Deuteronomy 8

Lexham English Bible

8 “All of the commandments^[a] that I am commanding you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and multiply, and you may go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors.^[b] ²And you shall remember all of the way that Yahweh your God led you during these forty years in the desert in order to humble you and to test you to know what is in your heart, whether you would diligently keep his commandments or not. ³And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors^[c] know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all that goes out^[d] of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live. ⁴Your clothing did not wear out on you,^[e] and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵And you should know with your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh your God is disciplining you.^[f] ⁶So you must keep the commandments of Yahweh your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. ⁷For Yahweh your God is bringing you to a good land with streams of water, springs and underground water, welling up in the valleys^[g] and in the hills,^[h] ⁸to a land of wheat and barley and vines^[i] and fig trees^[j] and pomegranate trees,^[k] a land of olive trees,^[l] olive oil and honey; ⁹to a land where you may eat food in it without scarcity;^[m] you will not find anything lacking in it, a land where its stones are iron and from its mountains you can mine copper. ¹⁰And you will eat, and you will be satisfied,^[n] and you will bless Yahweh your God because of the good land that he has given to you.

¹¹“Take care for yourself so that you not forget Yahweh your God by not keeping his commandments and his regulations and his statutes that I am commanding you today,^[o] ¹²lest when you have eaten and you are satisfied and you have built good houses and you live in them, ¹³and your herds and your flocks have multiplied, and you have accumulated silver and gold,^[p] and all that you have^[q] has multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart becomes proud^[r] and you forget Yahweh your God, the one who brought you out^[s] from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, ¹⁵the one leading you in the great and terrible desert infested with dangerous^[t] snakes^[u] and scorpions^[v] and parched ground, where there is^[w] no water, and the one bringing out water for you from flint rock, ¹⁶the one feeding you^[x] manna in the desert, food that your ancestors^[y] did not know, in order to humble you and in order to test you so that he could do good to you in the future.^[z] ¹⁷And you may think^[aa] in your heart, ‘My strength and the might of my hand acquired this wealth for^[ab] me.’ ¹⁸But you must remember Yahweh your God, for he is the one giving you strength to acquire wealth in order to confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors^[ac] as it is today.^[ad] ¹⁹And it will happen that if you indeed forget Yahweh your God and you go after other gods and you serve them and you bow down before them, I warn you today that you will surely perish. ²⁰As with the nations that Yahweh is destroying before you,^[ae] so you shall perish because you would not obey the voice of Yahweh your God.

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 8:1 Or “every commandment”
Deuteronomy 8:1 Or “your fathers”
Deuteronomy 8:3 Or “fathers”
Deuteronomy 8:3 Or “by all of the going out of”
Deuteronomy 8:4 Literally “from on you”
Deuteronomy 8:5 Or “has disciplined you”
Deuteronomy 8:7 Hebrew “valley”
Deuteronomy 8:7 Hebrew “hill”
Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “vine”
Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “fig tree”
Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “pomegranate tree”
Deuteronomy 8:8 Hebrew “olive tree”
Deuteronomy 8:9 Literally “not in scarcity”
Deuteronomy 8:10 Literally “you will eat your fill”
Deuteronomy 8:11 Literally “the day”
Deuteronomy 8:13 Literally “and silver and gold has multiplied for you”
Deuteronomy 8:13 Literally “is for you”
Deuteronomy 8:14 Literally “raises up”
Deuteronomy 8:14 Literally “the one bringing you out”
Deuteronomy 8:15 Literally “burning”
Deuteronomy 8:15 Hebrew “snake”
Deuteronomy 8:15 Hebrew “scorpion”
Deuteronomy 8:15 Or “was”
Deuteronomy 8:16 Literally “causing you to eat”
Deuteronomy 8:16 Or “fathers”
Deuteronomy 8:16 Literally “in the end/later”
Deuteronomy 8:17 Or “say”
Deuteronomy 8:17 Literally “gave this wealth to”
Deuteronomy 8:18 Or “fathers”
Deuteronomy 8:18 Literally “as the day the this”
Deuteronomy 8:20 Literally “from your faces”

Deuteronomy 8

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 8

The Lord’s Kindness.¹^[a]Be diligent in observing all of the commandments that I am giving you today, so that you might live and multiply, and so that you might enter and take possession of the land that the Lord promised to your fathers. ²Remember how the Lord, your God, guided your path through the wilderness for these forty years, abasing you and testing you so that he might know what was in your heart, whether or not you would observe his commandments. ³He brought you low, allowing you to suffer from hunger. He then fed you with manna, something with which your fathers were not familiar, so that you might come to know that man does not live by bread alone,^[b] but man lives by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.

⁴Throughout these forty years your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell. ⁵Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son. ⁶Therefore, observe the commandments of the Lord, your God. Walk in his ways and fear him. ⁷The Lord, your God, is bringing you into a good land, a land filled with brooks, fountains, and springs that rush forth from the valleys and the hills. ⁸It is a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees and pomegranates, a land with olive oil and honey. ⁹It is a land in which you will not lack bread to eat; you will not lack anything at all. It is a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

¹⁰Warning about Prosperity. When you have eaten your fill and are satisfied, then praise the Lord, your God, for the good land that he has given you. ¹¹Take heed not to forget the Lord, your God, by not observing his commandments, decrees, and statutes that I have given you today. ¹²Otherwise, when you have eaten your fill and you have built fine houses and are living in them ¹³and your herds and your flocks have grown large, and your silver and your gold have multiplied, in fact all that you own has multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart might become proud and you will forget the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the land of your slavery. ¹⁵He led you through a vast and terrible wilderness where there were snakes and fiery scorpions and thirst, where when there was no water he brought water forth from the hard rock for you. ¹⁶He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something with which your fathers were not familiar, to abase you and to test you, so that later on it might go well with you.

¹⁷^[c]You might think to yourself, “It is through my strength and the might of my own hand that I have acquired this wealth.” ¹⁸But remember the Lord, your God, for it is he who has given you the ability to acquire this wealth so that he might confirm the covenant that he made with your fathers, which is still in force today. ¹⁹But if you forget the Lord, your God, and follow after other gods, serving and worshiping them, then I swear to you today that you will surely perish. ²⁰You will perish just like the nations that the Lord crushed in your sight, for you would not have been attentive to the voice of the Lord, your God.

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 8:1 In order to bring out other more profound and less obvious aspects of the covenant, Deuteronomy applies a method in use throughout the Bible. It reflects on the events of the sacred history which the people have experienced.
Deuteronomy 8:3 Man does not live by bread alone: the assurance of God’s care for his people goes beyond their physical needs. Jesus used these words to confront Satan when he was being tempted (Mt 4:4), with certain belief in God’s power to sustain those who love him.
Deuteronomy 8:17 These verses sum up the theology of fidelity that is characteristic of Deuteronomy.

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. ²And 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. ³So 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. ⁷For 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; ⁸a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹a 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; ¹³and 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; ¹⁵who ^(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; ¹⁶who 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— ¹⁷then 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. ¹⁹Then 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. ²⁰As 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.