Study Desk

"Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep His mandate and His statutes, ordinances, and commands.

You must understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God: His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;

His signs and the works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;^(a)

what He did to Egypt's army, its horses and chariots, when He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and He destroyed them^(b) completely;^[a]

what He did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place;

and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.^(c)

Your own eyes have seen every great work the Lord has done.

"Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit,

and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^(d)

For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand^[b] as in a vegetable garden.

But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.

It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it from the beginning to the end of the year.

"If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul,

I^[c] will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,^[d] and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil.^(e)

I^[e] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.^(f)

Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods.

Then the Lord 's anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land^(g) the Lord is giving you.

"Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol^[f] on your foreheads.^[g]

Teach them to your children,^(h) talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,⁽ⁱ⁾

so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your fathers.^(j)

For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, and remain faithful^[h] to Him—

the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.

Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.^(k) Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River^[i] to the Mediterranean Sea.^(l)

No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as He has promised you.^(m)

"Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:⁽ⁿ⁾

there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today,

and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known.

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.

Aren't these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks^[j] of Moreh?

For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it,

be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.

"Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth.

Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods^(a)—on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every^[a] place.

Don't worship the Lord your God this way.

Instead, you must turn to the place Yahweh your God chooses from all your tribes to put His name for His dwelling and go there.

You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions,^[b] your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

You will eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your household in everything you do,^[c] because the Lord your God has blessed you.

"You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own eyes.

Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place^(b) and the inheritance^(c) the Lord your God is giving you.

When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit,^(d) and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security,

then Yahweh your God will choose the place to have His name dwell.^(e) Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions,^[d] and all your choice offerings you vow to the Lord .

You will rejoice^(f) before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.^(g)

Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see.

You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.

"But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates,^(h) according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer,

but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.⁽ⁱ⁾

Within your gates you may not eat: the tenth of your grain, new wine, or oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your vow offerings that you pledge; your freewill offerings; or your personal contributions.^[e]

You must eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God chooses—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your gates. Rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you do,^[f]

and be careful not to neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land.

"When the Lord your God enlarges your territory as He has promised you,^(j) and you say, ‘I want to eat meat' because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want.

If the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.

Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it.

But don't eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water.

Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in the Lord 's sight.

"But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place the Lord chooses.

Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat.

Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may prosper forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

"When the Lord your God annihilates the nations before you,^(k) which you are entering to take possession of,^(l) and you drive them out and live in their land,

be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I'll also do the same.'

You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable thing, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

^[g]You must be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it.^(m)