The Blessings of Obedience^(A)

^12 (B)“If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors. ¹³ He will love you and bless you, so that you will increase in number and have many children; he will bless your fields, so that you will have grain, wine, and olive oil; and he will bless you by giving you many cattle and sheep. He will give you all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors he would give to you. ¹⁴ No people in the world will be as richly blessed as you. None of you nor any of your livestock will be sterile. ¹⁵ The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and he will not bring on you any of the dreadful diseases that you experienced in Egypt, but he will bring them on all your enemies. ¹⁶ Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal.

¹⁷ “Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. ¹⁸ Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. ¹⁹ Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. ²⁰ He will even cause panic^[a] among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. ²¹ So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. ²² Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. ²³ The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone.

The Blessings of Obedience^(A)

28 ^(B)“If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. ² Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours:

³ “The Lord will bless your towns and your fields.

⁴ “The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep.

⁵ “The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.

⁶ “The Lord will bless everything you do.

⁷ “The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.

⁸ “The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you.

⁹ “If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. ¹² He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. ¹³ The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. ¹⁴ But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods.