²⁵ “When you father children and have ^[a]grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you ^(A)act corruptly, and ^(B)make ^[b]an idol in the form of anything, and ^(C)do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, ²⁶ I ^(D)call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will ^(E)certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not ^[c]live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

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,

²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may ^[a]remain there as a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know ^(A)your rebellion and ^(B)your ^[b]stubbornness; behold, as long as I have been alive with you until today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death? ²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and ^(C)call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will ^(D)behave very corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will confront you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

¹⁷ “Do not presume that I came to abolish the ^(A)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, ^(B)until heaven and earth pass away, not ^[a]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches ^[b]others to do the same, shall be called least ^(C)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ^[c]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.