< Deuteronomy 29 >
1 These [are] the words of the covenant which YHWH has commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, apart from the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.
The following are the terms of the agreement that the Lord ordered Moses to make with the Israelites in the country of Moab This was in addition to the agreement he had made with them at Horeb.
2 And Moses calls to all Israel and says to them, “You have seen all that which YHWH has done before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land—
Moses called all the Israelites together and announced to them, You saw with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country.
3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders.
You saw with your own eyes the amazing tests, and those great signs and miracles.
4 And YHWH has not given to you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.
But up to now the Lord has not given you minds that understand, or eyes that see, or ears that hear, saying,
5 And I cause you to go in a wilderness [for] forty years; your garments have not been consumed from off you, and your shoe has not worn away from off your foot;
For forty years I led you through the desert, but your clothes and sandals didn't wear out.
6 you have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you know that I [am] your God YHWH.
You didn't have bread to eat, or wine or alcohol to drink in order that you would realize that I am the Lord your God.
7 And you come to this place, and Sihon king of Heshbon—also Og king of Bashan—comes out to meet us to battle, and we strike them,
When we arrived here, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan marched out to fight us in battle, but we defeated them.
8 and take their land, and give it for an inheritance to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite, and to the half of the tribe of the Manassite;
We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to own.
9 and you have kept the words of this covenant and done them, so that you cause all that you do to prosper.
So make sure you keep and follow the terms of this agreement in order that you may be successful in everything you do.
10 You are standing today, all of you, before your God YHWH: your heads, your tribes, your elderly, and your authorities, every man of Israel,
Every one of you is stand here today before the Lord your God: you tribal leaders, officials, and all the men of Israel,
11 your infants, your wives, and your sojourner who [is] in the midst of your camps, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water,
your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your firewood and carry your water.
12 for your passing over into the covenant of your God YHWH, and into His oath which your God YHWH is making with you today,
You're here so you can enter into the agreement of the Lord your God, which he is making with you today, and accept his solemn promise,
13 in order to establish you to Himself for a people today, and He Himself is your God, as He has spoken to you, and as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
and so he can confirm you today as his people. He will be your God as he told you and as he promised your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 And I am not making this covenant and this oath with you alone,
It's not only with you that the Lord is making this agreement and solemn promise,
15 but with him who is here with us, standing before our God YHWH today, and with him who is not here with us today,
those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God, but also with those who are not here today.
16 for you have known how you dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we passed by through the midst of the nations which you have passed by;
You know very well what it was like when we lived in the land of Egypt and our experiences as we passed through the nations on the way here.
17 and you see their abominations, and their idols of wood and stone, silver and gold, which [are] with them,
You saw their disgusting religious practices and their idols of wood and stone, and silver and gold.
18 lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning from our God YHWH today, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root bearing the fruit of gall and wormwood;
You need to make sure today that there's no man or woman, family or tribe of yours who wants to turn from the Lord our God and go and worship the gods of these nations. Make sure there is nothing like that among you that would produce such poison and bitterness.
19 and it has been, in his hearing the words of this oath, that he has blessed himself in his heart, saying, I have peace, though I go on in the stubbornness of my heart—in order to sweep away the watered with the thirsty.
For when someone like that hears the words of this solemn promise, they think they'll still receive a blessing, telling themselves, “I'll be safe, even though I'll go on doing whatever I feel like.” Such an attitude would destroy good and bad alike.
20 YHWH is not willing to be propitious to him, for then the anger of YHWH smokes, also His zeal, against that man, and all the oath which is written in this scroll has lain down on him, and YHWH has blotted out his name from under the heavens,
The Lord would never want to pardon them. In fact, his passionate anger will burn against them, and every curse written in this book will fall on them. The Lord will erase their name from the earth,
21 and YHWH has separated him for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the oaths of the covenant which is written in this Scroll of the Law.
and punish them as an example of them for all the Israelite tribes, in accordance with all the curses of the agreement written in this Book of the Law.
22 And the latter generation of your sons who rise after you, and the stranger who comes in from a far-off land, have said, when they have seen the strokes of that land and its sicknesses which YHWH has sent into it:
Later generations, your descendants and foreigners from far away, will see how the Lord has brought disaster on the country and devastated it.
23 The whole land is burned [with] brimstone and salt, it is not sown, nor does it shoot up, nor does any herb go up on it there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which YHWH overturned in His anger and in His fury.
The whole country will be burning wasteland of sulfur and salt. Nothing is sown; it's totally unproductive; no plant grows there—just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his furious anger.
24 Indeed, all the nations have said, Why has YHWH done thus to this land? Why the heat of this great anger?
Everyone everywhere will ask, “Why did the Lord do this to the country? Why did he get so terribly angry?”
25 And they have said, Because that they have forsaken the covenant of YHWH, God of their fathers, which He made with them in His bringing them out of the land of Egypt,
The people will answer, “It's because they abandoned the agreement of the Lord, the God of their forefathers, which he made with them when he led them out of Egypt.
26 and they go and serve other gods, and bow themselves to them—gods which they have not known, and which He has not apportioned to them;
They went off and worshiped other gods, bowing down to gods they'd never heard of—gods that the Lord had not given to them.
27 and the anger of YHWH burns against that land, to bring in on it all the reviling that is written in this scroll,
That's why the Lord was so angry with this land, and he rained down on it every curse written in this book.
28 and YHWH plucks them from off their ground in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, and casts them into another land, as [at] this day.
The Lord uprooted them from their country in his anger, rage, and fury, and he threw them out, leaving them in another land, where they are to this day.”
29 The things hidden [belong] to our God YHWH, and the things revealed [belong] to us and to our sons for all time, to do all the words of this law.”
The Lord our God has secrets that belong to him, but what has been revealed belong to us and to our descendants forever, so that we may follow everything in this law.