The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.p 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heavenq to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”r 13 Nor is it beyond the sea,s so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”t 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.u

15 See, I set before you today lifev and prosperity,w deathx and destruction.y 16 For I command you today to lovez the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will livea and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.b You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against youc that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.d Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may lovee the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,f and he will giveg you many years in the landh he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.