Rewards of Obedience

11 “You shall therefore (A)love the Lord your God, and always (B)keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. Know this day (C)that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the [a]discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, and (D)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 Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, (E)when He made the water of the [b]Red Sea [c]engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord [d]completely eliminated them; and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; and (F)what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and (G)every living thing that [e]followed them, among all Israel— but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, (H)so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; and (I)so that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their [f]descendants, (J)a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it [g]by your foot like a vegetable garden. 11 But (K)the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; (L)the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it, from the [h]beginning even to the end of the year.

13 “And it shall come about, (M)if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, (N)to love the Lord your God and to serve Him (O)with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that [i](P)He will provide rain for your land in its season, the [j](Q)early and [k]late rain, so that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 [l](R)He will also provide grass in your field for your cattle, and (S)you will eat and be satisfied. 16 [m](T)Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them. 17 Otherwise, (U)the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will (V)shut up the sky (W)so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce; then (X)you will quickly perish from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 (Y)You shall therefore take these words of mine to [n]heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your [o]hand, and they shall be as [p]frontlets [q]on your forehead. 19 (Z)You shall also teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 20 (AA)And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that (AB)your days and the days of your sons may be increased on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as [r](AC)long as the heavens are above the earth. 22 For if you are (AD)careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, (AE)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and (AF)cling to Him, 23 then the Lord will [s](AG)dispossess all these nations from you, and you will [t](AH)dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 (AI)Every place on which the sole of your foot steps shall be yours; (AJ)your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as [u]the western sea. 25 (AK)No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will [v]instill the dread of you and the fear of you in all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.

26 (AL)See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the (AM)blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the (AN)curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, [w]by following other gods which you have not known.

29 “And it shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, (AO)that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite (AP)Gilgal, beside (AQ)the [x]oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and (AR)you shall possess it and live in it, 32 and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am placing before you today.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:2 Or instruction
  2. Deuteronomy 11:4 Lit Sea of Reeds
  3. Deuteronomy 11:4 Lit flow over their faces
  4. Deuteronomy 11:4 Lit to this day
  5. Deuteronomy 11:6 Lit was at their feet
  6. Deuteronomy 11:9 Lit seed
  7. Deuteronomy 11:10 I.e., use of foot to facilitate irrigation
  8. Deuteronomy 11:12 Lit beginning of the year
  9. Deuteronomy 11:14 As in some ancient versions; MT I
  10. Deuteronomy 11:14 I.e., autumn
  11. Deuteronomy 11:14 I.e., spring
  12. Deuteronomy 11:15 As in some ancient versions; MT I
  13. Deuteronomy 11:16 Lit Watch yourselves
  14. Deuteronomy 11:18 Lit your heart
  15. Deuteronomy 11:18 Or forearm
  16. Deuteronomy 11:18 Or phylacteries
  17. Deuteronomy 11:18 Lit between your eyes
  18. Deuteronomy 11:21 Lit the days of the heavens
  19. Deuteronomy 11:23 Or drive out
  20. Deuteronomy 11:23 Or drive out
  21. Deuteronomy 11:24 I.e., the Mediterranean
  22. Deuteronomy 11:25 Lit give...over all
  23. Deuteronomy 11:28 Lit to follow
  24. Deuteronomy 11:30 Or terebinths

Remember and Obey

11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep His mandate and His statutes, ordinances, and commands. You must 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; His signs and the works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;(A) what He did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and He destroyed them(B) 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.(C)

Your own eyes have seen 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 in the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(D) 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 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,[d] and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil.(E) 15 I[e] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.(F) 16 Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land(G) 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[f] on your foreheads.[g] 19 Teach them to your children,(H) 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 gates,(I) 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 fathers.(J) 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[h] 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. 24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.(K) Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River[i] to the Mediterranean Sea.(L) 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.(M)

A Blessing and a Curse

26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:(N) 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[j] 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. Deuteronomy 11:4 Lit to this day
  2. Deuteronomy 11:10 Lit foot
  3. Deuteronomy 11:14 DSS, Sam, LXX read He
  4. Deuteronomy 11:14 Following the Hb calendar, the early rain came in September/October and the late rain in March/April.
  5. Deuteronomy 11:15 DSS, Sam, LXX read He
  6. Deuteronomy 11:18 Or phylactery; Mt 23:5
  7. Deuteronomy 11:18 Lit symbol between your eyes; Ex 13:16; Dt 6:8
  8. Deuteronomy 11:22 Lit and hold on
  9. Deuteronomy 11:24 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg, Vg read the great river, the river Euphrates
  10. Deuteronomy 11:30 Sam, LXX, Syr, Aq, Sym read oak; Gn 12:6