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Remember the Lord

“You must obey all the commands that I give you today, because then you will live and grow to become a great nation. You will get the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. And you must remember the entire trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. He was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know what is in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. He humbled you and let you be hungry. Then he fed you with manna—something you did not know about before. It was something your ancestors had never seen. Why did the Lord do this? Because he wanted you to know that it is not just bread that keeps people alive. People’s lives depend on what the Lord says. These past 40 years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. You must remember that the Lord your God teaches and corrects you as a father teaches and corrects his son.

“You must obey the commands of the Lord your God. Follow him and respect him. The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with rivers and pools of water. Water flows out of the ground in the valleys and hills. It is a land with wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It is a land with olive oil and honey. There you will have plenty of food and everything you need. It is a land where the rocks are iron. You can dig copper out of the hills. 10 You will have all you want to eat. Then you will praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Don’t Forget What the Lord Did

11 “Be careful. Don’t forget the Lord your God! Be careful to obey the commands, laws, and rules that I give you today. 12 Then you will have plenty to eat, and you will build good houses and live in them. 13 Your cattle, sheep, and goats will grow large. You will get plenty of gold and silver. You will have plenty of everything. 14 When that happens, you must be careful not to become proud. You must not forget the Lord your God. You were slaves in Egypt, but he made you free and brought you out of that land. 15 He led you through that great and terrible desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. The ground was dry, and there was no water anywhere. But he gave you water out of a solid rock. 16 In the desert he fed you manna—something your ancestors had never seen. He tested you to make you humble so that everything would go well for you in the end. 17 Don’t ever say to yourself, ‘I got all this wealth by my own power and ability.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God is the one who gives you power to do these things. He does this because he wants to keep the agreement that he made with your ancestors, as he is doing today!

19 “Don’t ever forget the Lord your God. Don’t ever follow other gods or worship and serve them. If you do that, I warn you today: You will surely be destroyed! 20 The Lord is destroying other nations for you. But if you stop listening to the Lord your God, you will be destroyed just like them!

Do Not Forget the Lord

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live(A) and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.(B) Remember how the Lord your God led(C) you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test(D) you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled(E) you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,(F) which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach(G) you that man does not live on bread(H) alone but on every word that comes from the mouth(I) of the Lord.(J) Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.(K) Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.(L)

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him(M) and revering him.(N) For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land(O)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;(P) a land with wheat and barley,(Q) vines(R) and fig trees,(S) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;(T) a land where bread(U) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;(V) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.(W)

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied,(X) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget(Y) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,(Z) 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget(AA) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,(AB) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes(AC) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.(AD) 16 He gave you manna(AE) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,(AF) to humble and test(AG) you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself,(AH) “My power and the strength of my hands(AI) have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,(AJ) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods(AK) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.(AL) 20 Like the nations(AM) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.(AN)