Deuteronomy 11

1 Therefore love the Lord thy God and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments at all times.

“[Because of all that] Yahweh your God [has done for you], you must love him and continually obey all his rules and regulations and commandments.

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,

It was you and your ancestors, not your children, whom he disciplined [by causing all of you to have/experience difficulties]. So, starting today, continue to think about how very great and very powerful he is [DOU, MTY].

3 The signs and works which he did in the midst of Egypt to king Pharao, and to all his land,

Think about the various miracles [DOU] that he performed in Egypt. Think about what he did to the king of Egypt and to his country.

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:

Think about what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots. Think about how he caused the Red Sea to flood/cover over them while they were pursuing your ancestors, and how the army of Egypt was completely (wiped out/destroyed).

5 And what he hath done to you in the wilderness, till you came to this place:

Think about what Yahweh did for your ancestors in the desert before you arrived at 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.

Think about what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the two sons of Eliab from the tribe of Reuben. While all of your ancestors were watching, the earth split open, and they fell into the opening [and disappeared], along with their families and their tents, their servants, and their animals.

7 Your eyes have seen all the greet works of the Lord, that he hath done,

You [SYN] and your ancestors have seen all these miracles that Yahweh performed.

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, obey all the commandments that I am giving you today, in order that you will be strong and able to cross the river and occupy the land that you are about to enter,

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 in order that you will live for a long time in that land, the land that Yahweh solemnly promised your ancestors that he would give to them and to their descendants, a land that is very fertile [IDM].

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.

The land that you are about to enter and occupy is not like the land of Egypt, where your ancestors lived. In Egypt, after they planted seeds, it was necessary for them to work hard [MTY] to water [the plants that grew].

11 But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting rain from heaven.

But the land that you are about to enter is a land where there are many hills and valleys, where there is plenty of rain.

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.

Yahweh takes care of that land. He [SYN] watches over it every day, from the beginning of each year to the end of each year.

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:

Today I am commanding you to love Yahweh our God and to serve him with your entire inner beings. If you do that,

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,

each year he will send rain on your land at the (right times/times when it is needed), (in the autumn/at the end of the dry season) and (in the spring/before the next dry season starts). As a result, you will have grain and [grapes to make] wine and [olives to make olive] oil.

15 And your hay out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you may eat and be filled.

And he will cause grass to grow in your fields for your livestock [to eat]. You will have all the food that you want.

16 Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them:

“But I warn you, do not turn away from Yahweh our God and start to worship 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.

because if you do that, Yahweh will become very angry with you. He will prevent any rain from falling. As a result, the crops will not grow, and you will soon die [from hunger] in the good land that Yahweh is about to give to 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 thinking [IDM] about these commands. Write them [on tiny scrolls] and fasten them to your arms/wrists, and write them on bands that you fasten to your foreheads [to help you to remember them].

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.

Teach them to your children again and again. Talk about them [all the time]: When you are in your houses and when you are walking outside; talk about them when you are lying down at night and when you are getting up in the morning.

20 Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy house:

Write them on the doorposts and on the gates of your houses.

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.

Do that in order that you and your children will live for a long time in the land that Yahweh promised to our ancestors that he would give to them. That land will belong to you [and your descendants] as long as there is a sky above the earth.

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,

“Faithfully continue to obey what I am commanding you to do—to love Yahweh our God, and to conduct your lives as he wants you to do, and to (be faithful to/have a close relationship with) him.

23 The Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, which are greater and stronger than you.

If you do that, Yahweh will expel all the people-groups in that land as you advance, people-groups that are more numerous and more powerful than you are.

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.

All the ground [in that land] on which you walk will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert [in the south] to the Lebanon [Mountains in the north], and from the Euphrates River [in the east] to the [Mediterranean] Sea in the west.

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.

Yahweh our God will cause all the people in that land to be afraid of you, which is what he promised, with the result that no people-group will be able to stop you.

26 Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse:

“Listen carefully: Today I am telling you [that Yahweh will either] bless [you or he will] curse you.

27 A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

If you obey the commandments of Yahweh our God that I am giving to you today, he will bless you.

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.

If you do not obey them, and if you turn away from him to worship other gods that you have never known about before, he will curse you.

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 Yahweh brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, [some of you must stand on top of] Gerizim Mountain and proclaim what will cause Yahweh to bless you, and [the others must stand on top of] Ebal Mountain and proclaim [what will cause Yahweh to] curse you.”

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.

(Those two mountains are [RHQ] west of the Jordan [River], west of the Jordan Valley near the huge oak tree at Moreh [village] in the land where the Canaan people-group lives. They live close to the sacred trees near Gilgal.)

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.

“You will soon cross the Jordan [River] to occupy the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you. When you enter that land and start to live there,

32 See therefore that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I shall set this day before you.

be sure to obey all the rules and regulations that I am giving to you today.”