Deuteronomy 11–12

Love and Obey the Lord

11Love^d the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.^{e 2}Remember today that your children^f were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:^g his majesty,^h his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;^{i 3}the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;^{j 4}what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,^k how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea^al as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. ⁵It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, ⁶and what he did^m to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth openedⁿ its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.^o

⁸Observe therefore all the commands^p I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,^{q 9}and so that you may live long^r in the land the Lord swore^s to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{t 10}The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,^u from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys^v that drinks rain from heaven.^{w 12}It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes^x of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³So if you faithfully obey^y the commands I am giving you today—to love^z the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul^a—¹⁴then I will send rain^b on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,^c so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵I will provide grass^d in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.^e

¹⁶Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.^{f 17}Then the Lord’s anger^g will burn against you, and he will shut up^h the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,ⁱ and you will soon perish^j from the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^{k 19}Teach them to your children,^l talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.^{m 20}Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,^{n 21}so that your days and the days of your children may be many^o in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.^p

²²If you carefully observe^q all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love^r the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast^s to him—²³then the Lord will drive out^t all these nations^u before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.^{v 24}Every place where you set your foot will be yours:^w Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River^x to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror^y and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.^z

²⁶See, I am setting before you today a blessing^a and a curse^b—²⁷the blessing^c if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸the curse if you disobey^d the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^e which you have not known. ²⁹When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim^f the blessings, and on Mount Ebal^g the curses.^{h 30}As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,ⁱ in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.^{j 31}You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession^k of the land the Lord your God is giving^l you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³²be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

The One Place of Worship

12These are the decrees^m and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.^{n 2}Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,^o on the hills and under every spreading tree,^p where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. ³Break down their altars, smash^q their sacred stones and burn^r their Asherah^s poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names^t from those places.

⁴You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.^{u 5}But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name^v there for his dwelling.^w To that place you must go; ⁶there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes^x and special gifts, what you have vowed^y to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.^{z 7}There, in the presence^a of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice^b in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,^{c 9}since you have not yet reached the resting place^d and the inheritance^e the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving^f you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest^g from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. ¹¹Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name^h—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord.^{i 12}And there rejoice^j before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites^k from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance^l of their own. ¹³Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.^{m 14}Offer them only at the place the Lord will chooseⁿ in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

¹⁵Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer,^o according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. ¹⁶But you must not eat the blood;^p pour^q it out on the ground like water.^{r 17}You must not eat in your own towns the tithe^s of your grain and new wine and olive oil,^t or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give,^u or your freewill offerings or special gifts.^{v 18}Instead, you are to eat^w them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose^x—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice^y before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. ¹⁹Be careful not to neglect the Levites^z as long as you live in your land.^a

²⁰When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory^b as he promised^c you, and you crave meat^d and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. ²¹If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name^e is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.^{f 22}Eat them as you would gazelle or deer.^g Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. ²³But be sure you do not eat the blood,^h because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.^{i 24}You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.^{j 25}Do not eat it, so that it may go well^k with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right^l in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁶But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give,^m and go to the place the Lord will choose. ²⁷Present your burnt offeringsⁿ on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat^o the meat. ²⁸Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well^p with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

²⁹The Lord your God will cut off^q before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,^{r 30}and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared^s by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.”^{t 31}You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates.^u They even burn their sons^v and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.^w

³²See that you do all I command you; do not add^x to it or take away from it.^a