Beginning

Great Things Israel Saw

11 Love the Lord your God. Obey his orders, rules, laws and commands. ² Remember today it was not your children who saw and felt the correction of the Lord your God. They did not see his majesty, his power and his strength. ³ They did not see his signs and the things he did in Egypt to the king and his whole country. ⁴ They did not see what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots. He drowned them in the Red Sea when they were chasing you. The Lord ruined them forever. ⁵ They did not see what he did for you in the desert until you arrived here. ⁶ They did not see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite. The ground opened up and swallowed them, their families and their tents. And it swallowed up everyone who stood with them in Israel. ⁷ It was you who saw all these great things the Lord has done.

⁸ So obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will be strong. Then you can go in and take the land you are going to own. ⁹ Then you will live a long time in that land. The Lord promised to give it to your ancestors and their descendants. It is a land where much food grows. ¹⁰ The land you are going to take is not like Egypt, where you were. There you had to plant your seed. Then you had to water it, like a vegetable garden, by using your feet. ¹¹ But you will soon cross the Jordan River and take the land. It is a land of hills and valleys. It drinks rain from heaven. ¹² It is a land the Lord your God loves. His eyes are on it continually. He watches it from the beginning of the year to the end.

¹³ Carefully obey the commands I am giving you today. Love the Lord your God. Serve him with your whole being. ¹⁴ Then he will send rain on your land at the right time, in the fall and spring. You will be able to gather your grain, new wine and oil. ¹⁵ He will put grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.

¹⁶ Be careful. Don’t be fooled. Don’t turn away and serve other gods. Don’t worship them. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will shut the heavens so it will not rain. Then the land will not grow crops. And you will soon die in the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ Remember my words in your hearts and souls. Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your foreheads to remind you. ¹⁹ Teach them well to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on your doors and gates. ²¹ Then both you and your children will live a long time in the land. This is the land the Lord promised your ancestors. You will live there for as long as the skies are above the earth.

²² Be careful to obey every command I am giving you to follow. Love the Lord your God. Do what he has told you to do. And be loyal to him. ²³ Then the Lord will force all those nations out of the land ahead of you. And you will take the land from nations that are bigger and stronger than you. ²⁴ Everywhere you step will be yours. Your land will go from the desert to Lebanon. And it will go from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stop you. The Lord your God will do what he promised. He will make the people afraid everywhere you go.

²⁶ See, today I am letting you choose a blessing or a curse. ²⁷ You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God. I am giving them to you today. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God. So do not disobey the commands I am giving you today. Do not worship other gods you do not know. ²⁹ The Lord your God will bring you into the land you will own. Then you are to announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. Announce the curses from Mount Ebal. ³⁰ These mountains are on the other side of the Jordan River. They are west, toward the sunset. They are near the great trees of Moreh. They are in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley opposite Gilgal. ³¹ You will soon cross the Jordan River. You will enter and take the land the Lord your God is giving you. You will take it over and live there. ³² Then be careful to obey all the commands and laws I am giving you today.

The Place for Worship

12 These are the commands and laws you must carefully obey in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Obey them as long as you live in the land. ² You will inherit the lands of these nations. You must completely destroy all the places where they serve their gods. These places are on high mountains and hills and under every green tree. ³ Tear down their altars. Smash their holy stone pillars. Burn their Asherah idols. Cut down their idols. Destroy their names from those places.

⁴ Don’t worship the Lord your God that way. ⁵ But look for the place the Lord your God will choose. He will choose a place among your tribes where he is to be worshiped. Go there. ⁶ Bring to that place your burnt offerings and sacrifices. Bring a tenth of what you gain and your special gifts. Bring what you have promised and the special gifts you want to give the Lord. And bring the first animals born to your herds and flocks.

⁷ There you will be together with the Lord your God. There you and your families will eat. And you will enjoy all the good things for which you have worked. The Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸ Do not worship the way we have been doing today. Each person does what he thinks is right. ⁹ You have not yet come to a resting place. The Lord your God will give you your own land. ¹⁰ But you will soon cross the Jordan River. And you will live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And he will give you rest from all your enemies. You will live in safety. ¹¹ Then the Lord your God will choose a place where he is to be worshiped. To that place you must bring everything I tell you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your offerings of a tenth of what you gain, your special gifts and all your best things you promised to the Lord. ¹² There rejoice before the Lord your God. Everyone should rejoice: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no land of their own. ¹³ Be careful. Don’t sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you please. ¹⁴ Offer them only in the place the Lord will choose. He will choose a place in one of your tribes. And there you must do everything I am commanding you.

¹⁵ But you may kill your animals in any of your towns. And you may eat as much of the meat as you want. Eat it as if it were a deer or a gazelle. This is the blessing the Lord your God is giving you. Anyone, clean or unclean, may eat this meat. ¹⁶ But do not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. ¹⁷ Do not eat in your own towns what belongs to the Lord: one-tenth of your grain, new wine or oil; the first animals born to your herds or flocks; whatever you have promised to give; the special gifts you want to give to the Lord, or any other gifts. ¹⁸ Eat these things when you are together with the Lord. Eat them in the place the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped. Everyone must do this: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns. Rejoice in the Lord’s presence about the things you have worked for. ¹⁹ Be careful not to forget the Levites as long as you live in the land.

²⁰ The Lord your God will enlarge your country as he has promised. And you will want some meat. You will say, “I want some meat.” Eat as much meat as you want. ²¹ The Lord your God will choose a place where he is to be worshiped. But it may be too far away from you. If it is, you may kill animals from your herds and flocks. The Lord has given them to you. I have commanded that you may do this. You may eat as much of them as you want in your own towns. ²² Eat them as you would eat gazelle or deer meat. Both clean and unclean people may eat this meat. ²³ But be sure you don’t eat the blood. The life is in the blood. Don’t eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ Don’t eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵ Don’t eat it. Then things will go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.

²⁶ Take your holy things and the things you have promised to give. And go to the place the Lord will choose. ²⁷ Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. Offer both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices should be poured beside the altar. But you may eat the meat. ²⁸ Be careful to obey all the rules I am giving you. Then things will always go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord your God says is good and right.

²⁹ You will enter the land and take it away from the nations there. The Lord your God will destroy those nations ahead of you. You will force them out and live in their land. ³⁰ They will be destroyed for you. Be careful not to be trapped by asking about their gods. Don’t say, “How do these nations worship? I will do the same.” ³¹ Don’t worship the Lord your God that way. The Lord hates the evil ways they worship their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods!

³² Be sure to do everything I have commanded you. Do not add anything to it. And do not take anything away from it.

False Prophets

13 A prophet or someone who tells the future with dreams might come to you. He might say he will show you a miracle or a sign. ² The miracle or sign might even happen. Then he might say, “Let’s serve other gods.” (These are gods you have not known.) “And let’s worship them.” ³ But you must not listen to that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you. He is finding out if you love him with your whole being. ⁴ Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him. Keep his commands and obey him. Serve him and be loyal to him. ⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be killed. He said you should turn against the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He saved you from the land where you were slaves. That prophet tried to turn you from doing what the Lord your God commanded you to do. You must get rid of the evil among you.

⁶ Some relative might try to lead you to serve other gods. It might be your brother, your son or daughter or the wife you love. Or it might be a close friend. He might say, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” (These are gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁷ They are gods of the people who live around you. Some are nearby, and some are far away. They are from one end of the land to the other.) ⁸ Do not give in to him. Do not listen. Do not feel sorry for him. Do not let him go free or protect him. ⁹ You must put him to death. You must be the first one to start to kill him. Then everyone else must join in. ¹⁰ You must throw stones at him until he dies. He tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. ¹¹ Then everyone in Israel will hear about this. And they will be afraid. No one among you will ever do such an evil thing again.

Cities to Destroy

¹² The Lord your God is giving you cities in which to live. You might hear something about one of them. Someone might say ¹³ that evil men have moved in among you. And they might lead the people of that city away from God. They might say, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” (These are gods you have not known.) ¹⁴ Then you must ask about it. Look into the matter and check carefully. It might be true. It may be proved that a terrible thing has happened among you. ¹⁵ If it has, then you must kill with a sword everyone who lives in that city. Destroy the city completely. Kill everyone in it, as well as the animals, with a sword. ¹⁶ Gather up everything those people owned. Put it in the middle of the city square. Then completely burn the city and everything they owned. It will be a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That city should never be rebuilt. Let it be ruined forever. ¹⁷ Don’t keep any of the things found in that city for yourselves. Then the Lord will not be angry anymore. He will give you mercy. He will feel sorry for you. And he will make your nation grow larger. He promised this to your ancestors. ¹⁸ You will have obeyed the Lord your God. You will be keeping all his commands. I am giving them to you today. And you will be doing what the Lord says is right.