不可忘記耶和華

「你們要謹遵我今日吩咐你們的一切誡命,以便能夠存活,生養眾多,並且得到耶和華起誓要賜給你們祖先的土地。 要記住這四十年來你們的上帝耶和華怎樣在曠野引領你們,祂磨煉你們、考驗你們,好知道你們的心意如何、肯不肯遵守祂的誡命。 祂讓你們忍饑挨餓,然後賜給你們祖祖輩輩從未見過的嗎哪吃,為了使你們明白人活著不是單靠食物,乃是靠祂口中的每一句話。 這四十年來,你們的衣服沒有穿破,雙腳也沒有走腫。 你們心裡要明白,你們的上帝耶和華管教你們,如同父親管教兒子。

「所以,你們要遵守你們的上帝耶和華的誡命,行祂的道,敬畏祂, 因為祂要帶你們到一個佳美之地。那裡的谷中和山間流淌著條條溪流、股股清泉; 那裡盛產大麥、小麥、葡萄、無花果、石榴、橄欖油和蜂蜜; 那裡食物充足,一無所缺;那裡礦產資源豐富,石頭就是鐵,山中可以採銅。 10 你們吃飽喝足後,要讚美你們的上帝耶和華,因為祂賜給你們那佳美之地。

11 「你們要謹慎,免得忘記你們的上帝耶和華,不遵守我今天吩咐你們的誡命、典章和律例。 12 當你們豐衣足食、居室華美、 13 牛羊眾多、金銀日增的時候, 14 切勿心驕氣傲,忘記你們的上帝耶和華。祂把你們從受奴役之地——埃及救出來, 15 帶領你們走過乾旱、可怕、毒蛇和蠍子出沒的大曠野。祂使堅硬的磐石流出水來給你們喝, 16 在曠野中把你們祖先從未見過的嗎哪賜給你們吃,為要磨煉你們、考驗你們,使你們最終得到益處。 17 你們切勿以為是憑自己的雙手和能力致富的。 18 要記住,是你們的上帝耶和華賜給你們致富的能力,為要堅立祂給你們祖先的誓約,正如今日的情形。

19 「我今天警告你們,如果你們忘記你們的上帝耶和華,去追隨、供奉、祭拜其他神明,你們必滅亡。 20 如果你們不聽從你們的上帝耶和華,你們必滅亡,正如祂使列國在你們面前滅亡一樣。

God’s Gracious Dealings

“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, so that you (A)may live and increase, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. (B)And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has (C)led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, (D)putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you [a]understand that (E)man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord. (F)Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (G)So you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to [b]fear Him. For (H)the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When (I)you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

11 “Be careful that you do not (J)forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, (K)when you eat and are satisfied, and you build good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks increase, and your silver and gold increase, and everything that you have increases, 14 then your heart will [c]become proud and you will (L)forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [d]slavery; 15 He who led you through (M)the great and terrible wilderness, with its (N)fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground where there was no water; He who (O)brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna (P)which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to (Q)put you to the test, to do good for you [e]in the end. 17 Otherwise, (R)you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 But you are to remember the Lord your God, for (S)it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, in order to confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And it shall come about, if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve and worship them, (T)I testify against you today that you will certainly perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord eliminates from you, so (U)you shall perish, because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 8:3 Lit know
  2. Deuteronomy 8:6 Or revere
  3. Deuteronomy 8:14 Lit be high
  4. Deuteronomy 8:14 Lit slaves
  5. Deuteronomy 8:16 Lit at your end