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The Lord's Greatness

11 “Love the Lord your God and always obey all his laws. Remember today what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with him. It was you, not your children, who had these experiences. You saw the Lord's greatness, his power, his might, (A)and his miracles. You saw what he did to the king of Egypt and to his entire country. (B)You saw how the Lord completely wiped out the Egyptian army, along with their horses and chariots, by drowning them in the Red Sea[a] when they were pursuing you. You know what the Lord did for you in the desert before you arrived here. (C)You recall what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben. In the sight of everyone the earth opened up and swallowed them, along with their families, their tents, and all their servants and animals. Yes, you are the ones who have seen all these great things that the Lord has done.

The Blessings of the Promised Land

“Obey everything that I have commanded you today. Then you will be able to cross the river and occupy the land that you are about to enter. And you will live a long time in the rich and fertile land that the Lord promised to give your ancestors and their descendants. 10 The land that you are about to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, where you lived before. There, when you planted grain, you had to work hard to irrigate the fields; 11 but the land that you are about to enter is a land of mountains and valleys, a land watered by rain. 12 The Lord your God takes care of this land and watches over it throughout the year.

13 (D)“So then, obey the commands that I have given you today; love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart. 14 If you do, he will send rain on your land when it is needed, in the autumn and in the spring, so that there will be grain, wine, and olive oil for you, 15 and grass for your livestock. You will have all the food you want. 16 Do not let yourselves be led away from the Lord to worship and serve other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will hold back the rain, and your ground will become too dry for crops to grow. Then you will soon die there, even though it is a good land that he is giving you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 11:4 Red Sea: See Word List.

Rewards for Obedience

11 “You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always.(A) Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the Lord your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,(B) his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land; what he did to the Egyptian army, to their horses and chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea[a] flow over them as they pursued you, so that the Lord has destroyed them to this day;(C) what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place; and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab son of Reuben, how in the midst of all Israel the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, their tents, and every living being in their company;(D) for it is your own eyes that have seen every great deed that the Lord did.

“Keep, then, the entire commandment that I am commanding you today, so that you may have strength to go in and occupy the land that you are crossing over to occupy(E) and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(F) 10 For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. 11 But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys watered by rain from the sky,(G) 12 a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

13 “If you will only heed his every commandment[b] that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul(H) 14 then he[c] will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil,(I) 15 and he[d] will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.(J) 16 Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them,(K) 17 for then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will not yield its produce; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. 11.4 Or Sea of Reeds
  2. 11.13 Compare Gk: Heb my commandments
  3. 11.14 Sam Gk Vg: MT I
  4. 11.15 Sam Gk Vg: MT I