Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols^(A) or set up an image^(B) or a sacred stone^(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone^(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

² “‘Observe my Sabbaths^(E) and have reverence for my sanctuary.^(F) I am the Lord.

³ “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey^(G) my commands, ⁴ I will send you rain^(H) in its season,^(I) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.^{(J) 5} Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want^(K) and live in safety in your land.^(L)

⁶ “‘I will grant peace in the land,^(M) and you will lie down^(N) and no one will make you afraid.^(O) I will remove wild beasts^(P) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies,^(Q) and they will fall by the sword before you. ⁸ Five^(R) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.^(S)

⁹ “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,^(T) and I will keep my covenant^(U) with you. ¹⁰ You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.^{(V) 11} I will put my dwelling place^[a](W) among you, and I will not abhor you.^{(X) 12} I will walk^(Y) among you and be your God,^(Z) and you will be my people.^{(AA) 13} I am the Lord your God,^(AB) who brought you out of Egypt^(AC) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke^(AD) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

¹⁴ “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,^{(AE) 15} and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws^(AF) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,^{(AG) 16} then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever^(AH) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.^(AI) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.^{(AJ) 17} I will set my face^(AK) against you so that you will be defeated^(AL) by your enemies;^(AM) those who hate you will rule over you,^(AN) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.^(AO)

¹⁸ “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,^(AP) I will punish^(AQ) you for your sins seven times over.^{(AR) 19} I will break down your stubborn pride^(AS) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.^{(AT) 20} Your strength will be spent in vain,^(AU) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.^(AV)

²¹ “‘If you remain hostile^(AW) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,^(AX) as your sins deserve. ²² I will send wild animals^(AY) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few^(AZ) in number that your roads will be deserted.^(BA)

²³ “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction^(BB) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁴ I myself will be hostile^(BC) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. ²⁵ And I will bring the sword^(BD) on you to avenge^(BE) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague^(BF) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. ²⁶ When I cut off your supply of bread,^(BG) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

²⁷ “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me^(BH) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁸ then in my anger^(BI) I will be hostile^(BJ) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.^{(BK) 29} You will eat^(BL) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.^{(BM) 30} I will destroy your high places,^(BN) cut down your incense altars^(BO) and pile your dead bodies^[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols,^(BP) and I will abhor^(BQ) you. ³¹ I will turn your cities into ruins^(BR) and lay waste^(BS) your sanctuaries,^(BT) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.^{(BU) 32} I myself will lay waste the land,^(BV) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.^{(BW) 33} I will scatter^(BX) you among the nations^(BY) and will draw out my sword^(BZ) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,^(CA) and your cities will lie in ruins.^{(CB) 34} Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate^(CC) and you are in the country of your enemies;^(CD) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ³⁵ All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest^(CE) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

³⁶ “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf^(CF) will put them to flight.^(CG) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.^{(CH) 37} They will stumble over one another^(CI) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.^{(CJ) 38} You will perish^(CK) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.^{(CL) 39} Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’^(CM) sins they will waste away.^(CN)

⁴⁰ “‘But if they will confess^(CO) their sins^(CP) and the sins of their ancestors^(CQ)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, ⁴¹ which made me hostile^(CR) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts^(CS) are humbled^(CT) and they pay^(CU) for their sin, ⁴² I will remember my covenant with Jacob^(CV) and my covenant with Isaac^(CW) and my covenant with Abraham,^(CX) and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will be deserted^(CY) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected^(CZ) my laws and abhorred my decrees.^{(DA) 44} Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,^(DB) I will not reject them or abhor^(DC) them so as to destroy them completely,^(DD) breaking my covenant^(DE) with them. I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But for their sake I will remember^(DF) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt^(DG) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁶ These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai^(DH) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.^(DI)

Blessings for Obedience

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow^(A) all his commands^(B) I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.^{(C) 2} All these blessings will come on you^(D) and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

⁷ The Lord will grant that the enemies^(I) who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.^(J)

⁸ The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless^(K) you in the land he is giving you.

⁹ The Lord will establish you as his holy people,^(L) as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands^(M) of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name^(N) of the Lord, and they will fear you. ¹¹ The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock^(O) and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.^(P)

¹² The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse^(Q) of his bounty,^(R) to send rain^(S) on your land in season and to bless^(T) all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.^{(U) 13} The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow^(V) them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.^{(W) 14} Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left,^(X) following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵ However, if you do not obey^(Y) the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,^(Z) all these curses will come on you and overtake you:^(AA)

²⁰ The Lord will send on you curses,^(AF) confusion and rebuke^(AG) in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin^(AH) because of the evil^(AI) you have done in forsaking him.^{[a] 21} The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.^{(AJ) 22} The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,^(AK) with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,^(AL) with blight^(AM) and mildew, which will plague^(AN) you until you perish.^{(AO) 23} The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.^{(AP) 24} The Lord will turn the rain^(AQ) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵ The Lord will cause you to be defeated^(AR) before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,^(AS) and you will become a thing of horror^(AT) to all the kingdoms on earth.^{(AU) 26} Your carcasses will be food for all the birds^(AV) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^{(AW) 27} The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt^(AX) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸ The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹ At midday you will grope^(AY) about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue^(AZ) you.

³⁰ You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.^(BA) You will build a house, but you will not live in it.^(BB) You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.^{(BC) 31} Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,^(BD) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. ³³ A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression^(BE) all your days.^{(BF) 34} The sights you see will drive you mad.^{(BG) 35} The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils^(BH) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.^(BI)

³⁶ The Lord will drive you and the king^(BJ) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.^(BK) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.^{(BL) 37} You will become a thing of horror,^(BM) a byword^(BN) and an object of ridicule^(BO) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.^(BP)

³⁸ You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,^(BQ) because locusts^(BR) will devour^(BS) it. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine^(BT) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat^(BU) them.^{(BV) 40} You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.^{(BW) 41} You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.^{(BX) 42} Swarms of locusts^(BY) will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

⁴³ The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.^{(BZ) 44} They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.^(CA) They will be the head, but you will be the tail.^(CB)

⁴⁵ All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you^(CC) until you are destroyed,^(CD) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. ⁴⁶ They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.^{(CE) 47} Because you did not serve^(CF) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly^(CG) in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸ therefore in hunger and thirst,^(CH) in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke^(CI) on your neck^(CJ) until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹ The Lord will bring a nation against you^(CK) from far away, from the ends of the earth,^(CL) like an eagle^(CM) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,^{(CN) 50} a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old^(CO) or pity for the young. ⁵¹ They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine^(CP) or olive oil,^(CQ) nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.^{(CR) 52} They will lay siege^(CS) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.^(CT)

⁵³ Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.^{(CU) 54} Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, ⁵⁵ and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.^{(CV) 56} The most gentle and sensitive^(CW) woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter^{(CX) 57} the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them^(CY) secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

⁵⁸ If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,^(CZ) which are written in this book, and do not revere^(DA) this glorious and awesome name^(DB)—the Lord your God— ⁵⁹ the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt^(DC) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,^(DD) until you are destroyed.^{(DE) 62} You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky^(DF) will be left but few^(DG) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. ⁶³ Just as it pleased^(DH) the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please^(DI) him to ruin and destroy you.^(DJ) You will be uprooted^(DK) from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴ Then the Lord will scatter^(DL) you among all nations,^(DM) from one end of the earth to the other.^(DN) There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.^{(DO) 65} Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place^(DP) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes^(DQ) weary with longing, and a despairing heart.^{(DR) 66} You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.^{(DS) 68} The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.^(DT) There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

Renewal of the Covenant

29 ^[b]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab,^(DU) in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.^(DV)

² Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.^{(DW) 3} With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.^{(DX) 4} But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.^{(DY) 5} Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led^(DZ) you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.^{(EA) 6} You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.^(EB) I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”^(EC)

⁷ When you reached this place, Sihon^(ED) king of Heshbon^(EE) and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.^{(EF) 8} We took their land and gave it as an inheritance^(EG) to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.^(EH)

⁹ Carefully follow^(EI) the terms of this covenant,^(EJ) so that you may prosper in everything you do.^{(EK) 10} All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, ¹¹ together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.^{(EL) 12} You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³ to confirm you this day as his people,^(EM) that he may be your God^(EN) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹⁴ I am making this covenant,^(EO) with its oath, not only with you ¹⁵ who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.^(EP)

¹⁶ You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. ¹⁷ You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.^{(EQ) 18} Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns^(ER) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.^(ES)

¹⁹ When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing^(ET) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”^(EU) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. ²⁰ The Lord will never be willing to forgive^(EV) them; his wrath and zeal^(EW) will burn^(EX) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot^(EY) out their names from under heaven. ²¹ The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,^(EZ) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.^(FA)

²² Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.^{(FB) 23} The whole land will be a burning waste^(FC) of salt^(FD) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,^(FE) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.^{(FF) 24} All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?^(FG) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.^{(FH) 26} They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.^{(FI) 28} In furious anger and in great wrath^(FJ) the Lord uprooted^(FK) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

²⁹ The secret things belong to the Lord our God,^(FL) but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.^(FM)

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses^(FN) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,^{(FO) 2} and when you and your children return^(FP) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart^(FQ) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, ³ then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes^[c](FR) and have compassion^(FS) on you and gather^(FT) you again from all the nations where he scattered^(FU) you.^{(FV) 4} Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,^(FW) from there the Lord your God will gather^(FX) you and bring you back.^{(FY) 5} He will bring^(FZ) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous^(GA) than your ancestors. ⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,^(GB) so that you may love^(GC) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. ⁷ The Lord your God will put all these curses^(GD) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.^{(GE) 8} You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. ⁹ Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.^(GF) The Lord will again delight^(GG) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, ¹⁰ if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law^(GH) and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.^(GI)

The Offer of Life or Death

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.^{(GJ) 12} It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven^(GK) to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^{(GL) 13} Nor is it beyond the sea,^(GM) so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^{(GN) 14} No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.^(GO)

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life^(GP) and prosperity,^(GQ) death^(GR) and destruction.^{(GS) 16} For I command you today to love^(GT) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live^(GU) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.^(GV) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you^(GW) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.^(GX) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love^(GY) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,^(GZ) and he will give^(HA) you many years in the land^(HB) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ² “I am now a hundred and twenty years old^(HC) and I am no longer able to lead you.^(HD) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’^{(HE) 3} The Lord your God himself will cross^(HF) over ahead of you.^(HG) He will destroy these nations^(HH) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross^(HI) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,^(HJ) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. ⁵ The Lord will deliver^(HK) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous.^(HL) Do not be afraid or terrified^(HM) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;^(HN) he will never leave you^(HO) nor forsake^(HP) you.”

⁷ Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^(HQ) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^(HR) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. ⁸ The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^(HS) he will never leave you nor forsake you.^(HT) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

⁹ So Moses wrote^(HU) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^(HV) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^(HW) during the Festival of Tabernacles,^{(HX) 11} when all Israel comes to appear^(HY) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^(HZ) you shall read this law^(IA) before them in their hearing. ¹² Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn^(IB) to fear^(IC) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³ Their children,^(ID) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death^(IE) is near. Call Joshua^(IF) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^(IG)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.^(IH)

¹⁵ Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^{(II) 16} And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(IJ) and these people will soon prostitute^(IK) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(IL) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷ And in that day I will become angry^(IM) with them and forsake^(IN) them; I will hide^(IO) my face^(IP) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(IQ) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’^{(IR) 18} And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now write^(IS) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^(IT) for me against them. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^(IU) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^(IV) and worship them,^(IW) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^{(IX) 21} And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^(IY) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^(IZ) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” ²² So Moses wrote^(JA) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ The Lord gave this command^(JB) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,^(JC) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

²⁴ After Moses finished writing^(JD) in a book the words of this law^(JE) from beginning to end, ²⁵ he gave this command to the Levites who carried^(JF) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.^{(JG) 27} For I know how rebellious^(JH) and stiff-necked^(JI) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! ²⁸ Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.^{(JJ) 29} For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^(JK) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^(JL) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

⁴⁴ Moses came with Joshua^[j](OF) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. ⁴⁵ When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶ he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,^(OG) so that you may command^(OH) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. ⁴⁷ They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.^(OI) By them you will live long^(OJ) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

⁴⁸ On that same day the Lord told Moses,^{(OK) 49} “Go up into the Abarim^(OL) Range to Mount Nebo^(OM) in Moab, across from Jericho,^(ON) and view Canaan,^(OO) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. ⁵⁰ There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die^(OP) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died^(OQ) on Mount Hor^(OR) and was gathered to his people. ⁵¹ This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh^(OS) in the Desert of Zin^(OT) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.^{(OU) 52} Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;^(OV) you will not enter^(OW) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

²⁶ They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety^(A) in their land with no one to make them afraid.^(B)

²⁴ “Seventy ‘sevens’^[a] are decreed for your people and your holy city^(A) to finish^[b] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone^(B) for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness,^(C) to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.^[c]

²⁵ “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild^(D) Jerusalem until the Anointed One,^[d](E) the ruler,^(F) comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.^{(G) 26} After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death^(H) and will have nothing.^[e] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:^(I) War will continue until the end, and desolations^(J) have been decreed.^{(K) 27} He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’^[f] In the middle of the ‘seven’^[g] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple^[h] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed^(L) is poured out on him.^[i]”^[j]