Deuteronomy 8
Living Bible
8 “You must obey all the commandments I give you today. If you do, you will not only live, you will multiply and will go in and take over the land promised to your fathers by the Lord. 2 Do you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really obey him? 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to both you and your ancestors. He did it to help you realize that food isn’t everything, and that real life comes by obeying every command of God. 4 For all these forty years your clothes haven’t grown old, and your feet haven’t been blistered or swollen. 5 So you should realize that, as a man punishes his son, the Lord punishes you to help you.
6 “Obey the laws of the Lord your God. Walk in his ways and fear him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of brooks, pools, gushing springs, valleys, and hills; 8 it is a land of wheat and barley, of grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, olives, and honey; 9 it is a land where food is plentiful, and nothing is lacking; it is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. 10 When you have eaten your fill, bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty[a] you don’t forget the Lord your God and begin to disobey him. 12-13 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large, and your silver and gold have multiplied, 14 that is the time to watch out that you don’t become proud and forget the Lord your God who brought you out of your slavery in the land of Egypt. 15 Beware that you don’t forget the God who led you through the great and terrible wilderness with the dangerous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness (it was a kind of bread unknown before) so that you would become humble and so that your trust in him would grow, and he could do you good. 17 He did it so that you would never feel that it was your own power and might that made you wealthy. 18 Always remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you power to become rich, and he does it to fulfill his promise to your ancestors.
19 “But if you forget about the Lord your God and worship other gods instead, and follow evil ways, you shall certainly perish, 20 just as the Lord has caused other nations in the past to perish. That will be your fate, too, if you don’t obey the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 8:11 Beware that in your plenty, implied.
Deuteronomy 8
New King James Version
Remember the Lord Your God
8 “Every commandment which I command you today (A)you must [a]be careful to observe, that you may live and (B)multiply,[b] and go in and possess the land of which the Lord [c]swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God (C)led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and (D)test you, (E)to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, (F)allowed you to hunger, and (G)fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall (H)not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 (I)Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 (J)You should [d]know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, (K)to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, (L)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 (M)When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 (N)lest—when you have eaten and are [e]full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are [f]multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 (O)when your heart [g]is lifted up, and you (P)forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who (Q)led you through that great and terrible wilderness, (R)in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; (S)who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with (T)manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, (U)to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, (V)for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, (W)that He may [h]establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, (X)I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, (Y)so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 8:1 observe to do
- Deuteronomy 8:1 increase in number
- Deuteronomy 8:1 promised
- Deuteronomy 8:5 consider
- Deuteronomy 8:12 satisfied
- Deuteronomy 8:13 increased
- Deuteronomy 8:14 becomes proud
- Deuteronomy 8:18 confirm
Deuteronomy 8
English Standard Version
Remember the Lord Your God
8 “The whole commandment that I command you today (A)you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you (B)these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, (C)testing you (D)to know what was in your heart, (E)whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and (F)let you hunger and (G)fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that (H)man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word[a] that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 (I)Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, (J)as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, (K)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, (L)of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 (M)lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 (N)then your heart be lifted up, and you (O)forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who (P)led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, (Q)with its fiery serpents and scorpions (R)and thirsty ground where there was no water, (S)who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with (T)manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, (U)to do you good in the end. 17 Beware (V)lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for (W)it is he who gives you power to get wealth, (X)that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, (Y)I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, (Z)so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 8:3 Hebrew by all
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
