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]

Worshiping Other Gods

13 [c]If a prophet,(DV) or one who foretells by dreams,(DW) appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign(DX) or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods”(DY) (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet(DZ) or dreamer.(EA) The Lord your God is testing(EB) you to find out whether you love(EC) him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow,(ED) and him you must revere.(EE) Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast(EF) to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death(EG) for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn(EH) you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil(EI) from among you.

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices(EJ) you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods”(EK) (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield(EL) to them or listen to them. Show them no pity.(EM) Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death.(EN) Your hand(EO) must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away(EP) from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,(EQ) and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

12 If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 that troublemakers(ER) have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.(ES) And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,(ET) 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,[d](EU) both its people and its livestock.(EV) 16 You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town(EW) and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.(EX) That town is to remain a ruin(EY) forever, never to be rebuilt, 17 and none of the condemned things[e] are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger,(EZ) will show you mercy,(FA) and will have compassion(FB) on you. He will increase your numbers,(FC) as he promised(FD) on oath to your ancestors— 18 because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right(FE) in his eyes.

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.
  3. Deuteronomy 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-18 is numbered 13:2-19.
  4. Deuteronomy 13:15 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  5. Deuteronomy 13:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

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.

13 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.