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Narrative Interlude

29 (28:69)[a] These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.[b]

The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed

Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did[c] in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. Your eyes have seen the great judgments,[d] those signs and mighty wonders. But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears![e] I have led you through the wilderness for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out[f] nor have your sandals[g] deteriorated. You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer—all so that you might know that I[h] am the Lord your God! When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

The Present Covenant Setting

“Therefore, keep the terms[i] of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. 10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God—the heads of your tribes,[j] your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, 11 your infants, your wives, and the[k] resident foreigners[l] living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water— 12 so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today.[m] 13 Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God,[n] just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors[o] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, 15 but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today.[p]

The Results of Disobedience

16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. 17 You have seen their detestable things[q] and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.)[r] 18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.[s] 19 When such a person[t] hears the words of this oath he secretly[u] blesses himself[v] and says, ‘I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.’[w] This will destroy[x] the watered ground with the parched.[y] 20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger[z] will rage[aa] against that man; all the curses[ab] written in this scroll will fall upon him,[ac] and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory.[ad] 21 The Lord will single him out[ae] for judgment[af] from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 22 The generation to come—your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places—will see[ag] the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.[ah] 24 Then all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger[ai] all about?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship.[aj] 27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses[ak] written in this scroll. 28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.’ 29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants[al] forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:1 sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
  2. Deuteronomy 29:1 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
  3. Deuteronomy 29:2 tn The Hebrew text includes “to your eyes,” but this is redundant in English style (cf. the preceding “you have seen”) and is omitted in the translation.
  4. Deuteronomy 29:3 tn Heb “testings.” This is a reference to the plagues; see note at 4:34.
  5. Deuteronomy 29:4 tn Heb “a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear” (NASB similar); NAB, NRSV “a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.”
  6. Deuteronomy 29:5 tn The Hebrew text includes “on you.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  7. Deuteronomy 29:5 tn The Hebrew text includes “from on your feet.”
  8. Deuteronomy 29:6 tc The LXX reads “that he is the Lord your God.”
  9. Deuteronomy 29:9 tn Heb “words.”
  10. Deuteronomy 29:10 tc Heb “your heads, your tribes.” The Syriac presupposes either “heads of your tribes” or “your heads, your judges,” etc. (reading שֹׁפְטֵכֶם [shofetekhem] for שִׁבְטֵיכֶם [shivtekhem]). Its comparative difficulty favors the originality of the MT reading. Cf. KJV “your captains of your tribes”; NRSV “the leaders of your tribes”; NLT “your tribal leaders.”
  11. Deuteronomy 29:11 tn Heb “your.”
  12. Deuteronomy 29:11 sn The ger (גֵּר) “foreign resident” here enters into the covenant with the community if Israel. Elsewhere in Mosaic Law the ger make sacrifices to the Lord (Lev 17:8; 22:18; Num 15:14) and participate in Israel’s religious festivals: Passover Exod 12:48; Day of Atonement Lev 16:29; Feast of Weeks Deut 16:10-14; Feast of Tabernacles/Temporary Shelters Deut 31:12. Several passages emphasize equal standing under Mosaic Law (Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 26, 29; 19:10; 35:15; Deut 1:16 or similar obligations Exod 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:10, 12, 13; 18:26; 24:16; Num 15:14. In many respects these ger (גֵּר) appear to be naturalized citizens who could not own land (land was allotted by tribe).
  13. Deuteronomy 29:12 tn Heb “for you to pass on into the covenant of the Lord your God and into his oath, which the Lord your God is cutting with you today.”
  14. Deuteronomy 29:13 tn Heb “in order to establish you today to him for a people and he will be to you for God.” Verses 10-13 are one long sentence in Hebrew. The translation divides this into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  15. Deuteronomy 29:13 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).
  16. Deuteronomy 29:15 tn This is interpreted by some English versions as a reference to generations not yet born (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
  17. Deuteronomy 29:17 tn The Hebrew term שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquts) refers to anything out of keeping with the nature and character of Yahweh and therefore to be avoided by his people Israel. It is commonly used with or as a synonym for תּוֹעֵבָה (toʿevah, “detestable, abhorrent”; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 16:18; Ezek 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; see note on the term “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:243-46.
  18. Deuteronomy 29:17 tn The Hebrew text includes “which were with them.” Verses 16-17 constitute a parenthetical comment.
  19. Deuteronomy 29:18 tn Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (laʿanah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”
  20. Deuteronomy 29:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  21. Deuteronomy 29:19 tn Heb “in his heart.”
  22. Deuteronomy 29:19 tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.
  23. Deuteronomy 29:19 tn Heb “heart.”
  24. Deuteronomy 29:19 tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.
  25. Deuteronomy 29:19 tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches—“the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”
  26. Deuteronomy 29:20 tn Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.
  27. Deuteronomy 29:20 tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”
  28. Deuteronomy 29:20 tn Heb “the entire oath.”
  29. Deuteronomy 29:20 tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”
  30. Deuteronomy 29:20 tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”
  31. Deuteronomy 29:21 tn Heb “set him apart.”
  32. Deuteronomy 29:21 tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”
  33. Deuteronomy 29:22 tn Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.
  34. Deuteronomy 29:23 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.
  35. Deuteronomy 29:24 tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”
  36. Deuteronomy 29:26 tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”
  37. Deuteronomy 29:27 tn Heb “the entire curse.”
  38. Deuteronomy 29:29 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV “children.”

29 (A)Това са думите на завета, който Господ заповяда на Моисея да сключи със синовете Израилеви в Моавската земя, освен завета, който Господ сключи с тях на Хорив.

(B)Тогава Моисей свика всички синове Израилеви и им каза: вие видяхте всичко, що стори Господ пред очите ви в Египетската земя с фараона и с всичките му служители и с цялата му земя:

(C)големите язви, които видяха очите ти, и големите личби и чудеса (силната ръка и простряната мишца);

(D)но и доднес Господ (Бог) ви не даде сърце да разумеете, очи да видите, и уши да чувате.

(E)Четирийсет години ви водих по пустинята, и дрехите ви не овехтяха на вас, и обущата ви се не скъсаха на нозете ви;

хляб не ядохте, вино и сикер не пихте, за да знаете, че Аз съм Господ, Бог ваш.

(F)И кога дойдохте на това място, излезе на бой срещу нас есевонският цар Сихон и васанският цар Ог, за да се сразят с нас, и ние ги надвихме;

(G)и взехме земята им и я дадохме в дял на Рувимовото и Гадово колена и на половината Манасиево коляно.

Пазете прочее (всичките) думи на тоя завет и ги изпълнявайте, за да имате сполука във всичко, що вършите.

10 Всички вие стоите днес пред лицето на Господа, вашия Бог, коленоначалниците ви, старейшините ви, (съдиите ви,) надзорниците ви, всички израилтяни,

11 (H)децата ви, жените ви и пришълците, които са в стана ви, от дърваря ти до водаря ти,

12 за да влезеш в завета на Господа, твоя Бог, и в клетвения договор с Него, който Господ, Бог твой, днес сключва с тебе,

13 (I)за да те направи днес Свой народ, и да ти бъде Бог, както ти бе говорил и както се бе клел на отците ти Авраама, Исаака и Иакова.

14 (J)Не само на вас еднички завещавам тоя завет и тоя клетвен договор,

15 (K)но както на тия, които днес тука стоят с нас пред лицето на Господа, нашия Бог, тъй и на ония, които не са днес тука с нас.

16 Защото вие знаете, как живяхме в Египетската земя и как вървяхме посред народите, през които минахте,

17 и видяхте гнусотиите им и кумирите им, дървени и каменни, сребърни и златни, които са у тях.

18 (L)Да няма помежду ви мъж или жена, род или коляно, чието сърце би се отклонило сега от Господа, нашия Бог, та да иде да служи на боговете на ония народи; да няма между вас корен, който да дава пелин и отрова,

19 (M)такъв човек, който, като чуе думите на тая клетва, да се похвали в сърцето си и каже: „добре ще ми бъде, макар че ще ходя по прищевките на сърцето си“; тъй ще пропадне ситият заедно с гладния;

20 (N)на такъв няма да прости Господ, но веднага гневът на Господа и яростта Му ще се разпалят против оня човек, и върху него ще падне всичката клетва (на тоя завет), написана в тая книга (на закона), и Господ ще заличи името му под небето;

21 и ще го отдели Господ от всички колена Израилеви за погубване, според всички клетви на завета, написани в тая книга на закона.

22 Тогава послешното поколение, децата ви, които ще настанат след вас, и чужденецът, който ще дойде от далечна земя, като видят поразията на тая земя и болестите, които Господ е напратил върху ѝ, ще кажат:

23 (O)жупел и сол, пожарище е цялата земя; не я засяват, нито ражда, нито никне върху нея някаква трева, както след разорението на Содом, Гомора, Адма и Севоим, които Господ съсипа в гнева Си и яростта Си.

24 (P)Тогава ще кажат всички народи: защо Господ е постъпил тъй с тая земя? Колко голяма е яростта на гнева Му!

25 (Q)И ще отговорят: задето оставиха завета на Господа, Бога на отците си, който сключи с тях, когато ги изведе из Египетската земя,

26 (R)и отидоха да служат на други богове и да им се покланят, на богове, които те не знаеха, и които Той не бе им отреждал:

27 поради това се разпали гневът на Господа върху тая земя, и Той напрати върху ѝ всички клетви (на завета), написани в тая книга (на закона),

28 и затри ги Господ от земята им в гняв, ярост и голяма лютина, и ги изхвърли на друга земя, както днес виждаме.

29 (S)Което е тайно, принадлежи на Господа, нашия Бог, а което е явно – нам и на синовете ни довека, за да изпълняваме всички думи на тоя закон.

The Covenant Renewed in Moab

29 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the (A)covenant which He made with them in Horeb.

Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: (B)“You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land— (C)the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. Yet (D)the Lord has not given you a heart to [a]perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. (E)And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. (F)Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. (G)You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. And when you came to this place, (H)Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. We took their land and (I)gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. Therefore (J)keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may (K)prosper in all that you do.

10 “All of you stand today before the Lord your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from (L)the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water— 12 that you may enter into covenant with the Lord your God, and (M)into His oath, which the Lord your God makes with you today, 13 that He may (N)establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, (O)just as He has spoken to you, and (P)just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 “I make this covenant and this oath, (Q)not with you alone, 15 but with him who stands here with us today before the Lord our God, (R)as well as with him who is not here with us today 16 (for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, 17 and you saw their [b]abominations and their idols which were among them—wood and stone and silver and gold); 18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, (S)whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, (T)and that there may not be among you a root bearing (U)bitterness or wormwood; 19 and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I [c]follow the (V)dictates of my heart’—(W)as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

20 (X)“The Lord would not spare him; for then (Y)the anger of the Lord and (Z)His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord (AA)would blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord (AB)would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the (AC)Law, 22 so that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they (AD)see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the Lord has laid on it:

23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, (AE)salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, (AF)like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’ 24 All nations would say, (AG)‘Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ 25 Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against this land, (AH)to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. 28 And the Lord (AI)uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:4 understand or know
  2. Deuteronomy 29:17 detestable things
  3. Deuteronomy 29:19 walk in the stubbornness or imagination

Reînnoirea legământului în câmpiile Moabului

29 Acestea sunt cuvintele legământului pe care Domnul l-a poruncit lui Moise să-l încheie cu israeliţii la Moab, în afara legământului pe care l-a încheiat cu ei la Horeb.

Moise i-a chemat pe toţi israeliţii şi le-a spus: „Aţi văzut tot ceea ce a făcut Domnul înaintea ochilor voştri, în ţara Egiptului, lui Faraon, tuturor slujitorilor lui şi întregii lui ţări. Cu ochii voştri aţi văzut aceste încercări, semne şi minuni. Dar Domnul nu v-a dat minte să înţelegeţi, ochi să vedeţi şi urechi să ascultaţi, până în ziua de astăzi. Timp de patruzeci de ani cât v-am condus prin pustie, hainele nu s-au învechit pe voi şi nici încălţămintea nu s-a tocit în picioarele voastre. Nu v-aţi hrănit cu pâine şi n-aţi băut nici vin, nici băutură tare. În acest timp aţi cunoscut că Domnul este Dumnezeul vostru.

Când am ajuns în locul acesta, Sihon, regele Heşbonului, şi Og, regele Başanului, ne-au ieşit înainte ca să se lupte cu noi, dar noi i-am învins. Le-am luat ţara şi am dat-o ca moştenire rubeniţilor, gadiţilor şi unei jumătăţi din seminţia lui Manase.

Să păziţi cuvintele acestui legământ şi să le împliniţi ca să prosperaţi în tot ceea ce veţi face. 10 Astăzi staţi în prezenţa Domnului, Dumnezeul vostru, voi toţi – căpeteniile seminţiilor voastre şi bătrânii voştri, dregătorii voştri împreună cu toţi bărbaţii lui Israel, 11 copiii şi soţiile voastre şi străinul care este în mijlocul taberei voastre, de la cel ce vă taie lemne, până la cel ce vă scoate apă – 12 ca să intraţi în legământ cu Domnul, Dumnezeul vostru, legământ încheiat prin jurământ şi făcut cu voi astăzi 13 şi ca să vă facă astăzi, poporul Lui, după cum v-a promis şi a jurat strămoşilor voştri, Avraam, Isaac şi Iacov. 14 Nu numai cu voi închei legământul acesta, încheiat prin jurământ, 15 ci îl fac atât cu cei care stau astăzi aici, înaintea Domnului, Dumnezeul nostru, cât şi cu cei care nu sunt astăzi aici.

16 Voi ştiţi cum aţi locuit în ţara Egiptului şi cum aţi trecut prin mijlocul neamurilor pe care le-aţi traversat. 17 Aţi văzut urâciunile şi idolii lor, idoli din lemn şi din piatră, din argint şi din aur. 18 Să nu existe printre voi nici un bărbat sau femeie, nici un clan şi nici o seminţie a căror inimă să se întoarcă astăzi de la Domnul, Dumnezeul nostru, ducându-se să slujească zeilor acestor neamuri. Să nu existe printre voi nici o rădăcină care produce otravă sau amărăciune.

19 Dacă cineva care aude cuvintele acestui jurământ, invocă o binecuvântare asupra lui însuşi, zicând în inima lui: «Voi avea pace, chiar dacă mi-aş urma pornirile minţii mele!», fapta aceasta va aduce dezastru, atât peste pământul fertil, cât şi peste cel uscat,[a] 20 iar pe acela Domnul nu va mai dori să-l ierte. Mânia şi gelozia Domnului se va aprinde împotriva lui. Toate blestemele scrise în Cartea aceasta vor veni peste el şi Domnul îi va şterge numele de sub cer. 21 El îl va despărţi de toate seminţiile lui Israel ca să-l nenorocească potrivit cu tot ce este scris în această Carte a Legii.

22 Generaţiile următoare, copiii care vor veni după voi şi străinul care va veni dintr-o ţară îndepărtată, vor vedea nenorocirile care au fost în ţara aceasta şi urgiile cu care Domnul v-a îndurerat. 23 Peste tot va fi pucioasă şi sare; toată ţara va fi arsă; nimic nu se va semăna, nimic nu va încolţi şi nici o plantă nu va creşte. Va fi la fel ca la distrugerea Sodomei, Gomorei, Admei şi Ţeboimului, pe care Domnul le-a distrus în mânia şi urgia Lui. Toate neamurile vor întreba:

24 – De ce a făcut Domnul astfel ţării acesteia? De ce s-a aprins cu o mânie atât de mare?

Şi li se va răspunde:

25 – Fiindcă au părăsit legământul Domnului, Dumnezeul strămoşilor lor, pe care l-a încheiat cu ei când i-a scos din ţara Egiptului. 26 Ei s-au depărtat, au slujit şi s-au închinat altor dumnezei, zei pe care nu-i cunoşteau şi pe care nu li-i dăduse El. 27 De aceea Domnul s-a aprins de mânie împotriva acestei ţări, astfel că a adus peste ei toate blestemele scrise în Cartea aceasta. 28 Domnul i-a smuls din ţara lor cu mânie, cu furie şi cu mare înverşunare şi i-a aruncat într-o altă ţară, cum se vede astăzi.

29 Lucrurile ascunse sunt ale Domnului, Dumnezeul nostru, iar lucrurile descoperite sunt ale noastre şi ale urmaşilor noştri pentru totdeauna, ca să împlinim toate cuvintele acestei Legi.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronom 29:19 Sensul expresiei în ebraică este nesigur; sau: mele, adăugând beţia la sete!»