Deuteronomy 11
11
1Love the Lord your God, and do what he wants you to do. Always obey his laws, rules, and commands. 2Remember today the discipline you learned from the Lord your God. (⌞I’m not talking⌟ to your children. They didn’t see or experience any of this.) You saw and experienced his great power—his mighty hand and powerful arm. 3You saw the miraculous signs and deeds he did in Egypt to Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) and to his whole country. 4You saw what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots. He drowned them in the Red Sea when they pursued you. So the Lord destroyed them forever. 5You saw what he did for you in the desert until you came here. 6You also saw what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, from the tribe of Reuben. In the middle of all the Israelites the ground opened up and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and every living creature with them. 7You saw with your own eyes all these spectacular things that the Lord did.
8Obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will have the strength to enter and take possession of the land once you’ve crossed ⌞the Jordan River⌟. 9Then you will also live for a long time in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors and their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey.
10The land you’re about to enter and take possession of isn’t like the land you left in Egypt. There you used to plant your seed, and you had to water it like a vegetable garden. 11The land you’re about to enter is a land with hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12It is a land the Lord your God cares about. He watches over it all year long.
13If you faithfully obey the commands that I’m giving you today, love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14I will send rain on your land at the right time, both in the fall and in the spring. Then you will gather your own grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15I will provide grass in the fields for your animals, and you will be able to eat all you want.
16Be careful, or you’ll be tempted to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17The Lord will become angry with you. He’ll shut the sky so that there’ll be no rain. Then the ground won’t grow any crops, and you’ll quickly disappear from this good land the Lord is giving you.
18Take these words of mine to heart and keep them in mind. ⌞Write them down,⌟ tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands as a reminder. 19Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you’re at home or away, when you lie down or get up. 20Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 21Then you and your children will live for a long time in this land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors—as long as there’s a sky above the earth.
22Faithfully obey all these commands I’m giving you. Love the Lord your God, follow all his directions, and be loyal to him. 23Then the Lord will force all these people out of your way. Then you will take possession of ⌞the land belonging to⌟ people taller and stronger than you. 24I will give you every place on which you set foot. Your borders will be from the desert to Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. 25No one will be able to stop you. As the Lord your God promised, he will make people terrified of you wherever you go in this land.
Choose the Blessing or the Curse
26Today I’m giving you the choice of a blessing or a curse. 27You’ll be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I’m giving you today. 28You’ll be cursed if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God, if you turn from the way I’m commanding you to live today, and if you worship other gods you never knew. 29When the Lord your God brings you into the land you’re about to enter, recite the blessing from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal. 30(These mountains are on the west side of the Jordan, beyond the road that goes west, in the region of the Canaanites who live on the plains facing Gilgal, next to the oak trees of Moreh.) 31You’re about to cross the Jordan River to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and live there, 32be careful to obey all the laws and rules I’m giving you today.
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Deuteronomy 11: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 11
11
1So love the LORD your God and follow his instruction, his regulations, his case laws, and his commandments always. 2And know right now what your children haven’t known or yet witnessed:#11.2 Heb uncertain
The LORD your God’s discipline, his power, his mighty hand and outstretched arm;
3the signs and the acts that he performed in the heart of Egyptian territory, against Egypt’s King Pharaoh and all his land;
4what God did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots—how he made the water of the Reed Sea#11.4 Or Red Sea flow over their heads when they chased after you, but the LORD destroyed them, and that’s how things stand right now;
5what the Lord did for you in the desert, until you arrived at this place;
6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the descendants of Eliab the Reubenite, when the ground opened up its mouth and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and every living thing they possessed in the presence of all Israel.
7Your own eyes witnessed each of these powerful acts the LORD performed. 8So keep every part of the commandment that I am giving you today so that you stay strong to enter and take possession of the land that you are crossing over to possess, 9and so that you might prolong your life on the fertile land that the LORD swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants—a land full of milk and honey.
10The land you are about to enter and possess is definitely not like the land of Egypt, where you came from, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it by hand#11.10 Or foot like a vegetable garden. 11No, the land you are entering to possess is a land of hills and valleys, where your drinking water will be rain from heaven. 12It’s a land that the LORD cares for: the LORD’s eyes are on it constantly from the first of the year until the very end of the year.
13Now, if you completely obey God’s#11.13 LXX his; MT my commandments that I am giving you right now, by loving the LORD your God and by serving him with all your heart and all your being, 14then he#11.14 Sam, LXX, DSS (8QMez); Heb, Vulg, Syr, Tg, and several DSS I, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse. will provide rain for your land at the right time—early rain and late rain—so you can stock up your grain, wine, and oil. 15He#11.15 Sam, LXX, two DSS; Heb, four DSS, Syr, Tg I, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse. will also make your fields lush for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16But watch yourselves! Otherwise, your heart might be led astray so you stray away, serving other gods and worshipping them. 17Then the LORD’s anger would burn against you. He will close the sky up tight. There won’t be any rain, and the ground won’t yield any of its crops. You will quickly disappear off the wonderful land the LORD is giving to you.
18Place these words I’m speaking on your heart and in your very being. Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol.#11.18 Heb uncertain; cf Exod 13:16; Syr sign or mark; Tg phylacteries 19Teach them to your children, by talking about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. 20Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates. 21Do all that so your days and your children’s days on the fertile land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors are many—indeed, as many as the number of days that the sky’s been over the earth!
22It’s true: if you carefully keep all this commandment that I’m giving you, by doing it, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in all his ways, and by clinging to him, 23then the LORD will clear out all these nations before you. You will inherit what belonged to nations that are larger and stronger than you are. 24Every place you set foot on will be yours: your territory will run from the wilderness all the way to the Lebanon range, and from the Euphrates River all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. 25No one will be able to stand up to you. Just as he promised, the LORD your God will make the entire land deathly afraid of you wherever you advance in it.
Ceremony on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal
26Pay attention! I am setting blessing and curse before you right now: 27the blessing if you obey the LORD your God’s commandments that I am giving you right now, 28but the curse if you don’t obey the LORD your God’s commandments and stray from the path that I am giving you today by following other gods that you have not known. 29Now when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of, put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. (30Aren’t both of these mountains across the Jordan River, down along the western road in the region of the Canaanites who live in the desert plain, across from Gilgal, next to the Moreh Oak Grove?)
31So then, once you cross the Jordan River to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you take possession of it, settling down in it, 32you must carefully follow the regulations and the case laws that I am laying out before you right now.
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