1 Therefore thou shalt loue the Lord thy God, and shalt keepe that, which he commandeth to be kept: that is, his ordinances, and his lawes, and his commandements alway. 2 And consider this day (for I speake not to your children, which haue neither knowen nor seene) the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatnesse, his mighty hande, and his stretched out arme, 3 And his signes, and his actes, which hee did in the middes of Egypt vnto Pharaoh the King of Egypt and vnto all his land: 4 And what he did vnto the hoste of the Egyptians, vnto their horses, and to their charets, when he caused the waters of the red Sea to ouerflowe them, as they pursued after you, and the Lord destroied them vnto this day: 5 And what he did vnto you in the wildernesse, vntill yee came vnto this place: 6 And what he did vnto Dathan and Abiram the sonnes of Eliab ye sonne of Reuben, when the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them with their housholds and their tents, and all their substance that they had in the middes of al Israel. 7 For your eyes haue seene all the great actes of the Lord which he did. 8 Therefore shall ye keepe all the commandements, which I commaund you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possesse the land whither ye goe to possesse it: 9 Also that ye may prolong your daies in the land, which the Lord sware vnto your fathers, to giue vnto them and to their seede, euen a lande that floweth with milke and honie. 10 For the land whither thou goest to possesse it, is not as the lande of Egypt, from whence ye came, where thou sowedst thy seede, and wateredst it with thy feete as a garden of herbes: 11 But the land whither ye goe to possesse it, is a land of mountaines and valleis, and drinketh water of the raine of heauen. 12 This land doth the Lord thy God care for: the eies of the Lord thy God are alwaies vpon it, from the beginning of the yeere, euen vnto the ende of the yeere. 13 If yee shall hearken therefore vnto my commandements, which I commaund you this day, that yee loue the Lord your God and serue him with all your heart, and with all your soule, 14 I also wil giue raine vnto your land in due time, the first raine and the latter, that thou maist gather in thy wheat, and thy wine, and thine oyle. 15 Also I will send grasse in thy fieldes, for thy cattel, that thou maist eate, and haue inough. 16 But beware lest your heart deceiue you, and lest yee turne aside, and serue other gods, and worship them, 17 And so the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and he shut vp the heauen, that there be no raine, and that your lande yeelde not her fruit, and yee perish quickly from the good land, which the Lord giueth you. 18 Therefore shall ye lay vp these my words in your heart and in your soule, and binde them for a signe vpon your hand, that they may be as a frontlet betweene your eyes, 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them, whe thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest downe, and when thou risest vp. 20 And thou shalt write them vpon the postes of thine house, and vpon thy gates, 21 That your daies may be multiplied, and the daies of your children, in ye land which the Lord sware vnto your fathers to giue them, as long as the heauens are aboue the earth. 22 For if ye keepe diligently all these commandements, which I command you to doe: that is, to loue the Lord your God, to walke in all his waies, and to cleaue vnto him, 23 Then will the Lord cast out all these nations before you, and ye shall possesse great nations and mightier then you. 24 All the places whereon the soles of your feete shall tread, shalbe yours: your coast shalbe from the wildernes and from Lebanon, and from the Riuer, euen the riuer Perath, vnto ye vttermost Sea. 25 No man shall stande against you: for the Lord your God shall cast the feare and dread of you vpon all the land that ye shall treade vpon, as he hath said vnto you. 26 Beholde, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: 27 The blessing, if ye obey the commandements of the Lord your God which I command you this day: 28 And ye curse, if ye wil not obey the commandements of the Lord your God, but turne out of the way, which I commande you this day, to go after other gods, which ye haue not knowen. 29 When the Lord thy God therefore hath brought thee into ye lande, whither thou goest to possesse it, then thou shalt put the blessing vpon mount Gerizim, and the curse vpon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not beyond Iorden on that part, where the sunne goeth downe in the land of the Canaanites, which dwel in the plaine ouer against Gilgal, beside the groue of Moreh? 31 For yee shall passe ouer Iorden, to goe in to possesse the land, which ye Lord your God giueth you, and ye shall possesse it, and dwell therein. 32 Take heede therefore that ye doe all the commandements and the lawes, which I set before you this day.
The Lord's Greatness
1 “Love the Lord your God and always obey all his laws. 2 Remember today what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with him. It was you, not your children, who had these experiences. You saw the Lord's greatness, his power, his might, 3 and his miracles. You saw what he did to the king of Egypt and to his entire country. 4 You saw how the Lord completely wiped out the Egyptian army, along with their horses and chariots, by drowning them in the Red Sea when they were pursuing you. 5 You know what the Lord did for you in the desert before you arrived here. 6 You recall what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben. In the sight of everyone the earth opened up and swallowed them, along with their families, their tents, and all their servants and animals. 7 Yes, you are the ones who have seen all these great things that the Lord has done.
The Blessings of the Promised Land
8 “Obey everything that I have commanded you today. Then you will be able to cross the river and occupy the land that you are about to enter. 9 And you will live a long time in the rich and fertile land that the Lord promised to give your ancestors and their descendants. 10 The land that you are about to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, where you lived before. There, when you planted grain, you had to work hard to irrigate the fields; 11 but the land that you are about to enter is a land of mountains and valleys, a land watered by rain. 12 The Lord your God takes care of this land and watches over it throughout the year.
13 “So then, obey the commands that I have given you today; love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart. 14 If you do, he will send rain on your land when it is needed, in the autumn and in the spring, so that there will be grain, wine, and olive oil for you, 15 and grass for your livestock. You will have all the food you want. 16 Do not let yourselves be led away from the Lord to worship and serve other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will hold back the rain, and your ground will become too dry for crops to grow. Then you will soon die there, even though it is a good land that he is giving you.
18 “Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. 21 Then you and your children will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God promised to give to your ancestors. You will live there as long as there is a sky above the earth.
22 “Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you: Love the Lord your God, do everything he commands, and be faithful to him. 23 Then he will drive out all those nations as you advance, and you will occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. 24 All the ground that you march over will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 25 Wherever you go in that land, the Lord your God will make the people fear you, as he has promised, and no one will be able to stop you.
26 “Today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse— 27 a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 but a curse, if you disobey these commands and turn away to worship other gods that you have never worshiped before. 29 When the Lord brings you into the land that you are going to occupy, you are to proclaim the blessing from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal. ( 30 These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the territory of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley. They are toward the west, not far from the sacred trees of Moreh near the town of Gilgal.) 31 You are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it and settle there, 32 be sure to obey all the laws that I am giving you today.