Deuteronomy 10-11

Christian Standard Bible

The Covenant Renewed

10 “The Lord said to me at that time, ‘Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come to me on the mountain and make a wooden ark. ² I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.’ ³ So I made an ark of acacia wood,^(A) cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ Then on the day of the assembly, the Lord wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that he had spoken to you on the mountain from the fire. The Lord gave them to me, ⁵ and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made. And they have remained there, as the Lord commanded me.”^(B)

⁶ The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan^[a] to Moserah. Aaron died and was buried there, and Eleazar his son became priest in his place.^{(C) 7} They traveled from there to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with flowing streams.^(D)

⁸ “At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi^(E) to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to pronounce blessings in his name, as it is today. ⁹ For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God told him.^(F)

¹⁰ “I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time. The Lord also listened to me on this occasion;^(G) he agreed not to annihilate you. ¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to give their ancestors.’^(H)

What God Requires

¹² “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear^(I) the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?^{(J) 13} Keep the Lord’s commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good.^{(K) 14} The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.^{(L) 15} Yet the Lord had his heart set on your ancestors and loved them.^(M) He chose their descendants after them—he chose you out of all the peoples, as it is today.^{(N) 16} Therefore, circumcise your hearts^(O) and don’t be stiff-necked any longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is the God of gods^(P) and Lord of lords,^(Q) the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.^{(R) 18} He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing.^{(S) 19} You are also to love the resident alien, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.^{(T) 20} You are to fear the Lord your God and worship him. Remain faithful^[b] to him and take oaths in his name.^{(U) 21} He is your praise and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awe-inspiring works your eyes have seen. ²² Your ancestors went down to Egypt, seventy people in all,^(V) and now the Lord your God has made you numerous, like the stars of the sky.^(W)

Remember and Obey

11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep his mandate and his statutes, ordinances, and commands. ² Understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:

His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;^{(X) 3} his signs and the works he did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;^{(Y) 4} what he did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and he destroyed them^(Z) completely;^{[c] 5} what he did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place; ⁶ and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.^(AA)

⁷ Your own eyes have seen^(AB) every great work the Lord has done.

⁸ “Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit, ⁹ and so that you may live long^(AC) in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(AD) 10} For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand^[d] as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. ¹² It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it^(AE) from the beginning to the end of the year.

¹³ “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship him with all your heart and all your soul, ¹⁴ I^[e] will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,^(AF) and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil.^{(AG) 15} I^[f] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.^{(AH) 16} Be careful^(AI) that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.^{(AJ) 17} Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you.^(AK) He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain;^(AL) the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land^(AM) the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸ “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol^[g] on your foreheads.^{[h] 19} Teach them to your children,^(AN) talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates,^{(AO) 21} so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.^{(AP) 22} For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, and remain faithful^[i] to him— ²³ the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.^{(AQ) 24} Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.^(AR) Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River^[j] to the Mediterranean Sea.^{(AS) 25} No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as he has promised you.^(AT)

A Blessing and a Curse

²⁶ “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:^{(AU) 27} there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today, ²⁸ and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. ²⁹ When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. ³⁰ Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks^[k] of Moreh? ³¹ For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it, ³² be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.