Deuteronomy 30

New International Version

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses^(A) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,^(B) ²and when you and your children return^(C) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart^(D) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, ³then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes^[a]^(E) and have compassion^(F) on you and gather^(G) you again from all the nations where he scattered^(H) you.^(I) ⁴Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,^(J) from there the Lord your God will gather^(K) you and bring you back.^(L) ⁵He will bring^(M) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous^(N) than your ancestors. ⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,^(O) so that you may love^(P) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. ⁷The Lord your God will put all these curses^(Q) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.^(R) ⁸You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. ⁹Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.^(S) The Lord will again delight^(T) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, ¹⁰if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law^(U) and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.^(V)

The Offer of Life or Death

¹¹Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.^(W) ¹²It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven^(X) to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^(Y) ¹³Nor is it beyond the sea,^(Z) so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^(AA) ¹⁴No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.^(AB)

¹⁵See, I set before you today life^(AC) and prosperity,^(AD) death^(AE) and destruction.^(AF) ¹⁶For I command you today to love^(AG) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live^(AH) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.^(AI) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you^(AJ) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.^(AK) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰and that you may love^(AL) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,^(AM) and he will give^(AN) you many years in the land^(AO) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 30:3 Or will bring you back from captivity

Isaiah 57

New International Version

57 The righteous perish,^(A)
    and no one takes it to heart;^(B)
the devout are taken away,
    and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
    to be spared from evil.^(C)
²Those who walk uprightly^(D)
    enter into peace;
    they find rest^(E) as they lie in death.

³“But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,^(F)
    you offspring of adulterers^(G) and prostitutes!^(H)
⁴Who are you mocking?
    At whom do you sneer
    and stick out your tongue?
Are you not a brood of rebels,^(I)
    the offspring of liars?
⁵You burn with lust among the oaks^(J)
    and under every spreading tree;^(K)
you sacrifice your children^(L) in the ravines
    and under the overhanging crags.
⁶The idols^(M) among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion;
    indeed, they are your lot.
Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings^(N)
    and offered grain offerings.
    In view of all this, should I relent?^(O)
⁷You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;^(P)
    there you went up to offer your sacrifices.^(Q)
⁸Behind your doors and your doorposts
    you have put your pagan symbols.
Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,
    you climbed into it and opened it wide;
you made a pact with those whose beds you love,^(R)
    and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.^(S)
⁹You went to Molek^[a]^(T) with olive oil
    and increased your perfumes.^(U)
You sent your ambassadors^[b]^(V) far away;
    you descended to the very realm of the dead!^(W)
¹⁰You wearied^(X) yourself by such going about,
    but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’^(Y)
You found renewal of your strength,^(Z)
    and so you did not faint.

¹¹“Whom have you so dreaded and feared^(AA)
    that you have not been true to me,
and have neither remembered^(AB) me
    nor taken this to heart?^(AC)
Is it not because I have long been silent^(AD)
    that you do not fear me?
¹²I will expose your righteousness and your works,^(AE)
    and they will not benefit you.
¹³When you cry out^(AF) for help,
    let your collection of idols save^(AG) you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
    a mere breath will blow^(AH) them away.
But whoever takes refuge^(AI) in me
    will inherit the land^(AJ)
    and possess my holy mountain.”^(AK)

Comfort for the Contrite

¹⁴And it will be said:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road!^(AL)
    Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”^(AM)
¹⁵For this is what the high and exalted^(AN) One says—
    he who lives forever,^(AO) whose name is holy:
“I live in a high^(AP) and holy place,
    but also with the one who is contrite^(AQ) and lowly in spirit,^(AR)
to revive the spirit of the lowly
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.^(AS)
¹⁶I will not accuse^(AT) them forever,
    nor will I always be angry,^(AU)
for then they would faint away because of me—
    the very people^(AV) I have created.
¹⁷I was enraged by their sinful greed;^(AW)
    I punished them, and hid^(AX) my face in anger,
    yet they kept on in their willful ways.^(AY)
¹⁸I have seen their ways, but I will heal^(AZ) them;
    I will guide^(BA) them and restore comfort^(BB) to Israel’s mourners,
¹⁹    creating praise on their lips.^(BC)
Peace, peace,^(BD) to those far and near,”^(BE)
    says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”
²⁰But the wicked^(BF) are like the tossing sea,^(BG)
    which cannot rest,
    whose waves cast up mire^(BH) and mud.
²¹“There is no peace,”^(BI) says my God, “for the wicked.”^(BJ)