Remember the Lord

8 Carefully obey every command I give you today. Then you will live and ·grow in number [multiply], and you will enter and ·take [possess] the land the Lord promised your ·ancestors [fathers; Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. ² Remember ·how the Lord your God has led [all the way the Lord brought] you in the ·desert [wilderness] for these forty years, ·taking away your pride [humbling you] and testing you, because he wanted to know what was in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. ³ He ·took away your pride [humbled you] when he let you get hungry, and then he fed you with manna [Ex. 16:31–36], which neither you nor your ·ancestors [fathers] had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live on bread alone, but by everything the Lord says [Matt. 4:4]. ⁴ During these forty years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. ⁵ Know in your heart that the Lord your God ·corrects [instructs; disciplines] you as a parent ·corrects [instructs; disciplines] a child.

⁶ Obey the commands of the Lord your God, ·living as he has commanded you [^Lgoing in his way] and ·respecting [fearing] him. ⁷ The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with ·rivers [wadis] and pools of water, with ·springs [deeps; underground water] that flow in the valleys and hills, ⁸ a land that has wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey. ⁹ It is a land where you will have ·plenty of food [^Lno scarcity of food/bread], where you will have everything you need, where the rocks are iron, and where you can ·dig [mine] copper out of the hills.

¹⁰ When you ·have all you want to eat [^Leat and are satisfied], then ·praise [bless] the Lord your God for giving you a good land. ¹¹ Be careful not to forget the Lord your God so that you ·fail to obey [do not keep] his commands, laws, and ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] that I am giving to you today. ¹² When you eat ·all you want [^Land are satisfied] and build nice houses and live in them, ¹³ when your herds and flocks ·grow large [multiply] and your silver and gold ·increase [multiply], ·when you have more of everything [and all you have multiplies], ¹⁴ then your heart will ·become proud [^Lbe lifted up/exalted]. You will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ·where you were slaves [^Lfrom the house of bondage]. ¹⁵ He led you through the ·large [vast] and ·terrible [awesome] ·desert [wilderness] that was dry and had no water, and that had ·poisonous [^Lburning] snakes and stinging insects. He gave you water from a ·solid [or flint] rock [Ex. 17:1–7] ¹⁶ and manna to eat in the ·desert [wilderness; Ex. 16:31–36]. Manna was something your ·ancestors [fathers] had never seen. He did this to ·take away your pride [humble you] and to test you, so things would go well for you in the end. ¹⁷ You might say ·to yourself [^Lin your heart/mind], “I am rich because of ·my own power and strength [^Lthe power and strength of my hand; Ps. 30:6–7],” ¹⁸ but remember the Lord your God! It is he who gives you the power to become rich, keeping the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] he promised to your ·ancestors [fathers], as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and ·follow [^Lgo after] other gods and ·worship [serve] them and bow down to them, I ·warn you [testify/witness to you] today that you will be destroyed. ²⁰ Just as the Lord destroyed the other nations for you, you can be destroyed if you do not ·obey [^Llisten to the voice of] the Lord your God.