Remember the Lord

“Carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land(A) the Lord swore to your ancestors. Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the wilderness, so that he might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.(B) Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years.(C) Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,(D) a land with streams, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper. 10 When you eat and are full,(E) you will bless the Lord your God for the good land(F) he has given you.

11 “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, 13 and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, 14 be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.(G) 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous[a] snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna,(H) which your ancestors had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper. 17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ 18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors,(I) as it is today. 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish.(J) 20 Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. 8:15 Lit burning

“All of the commandments[a] that I am commanding you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and multiply, and you may go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors.[b] And you shall remember all of the way that Yahweh your God led you during these forty years in the desert in order to humble you and to test you to know what is in your heart, whether you would diligently keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors[c] know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all that goes out[d] of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live. Your clothing did not wear out on you,[e] and your feet did not swell during these forty years. And you should know with your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh your God is disciplining you.[f] So you must keep the commandments of Yahweh your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For Yahweh your God is bringing you to a good land with streams of water, springs and underground water, welling up in the valleys[g] and in the hills,[h] to a land of wheat and barley and vines[i] and fig trees[j] and pomegranate trees,[k] a land of olive trees,[l] olive oil and honey; to a land where you may eat food in it without scarcity;[m] you will not find anything lacking in it, a land where its stones are iron and from its mountains you can mine copper. 10 And you will eat, and you will be satisfied,[n] and you will bless Yahweh your God because of the good land that he has given to you.

11 “Take care for yourself so that you not forget Yahweh your God by not keeping his commandments and his regulations and his statutes that I am commanding you today,[o] 12 lest when you have eaten and you are satisfied and you have built good houses and you live in them, 13 and your herds and your flocks have multiplied, and you have accumulated silver and gold,[p] and all that you have[q] has multiplied, 14 then your heart becomes proud[r] and you forget Yahweh your God, the one who brought you out[s] from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, 15 the one leading you in the great and terrible desert infested with dangerous[t] snakes[u] and scorpions[v] and parched ground, where there is[w] no water, and the one bringing out water for you from flint rock, 16 the one feeding you[x] manna in the desert, food that your ancestors[y] did not know, in order to humble you and in order to test you so that he could do good to you in the future.[z] 17 And you may think[aa] in your heart, ‘My strength and the might of my hand acquired this wealth for[ab] me.’ 18 But you must remember Yahweh your God, for he is the one giving you strength to acquire wealth in order to confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors[ac] as it is today.[ad] 19 And it will happen that if you indeed forget Yahweh your God and you go after other gods and you serve them and you bow down before them, I warn you today that you will surely perish. 20 As with the nations that Yahweh is destroying before you,[ae] so you shall perish because you would not obey the voice of Yahweh your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 8:1 Or “every commandment”
  2. Deuteronomy 8:1 Or “your fathers”
  3. Deuteronomy 8:3 Or “fathers”
  4. Deuteronomy 8:3 Or “by all of the going out of”
  5. Deuteronomy 8:4 Literally “from on you”
  6. Deuteronomy 8:5 Or “has disciplined you”
  7. Deuteronomy 8:7 Hebrew “valley”
  8. Deuteronomy 8:7 Hebrew “hill”
  9. Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “vine”
  10. Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “fig tree”
  11. Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “pomegranate tree”
  12. Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “olive tree”
  13. Deuteronomy 8:9 Literally “not in scarcity”
  14. Deuteronomy 8:10 Literally “you will eat your fill”
  15. Deuteronomy 8:11 Literally “the day”
  16. Deuteronomy 8:13 Literally “and silver and gold has multiplied for you”
  17. Deuteronomy 8:13 Literally “is for you”
  18. Deuteronomy 8:14 Literally “raises up”
  19. Deuteronomy 8:14 Literally “the one bringing you out”
  20. Deuteronomy 8:15 Literally “burning”
  21. Deuteronomy 8:15 Hebrew “snake”
  22. Deuteronomy 8:15 Hebrew “scorpion”
  23. Deuteronomy 8:15 Or “was”
  24. Deuteronomy 8:16 Literally “causing you to eat”
  25. Deuteronomy 8:16 Or “fathers”
  26. Deuteronomy 8:16 Literally “in the end/later”
  27. Deuteronomy 8:17 Or “say”
  28. Deuteronomy 8:17 Literally “gave this wealth to”
  29. Deuteronomy 8:18 Or “fathers”
  30. Deuteronomy 8:18 Literally “as the day the this”
  31. Deuteronomy 8:20 Literally “from your faces”