Beginning

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love the Lord your God. Do what he requires. Always obey his rules, laws and commands. ² Remember today that your children weren’t the ones the Lord your God guided and corrected. They didn’t see his majesty. They weren’t in Egypt when he reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. ³ They didn’t see the signs and the other things he did in Egypt. They didn’t see what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. ⁴ They weren’t there when the Lord destroyed the army of Egypt and its horses and chariots. He swept the waters of the Red Sea over the Egyptians while they were chasing you. He wiped them out forever. ⁵ Your children didn’t see what he did for you in the desert before you arrived here. ⁶ They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. Eliab was from the tribe of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth right in the middle of the Israelite camp. It swallowed up Dathan and Abiram. It swallowed them up together with their families, tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷ But with your own eyes you saw all the great things the Lord has done.

⁸ So obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will be strong enough to go in and take over the land. You will go across the Jordan River and take the land as your own. ⁹ You will live there for a long time. It’s the land the Lord promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children after them. He gave his word when he made that promise. The land has plenty of milk and honey. ¹⁰ You will enter it and take it over. It isn’t like the land of Egypt. That’s where you came from. You planted your seeds there. You had to water them, just as you have to water a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But you will soon go across the Jordan River. The land you are going to take over has mountains and valleys in it. It drinks rain from heaven. ¹² It’s a land the Lord your God takes care of. His eyes always look on it with favor. He watches over it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³ So be faithful. Obey the commands the Lord your God is giving you today. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁴ Then the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time. He’ll send rain in the fall and in the spring. You will be able to gather your grain. You will also be able to make olive oil and fresh wine. ¹⁵ He’ll provide grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.

¹⁶ But be careful. Don’t let anyone tempt you to do something wrong. Don’t turn away and worship other gods. Don’t bow down to them. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord will be very angry with you. He’ll close up the sky. It won’t rain. The ground won’t produce its crops. Soon you will die. You won’t live to enjoy the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates. ²¹ Then you and your children will live for a long time in the land. The Lord promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your family line will continue as long as the heavens remain above the earth.

²² So be careful. Obey all the commands I’m giving you to follow. Love the Lord your God. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Remain true to him. ²³ Then the Lord will drive out all the nations to make room for you. They are larger and stronger than you are. But you will take their land. ²⁴ Every place you walk on will belong to you. Your territory will go all the way from the desert to Lebanon. It will go from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you. The Lord your God will throw the whole land into a panic because of you. He’ll do it everywhere you go, just as he promised you.

²⁶ Listen to me. I’m setting a blessing and a curse in front of you today. ²⁷ I’m giving you the commands of the Lord your God today. You will be blessed if you obey them. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you don’t obey them. So don’t turn away from the path I’m now commanding you to take. Don’t turn away by worshiping other gods you didn’t know before. ²⁹ The Lord your God will bring you into the land to take it over. When he does, you must announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. You must announce the curses from Mount Ebal. ³⁰ As you know, those mountains are across the Jordan River. They are on the west side of the Jordan toward the setting sun. They are near the large trees of Moreh. The mountains are in the territory of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah Valley near Gilgal. ³¹ You are about to go across the Jordan River. You will enter the land and take it over. The Lord your God is giving it to you. You will take it over and live there. ³² When you do, make sure you obey all the rules and laws I’m giving you today.

Worship Only Where the Lord Wants You To

12 Here are the rules and laws you must obey. Be careful to obey them in the land the Lord has given you to take as your own. He’s the God of your people who lived long ago. Obey these rules and laws as long as you live in the land. ² You will soon drive the nations out of it. Completely destroy all the places where they worship their gods. Destroy them on the high mountains, on the hills and under every green tree. ³ Break down their altars. Smash their sacred stones. Burn up the poles they use to worship the female god named Asherah. Cut down the statues of their gods. Wipe out the names of their gods from those places.

⁴ You must not worship the Lord your God the way those nations worship their gods. ⁵ Instead, go to the special place he will choose from among all your tribes. He will put his Name there. That’s where you must go. ⁶ Take your burnt offerings and sacrifices to that place. Bring your special gifts and a tenth of everything you produce. Take with you what you have promised to give. Bring any other offerings you choose to give. And bring the male animals among your livestock that were born first to their mothers. ⁷ You and your families will eat at the place the Lord your God will choose. He will be with you there. You will find joy in everything you have done. That’s because he has blessed you.

⁸ You must not do as we’re doing here today. All of us are doing only what we think is right. ⁹ That’s because you haven’t yet reached the place the Lord is giving you. Your God will give you peace and rest there. ¹⁰ But first you will go across the Jordan River. You will settle in the land he’s giving you. It will belong to you as your share. He will give you peace and rest from all your enemies around you. You will live in safety. ¹¹ The Lord your God will choose a special place. He will put his Name there. That’s where you must bring everything I command you to bring. That includes your burnt offerings and sacrifices. It includes your special gifts and a tenth of everything you produce. It also includes all the things of value that you promised to give to the Lord. ¹² Be filled with joy there in the sight of the Lord your God. Your children should also be joyful. So should your male and female servants. And so should the Levites from your towns. The Levites won’t receive any part of the land as their share. ¹³ Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you want to. ¹⁴ Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes. There you must obey everything I command you.

¹⁵ But you can kill your animals in any of your towns. You can eat as much of the meat as you want to. You can eat it as if it were antelope or deer meat. That is part of the blessing the Lord your God is giving you. Those who are “clean” and those who are not can eat it. ¹⁶ But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it. Pour the blood out on the ground like water. ¹⁷ Here are the things you must not eat in your own towns. You must not eat the tenth part of your grain, olive oil and fresh wine. It belongs to the Lord. You must not eat the male animals among your livestock that were born first to their mothers. Don’t eat anything you have promised to give. Don’t eat any offerings you have chosen to give. And you must not eat any of your special gifts. ¹⁸ Instead, you must eat all those things in the sight of the Lord your God. Do it at the place he will choose. You, your children, your male and female servants and the Levites from your towns can eat them. Be filled with joy in the sight of the Lord your God. Be joyful in everything you do. ¹⁹ Don’t forget to take care of the Levites as long as you live in your land.

²⁰ The Lord your God will increase your territory, just as he has promised you. When he does, you might get hungry for meat. You might say, “I’d really like some meat.” Then you can eat as much of it as you want to. ²¹ The Lord your God will choose a special place. He will put his Name there. But suppose that place is too far away from you. Then you can kill animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you. Do it just as I have commanded you. In your own towns you can eat as much of the meat as you want to. ²² Eat it as you would eat antelope or deer meat. Those who are “clean” and those who are not can eat it. ²³ But be sure you don’t eat meat that still has blood in it. The blood is the animal’s life. So you must not eat the life along with the meat. ²⁴ You must not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵ Don’t eat it. Then things will go well with you and your children after you. You will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁶ But go to the place the Lord will choose. Take with you the things you have set apart for him. Bring what you have promised to give him. ²⁷ Sacrifice your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. Offer the meat and the blood there. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured out beside his altar. But you can eat the meat. ²⁸ Make sure you obey all the rules I’m giving you. Then things will always go well with you and your children after you. That’s because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

²⁹ You are about to attack the land and take it over as your own. When you do, the Lord your God will destroy the nations who live there. He will do it to make room for you. You will drive them out. You will settle in their land. ³⁰ They will be destroyed to make room for you. But when they are destroyed, be careful. Don’t be trapped. Don’t ask questions about their gods. Don’t say, “How do these nations serve their gods? We’ll do it in the same way.” ³¹ You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship their gods. When they worship, they do all kinds of evil things the Lord hates. They even burn up their children in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

³² Be sure you do everything I am commanding you to do. Do not add anything to my commands. And do not take anything away from them.

Do Not Worship Other Gods

13 Suppose a prophet appears among you. Or someone comes who uses dreams to tell what’s going to happen. He tells you that a sign or something amazing is going to take place. ² The sign or amazing thing he has spoken about might really take place. And then the prophet might say, “Let’s serve other gods. Let’s worship them.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. ³ So you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has said. The Lord your God is testing you. He wants to know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You must worship him. You must honor him. Keep his commands. Obey him. Serve him. Remain true to him. ⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you not to obey the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He set you free from the land where you were slaves. He commanded you to live the way he wants you to. But that prophet or dreamer has tried to get you to be unfaithful to the Lord. Get rid of that evil person.

⁶ Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before. ⁷ They are the gods of the nations around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other. ⁸ Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them. ⁹ You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all the people must do the same thing. ¹⁰ Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves. ¹¹ After you kill those who tempted you, all the Israelites will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.

¹² The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But suppose you hear something bad about one of those towns. ¹³ You hear that people who cause trouble have appeared among you. They’ve tried to get the people of their town to do something wrong. They’ve said, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. ¹⁴ So you must ask people some questions. You must check out the matter carefully. If it’s true, an evil thing has really happened among you. It’s something the Lord hates. ¹⁵ Then you must certainly kill with your swords everyone who lives in that town. You must destroy it completely. You must wipe out its people and livestock. ¹⁶ You must gather all the goods of that town into the middle of the main street. You must burn the town completely. You must burn up everything in it. It’s a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. The town must remain a pile of stones forever. It must never be built again. ¹⁷ Don’t keep anything that should be destroyed. Then the Lord will turn away from his great anger. He will show you mercy. He’ll have deep concern for you. He’ll cause there to be many of you. That’s what he promised your people of long ago. He gave his word when he made the promise. ¹⁸ The Lord your God will do those things if you obey him. I’m giving you his commands today. And you must obey all of them. You must do what is right in his eyes.