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

A Warning Not to Forget God in Prosperity

“The entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.(A) Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments.(B) He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.(C) The clothes on your back did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years.(D) Know, then, in your heart that, as a parent disciplines a child, so the Lord your God disciplines you.(E) Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.(F) For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills,(G) a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.(H)

11 “Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes that I am commanding you today. 12 When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them 13 and when your herds and flocks have multiplied and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,(I) 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous[a] snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock.(J) 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you and in the end to do you good.(K) 17 Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.(L) 19 If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.(M) 20 Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. 8.15 Or fiery