Renewal of the Covenant

29 ^[a]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab,^(A) in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.^(B)

² Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.^{(C) 3} With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.^{(D) 4} But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.^{(E) 5} Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led^(F) you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.^{(G) 6} You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.^(H) I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”^(I)

⁷ When you reached this place, Sihon^(J) king of Heshbon^(K) and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.^{(L) 8} We took their land and gave it as an inheritance^(M) to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.^(N)

⁹ Carefully follow^(O) the terms of this covenant,^(P) so that you may prosper in everything you do.^{(Q) 10} All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, ¹¹ together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.^{(R) 12} You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³ to confirm you this day as his people,^(S) that he may be your God^(T) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹⁴ I am making this covenant,^(U) with its oath, not only with you ¹⁵ who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.^(V)

¹⁶ You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. ¹⁷ You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.^{(W) 18} Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns^(X) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.^(Y)

¹⁹ When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing^(Z) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”^(AA) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. ²⁰ The Lord will never be willing to forgive^(AB) them; his wrath and zeal^(AC) will burn^(AD) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot^(AE) out their names from under heaven. ²¹ The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,^(AF) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.^(AG)

²² Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.^{(AH) 23} The whole land will be a burning waste^(AI) of salt^(AJ) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,^(AK) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.^{(AL) 24} All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?^(AM) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.^{(AN) 26} They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.^{(AO) 28} In furious anger and in great wrath^(AP) the Lord uprooted^(AQ) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

²⁹ The secret things belong to the Lord our God,^(AR) but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.^(AS)

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses^(AT) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,^{(AU) 2} and when you and your children return^(AV) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart^(AW) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, ³ then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes^[b](AX) and have compassion^(AY) on you and gather^(AZ) you again from all the nations where he scattered^(BA) you.^{(BB) 4} Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,^(BC) from there the Lord your God will gather^(BD) you and bring you back.^{(BE) 5} He will bring^(BF) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous^(BG) than your ancestors. ⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,^(BH) so that you may love^(BI) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. ⁷ The Lord your God will put all these curses^(BJ) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.^{(BK) 8} You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. ⁹ Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.^(BL) The Lord will again delight^(BM) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, ¹⁰ if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law^(BN) and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.^(BO)

The Offer of Life or Death

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.^{(BP) 12} It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven^(BQ) to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^{(BR) 13} Nor is it beyond the sea,^(BS) so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^{(BT) 14} No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.^(BU)

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life^(BV) and prosperity,^(BW) death^(BX) and destruction.^{(BY) 16} For I command you today to love^(BZ) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live^(CA) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.^(CB) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you^(CC) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.^(CD) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love^(CE) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,^(CF) and he will give^(CG) you many years in the land^(CH) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus^(A) issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.^{(B) 2} (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.)^{(C) 3} And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem^(D) the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him^(E) and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel^(F) of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.^(G) I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior^(H) has been born to you; he is the Messiah,^(I) the Lord.^{(J) 12} This will be a sign^(K) to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.^{(M) 17} When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.^{(N) 20} The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God^(O) for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child,^(P) he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.^(Q)