Deuteronomy 29:16–30:20

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.”