Deuteronomy 11

1 “And so, love the Lord your God, and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments, at all times.

So have love for the Lord your God, and give him worship, and keep his laws and his decisions and his orders at all times.

2 Acknowledge, on this day, the things that your sons did not know. For they did not see the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great acts, and powerful hand, and outstretched arm,

And be certain in your minds this day; for these words are not said to your children, who have had no experience of the training of the Lord your God, and who have not seen his great power or his strong hand and his stretched-out arm,

3 the signs and works that he did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king, and to his entire land,

Or his signs and wonders which he did in Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his land;

4 and to the entire army of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord wiped them away, even to the present day;

And what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their war-carriages; how he made the waters of the Red Sea come up over them when they went after you, and how the Lord put an end to them even to this day;

5 and the things that he accomplished for you in the wilderness, until you arrived at this place;

And what he did for you in the waste land, till you came to this place;

6 and to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, who was the son of Reuben, those whom the earth, opening its mouth, engulfed with their households and tents, and with their entire substance which they had in the midst of Israel.

And what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; when they went down into the open mouth of the earth, with their families and their tents and every living thing which was theirs, before the eyes of all Israel:

7 Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, which he has accomplished,

But your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord which he has done.

8 so that you would keep all his commandments, which I entrust to you this day, and so that you would be able to enter and possess the land, toward which you are advancing,

So keep all the orders which I give you today, so that you may be strong, and go in and take the land which is to be your heritage;

9 and so that you may live, for a long time, in the land which the Lord promised under oath to your fathers, and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And that your days may be long in the land which the Lord gave by an oath to your fathers and to their seed after them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 For the land, which you shall enter and possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from which you departed, where, when seed has been sown, waters are brought in by irrigation, in the manner of gardens.

For the land where you are going is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you put in your seeds, watering them with your foot, like a planted garden:

11 Rather, it has mountainous regions and plains, which lay waiting for rain from heaven.

But the land where you are going is a land of hills and valleys, drinking in the rain of heaven:

12 And the Lord your God always visits it, and his eyes are upon it, from the beginning of the year, all the way to its end.

A land cared for by the Lord your God: the eyes of the Lord your God are on it at all times from one end of the year to the other.

13 So then, if you obey my commandments, which I am instructing to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole soul,

And it will be that if you truly give ear to the orders which I put before you this day, loving the Lord your God and worshipping him with all your heart and all your soul,

14 he will give to your land the early rain and the late rain, so that you may gather your grain, and your wine, and your oil,

Then I will send rain on your land at the right time, the early rains and the late rains, so that you may get in your grain and your wine and your oil.

15 and your hay from the fields in order to feed your cattle, and so that you yourselves may eat and be satisfied.

And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, so that you may have food in full measure.

16 Be careful, lest perhaps your heart may be deceived, and you might withdraw from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them.

But take care that your hearts are not turned to false ways so that you become servants and worshippers of other gods;

17 And the Lord, becoming angry, might close up heaven, so that the rain would not descend, nor would the earth produce her seedlings, and then you would quickly perish from the excellent land, which the Lord will give to you.

For if you do so, the wrath of the Lord will be burning against you, and the heaven will be shut up so that there is no rain and the land will give no fruit; and in a very little time you will be cut off from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 Place these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between your eyes.

So keep these words deep in your heart and in your soul, and have them fixed on your hand for a sign and marked on your brow;

19 Teach your sons to meditate on them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down or rise up.

Teaching them to your children, and talking of them when you are at rest in your house or walking by the way, when you go to sleep and when you get up:

20 You shall write them upon the doorposts and the gates of your house,

Writing them on the pillars of your houses and over the doors of your towns:

21 so that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your sons, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, that he would give it to them for as long as heaven is suspended above the earth.

So that your days, and the days of your children, may be long in the land which the Lord by his oath to your fathers said he would give them, like the days of the eternal heavens.

22 For if you keep the commandments which I am entrusting to you, and if you do them, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, clinging to him,

For if you take care to keep all the orders which I give you, and to do them; loving the Lord your God and walking in all his ways and being true to him:

23 the Lord will scatter all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, though they are greater and stronger than you.

Then the Lord will send these nations in flight before you, and you will take the lands of nations greater and stronger than yourselves.

24 Every place upon which your foot shall tread will be yours. From the desert, and from Lebanon, from the great river Euphrates, as far as the western sea, shall be your borders.

Every place where you put your foot will be yours: from the waste land and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates as far as the Great Sea, will be the limits of your land.

25 No one will stand against you. The Lord your God will spread the terror and dread of you over all the land upon which you shall tread, just as he has spoken to you.

All people will give way before you: for the Lord your God will put the fear of you on all the land through which you go, as he has said.

26 Behold, I am setting forth in your sight today a blessing and a curse.

Today I put before you a blessing and a curse:

27 It will be a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am instructing to you this day.

The blessing if you give ear to the orders of the Lord your God, which I give you this day:

28 It will be a curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but instead you withdraw from the way, which I am revealing to you now, and you walk after foreign gods that you have not known.

And the curse if you do not give ear to the orders of the Lord your God, but let yourselves be turned from the way which I have put before you this day, and go after other gods which are not yours.

29 Yet truly, when the Lord your God will have led you into the land, to which you are traveling for a habitation, you shall place the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, the curse upon Mount Ebal,

And when the Lord your God has taken you into the land of your heritage, you are to put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

30 which are across the Jordan, behind the way which slopes toward the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite, who lives in the plains opposite Gilgal, which is near the valley extending toward and entering a distant place.

Are they not on the other side of Jordan, looking west, in the land of the Canaanites living in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, by the holy tree of Moreh?

31 For you shall cross over the Jordan, so that you may possess the land which the Lord your God will give you, so that you may have it and possess it.

For you are about to go over Jordan to take the heritage which the Lord your God is giving you, and it will be your resting-place.

32 Therefore, see to it that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I am placing in your sight this day.”

And you are to take care to keep all the laws and the decisions which I put before you today.