Deuteronomy 8

1 All the commandment which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do; in order that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord hath sworn unto your fathers.

“You must faithfully obey all the commandments that I am giving you today. If you do that, you will live [a long time], you will become very numerous, and you will occupy the land that Yahweh solemnly promised your ancestors that he would give [to you].

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, in order to afflict thee, to prove thee, to know what is in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments, or not.

And do not forget how Yahweh our God led us as we traveled through the desert during these past 40 years. He [caused you to have many problems/difficulties], because he wanted to cause you to realize that you needed to trust him and not yourselves. And he wanted to test you, to find out what you intended to do [IDM], whether you would obey his commandments or not.

3 And he afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and he gave thee manna to eat, which thou knewest not, and which thy fathers had not known; in order that he might make thee know that not by bread alone man doth live, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

So he caused you to have/experience difficulties. He allowed you to become hungry. Then he gave you manna [food from heaven], food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did that to teach you that people need food [for their bodies]; but [they also need food for their spirits, which comes from paying attention to] everything that Yahweh says [MTY].

4 Thy garment did not fall worn out from thee, and thy foot did not swell, these forty years.

During those 40 years [of walking through the desert], our clothes did not wear out and our feet did not swell [from walking a very long way through the desert].

5 And thou shalt consider in thy heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so doth the Lord thy God chasten thee.

Do not forget that Yahweh our God disciplines us, like parents discipline their children.

6 And thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

“Do obey the commandments of Yahweh our God, and conduct your lives as he wants you to do, and revere him.

7 For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and mountains;

He is about to bring you into a good/fertile land, which has streams which flow down from the hills and pour/flow out of springs in the valleys.

8 A land of wheat, and barley, and of the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate; a land of the oil-olive, and of honey;

It is a land on which wheat and barley grow, a land where there are fig trees and pomegranates, and a land where there are olive trees and honey.

9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, wherein thou shalt not lack anything; a land the stones whereof are iron, and out of the mountains of which thou canst hew copper.

It is a land where there will be plenty of food for you, where you will (not lack anything/have everything that you need) [LIT], a land which has iron [ore] in its rocks and from which you can dig copper [ore] from its hills.

10 And when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, then shalt thou bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

[Every day] you will eat until your stomachs are full, and you will thank Yahweh our God for the fertile/good land that he has given you.

11 Take heed unto thyself that thou forget not the Lord thy God, so as not to keep his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command thee this day;

But, [when that happens], be sure not to forget Yahweh our God by disobeying his commandments and rules and regulations that I am giving to you today.

12 That when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

When your stomachs are full [every day], and when you have built good houses and are living in them,

13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold are multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied:

and when the number of your cattle and sheep has greatly increased, and when you have accumulated a large amount of silver and gold, and the amount of all your other possessions has greatly increased,

14 Thy heart be then not lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, who hath brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery;

be sure that you do not become proud [IDM] and forget Yahweh our God, who rescued your ancestors from being slaves in Egypt and brought them out from there.

15 Who hath led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, wherein are snakes, poisonous serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there is no water; who hath brought forth for thee water out of the flinty rock;

Do not forget that he led them [while they traveled] through that huge and terrible desert, where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. And do not forget that where the ground was very dry and there was no water, he caused water to flow for them out of (solid/very hard) rock.

16 Who hath fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not; in order to afflict thee, and in order to prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Do not forget that in that desert he gave your ancestors manna to eat, food that they had never eaten before. He [caused them to have/experience many problems/difficulties], because he wanted them to realize that they needed to trust him and not themselves. And he wanted to test them, to find out whether they intended to obey him, in order that when [those difficulties] ended, he would do many good things for them.

17 And thou say in thy heart, My power and the strength of my hand have gotten me this wealth.

Be sure that you do not think to yourselves, ‘I have acquired all these things by my own power [MTY] and ability.’

18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; in order that he might fulfill his covenant which he hath sworn unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Do not forget that it is Yahweh our God who has enabled you to become rich. He does this because he faithfully does what he solemnly promised our ancestors that he would do.

19 And it shall come to pass, that, if thou shouldst forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and bow thyself down to them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish;

“solemnly warn you that if you forget Yahweh our God and turn to other gods and start to serve them and worship them, you will certainly be destroyed.

20 Like the nations which the Lord destroyeth from before you, so shall ye perish; in recompense of that ye would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God.

If you do not obey Yahweh our God, he will certainly destroy you just like he will destroy the people-groups that you will fight against.”