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Yahweh Will Take You Back

30 “So it will be, when all of these things have come upon you, (A)the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you cause these things to return to your heart (B)in all the nations where Yahweh your God has banished you, and you (C)return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice (D)with all your heart and soul according to all that I am commanding you today, you and your sons, then Yahweh your God will [a](E)return [b]you from captivity and return His compassion on you, and He (F)will gather you again from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has (G)scattered you. If those of you who are banished are at the ends of the sky, (H)from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there He will take you back. (I)And Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and (J)multiply you more than your fathers.

“Moreover (K)Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, (L)to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. (M)And Yahweh your God will [c]inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. And you shall return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you shall do all His commandments which I am commanding you today. (N)Then Yahweh your God will [d]prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the [e]offspring of your [f]body and in the [g]offspring of your cattle and in the [h]produce of your ground, for (O)Yahweh will return to rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 [i]when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which (P)are written in this book of the law, [j]when you return to Yahweh your God (Q)with all your heart and soul.

11 “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far from you. 12 It is not in heaven, [k]that you should say, ‘(R)Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, [l]that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and get it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Choose Life

15 “See, (S)I have set before you today life and [m]prosperity, and death and [n]calamity; 16 in that I am commanding you today (T)to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you (U)may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not listen, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that (V)you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter [o]and possess it. 19 (W)I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, (X)the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your seed, 20 (Y)by loving Yahweh your God, by listening to His voice, and (Z)by holding fast to Him; (AA)for [p]this is your life and the length of your days, [q]that you may live in (AB)the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 30:3 Or restore
  2. Deuteronomy 30:3 Lit your captivity
  3. Deuteronomy 30:7 Lit put
  4. Deuteronomy 30:9 Lit make you have excess for good
  5. Deuteronomy 30:9 Lit fruit
  6. Deuteronomy 30:9 Lit womb
  7. Deuteronomy 30:9 Lit fruit
  8. Deuteronomy 30:9 Lit fruit
  9. Deuteronomy 30:10 Or for you will
  10. Deuteronomy 30:10 Or for you will
  11. Deuteronomy 30:12 Lit to say
  12. Deuteronomy 30:13 Lit to say
  13. Deuteronomy 30:15 Lit good
  14. Deuteronomy 30:15 Lit evil
  15. Deuteronomy 30:18 Lit to
  16. Deuteronomy 30:20 Lit that
  17. Deuteronomy 30:20 Lit to dwell

The Blessing of Returning to God

30 “Now (A)it shall come to pass, when (B)all these things come upon you, the blessing and the (C)curse which I have set before you, and (D)you [a]call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you (E)return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, (F)that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and (G)gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. (H)If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And (I)the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

“Also the Lord your God will put all these (J)curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. And you will (K)again obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today. (L)The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the [b]fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again (M)rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

11 “For this commandment which I command you today (N)is [c]not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 (O)It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, (P)in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

15 “See, (Q)I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 (R)I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 (S)I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that (T)I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your (U)life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 30:1 Lit. cause them to return to your heart
  2. Deuteronomy 30:9 offspring
  3. Deuteronomy 30:11 not hidden from

God will bless his people again

30 I have told you about the ways that God may bless you and the ways that he may curse you. If you do not obey the Lord your God, he will send you away to live in many foreign countries. When that happens, you will think about what I have said. Then you and your children may decide to turn back to the Lord. You may choose to obey him completely in everything that you think and in everything that you do. That is what I am commanding you to do today. If you do that, the Lord your God will bring you back home and he will forgive you. He will turn to help you again. He will bring you back from the countries where he sent you to live. He will bring back even those of you who live in countries that are very far away. You will all come back to live together again. He will bring you back to the land that belonged to your ancestors. It will belong to you as your home. He will help you even more than he helped your ancestors. He will make you more in number than your ancestors were. The Lord your God will change you so that you want to serve him. He will do that for your descendants too. Then you will love him completely in everything that you think and in everything that you do. You will continue to live in your land.

When that happens, the Lord your God will punish your enemies with all these terrible troubles, instead of you. He will punish the people who hate you and do cruel things to you. You will turn back to the Lord. You will obey all his commands that I am giving you today. The Lord your God will cause all your work to go very well. He will give you many children. Your animals will give birth to many babies. Lots of crops will grow in your fields. The Lord will be happy to help you again, as he was happy to help your ancestors. 10 But you must obey his commands and his rules that are written in this book of his Law. You must turn back to him. You must serve him in everything that you think and in everything that you do.

God offers life or death

11 The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult for you. It is not too far away from you. 12 God does not keep it in heaven. So you do not have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven to find it and bring it down to us? Who will explain it to us so that we can obey it?’

13 It is not far away across the sea. So you do not have to ask, ‘Who will go across the sea to fetch it for us? Who will explain it to us so that we can obey it?’

14 No! God's message is very near to you. It is in your mouth and in your mind. So you must do what it teaches you to do.

15 Look! You must choose between the things that I am offering you today. You may choose to have life and many good things. Or you may choose to have death and many troubles. 16 I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God. Live in a way that pleases him. Obey his commands, his rules and his laws. If you do that, you will live. You will become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are going into as your new home.

17 But you will have trouble if you turn away from God and you do not obey him. If you decide to serve other gods and to worship them, 18 you will certainly come to an end. After you go across the Jordan River, you will not live very long in that land. That is what I am telling you today.

19 Today, I want the sky and the earth to hear what I have said to you. I have told you what you may choose. You may choose life or death. You may choose the Lord to bless you or to curse you. Choose life today, so that you and your descendants will live! 20 Yes, love the Lord your God. Obey him and serve him faithfully. He is the one who gives you life. He will let you live for a long time in the land that he is giving to you. That is the land that he promised to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.