¹⁰ if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

¹¹ “For this commandment which I command you today ^(A)is ^[a]not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. ^12 (B)It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, ^(C)in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

^47 (A)Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was ^[a]founded on the rock. ⁴⁹ But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it ^[b]fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

²³ But this is what I commanded them, saying, ^(A)‘Obey My voice, and ^(B)I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’

¹¹ then you shall say to them, ^(A)‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. ¹² And you have done ^(B)worse than your fathers, for behold, ^(C)each one ^[a]follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.