Deuteronomy 29
GOD’S WORD Translation
Israel’s Past, Present, and Future
29 [a]These are the terms of the promise [b] that the Lord commanded Moses to give to the Israelites in Moab. This was in addition to the promise the Lord gave them at Mount Horeb.
2 Moses summoned all the people of Israel and said to them:
You’ve seen with your own eyes everything that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country. 3 You also saw those terrible plagues, those miraculous signs, and those spectacular, amazing things. 4 But to this day the Lord hasn’t given you a mind that understands, eyes that see, or ears that hear. 5 For 40 years I led you through the desert. During that time your clothes and shoes never wore out. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or liquor. I did this so that you would know that I am the Lord your God.
7 When you came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh as their property. 9 Faithfully obey the terms of this promise. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
10 All of you are standing here today in the presence of the Lord your God. The heads of your tribes,[c] your leaders, your officers, and all the men of Israel are here. 11 Your children, your wives, and the foreigners who cut wood and carry water in your camp are also here. 12 You are ready to accept the terms and conditions of the promise that the Lord your God is giving you today. 13 With this promise the Lord will confirm today that you are his people and that he is your God. This is what he told you, and this is what he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with an oath. 14 You aren’t the only people to receive this promise and its conditions. 15 It is for those of you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and also for those who are not here today.
16 You know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through other countries on our way here. 17 You saw their disgusting gods and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure there is no man, woman, family, or tribe among you today who turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of those nations. Make sure that no one among you is the source of this kind of bitter poison.
19 Someone may hear the conditions of this promise. He may think that he is so blessed that he can say, “I’ll be safe even if I go my own stubborn way. After all, ⌞the Lord would never⌟ sweep away well-watered ground along with dry ground.” 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive that person, because the Lord’s burning anger will smolder against him. All the curses described in this book will happen to him. The Lord will erase ⌞every memory of⌟ that person’s name from the earth. 21 And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster based on all the conditions of the promise written in this Book of the Teachings.
22 Then the next generation of your children and foreigners who come from distant countries will see the plagues that have happened in this land and the diseases the Lord sent here. 23 They will see all the soil poisoned with sulfur and salt. Nothing will be planted. Nothing will be growing. There will be no plants in sight. It will be as desolate as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, cities the Lord destroyed in fierce anger. 24 Then all the other nations in the world will ask, “Why has the Lord done this to their land? Why is he so angry?”
25 The answer will be, “Because they abandoned the promise of the Lord God of their ancestors. He made this promise to them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They worshiped other gods and bowed down to them. These were gods they never heard of, gods the Lord didn’t permit them to have. 27 So the Lord became angry with this land and brought on it all the curses described in this book. 28 In his fierce anger and fury the Lord uprooted these people from their land and deported them to another country, where they still are today.”
29 Some things are hidden. They belong to the Lord our God. But the things that have been revealed in these teachings belong to us and to our children forever. We must obey every word of these teachings.
Footnotes
- 29:1 Deuteronomy 29:1–29 in English Bibles is Deuteronomy 28:69–29:28 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 29:1 Or “covenant.”
- 29:10 Syriac, Greek, Targum; Masoretic Text “your heads, your tribes.”
Deuteronomy 29
World English Bible
29 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 2 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them:
Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them. 8 We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10 All of you stand today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today, 13 that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, 15 but with those who stand here with us today before Yahweh our God, and also with those who are not here with us today 16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed; 17 and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them); 18 lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; 19 and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry. 20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.
22 The generation to come—your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick, 23 that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. 24 Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”
25 Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. 27 Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28 Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”
29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Renewing the Covenant
29 These are the words of the covenant(A) that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.(B) 2 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘You have seen with your own eyes(C) everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his entire land. 3 You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders.(D) 4 Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.(E) 5 I led you for forty years in the wilderness; your clothes and the sandals on your feet did not wear out;(F) 6 you did not eat food or drink wine or beer – so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.(G) 7 When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.(H) 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.(I) 9 Therefore, observe the words of this covenant(J) and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.(K)
10 ‘All of you are standing today before the Lord your God – your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel, 11 your dependents, your wives, and the resident foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water – 12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which he is making with you today, so that you may enter into his oath 13 and so that he may establish you today as his people and he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.(L) 14 I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, 15 but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not here today.
Abandoning the Covenant
16 ‘Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you travelled. 17 You saw their abhorrent images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.(M) 18 Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.(N) 19 When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt,[a] thinking, “I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.” This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land. 20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, his anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven,(O) 21 and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.
22 ‘Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of that land and the diseases the Lord has inflicted on it. 23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulphur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord demolished in his fierce anger.(P) 24 All the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this intense outburst of anger? ” 25 Then people will answer, “It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he had made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 They began to serve other gods, bowing in worship to gods they had not known(Q) – gods that the Lord had not permitted them to worship.(R) 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, and he brought every curse written in this book on it. 28 The Lord uprooted them from their land in his anger, rage, and intense wrath, and threw them into another land where they are today.” 29 The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children for ever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
Footnotes
- 29:19 Lit may consider himself blessed in his heart
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