Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close LSB

Deuteronomy 8
Legacy Standard Bible

Do Not Forget Yahweh Your God

8 “The entire commandment that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you (A)may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to give to your fathers. 2 (B)And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has (C)led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, (D)testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 And He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that (E)man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh. 4 (F)Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 (G)Thus you shall know in your heart that Yahweh your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to [a]fear Him. 7 For (H)Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And so (I)you will eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which He has given you.

11 “[b]Beware lest you (J)forget Yahweh your God by not keeping His commandments and His judgments and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 lest (K)you eat and are satisfied and build good houses and live in them, 13 and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 and your heart becomes [c]lifted up and you (L)forget Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of [d]slavery. 15 He led you through (M)the great and fearsome wilderness, with its (N)fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He (O)brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 In the wilderness He fed you manna (P)which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might (Q)test you, to do good for you [e]in the end, 17 lest (R)you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for (S)it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Now it will be, if you ever forget Yahweh your God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, (T)I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20 Like the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so (U)you shall perish, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 8:6 Or reverence
  2. Deuteronomy 8:11 Lit Take heed to yourself
  3. Deuteronomy 8:14 Or proud
  4. Deuteronomy 8:14 Lit slaves
  5. Deuteronomy 8:16 Lit at your end
Close NET

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.
Next
Deuteronomy 7
Deuteronomy 9
Next
dropdown
Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.