Deuteronomy 29
29
The Agreement in Moab
1The Lord commanded Moses to make an agreement with the Israelites in Moab in addition to the agreement he had made with them at Mount Sinai. These are the words of that agreement.
2Moses called all the Israelites together and said to them:
You have seen everything the Lord did before your own eyes to the king of Egypt and to the king’s leaders and to the whole country. 3With your own eyes you saw the great troubles, signs, and miracles. 4But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands; you don’t really understand what you see with your eyes or hear with your ears. 5I led you through the desert for forty years, and during that time neither your clothes nor sandals wore out. 6You ate no bread and drank no wine or beer. This was so you would understand that I am the Lord your God.
7When you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight us, but we defeated them. 8We captured their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh to be their own.
9You must carefully obey everything in this agreement so that you will succeed in everything you do. 10Today you are all standing here before the Lord your God—your leaders and important men, your elders, officers, and all the other men of Israel, 11your wives and children and the foreigners who live among you, who chop your wood and carry your water. 12You are all here to enter into an agreement and a promise with the Lord your God, an agreement the Lord your God is making with you today. 13This will make you today his own people. He will be your God, as he told you and as he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14But I am not just making this agreement and its promises with you 15who are standing here before the Lord your God today, but also with those who are not here today.
16You know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries when we came here. 17You saw their hateful idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18Make sure no man, woman, family group, or tribe among you leaves the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. They would be to you like a plant that grows bitter, poisonous fruit.
19These are the kind of people who hear these curses but bless themselves, thinking, “We will be safe even though we continue doing what we want to do.” Those people may destroy all of your land, both wet and dry. 20The Lord will not forgive them. His anger will be like a burning fire against those people, and all the curses written in this book will come on them. The Lord will destroy any memory of them on the earth. 21He will separate them from all the tribes of Israel for punishment. All the curses of the Agreement that are written in this Book of the Teachings will happen to them.
22Your children who will come after you, as well as foreigners from faraway lands, will see the disasters that come to this land and the diseases the Lord will send on it. They will say, 23“The land is nothing but burning cinders and salt. Nothing is planted, nothing grows, and nothing blooms. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed because he was very angry.” 24All the other nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done this to the land? Why is he so angry?”
25And the answer will be, “It is because the people broke the Agreement of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26They went and served other gods and bowed down to gods they did not even know. The Lord did not allow that, 27so he became very angry at the land and brought all the curses on it that are written in this book. 28Since the Lord became angry and furious with them, he took them out of their land and put them in another land where they are today.”
29There are some things the Lord our God has kept secret, but there are some things he has let us know. These things belong to us and our children forever so that we will do everything in these teachings.
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Deuteronomy 29: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 29
29
The agreement in Moab
1So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the LORD was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the LORD had made with them at Mount Sinai.#29.1 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5.
The third speech: Israel must keep its agreement with the Lord
The LORD is your God
2-3Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them:
When you were in Egypt, you saw the LORD perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. 4-6He has even told you, “For forty years I, the LORD, led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food.#29.4-6 I gave…food: Hebrew “you didn't eat bread or drink any wine or beer.” I did these things so you would realize that I am your God.”
But the LORD must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.
7When we first camped here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan attacked, but we defeated them.#Nu 21.21-30; Nu 21.31-35. 8Then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.#Nu 32.33.
Keep the agreement
Moses said:
9Israel, the LORD has made an agreement with you, and if you keep your part, you will be successful in everything you do. 10-12Today everyone in our nation is standing here in the LORD's presence, including leaders and officials, parents and children, and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us. We are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the LORD our God.
13-15In this agreement, the LORD promised that you would be his people and that he would be your God. He first made this promise to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and today the LORD is making this same promise to you. But it isn't just for you; it is also for your descendants.
16-17When we lived in Egypt, you saw the Egyptians worship disgusting idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold. Then as we travelled through other nations, you saw those people worship other disgusting idols. 18So make sure that everyone in your tribe remains faithful to the LORD and never starts worshipping gods of other nations.#He 12.15.
If even one of you worships idols, you will be like the root of a plant that produces bitter, poisonous fruit. 19You may be an Israelite and know-all about the LORD's agreement with us, but he won't bless you if you rebel against him. You may think you can get away with it, but you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.#29.19 you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you: Hebrew “The mud will be swept away as well as the dust.” 20-21The LORD will be furious, and instead of forgiving you, he will separate you from the other tribes. Then he will destroy you, by piling on you all the curses in The Book of God's Law, and you will be forgotten for ever.
22The LORD will strike your country with diseases and disasters. Your descendants and foreigners from distant countries will see that your land 23has become a scorching desert of salt and sulphur, where nothing is planted, nothing sprouts, and nothing grows. It will be as lifeless as the land around the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, after the LORD became angry and destroyed them.#29.23 Sodom…destroyed them: See Genesis 18.16-28.#Gn 19.24,25.
24People from other nations will ask, “Why did the LORD destroy this country? Why was he so furious?”
25And they will be given this answer:
Our ancestors worshipped the LORD, but after he brought them out of Egypt and made an agreement with them, they rejected the agreement 26and decided to worship gods that had never helped them. The LORD had forbidden Israel to worship these gods, 27-28and so he became furious and punished the land with all the curses in The Book of God's Law. Then he pulled up Israel by the roots and tossed them into a foreign country, where they still are today.
29The LORD our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but he has commanded us to obey the laws he gave to us and our descendants.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012