Deuteronomy 29:1–31:30
29 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the acovenant which He made with them in Horeb.
2 Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: b“You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land—3 cthe great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 Yet dthe Lord has not given you a heart to 1perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. 5 eAnd I have led you forty years in the wilderness. fYour clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. 6 gYou have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 7 And when you came to this place, hSihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. 8 We took their land and igave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Therefore jkeep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may kprosper in all that you do.
10 “All of you stand today before the Lord your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from lthe one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water—12 that you may enter into covenant with the Lord your God, and minto His oath, which the Lord your God makes with you today, 13 that He may nestablish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, ojust as He has spoken to you, and pjust as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 “I make this covenant and this oath, qnot with you alone, 15 but with him who stands here with us today before the Lord our God, ras well as with him who is not here with us today 16 (for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, 17 and you saw their 2abominations and their idols which were among them—wood and stone and silver and gold); 18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, swhose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, tand that there may not be among you a root bearing ubitterness or wormwood; 19 and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I 3follow the vdictates of my heart’—was though the drunkard could be included with the sober.
20 x“The Lord would not spare him; for then ythe anger of the Lord and zHis jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord awould blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord bwould separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the cLaw, 22 so that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they dsee the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the Lord has laid on it:
23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, esalt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, flike the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’ 24 All nations would say, g‘Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ 25 Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against this land, hto bring on it every curse that is written in this book. 28 And the Lord iuprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
The Blessing of Returning to God
30 “Now ait shall come to pass, when ball these things come upon you, the blessing and the ccurse which I have set before you, and dyou 1call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, 2 and you ereturn to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 fthat the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and ggather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 hIf any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6 And ithe Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
7 “Also the Lord your God will put all these jcurses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you will kagain obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 lThe Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the 2fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again mrejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 “For this commandment which I command you today nis 3not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 oIt is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, pin your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 “See, qI have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 rI announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 sI call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that tI have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your ulife and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Joshua the New Leader of Israel
31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them: “I aam one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer bgo out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, c‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God dHimself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. eJoshua himself crosses over before you, just fas the Lord has said. 4 gAnd the Lord will do to them has He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. 5 iThe Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. 6 jBe strong and of good courage, kdo not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, lHe is the One who goes with you. mHe will not leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, n“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the Lord, oHe is the One who goes before you. pHe will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years
9 So Moses wrote this law qand delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, rwho bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the syear of release, tat the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to uappear before the Lord your God in the vplace which He chooses, wyou shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 xGather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, ywho have not known it, zmay hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”
Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, a“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves …