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15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What[a] I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to possess.[b] 17 However, if you[c] turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare to you this very day that you[d] will certainly[e] perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.[f] 19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! 20 I also call on you[g] to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually[h] in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 30:16 tc A number of LXX mss insert before this verse, “if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,” thus translating אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) as “which” and the rest as “I am commanding you today, to love,” etc., “then you will live,” etc.
  2. Deuteronomy 30:16 tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  3. Deuteronomy 30:17 tn Heb “your heart,” as a metonymy for the person.
  4. Deuteronomy 30:18 sn To this point in the chapter, Moses has addressed the people with the singular pronoun “you,” but here he switches to the plural. Rhetorically, the singular pronoun has emphasized the responsibilities and consequences for the nation as a whole. It is a group responsibility that requires a group effort. At v. 18 he shifts to using the plural form. This individualizes the threatened punishment in v. 18 and highlights individual responsibility in the first half of v. 19 (calling heaven and earth as witness “against you”) before returning to the collective responsibility that “you” (singular) choose life.
  5. Deuteronomy 30:18 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
  6. Deuteronomy 30:18 tn Heb “to go there to possess it.”
  7. Deuteronomy 30:20 tn The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.
  8. Deuteronomy 30:20 tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”

Choose Life

15 “See, (A)I have placed before you today life and [a]happiness, and death and [b]adversity, 16 in that I am commanding you today (B)to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you (C)may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that (D)you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter [c]and take possession of it. 19 (E)I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, (F)the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your [d]descendants, 20 (G)by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and (H)by holding close to Him; (I)for [e]this is your life and the length of your days, [f]so that you may live in (J)the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 30:15 Lit good
  2. Deuteronomy 30:15 Lit evil
  3. Deuteronomy 30:18 Lit to
  4. Deuteronomy 30:19 Lit seed
  5. Deuteronomy 30:20 Lit that
  6. Deuteronomy 30:20 Lit to dwell