Chapter 11

Rewards of Obedience

1 “You shall therefore alove the Lord your God, and always bkeep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.

2 “Know this day athat I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the 1discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm,

3 and aHis signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land;

4 and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, awhen He made the water of the 1Red Sea to 2engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord 3completely destroyed them;

5 and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;

6 and awhat He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and bevery living thing that 1followed them, among all Israel—

7 but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

8 “You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, aso that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it;

9 aso that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their 1descendants, ba land flowing with milk and honey.

10 “For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your 1foot like a vegetable garden.

11 “But athe land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,

12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; athe eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the 1beginning even to the end of the year.

13 “It shall come about, aif you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, bto love the Lord your God and to serve Him cwith all your heart and all your soul,

14 that 1aHe will give the rain for your land in its season, the 2bearly and 3late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.

15 “1aHe will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and byou will eat and be satisfied.

16 “1aBeware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them.

17 “Or athe anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will bshut up the heavens cso that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and dyou will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “aYou shall therefore 1impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as 2frontals 3on your forehead.

19 “aYou shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.

20 “aYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

21 so that ayour days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as 1blong as the heavens remain above the earth.

22 “For if you are acareful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, bto love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and chold fast to Him,

23 then the Lord will adrive out all these nations from before you, and you will bdispossess nations greater and mightier than you.

24 “aEvery place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; byour border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as 1the western sea.

25 “aNo man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.

26 “aSee, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:

27 the ablessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today;

28 and the acurse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, 1by following other gods which you have not known.

29 “It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, athat you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

30 “Are they not across the Jordan, west of the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite aGilgal, beside bthe 1oaks of Moreh?

31 “For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and ayou shall possess it and live in it,

32 and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.