Deuteronomy 11
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 11
God’s Mighty Deeds. 1 You shall love the Lord, your God, and observe his ordinances, his statutes, his decrees, and his commandments always. 2 Remember this day, for I am now not speaking with your children, who did not experience the discipline of the Lord, your God, his majesty, his mighty hand and outstretched arm, 3 and the signs and deeds he did in Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to the whole land, 4 what he did to the army of Egypt, to its horses and chariots, how he caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow over them as they pursued you, for the Lord brought a lasting destruction upon them, 5 and what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived here, 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, how he opened a hole in the ground right in the midst of the Israelites that swallowed them up, them and their households and their tents and all of their possessions. 7 You have seen with your own eyes all of these great deeds that the Lord has done.
8 Therefore, keep all of the commandments that I give you today so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess 9 and so that the Lord may prolong your life in the land that the Lord promised to give to your forefathers and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 The land that you are entering to take possession of is not like the land of Egypt out of which you have come. There you planted your seeds and watered the plants by hand,[a] like you would in a vegetable garden. 11 The land that you are entering to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys that obtains its water from the rain of the skies. 12 It is a land that the Lord, your God, cares for, the Lord, your God, continuously keeps his eyes on it, from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.
13 [b]If you carefully observe the commandments that I give you today, to love the Lord, your God, and to serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will provide the rain upon the land in its proper season, the fall rains and the spring rains, so that you can harvest your grain, your wine, and your oil. 15 I will provide grass in your field for your cattle, so that you may eat until you are full.
16 Only be careful not to let yourself be enticed, turning away and serving other gods, worshiping them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger would lash out against you. He would shut up the heavens so that there would be no rain, no produce from the land. Beware lest you soon perish in the good land that the Lord is giving you.
18 Rewards of Faithfulness. Fix these words in your heart and your soul, bind them as a reminder upon your hand, and wear them as a pendant between your eyes. 19 You are to teach them to your children. You shall talk of them when you are sitting in your home, and when you are walking along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 You are to write them on the doorframes of your houses and your gates 21 so that your days and the days of your children will be multiplied in the land that the Lord promised to give them, lasting as long as the heavens cover the earth.
22 If you are careful in observing all of these commandments that I give you, loving the Lord, your God, and walking in all of his ways and holding fast to him, 23 then the Lord will drive out all of these nations from before you. You will dispossess nations that are larger and stronger than you are. 24 Everywhere that your feet touch the ground shall be yours, from the desert and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, up to the western sea, this will all be your land.[c] 25 No one will be able to stand up to you. The Lord, your God, as he promised you, he has put fear and dread of you upon everyone in the land, wherever you go.
26 Blessing and Curse. Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. 27 There will be a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, that I give you today. 28 There will be a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, and you turn from the way that I command you today and you seek after other gods whom you have previously not known. 29 When the Lord, your God, has brought you into the land that you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim a blessing on Mount Gerizim and a curse on Mount Ebal. 30 (Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the terebinth of Moreh?)[d] 31 You are to cross over the Jordan and enter in it and take possession of the land that the Lord, your God, has given you. When you have taken possession of it and are living in it, 32 then you are to observe all of the statutes and decrees that I have placed before you today.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 11:10 Watered the plants by hand: that is, by scooping out channels that allow the water to reach the seed.
- Deuteronomy 11:13 In this section, Moses shifts between the first and third person, speaking as a prophet and then for the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 11:24 Israel never extended to these borders; they serve rather as an ideal. See Ps 72:8.
- Deuteronomy 11:30 The terebinth of Moreh were at Shechem, the modern Tell Balatah; the road to the place starts at Galgala and runs westward.
Deuteronomy 11
King James Version
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.
