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

11 “You must love the Lord your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land. They didn’t see what the Lord did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots—how he drowned them in the Red Sea[a] as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!

“Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here. They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!

The Blessings of Obedience

“Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey! 10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain— 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!

13 “If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.

16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.

18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.

22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him. 23 Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land. 24 Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.[b] 25 No one will be able to stand against you, for the Lord your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.

26 “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

29 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 (These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley,[c] near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.) 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it, 32 you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.

Footnotes

  1. 11:4 Hebrew sea of reeds.
  2. 11:24 Hebrew to the western sea.
  3. 11:30 Hebrew the Arabah.