Deuteronomy 29
1 These are the words of the covenant that Jehovah commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he made with them in Horeb.
The following are the terms of the agreement that the Lord ordered Moses to make with the Israelites in the country of Moab This was in addition to the agreement he had made with them at Horeb.
2 And Moses called to all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Jehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his bondmen, and to all his land:
Moses called all the Israelites together and announced to them, You saw with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country.
3 the great trials that thine eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.
You saw with your own eyes the amazing tests, and those great signs and miracles.
4 But Jehovah hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.
But up to now the Lord has not given you minds that understand, or eyes that see, or ears that hear, saying,
5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes are not grown old upon you, and thy sandal is not grown old upon thy foot;
For forty years I led you through the desert, but your clothes and sandals didn't wear out.
6 ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink, that ye might know that I am Jehovah your God.
You didn't have bread to eat, or wine or alcohol to drink in order that you would realize that I am the Lord your God.
7 And ye came to this place; and Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us for battle, and we smote them.
When we arrived here, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan marched out to fight us in battle, but we defeated them.
8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of the Manassites.
We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to own.
9 Ye shall keep then the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
So make sure you keep and follow the terms of this agreement in order that you may be successful in everything you do.
10 Ye stand this day all of you before Jehovah your God: your chiefs [of] your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,
Every one of you is stand here today before the Lord your God: you tribal leaders, officials, and all the men of Israel,
11 your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, as well the hewer of thy wood as the drawer of thy water;
your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your firewood and carry your water.
12 that thou mayest enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into his oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day;
You're here so you can enter into the agreement of the Lord your God, which he is making with you today, and accept his solemn promise,
13 that he may establish thee this day for a people unto himself, and [that] he may be to thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
and so he can confirm you today as his people. He will be your God as he told you and as he promised your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,
It's not only with you that the Lord is making this agreement and solemn promise,
15 but with him that standeth here with us this day before Jehovah our God, and with him that is not here with us this day
those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God, but also with those who are not here today.
16 (for ye know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the nations which ye passed;
You know very well what it was like when we lived in the land of Egypt and our experiences as we passed through the nations on the way here.
17 and ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them);
You saw their disgusting religious practices and their idols of wood and stone, and silver and gold.
18 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood,
You need to make sure today that there's no man or woman, family or tribe of yours who wants to turn from the Lord our God and go and worship the gods of these nations. Make sure there is nothing like that among you that would produce such poison and bitterness.
19 and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to sweep away the drunken with the thirsty.
For when someone like that hears the words of this solemn promise, they think they'll still receive a blessing, telling themselves, “I'll be safe, even though I'll go on doing whatever I feel like.” Such an attitude would destroy good and bad alike.
20 Jehovah will not pardon him, but the anger of Jehovah and his jealousy will then smoke against that man, and all the curse shall be upon him that is written in this book; and Jehovah will blot out his name from under the heavens;
The Lord would never want to pardon them. In fact, his passionate anger will burn against them, and every curse written in this book will fall on them. The Lord will erase their name from the earth,
21 and Jehovah will separate him for mischief out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.
and punish them as an example of them for all the Israelite tribes, in accordance with all the curses of the agreement written in this Book of the Law.
22 And the generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and its sicknesses wherewith Jehovah hath visited it,
Later generations, your descendants and foreigners from far away, will see how the Lord has brought disaster on the country and devastated it.
23 [that] the whole ground thereof is brimstone and salt, [and] burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, and no grass groweth in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger and in his fury:
The whole country will be burning wasteland of sulfur and salt. Nothing is sown; it's totally unproductive; no plant grows there—just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his furious anger.
24 even all nations shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land? whence the heat of this great anger?
Everyone everywhere will ask, “Why did the Lord do this to the country? Why did he get so terribly angry?”
25 And men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah the God of their fathers, which he had made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt;
The people will answer, “It's because they abandoned the agreement of the Lord, the God of their forefathers, which he made with them when he led them out of Egypt.
26 and they went and served other gods, and bowed down to them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not assigned to them.
They went off and worshiped other gods, bowing down to gods they'd never heard of—gods that the Lord had not given to them.
27 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book;
That's why the Lord was so angry with this land, and he rained down on it every curse written in this book.
28 and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in fury, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as [it appears] this day.
The Lord uprooted them from their country in his anger, rage, and fury, and he threw them out, leaving them in another land, where they are to this day.”
29 The hidden things belong to Jehovah our God; but the revealed ones are ours and our children's for ever, to do all the words of this law.
The Lord our God has secrets that belong to him, but what has been revealed belong to us and to our descendants forever, so that we may follow everything in this law.
