1Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.2Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;3the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;4what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea[1] 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 to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened 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.8Observe therefore all the commands 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,9and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.10The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, 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 that drinks rain from heaven.12It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.13So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul –14then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your corn, new wine and olive oil.15I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.16Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.17Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish 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.19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.20Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates,21so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.22If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him –23then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.24Every place where you set your foot will be yours: your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the River Euphrates 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 and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.26See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse –27the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;28the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, 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 the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses.30As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, towards the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.31You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving 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.
Deuteronomy 11
English Standard Version
Love and Serve the Lord
1“You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. (Le 8:35; De 6:5; Eze 44:16)2And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline[1] of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, (De 3:24; De 4:34; De 5:24; De 31:13)3his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, (De 6:22; De 7:19)4and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, (Ex 14:27; Ex 15:9; Ps 106:11)5and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, (Ps 78:14)6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. (Nu 16:1; Nu 16:31; Nu 27:3; Ps 106:17)7For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did. (Jud 2:7)8“You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, (De 31:6; Jos 1:6; Jos 1:9; Jos 1:18)9and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Ge 50:24; Ex 3:8; De 4:40)10For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it,[2] like a garden of vegetables.11But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, (De 8:7)12a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. (1Ki 9:3; Jer 24:6)13“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, (De 6:5)14he[3] will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. (Le 26:4; De 28:12; Job 29:23; Jer 5:24; Ho 6:3; Joe 2:23; Jas 5:7)15And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. (De 6:11; Ps 104:14; Joe 2:19)16Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; (De 6:14; De 11:28; Job 31:27)17then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. (Le 26:19; De 4:26; De 6:15; De 28:23; De 30:18; Jos 23:15; 1Ki 8:35; 2Ch 6:26; 2Ch 7:13; Am 4:7; Zec 14:17; Re 11:6)18“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (De 6:6; De 6:8)19You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.20You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, (De 6:9)21that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. (De 4:40; Ps 89:29)22For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, (De 6:17; De 10:20)23then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. (De 4:38; De 9:1)24Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to[4] the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. (Ex 23:31; Jos 1:3; Jos 14:9)25No one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you. (Ex 23:27; De 2:25; De 7:24)26“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: (De 30:1; De 30:15; De 30:19)27the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, (De 28:2)28and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. (De 6:14; De 28:15)29And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. (De 27:12; Jos 8:33)30Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak[5] of Moreh? (De 1:1; Jud 7:1)31For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, (De 9:1; De 12:10; Jos 1:11)32you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today. (De 5:32; De 12:32)