< Deuteronomy 11 >
1 Therefore love the Lord thy 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 Know this day the things that your children know not, who saw not the chastisements of the Lord your God. his great doings and strong hand, and stretched out 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 which he did in the midst of Egypt to king Pharao, and to all his land,
Or his signs and wonders which he did in Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his land;
4 And to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued you, and how the Lord destroyed them until this 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 what he hath done to you in the wilderness, till you came to this place:
And what he did for you in the waste land, till you came to this place;
6 And to Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, who was the son of Ruben: whom the earth, opening her mouth swallowed up with their households and tents, and all their 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 greet works of the Lord, that he hath done,
But your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord which he has done.
8 That you may keep all his commandments, which I command you this day, and may go in, and possess the land, to which you are entering,
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 may live in it a long time: which the Lord promised by oath to your fathers, and to their seed, a land which floweth 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 thou goest to possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from whence thou camest out, where, when the seed is sown, waters are brought in to water it after 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 But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting 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 thy God doth always visit it, and his eyes are on it from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof.
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 If then you obey my commandments, which I command you this day, that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your 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 latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, 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 out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you may eat and be filled.
And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, so that you may have food in full measure.
16 Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart 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 being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give 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 Lay up these my words in your hearts and minds, and hang them for a sign on your hands, and place 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 children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest 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 Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy house:
Writing them on the pillars of your houses and over the doors of your towns:
21 That thy days may be multiplied, and the days of thy children in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he would give them as long as the heaven hangeth over 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 command you, and do them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, cleaving unto 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 destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, which 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, that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours. From the desert, and from Libanus, from the great river Euphrates unto 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 None shall stand against you: the Lord your God shall lay the dread and fear of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he hath 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 set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse:
Today I put before you a blessing and a curse:
27 A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:
The blessing if you give ear to the orders of the Lord your God, which I give you this day:
28 A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your. God, but revolt from the way which now I shew you, and walk after strange gods which you know not.
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 And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, whither thou goest to dwell, thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Garizim, the curse upon mount Hebal:
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 beyond the Jordan, behind the way that goeth to the setting of the sun, in the land of the Chanaanite who dwelleth in the plain country over against Galgala, which is near the valley that reacheth and entereth far.
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 pass over the Jordan, to possess the land, which the Lord your God will give you, 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 See therefore that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I shall set this day before you.
And you are to take care to keep all the laws and the decisions which I put before you today.