your fathers”
  25. Deuteronomy 29:14 Literally “cutting this covenant”
  26. Deuteronomy 29:14 Literally “with you to alone you”
  27. Deuteronomy 29:15 Literally “with who he is here with us standing”
  28. Deuteronomy 29:15 Literally “the day”
  29. Deuteronomy 29:15 Literally “to the face of”
  30. Deuteronomy 29:15 Literally “with who he is not standing here with us”
  31. Deuteronomy 29:15 Literally “the day”
  32. Deuteronomy 29:16 Or “journeyed”
  33. Deuteronomy 29:18 Literally “lest there be/develop”
  34. Deuteronomy 29:18 Literally “his heart”
  35. Deuteronomy 29:18 Literally “the day”
  36. Deuteronomy 29:19 Or “and”
  37. Deuteronomy 29:19 Literally “he will bless himself”; HALOT 160 suggests “to consider oneself fortunate”
  38. Deuteronomy 29:19 Literally “to say”
  39. Deuteronomy 29:19 Literally “Peace shall happen/be for me, although/even if in the stubbornness of my heart I go”
  40. Deuteronomy 29:19 Some translators prefer to include the last clause as a part of the words of the wicked man (NASV vs. NEB)
  41. Deuteronomy 29:22 Hebrew “and”
  42. Deuteronomy 29:23 Literally “all of its land will not be sown”
  43. Deuteronomy 29:24 Literally “On what basis
  44. Deuteronomy 29:24 Literally “so”
  45. Deuteronomy 29:25 Or “answer/respond”
  46. Deuteronomy 29:25 Or “fathers”
  47. Deuteronomy 29:25 Literally “cut”
  48. Deuteronomy 29:25 Literally “at/in his to bring them out from the land of Egypt”
  49. Deuteronomy 29:26 That is, Yahweh
  50. Deuteronomy 29:27 Literally “became hot the nose of Yahweh”
  51. Deuteronomy 29:28 Literally “as the day the this”
  52. Deuteronomy 29:29 Literally “are for Yahweh”
  53. Deuteronomy 29:29 Literally “are for us”
  54. Deuteronomy 29:29 Literally “until eternity”