< Deuteronomy 8 >
1 “All the commandments which I am entrusting to you this day, take care to observe them diligently, so that you may live and be multiplied, and so that, upon entering, you may possess the land, about which the Lord swore to your fathers.
“You must faithfully obey all the commandments that I am giving you today. If you do that, you will live [a long time], you will become very numerous, and you will occupy the land that Yahweh solemnly promised your ancestors that he would give [to you].
2 And you shall remember the entire journey along which the Lord your God led you, for forty years through the desert, to afflict you, and to test you, and to make known the things that were turning in your soul, whether or not you would keep his commandments.
And do not forget how Yahweh our God led us as we traveled through the desert during these past 40 years. He [caused you to have many problems/difficulties], because he wanted to cause you to realize that you needed to trust him and not yourselves. And he wanted to test you, to find out what you intended to do [IDM], whether you would obey his commandments or not.
3 He afflicted you with need, and he gave you Manna as your food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, so as to reveal to you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by every word that goes forth from the mouth of God.
So he caused you to have/experience difficulties. He allowed you to become hungry. Then he gave you manna [food from heaven], food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did that to teach you that people need food [for their bodies]; but [they also need food for their spirits, which comes from paying attention to] everything that Yahweh says [MTY].
4 Your garment, with which you were covered, has by no means decayed due to age, and your foot has not been worn down, even to this fortieth year,
During those 40 years [of walking through the desert], our clothes did not wear out and our feet did not swell [from walking a very long way through the desert].
5 so that you would recognize in your heart that, just as a man educates his son, so has the Lord your God educated you.
Do not forget that Yahweh our God disciplines us, like parents discipline their children.
6 So may you keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and fear him.
“Do obey the commandments of Yahweh our God, and conduct your lives as he wants you to do, and revere him.
7 For the Lord your God will lead you into a good land: a land of brooks and waters and fountains, in which deep rivers burst forth from its plains and mountains,
He is about to bring you into a good/fertile land, which has streams which flow down from the hills and pour/flow out of springs in the valleys.
8 a land of crops, barley, and vineyards, in which fig and pomegranate and olive trees spring up, a land of oil and honey.
It is a land on which wheat and barley grow, a land where there are fig trees and pomegranates, and a land where there are olive trees and honey.
9 In that place, without any need, you shall eat your bread and enjoy an abundance of all things: where the stones are like iron, and where ore for brass is dug out of its mountains.
It is a land where there will be plenty of food for you, where you will (not lack anything/have everything that you need) [LIT], a land which has iron [ore] in its rocks and from which you can dig copper [ore] from its hills.
10 So then, when you have eaten and been satisfied, you should bless the Lord your God for the excellent land which he has given to you.
[Every day] you will eat until your stomachs are full, and you will thank Yahweh our God for the fertile/good land that he has given you.
11 Be observant and cautious, lest at some time you may forget the Lord your God, and neglect his commandments, as well as the judgments and ceremonies, which I instruct to you this day.
But, [when that happens], be sure not to forget Yahweh our God by disobeying his commandments and rules and regulations that I am giving to you today.
12 Otherwise, after you have eaten and been satisfied, and have built beautiful houses and have lived in them,
When your stomachs are full [every day], and when you have built good houses and are living in them,
13 and have obtained herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and a plentitude of gold and silver and all things,
and when the number of your cattle and sheep has greatly increased, and when you have accumulated a large amount of silver and gold, and the amount of all your other possessions has greatly increased,
14 your heart might be lifted up, and you might not remember the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude,
be sure that you do not become proud [IDM] and forget Yahweh our God, who rescued your ancestors from being slaves in Egypt and brought them out from there.
15 and who was your leader in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there was the serpent with a burning breath, and the scorpion, and the snake of thirst, and no waters at all. He led streams out of the hardest rock,
Do not forget that he led them [while they traveled] through that huge and terrible desert, where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. And do not forget that where the ground was very dry and there was no water, he caused water to flow for them out of (solid/very hard) rock.
16 and he nourished you in the wilderness with Manna, which your fathers had not known. And after he had afflicted and tested you, in the very end, he took pity on you.
Do not forget that in that desert he gave your ancestors manna to eat, food that they had never eaten before. He [caused them to have/experience many problems/difficulties], because he wanted them to realize that they needed to trust him and not themselves. And he wanted to test them, to find out whether they intended to obey him, in order that when [those difficulties] ended, he would do many good things for them.
17 Otherwise, you might say in your heart: ‘My own strength, and the power of my own hand, have brought forth all these things for me.’
Be sure that you do not think to yourselves, ‘I have acquired all these things by my own power [MTY] and ability.’
18 But remember the Lord your God, that he himself has provided you with strength, so that he may fulfill his covenant, about which he swore to your fathers, just as the present day reveals.
Do not forget that it is Yahweh our God who has enabled you to become rich. He does this because he faithfully does what he solemnly promised our ancestors that he would do.
19 But if you forget the Lord your God, so that you follow foreign gods, and serve and adore them: behold, I now foretell to you that you shall utterly perish.
“solemnly warn you that if you forget Yahweh our God and turn to other gods and start to serve them and worship them, you will certainly be destroyed.
20 Just like the nations, which the Lord destroyed upon your arrival, so shall you also perish, if you have been disobedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”
If you do not obey Yahweh our God, he will certainly destroy you just like he will destroy the people-groups that you will fight against.”