Deuteronomy 11

1 Love the Lord your God and do everything he says—his rules, regulations, and commandments.

Therefore thou shalt love YHWH thy Elohim, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

2 You should realize that it's not your children who have experienced the Lord your God's discipline. It was you who saw his greatness, his power and strength;

And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of YHWH your Elohim, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

3 and his miracles. You saw what he did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole country.

And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

4 You saw what he did to the Egyptian army and its horses and chariots when he swept them away in the Red Sea, drowning them as they chased after you. The story hasn't changed!

And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how YHWH hath destroyed them unto this day;

5 You saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived here.

And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

6 You saw what he did, right there among you, to Dothan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben, when the earth split open and swallowed them down—their families, their tents, and all their animals.

And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

7 You saw with your own eyes all the amazing things that the Lord has done.

But your eyes have seen all the great acts of YHWH which he did.

8 So you must keep every commandment I am giving you today That way you will have the strength to enter and take over the country that you are crossing the Jordan to have as your own,

Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

9 You will also have long lives in the country that the Lord promised to give your forefathers and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which YHWH sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10 The country you're entering to occupy isn't like the country of Egypt that you've come from. There you had to sow your seed and work hard irrigating the ground, like taking care of a vegetable garden.

For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

11 But here in the country that you are crossing the Jordan to take over is a land of mountains and valleys that receives plenty of rain

But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

12 It is a land that the Lord your God takes care of. The Lord your God it is always watching over it, all year long.

A land which YHWH thy Elohim careth for: the eyes of YHWH thy Elohim are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13 So if you pay careful attention to keep the commandments I'm giving you today, if you love the Lord your God and to worship with all your mind and with all your being,

And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14 then I will send rain for your land at the right time, rain in autumn and spring, so that you can harvest your grain, new wine, and olive oil.

That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15 I will also provide grass in the fields for your livestock. You will have more than enough to eat.

And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

16 But make sure you're not that you're not fooled into worshiping and bowing down to other gods,

Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other elohim, and worship them;

17 or the Lord will become angry with you. He won't send any rain, and the land won't produce any crops, and you will soon die, even in the good land that the Lord is giving you.

And then YHWH 's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which YHWH giveth you.

18 Focus your minds on the words that I'm saying. Tie them on your hands as reminders and put them on your foreheads as well.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 Teach them to your children and talk about them when you're at home and when you're traveling, when you lie down and when you get up.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

20 Write them on the doorposts of your homes and on your gates,

And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

21 so that as long as the earth lasts, you and your children may have long lives in the country the Lord promised to give your forefathers.

That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which YHWH sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

22 If you are careful to keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow, if you love the Lord your God and follow all his ways, and hold onto him,

For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will take over the country from nations that are greater and stronger than you.

Then will YHWH drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

24 Everywhere you walk will belong to you. Your territory will extend from the desert all the way to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

25 No one will be able to withstand you; the Lord your God will make everyone living there absolutely terrified of you wherever you go, just as he promised you.

There shall no man be able to stand before you: for YHWH your Elohim shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26 Look! Today I'm placing before you both a blessing and a curse.

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27 You will receive a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today.

A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, which I command you this day:

28 But you will receive a curse if you disobey the commandments of the Lord your God and don't keep to the path I'm ordering you to follow today by worshiping some other unknown gods.

And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other elohim, which ye have not known.

29 When the Lord your God takes you into the country you are going in to occupy, announce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

And it shall come to pass, when YHWH thy Elohim hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

30 (These mountains are to the west of the Jordan, in the country of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh.)

Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

31 Shortly you're going to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the country the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there,

For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which YHWH your Elohim giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

32 make sure you follow all the rules and regulations that I'm giving you today.

And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.