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Deuteronomy 8
Christian Standard Bible

Remember the Lord

8 “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. 2 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. 3 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) 4 Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years.(C) 5 Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. 7 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; 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 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
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Deuteronomy 8
New English Translation

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8 You must keep carefully all these commandments[a] I am giving[b] you today so that you may live, increase in number,[c] and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors.[d] 2 Remember the whole way by which he[e] has brought you these forty years through the wilderness so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna.[f] He did this to teach you[g] that humankind[h] cannot live by bread[i] alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth.[j] 4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child,[k] so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you must keep his[l] commandments, live according to his standards,[m] and revere him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks,[n] springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat food[o] in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron[p] and from whose hills you can mine copper. 10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.

Exhortation to Remember That Blessing Comes from God

11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 14 be sure[q] you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 15 and who brought you through the great, fearful wilderness of venomous serpents[r] and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow[s] from a flint rock and 16 fed you in the wilderness with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you[t] and eventually bring good to you. 17 Be careful[u] not to say, “My own ability and skill[v] have gotten me this wealth.” 18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors,[w] even as he has to this day. 19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all[x] and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you[y] because you would not obey him.[z]

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 8:1 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsvot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
  2. Deuteronomy 8:1 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
  3. Deuteronomy 8:1 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
  4. Deuteronomy 8:1 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
  5. Deuteronomy 8:2 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  6. Deuteronomy 8:3 tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man huʾ), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).
  7. Deuteronomy 8:3 tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.
  8. Deuteronomy 8:3 tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).
  9. Deuteronomy 8:3 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).
  10. Deuteronomy 8:3 sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).
  11. Deuteronomy 8:5 tn Heb “just as a man disciplines his son.” The Hebrew text reflects the patriarchal idiom of the culture.
  12. Deuteronomy 8:6 tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  13. Deuteronomy 8:6 tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” The “ways” of the Lord refer here to his moral standards as reflected in his commandments. The verb “walk” is used frequently in the Bible (both OT and NT) for one’s moral and ethical behavior.
  14. Deuteronomy 8:7 tn Or “wadis.”
  15. Deuteronomy 8:9 tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
  16. Deuteronomy 8:9 sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.
  17. Deuteronomy 8:14 tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection.
  18. Deuteronomy 8:15 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
  19. Deuteronomy 8:15 tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.
  20. Deuteronomy 8:16 tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.
  21. Deuteronomy 8:17 tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.
  22. Deuteronomy 8:17 tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”
  23. Deuteronomy 8:18 tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.
  24. Deuteronomy 8:19 tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV).
  25. Deuteronomy 8:20 tn Heb “so you will perish.”
  26. Deuteronomy 8:20 tn Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
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