Chronological

11 “And you shall love Yahweh your God, and you shall keep his obligations and his statutes and his regulations and his commandments always.^{[a] 2} And you shall realize today^[b] that it is not with your children who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of Yahweh your God—his greatness, his strong hand, and his outstretched arm, ³ and his signs and his deeds that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all of his land, ⁴ and what he did to the army of Egypt and to their horses and to their chariots, and how he made the water of the Red Sea^[c] flow over them, when they pursued after them,^[d] and so Yahweh has destroyed them, as is the case today,^{[e] 5} and what he did to you in the desert until you came up to this place, ⁶ and what he did to Dathan and to Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth wide and swallowed them, their households and their tents, and all of the living creatures^[f] that were in their possession and that were following along with them^[g] in the midst of all of Israel. ⁷ The fact of the matter is, your own eyes have seen^[h] all of the great deeds^[i] of Yahweh that he did.

⁸ “And you must keep all of the commandments^[j] that I am commanding you today,^[k] so that you may have strength and you may go and you may take possession of that land to which you are crossing^[l] to take possession of it, ⁹ so that you may live long^[m] on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,^[n] to give it to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ For the fact is that the land that you are about to go into^[o] to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come out of,^[p] where you sow your seed and you give water by your foot, as in a vegetable garden.^{[q] 11} But the land that you are about to cross into to take possession of it is a land of hills and valleys, and by the rain of the heaven it drinks water, ¹² a land that Yahweh your God is caring for it; continually the eyes of Yahweh your God are on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of the year.

¹³ “And it will happen that if you listen carefully to my commandments that I am commanding you today,^[r] to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all of your heart and with all of your soul,^{[s] 14} then ‘I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil. ¹⁵ And I will give vegetation in your field for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.’^{[t] 16} Take care^[u] so that your heart is not easily deceived, and you turn away, and you serve other gods, and you bow down to them. ¹⁷ And then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you,^[v] and he will shut up the heavens,^[w] and there shall not be rain, and so the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land that Yahweh is giving to you.

¹⁸ “And you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your inner self,^[x] and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be as an emblem between your eyes. ¹⁹ And you shall teach them to your children^[y] by talking about them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ And you shall write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates, ²¹ so that they may multiply your days and the days of your children on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors^[z] to give it to them as long as heaven endures over the earth.^{[aa] 22} Yes, if you diligently keep all^[ab] this commandment that I am commanding you to observe it, ^[ac] by loving Yahweh your God by walking in^[ad] all his ways and by holding fast to him, ²³ then Yahweh will drive out all of these nations before you,^[ae] and you will dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you. ²⁴ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, it shall be yours; your boundary shall be from the desert and Lebanon from the river, the river Euphrates, on up to the western sea.^{[af] 25} No one can take a stand against you;^[ag] your dread and your fear Yahweh your God will put on the surface^[ah] of all the land where you tread,^[ai] just as he promised^[aj] to you.

²⁶ “See, I am setting before you^[ak] today^[al] a blessing and a curse: ²⁷ the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today,^{[am] 28} and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but rather you turn from the way that I am commanding you today^[an] to go after other gods that you have not known.

²⁹ “And it will happen that when Yahweh your God has brought you to the land that you are going to,^[ao] to take possession of it, then^[ap] you shall pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰ (Are they not beyond the Jordan, toward the west,^[aq] in the land of the Canaanites living in the Jordan Valley,^[ar] opposite Gilgal beside the terebinth^[as] of Moreh?) ³¹ For you are now about to cross the Jordan to go to take possession of the land that Yahweh, your God, is giving to you, and you will take possession of it and live in it, ³² and you must diligently observe^[at] all the rules and the regulations that I am setting before you^[au] today.”^[av]

Detailed Stipulations: Purity and Unity

12 “These are the rules and the regulations that you must diligently observe^[aw] in the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^[ax] has given to you to take possession of it, during all the days that you are living on the land.

² You must completely demolish all of the places there where they served their gods, that is, the nations whom you are about to dispossess, on the high mountains, and on the hills and under each leafy green tree.^{[ay] 3} And you shall break down their altars, and you shall smash their stone pillars, and their Asherah poles you must burn with fire, and the images of their gods you shall hew down, and you shall blot out their names from that place. ⁴ You shall not worship Yahweh your God like this. ⁵ But only^[az] to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all of your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go. ⁶ And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and your donations^[ba] and your votive gifts and your freewill offerings and the firstling of your herd and your flock. ⁷ And you shall eat there before^[bb] Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all your endeavors,^[bc] you and your family in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.

⁸ “You must not do just as we are doing here today,^[bd] each according to all that is right in his eyes.^{[be] 9} For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God is giving to you. ¹⁰ But you will cross the Jordan, and you will settle in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give rest to you from all your enemies from all around, and you will live securely, ¹¹ and then^[bf] at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all the things I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations,^[bg] and all of the choice things, your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh. ¹² And you shall rejoice before^[bh] Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who is in your towns,^[bi] because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.

¹³ “Take care for yourself so that you do not offer your burnt offerings at just any place that you happen to see, ¹⁴ but only^[bj] at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all the things that I am commanding you.

¹⁵ “But whenever you desire^[bk] you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all of your towns;^[bl] the unclean and the clean may eat it just as they would the gazelle and as the deer. ¹⁶ Only the blood you must not eat, but on the ground you must pour it like water. ¹⁷ You are not allowed to eat in your towns^[bm] the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all of your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and your donations.^{[bn] 18} But only before^[bo] Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose,^[bp] you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who is in your towns,^[bq] and you must rejoice before^[br] your God in all your undertakings.^{[bs] 19} Take care^[bt] so that you do not neglect the Levite all of your days on your land.

²⁰ “When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he has promised^[bu] to you, and you say ‘I want to eat some meat,’ because you want it,^[bv] whenever you desire^[bw] you may eat meat. ²¹ If the place that^[bx] Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you just as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your towns.^{[by] 22} Surely just as the gazelle and the deer is eaten, so both the unclean and the clean together may eat it. ²³ Only, be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ You shall not eat it, but on the ground you shall pour it out like water. ²⁵ You shall not eat it, so that it will go well^[bz] for you and your children after you, because then you will be doing what is^[ca] right in the eyes of Yahweh. ²⁶ Only your holy objects that are yours^[cb] and your votive gifts you must carry and you must bring to the place that Yahweh will choose. ²⁷ And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood on the altar of Yahweh your God, and the blood of your sacrifices you shall pour out on the altar of Yahweh your God, but the meat you may eat. ²⁸ Be careful to obey^[cc] all these things that I am commanding you, so that it will go well^[cd] for you and for your children after you forever,^[ce] because then you will be doing what is^[cf] good and right^[cg] in the eyes of Yahweh your God.

²⁹ “When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to,^[ch] to dispossess them before you,^[ci] and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, ³⁰ take care^[cj] so that you are not ensnared into imitating them^[ck] after their being destroyed from before you,^[cl] and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying,^[cm] ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself^[cn] want to do also.’ ³¹ You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods. ^32 [co] All of the things^[cp] that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe;^[cq] you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”

13 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams^[cr] and he gives to you a sign or wonder, ² and the sign or^[cs] the wonder comes about that he spoke^[ct] to you, saying,^[cu] ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’ ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love^[cv] Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.^{[cw] 4} You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. ⁵ But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁶ “If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter or your wife whom you embrace^[cx] or your intimate friend^[cy] in secrecy says,^[cz] ‘Let us go and let us serve other gods!’ gods that you and your ancestors^[da] have not known, ⁷ from among the gods of the people who are around you, those near you or those far from you,^[db] from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth, ⁸ you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up^[dc] for him. ⁹ But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people. ¹⁰ And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹¹ And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and they shall not continue to act^[dd] according to this evil thing in your midst.

¹² “If you hear in one of your towns which Yahweh your God is giving to you to live in, someone saying that^{[de] 13} worthless men^[df] have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, saying,^[dg] ‘Let us go and serve other gods!’ whom you have not known, ¹⁴ then you shall inquire and examine and interrogate thoroughly, and, look! It is true; the thing has actually been done, this detestable thing in your midst, ¹⁵ then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the edge^[dh] of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the edge^[di] of the sword. ¹⁶ And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be a pile of rubble forever;^[dj] it shall not be built again. ¹⁷ And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back from his burning anger,^[dk] and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you just as he swore^[dl] to your ancestors,^{[dm] 18} if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you today^[dn] so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God.”