Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love(A) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.(B) Remember today that your children(C) were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:(D) his majesty,(E) his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;(F) the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;(G) what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,(H) how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea[a](I) as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, and what he did(J) to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened(K) its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.(L)

Observe therefore all the commands(M) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,(N) and so that you may live long(O) in the land the Lord swore(P) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(Q) 10 The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,(R) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys(S) that drinks rain from heaven.(T) 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes(U) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

13 So if you faithfully obey(V) the commands I am giving you today—to love(W) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul(X) 14 then I will send rain(Y) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,(Z) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass(AA) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.(AB)

16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.(AC) 17 Then the Lord’s anger(AD) will burn against you, and he will shut up(AE) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,(AF) and you will soon perish(AG) from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.(AH) 19 Teach them to your children,(AI) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.(AJ) 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,(AK) 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many(AL) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.(AM)

22 If you carefully observe(AN) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love(AO) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast(AP) to him— 23 then the Lord will drive out(AQ) all these nations(AR) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.(AS) 24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours:(AT) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River(AU) to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror(AV) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.(AW)

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing(AX) and a curse(AY) 27 the blessing(AZ) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey(BA) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,(BB) which you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim(BC) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal(BD) the curses.(BE) 30 As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,(BF) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.(BG) 31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession(BH) of the land the Lord your God is giving(BI) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, 32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

The One Place of Worship

12 These are the decrees(BJ) and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.(BK) Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,(BL) on the hills and under every spreading tree,(BM) where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash(BN) their sacred stones and burn(BO) their Asherah(BP) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names(BQ) from those places.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.(BR) But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name(BS) there for his dwelling.(BT) To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes(BU) and special gifts, what you have vowed(BV) to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.(BW) There, in the presence(BX) of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice(BY) in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,(BZ) since you have not yet reached the resting place(CA) and the inheritance(CB) the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving(CC) you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest(CD) from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name(CE)—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord.(CF) 12 And there rejoice(CG) before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites(CH) from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance(CI) of their own. 13 Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.(CJ) 14 Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose(CK) in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

15 Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer,(CL) according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. 16 But you must not eat the blood;(CM) pour(CN) it out on the ground like water.(CO) 17 You must not eat in your own towns the tithe(CP) of your grain and new wine and olive oil,(CQ) or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give,(CR) or your freewill offerings or special gifts.(CS) 18 Instead, you are to eat(CT) them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose(CU)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice(CV) before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. 19 Be careful not to neglect the Levites(CW) as long as you live in your land.(CX)

20 When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory(CY) as he promised(CZ) you, and you crave meat(DA) and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. 21 If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name(DB) is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.(DC) 22 Eat them as you would gazelle or deer.(DD) Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. 23 But be sure you do not eat the blood,(DE) because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.(DF) 24 You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.(DG) 25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well(DH) with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right(DI) in the eyes of the Lord.

26 But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give,(DJ) and go to the place the Lord will choose. 27 Present your burnt offerings(DK) on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat(DL) the meat. 28 Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well(DM) with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

29 The Lord your God will cut off(DN) before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,(DO) 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared(DP) by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.”(DQ) 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates.(DR) They even burn their sons(DS) and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.(DT)

32 See that you do all I command you; do not add(DU) to it or take away from it.[b]

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:4 Or the Sea of Reeds
  2. Deuteronomy 12:32 In Hebrew texts this verse (12:32) is numbered 13:1.

11 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

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,

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;

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;

And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

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:

But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.

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;

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.

12 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.

But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you.

10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:

12 And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

18 But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.

20 When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

21 If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose:

27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.

29 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Love and Obedience Rewarded

11 “Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the [a]chastening of the Lord your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm— His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: (A)how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day; what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; and (B)what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was [b]in their possession, in the midst of all Israel— but your eyes have (C)seen every great [c]act of the Lord which He did.

“Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may (D)be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, and (E)that you may prolong your days in the land (F)which the Lord [d]swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, (G)‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; 11 (H)but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; (I)the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly [e]obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then (J)I[f] will give you the rain for your land in its season, (K)the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 (L)And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may (M)eat and be [g]filled.’ 16 Take heed to yourselves, (N)lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and (O)serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest (P)the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He (Q)shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and (R)you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “Therefore (S)you shall [h]lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your (T)soul, and (U)bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 (V)You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 (W)And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that (X)your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like (Y)the days of the heavens above the earth.

22 “For if (Z)you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and (AA)to hold fast to Him— 23 then the Lord will (AB)drive out all these nations from before you, and you will (AC)dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24 (AD)Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: (AE)from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the [i]Western Sea, shall be your territory. 25 No man shall be able to (AF)stand [j]against you; the Lord your God will put the (AG)dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

26 (AH)“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 (AI)the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 28 and the (AJ)curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29 Now it shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the (AK)blessing on Mount Gerizim and the (AL)curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, (AM)beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? 31 For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. 32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

A Prescribed Place of Worship

12 “These (AN)are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, (AO)all[k] the days that you live on the earth. (AP)You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, (AQ)on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And (AR)you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their [l]wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not (AS)worship the Lord your God with such things.

“But you shall seek the (AT)place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His (AU)dwelling[m] place; and there you shall go. (AV)There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the (AW)firstborn of your herds and flocks. And (AX)there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and (AY)you shall rejoice in [n]all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—(AZ)every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— for as yet you have not come to the (BA)rest[o] and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you (BB)rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord. 12 And (BC)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the (BD)Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

15 “However, (BE)you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; (BF)the unclean and the clean may eat of it, (BG)of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16 (BH)Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the [p]heave offering of your hand. 18 But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in [q]all to which you put your hands. 19 [r]Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

20 “When the Lord your God (BI)enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21 If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from (BJ)you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. 22 Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. 23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, (BK)for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 25 You shall not eat it, (BL)that it may go well with you and your children after you, (BM)when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26 Only the (BN)holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses. 27 And (BO)you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall eat the meat. 28 Observe and obey all these words which I command you, (BP)that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Beware of False Gods

29 “When (BQ)the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ 31 (BR)You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every [s]abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for (BS)they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; (BT)you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:2 discipline
  2. Deuteronomy 11:6 at their feet
  3. Deuteronomy 11:7 work
  4. Deuteronomy 11:9 promised
  5. Deuteronomy 11:13 Lit. listen to
  6. Deuteronomy 11:14 So with MT, Tg.; Sam., LXX, Vg. He
  7. Deuteronomy 11:15 satisfied
  8. Deuteronomy 11:18 Lit. put
  9. Deuteronomy 11:24 Mediterranean
  10. Deuteronomy 11:25 before
  11. Deuteronomy 12:1 As long as
  12. Deuteronomy 12:3 Heb. Asherim
  13. Deuteronomy 12:5 home
  14. Deuteronomy 12:7 all that you undertake
  15. Deuteronomy 12:9 Or place of rest
  16. Deuteronomy 12:17 contribution
  17. Deuteronomy 12:18 all your undertakings
  18. Deuteronomy 12:19 Be careful
  19. Deuteronomy 12:31 detestable action