Deuteronomy 30
30
The LORD will bring you back
Moses said to Israel:
1I have told you everything the LORD your God will do for you, and I've also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him. He will scatter you in faraway countries, but when you realize that he is punishing you, 2return to him with all your heart and soul and start obeying the commands I have given to you today. 3-4Then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness. He may have scattered you to the furthest countries on earth, but he will bring you back 5to the land that had belonged to your ancestors and make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were.
6You and your descendants are stubborn, but the LORD will make you willing to obey him and love him with all your heart and soul, and you will enjoy a long life.
7Then the LORD your God will remove the curses from you and put them on those enemies who hate and attack you.
8You will again obey the laws and teachings of the LORD, 9and he will bless you with many children, large herds and flocks, and abundant crops. The LORD will be happy to do good things for you, just as he did for your ancestors. 10But you must decide once and for all to worship him with all your heart and soul and to obey everything in The Book of God's Law.
Choose life, not death
Moses said to Israel:
11You know God's laws, and it isn't impossible to obey them. 12His commands aren't in heaven, so you can't excuse yourselves by saying, “How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are in heaven, and no one can go up to get them, then bring them down and explain them to us.”#Ro 10.6-8. 13And you can't say, “How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are across the sea, and someone must go across, then bring them back and explain them to us.” 14No, these commands are nearby and you know them by heart. All you have to do is obey!
15Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. 16-18I am commanding you to be loyal to the LORD, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the River Jordan and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful.
On the other hand, you might choose to disobey the LORD and reject him. So I'm warning you that if you bow down and worship other gods, you won't have long to live.
19Now I call the sky and the earth to be witnesses that I am offering you this choice. Will you choose for the LORD to make you prosperous and give you a long life? Or will he put you under a curse and kill you? Choose life! 20Be completely faithful to the LORD your God, love him, and do whatever he tells you. The LORD is the only one who can give life, and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.#Gn 12.7; Gn 26.3; Gn 28.13.
Final speeches and the death of Moses
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Deuteronomy 30: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
D'varim (Deu) 30
30
1(RY: ii, LY: iv) “When the time arrives that all these things have come upon you, both the blessing and the curse which I have presented to you; and you are there among the nations to which Adonai your God has driven you; then, at last, you will start thinking about what has happened to you; 2and you will return to Adonai your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today — you and your children, with all your heart and all your being. 3At that point, Adonai your God will reverse your exile and show you mercy; he will return and gather you from all the peoples to which Adonai your God scattered you. 4If one of yours was scattered to the far end of the sky, Adonai your God will gather you even from there; he will go there and get you. 5Adonai your God will bring you back into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you prosper there, and you will become even more numerous than your ancestors. 6Then Adonai your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being, and thus you will live. (RY: iii, LY: v) 7Adonai your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hated and persecuted you; 8but you will return and pay attention to what Adonai says and obey all his mitzvot which I am giving you today. 9Then Adonai your God will give you more than enough in everything you set out to do — the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land will all do well; for Adonai will once again rejoice to see you do well, just as he rejoiced in your ancestors.
10“However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what Adonai your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being. (LY: vi) 11For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach. 12It isn’t in the sky, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’ 13Likewise, it isn’t beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’ 14On the contrary, the word is very close to you — in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it!
(RY: iv, LY: vii) 15“Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — 16in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 17But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; (LY: Maftir) 18I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.
19“I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, 20loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.”
Haftarah Nitzavim: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 61:10–63:9
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Nitzavim: Romans 9:30–10:13; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 12:14 –15
Parashah 52: Vayelekh (He went) 31:1–30
[In regular years read with Parashah 51, in leap years read separately]
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