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Love and Obey

11 You must love the Lord your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments always. Know this day that I am not speaking with your children who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm, and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land, and what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea to flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord utterly destroyed them, and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place, and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and everything that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel. But your eyes have seen all the great deeds of the Lord which He did.

Therefore you must keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you are going to possess; and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land which you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt from where you came, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot like a vegetable garden, 11 but the land, which you are entering to possess, is a land of hills and valleys and drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.

13 It will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain of your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15 I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be full.

16 Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived, and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17 Then the Lord’s wrath will be inflamed against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit, and you will quickly perish from the good land which the Lord is giving you. 18 Therefore you must fix these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, so that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the days of heaven on the earth.

22 For if you diligently keep all these commandments which I am commanding you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him— 23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 Every place where the soles of your feet tread will be yours. Your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, as far as the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No man will be able to resist you, for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land where you shall tread, just as He has spoken to you.

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, 28 and the curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn from the way which I am commanding 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 are entering to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, west where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31 For you will cross over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it, and dwell in it. 32 You must be careful to do all the statutes and judgments which I am setting before you today.

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”