God’s Gracious Dealings

“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, so that you (A)may live and increase, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. (B)And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has (C)led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, (D)putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you [a]understand that (E)man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord. (F)Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (G)So you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to [b]fear Him. For (H)the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When (I)you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

11 “Be careful that you do not (J)forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, (K)when you eat and are satisfied, and you build good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks increase, and your silver and gold increase, and everything that you have increases, 14 then your heart will [c]become proud and you will (L)forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [d]slavery; 15 He who led you through (M)the great and terrible wilderness, with its (N)fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground where there was no water; He who (O)brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna (P)which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to (Q)put you to the test, to do good for you [e]in the end. 17 Otherwise, (R)you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 But you are to remember the Lord your God, for (S)it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, in order to confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And it shall come about, if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve and worship them, (T)I testify against you today that you will certainly perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord eliminates from you, so (U)you shall perish, because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 8:3 Lit know
  2. Deuteronomy 8:6 Or revere
  3. Deuteronomy 8:14 Lit be high
  4. Deuteronomy 8:14 Lit slaves
  5. Deuteronomy 8:16 Lit at your end

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