Deuteronomy 29–31

RENEWING THE COVENANT

29These are the words of the covenant thatⁿ the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.^{o 2}Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes^p everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his entire land. ³You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders.^{a 4}Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.^{b 5}I led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes and the sandals on your feet did not wear out;^{c 6}you did not eat food or drink wine or beer—so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.^{d 7}When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.^{e 8}We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.^{f 9}Therefore, observe the words of this covenant^g and follow them, so that you will succeed in everything you do.^h

¹⁰“All of you are standing today before the Lord your God—your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel, ¹¹your dependents, your wives, and the resident aliens in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—¹²so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which he is making with you today, so that you may enter into his oath ¹³and so that he may establish you today as his people and he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.^{i 14}I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, ¹⁵but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not here today.

ABANDONING THE COVENANT

¹⁶“Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled. ¹⁷You saw their abhorrent images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.^{j 18}Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.^{k 19}When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt,^A thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land. ²⁰The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, his anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven,^{l 21}and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

²²“Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses the Lord has inflicted on it. ²³All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord demolished in his fierce anger.^{m 24}All the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this intense outburst of anger?’ ²⁵Then people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he had made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶They began to serve other gods, bowing in worship to gods they had not knownⁿ—gods that the Lord had not permitted them to worship.^{o 27}Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, and he brought every curse written in this book on it. ²⁸The Lord uprooted them from their land in his anger, rage, and intense wrath, and threw them into another land where they are today.’ ²⁹The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

RETURNING TO THE LORD

30“When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,^{p 2}and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul^q by doing^A everything I am commanding you today, ³then he will restore your fortunes,^Br have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.^{s 4}Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there.^{t 5}The Lord your God will bring you into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will take possession of it.^u He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your ancestors.^{a 6}The Lord your God will circumcise your heart^b and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.^{c 7}The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. ⁸Then you will again obey him and follow all his commands I am commanding you today. ⁹The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands,^d your offspring,^C the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your ancestors, ¹⁰when you obey the Lord your God by keeping his commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to him with all your heart and all your soul.

CHOOSE LIFE

¹¹“This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach. ¹²It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ ¹³And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ ¹⁴But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.^{e 15}See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.^{f 16}For^D I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live^E and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life^g so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful^F to him. For he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you live in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors^h Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

JOSHUA TAKES MOSES’S PLACE

31Then Moses continued to speak these^A words to all Israel, ²saying, “I am now 120 years old;ⁱ I can no longer act as your leader.^B The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’^{j 3}The Lord your God is the one who will cross ahead of you.^k He will destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the Lord has said.^{l 4}The Lord will deal with them as he did Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them.^{m 5}The Lord will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you. ⁶Be strong and courageous;ⁿ don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the Lord your God is the one who will go with you;^o he will not leave you or abandon you.”^p

⁷Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with^C this people into the land the Lord swore to give to their ancestors.^q You will enable them to take possession of it. ⁸The Lord is the one who will go before you.^r He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.^s Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

⁹Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation,^t during the Festival of Shelters,^{u 11}when all Israel assembles in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he chooses,^v you are to read this law aloud before all Israel.^{w 12}Gather the people—men, women, dependents, and the resident aliens within your city gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear^x the Lord your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law. ¹³Then their children^y who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, “The time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting so that I may commission him.” When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting, ¹⁵the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud,^a and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.^b

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your ancestors,^c and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods^d of the land they are entering. They will abandon me^e and break the covenant^f I have made with them. ¹⁷My anger will burn against them on that day;^g I will abandon them and hide my face from them so that they will become easy prey.^h Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say,…