< Deuteronomy 8 >
1 You must take care to follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and have many descendants, and go in and take over the country the Lord promised to give to your fore fathers.
You shall observe to do all the mitzvot ·instructions· which I enjoin you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Adonai swore to your fathers.
2 Remember how for these forty years the Lord your God has led you all the way through the desert, humbling you and testing you in order to find out what you were really thinking, and whether or not you would keep his commandments.
You shall remember all the way which Adonai your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his mitzvot ·instructions·, or not.
3 He humbled you, and when you were hungry he gave you manna to eat, which nobody, including you and your forefathers, had ever had before This was in order to make it clear to you that human beings do not live by only eating bread, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna ·what is it·, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know; that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every d'var ·word· that proceeds out of Adonai’s mouth.
4 During these forty years your clothing didn't wear out and your feet didn't swell up.
Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.
5 So you should realize that just as a parent disciplines their child, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Adonai your God disciplines you.
6 That's why you have to keep the commandments of the Lord your God, following his ways and respecting him.
You shall keep the mitzvot ·instructions· of Adonai your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
7 For the Lord your God is taking you to a good country. It's a land of streams and pools and springs that flow through the valleys and down the hills;
For Adonai your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;
8 It's a land that produces wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey.
a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;
9 It's a land where you won't run out of food, where you will have everything you need; a land whose rocks contain iron ore and whose hills can be mined for copper.
a land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.
10 When you eat and are full, make sure you thank the Lord your God for the good land that he's given you.
You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Adonai your God for the good land which he has given you.
11 Make sure you don't forget the Lord your God by disobeying his commandments and rules and regulations that I'm giving you today.
Beware lest you forget Adonai your God, in not keeping his mitzvot ·instructions·, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I enjoin you today;
12 For when you eat and are full, when you build beautiful houses to live in,
lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses, and lived in them;
13 and when your herds and flocks grow larger, and your silver and gold accumulates, and all your possessions increase,
and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
14 then you will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt, out of the prison-house of slavery.
then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt [Abode of slavery], out of the house of bondage;
15 He guided you through the immense and terrifying desert with its poisonous snakes and scorpions—a dried up, waterless land. He brought water for you out of a flint rock.
who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint;
16 He fed you in the desert with manna that your forefathers had never known, humbling you and testing you, so that eventually you would do well in the future.
who fed you in the wilderness with manna ·what is it·, which your fathers didn’t know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end:
17 You might think to yourselves, “I became rich through all my hard work.”
and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”
18 But remember it's the Lord your God who gives you the ability to become rich, in order to fulfill his agreement he promised to your forefathers that still exists today.
But you shall remember Adonai your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant ·binding contract between two or more parties· which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the Lord your God, and run after other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, I assure you right now that you will definitely die!
It shall be, if you shall forget Adonai your God, and walk after other deities, and abad ·serve· them, and hawa ·bow low, prostrate· to worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish.
20 In the same way the Lord destroyed the nations as you advanced, you will also die if you don't obey the Lord your God.
As the nations that Adonai makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you wouldn’t sh'ma ·hear obey· Adonai your God’s voice.