Deuteronomy 11

1 Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and shall observe his appointments, and his ordinances, and his commandments, and his judgments, always.

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

2 And you shall know this day; for [I speak] not to your children, who know not and have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God, and his wonderful works, and his strong hand, and his high arm,

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;

3 and his miracles, and his wonders, which he wrought in the midst of Egypt on Pharao king of Egypt, and all his land;

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

4 and what he did to the host of the Egyptians, and to their chariots, and their cavalry, and their host; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overwhelm the face of them as they pursued after you, and the Lord destroyed them until this day;

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!

5 and all the things which he did to you in the wilderness until you came into this place;

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

6 and all the things that he did to Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab the son of Ruben, whom the earth opening her mouth swallowed up, and their houses, and their tents, and all their substance that was with them, in the midst of all Israel:

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.

7 for your eyes have seen all the mighty works of the Lord, which he wrought among you today.

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

8 And you shall keep all his commandments, as many as I command you today, that you may live, and be multiplied, and that you may go in and inherit the land, into which you go across Jordan to inherit it:

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,

9 that you may live long upon the land, which the Lord sware to your fathers to give to them, and to their seed after them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

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.

10 For the land into which you go to inherit it, is not as the land of Egypt, whence you came out, whenever they sow the seed, and water it with their feet, as a garden of herbs:

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.

11 but the land into which you go to inherit it, is a land of mountains and plains; it shall drink water of the rain of heaven.

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

12 A land which the Lord your God surveys continually, the eyes of the Lord your God are upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

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.

13 Now if you will indeed listen to all the commands which I charge you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul,

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,

14 then he shall give to your land the early and latter rain in its season, and you shall bring in your corn, and your wine, and your oil.

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.

15 And he shall give food in your fields to your cattle; and when you have eaten and are full,

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

16 take heed to yourself that your heart be not puffed up, and you transgress, and serve other gods, and worship them:

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

17 and the Lord be angry with you, and restrain the heaven; and there shall not be rain, and the earth shall not yield its fruit, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land, which the Lord has given you.

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.

18 And you shall store these words in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and it shall be fixed before your eyes.

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.

19 And you shall teach them to your children, so as to speak about them when you sit in the house, and when you walk by the way, and when you sleep, and when you rise up.

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.

20 And you shall write them on the lintels of your houses, and on your gates;

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

21 that your days may be long, and the days of your children, upon the land which the Lord sware to your fathers to give to them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

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.

22 And it shall come to pass that if you will indeed listen to all these commands, which I charge you to observe this day, to love the Lord our God, and to walk in all his ways, and to cleave close to him;

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,

23 then the Lord shall cast out all these nations before you, and you shall inherit great nations and stronger than yourselves.

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.

24 Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be your; from the wilderness and Antilibanus, and from the great river, the river Euphrates, even as far as the west sea shall be your coasts.

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.

25 No one shall stand before you; and the Lord your God will put the fear of you and the dread of you on the face of all the land, on which you shall tread, as he told you.

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.

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

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

27 the blessing, if you listen to the commands of the Lord your God, all that I command you this day;

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

28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commands of the Lord our God, as many as I command you this day, and you wander from the way which I have commanded you, having gone to serve other gods, which you know not.

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.

29 And it shall come to pass when the Lord your God shall have brought you into the land into which you go over to inherit it, then you shall put blessing on mount Garizin, and the curse upon mount Gaebal.

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.

30 Behold! are not these beyond Jordan, behind, westward in the land of Chanaan, which lies westward near Golgol, by the high oak?

(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.)

31 For you are passing over Jordan, to go in and inherit the land, which the Lord our God gives you to inherit always, and you shall dwell in it.

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,

32 And you shall take heed to do all his ordinances, and these judgments, as many as I set before you today.

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