Remember and Obey

11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep his mandate and his statutes, ordinances, and commands. Understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:

His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;(A) his signs and the works he did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;(B) what he did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and he destroyed them(C) completely;[a] what he did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place; and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.(D)

Your own eyes have seen(E) every great work the Lord has done.

“Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit, and so that you may live long(F) in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(G) 10 For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand[b] as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it(H) from the beginning to the end of the year.

13 “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 I[c] will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,(I) and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil.(J) 15 I[d] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.(K) 16 Be careful(L) that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.(M) 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you.(N) He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain;(O) the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land(P) the Lord is giving you.

18 “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol[e] on your foreheads.[f] 19 Teach them to your children,(Q) talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates,(R) 21 so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.(S) 22 For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, and remain faithful[g] to him— 23 the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.(T) 24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.(U) Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River[h] to the Mediterranean Sea.(V) 25 No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as he has promised you.(W)

A Blessing and a Curse

26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:(X) 27 there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today, 28 and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks[i] of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it, 32 be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.

Footnotes

  1. 11:4 Lit to this day
  2. 11:10 Lit foot
  3. 11:14 DSS, Sam, LXX read he
  4. 11:15 DSS, Sam, LXX read He
  5. 11:18 Or phylactery; Mt 23:5
  6. 11:18 Lit symbol between your eyes; Ex 13:16; Dt 6:8
  7. 11:22 Lit and hold on
  8. 11:24 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg, Vg read the great river, the river Euphrates
  9. 11:30 Sam, LXX, Syr, Aq, Sym read oak; Gn 12:6

11 “And you shall love Yahweh your God, and you shall keep his obligations and his statutes and his regulations and his commandments always.[a] And you shall realize today[b] that it is not with your children who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of Yahweh your God—his greatness, his strong hand, and his outstretched arm, and his signs and his deeds that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all of his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt and to their horses and to their chariots, and how he made the water of the Red Sea[c] flow over them, when they pursued after them,[d] and so Yahweh has destroyed them, as is the case today,[e] and what he did to you in the desert until you came up to this place, and what he did to Dathan and to Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth wide and swallowed them, their households and their tents, and all of the living creatures[f] that were in their possession and that were following along with them[g] in the midst of all of Israel. The fact of the matter is, your own eyes have seen[h] all of the great deeds[i] of Yahweh that he did.

“And you must keep all of the commandments[j] that I am commanding you today,[k] so that you may have strength and you may go and you may take possession of that land to which you are crossing[l] to take possession of it, so that you may live long[m] on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,[n] to give it to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the fact is that the land that you are about to go into[o] to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come out of,[p] where you sow your seed and you give water by your foot, as in a vegetable garden.[q] 11 But the land that you are about to cross into to take possession of it is a land of hills and valleys, and by the rain of the heaven it drinks water, 12 a land that Yahweh your God is caring for it; continually the eyes of Yahweh your God are on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of the year.

13 “And it will happen that if you listen carefully to my commandments that I am commanding you today,[r] to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all of your heart and with all of your soul,[s] 14 then ‘I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil. 15 And I will give vegetation in your field for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.’[t] 16 Take care[u] so that your heart is not easily deceived, and you turn away, and you serve other gods, and you bow down to them. 17 And then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you,[v] and he will shut up the heavens,[w] and there shall not be rain, and so the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land that Yahweh is giving to you.

18 “And you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your inner self,[x] and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be as an emblem between your eyes. 19 And you shall teach them to your children[y] by talking about them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates, 21 so that they may multiply your days and the days of your children on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors[z] to give it to them as long as heaven endures over the earth.[aa] 22 Yes, if you diligently keep all[ab] this commandment that I am commanding you to observe it, [ac] by loving Yahweh your God by walking in[ad] all his ways and by holding fast to him, 23 then Yahweh will drive out all of these nations before you,[ae] and you will dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, it shall be yours; your boundary shall be from the desert and Lebanon from the river, the river Euphrates, on up to the western sea.[af] 25 No one can take a stand against you;[ag] your dread and your fear Yahweh your God will put on the surface[ah] of all the land where you tread,[ai] just as he promised[aj] to you.

26 “See, I am setting before you[ak] today[al] a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today,[am] 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but rather you turn from the way that I am commanding you today[an] to go after other gods that you have not known.

29 “And it will happen that when Yahweh your God has brought you to the land that you are going to,[ao] to take possession of it, then[ap] you shall pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 (Are they not beyond the Jordan, toward the west,[aq] in the land of the Canaanites living in the Jordan Valley,[ar] opposite Gilgal beside the terebinth[as] of Moreh?) 31 For you are now about to cross the Jordan to go to take possession of the land that Yahweh, your God, is giving to you, and you will take possession of it and live in it, 32 and you must diligently observe[at] all the rules and the regulations that I am setting before you[au] today.”[av]

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:1 Literally “all of the days”
  2. Deuteronomy 11:2 Literally “the day”
  3. Deuteronomy 11:4 Literally “sea of reed”
  4. Deuteronomy 11:4 Literally “in/at their pursuing after them”
  5. Deuteronomy 11:4 Literally “until the day the this”
  6. Deuteronomy 11:6 Hebrew “creature”
  7. Deuteronomy 11:6 Literally “in their feet” = “living things traveling along with them”
  8. Deuteronomy 11:7 Literally “your eyes that are seeing”
  9. Deuteronomy 11:7 Hebrew “deed”
  10. Deuteronomy 11:8 Hebrew “commandment”
  11. Deuteronomy 11:8 Literally “the day”
  12. Deuteronomy 11:8 Literally “you are crossing there”
  13. Deuteronomy 11:9 Literally “you may make long days”
  14. Deuteronomy 11:9 Or “fathers”
  15. Deuteronomy 11:10 Literally “you are about to go there”
  16. Deuteronomy 11:10 Literally “come out from there”
  17. Deuteronomy 11:10 Literally “as the garden of the vegetables”
  18. Deuteronomy 11:13 Literally “the day”
  19. Deuteronomy 11:13 Or “inner self”
  20. Deuteronomy 11:15 Literally “you will eat and you will be satisfied”
  21. Deuteronomy 11:16 Literally “Watch for yourself”
  22. Deuteronomy 11:17 Literally “the nose of Yahweh become hot against you”
  23. Deuteronomy 11:17 Or “sky”
  24. Deuteronomy 11:18 Or “soul”
  25. Deuteronomy 11:19 Or “sons”
  26. Deuteronomy 11:21 Or “fathers”
  27. Deuteronomy 11:21 Literally “like the days of heaven above the earth”
  28. Deuteronomy 11:22 Or “every one of”
  29. Deuteronomy 11:22 Literally “to do it”
  30. Deuteronomy 11:22 Literally “to walk in”
  31. Deuteronomy 11:23 Literally “to the face of you”
  32. Deuteronomy 11:24 That is, the Mediterranean Sea
  33. Deuteronomy 11:25 Literally “to your faces”
  34. Deuteronomy 11:25 Literally “faces”
  35. Deuteronomy 11:25 Literally “which you tread in it”
  36. Deuteronomy 11:25 Literally “spoke”
  37. Deuteronomy 11:26 Literally “to the face of you”
  38. Deuteronomy 11:26 Literally “the day”
  39. Deuteronomy 11:27 Literally “the day”
  40. Deuteronomy 11:28 Literally “the day”
  41. Deuteronomy 11:29 Literally “the land that you are going there”
  42. Deuteronomy 11:29 Hebrew “and”
  43. Deuteronomy 11:30 Literally “after the way of the descent of the sun”
  44. Deuteronomy 11:30 Hebrew “in the Arabah”
  45. Deuteronomy 11:30 Or “oaks”
  46. Deuteronomy 11:32 Literally “observe to do”
  47. Deuteronomy 11:32 Literally “before your face”
  48. Deuteronomy 11:32 Literally “the day”