Deuteronomy 11

1 Therefore you shall love Jehovah your God, and keep his instructions, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.

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

2 Know this day: for I do not speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched 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 signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to 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 army of Egypt, to 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 Jehovah has destroyed them to 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 what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;

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

6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed 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 but your eyes have seen all the great work of Jehovah which he did.

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

8 Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and multiply, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess 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 and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Jehovah swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, 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, where you go in to possess it, isn't as the land of Egypt, that you came out from, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your 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, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water of the rain of the sky,

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 Jehovah your God cares for: the eyes of Jehovah your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even 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 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Jehovah 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 that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, and your new 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 I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

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

16 Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, 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 anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah gives 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 Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between 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 You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, 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 You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates;

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

21 that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above 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 For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you to do, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling 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 will Jehovah drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier 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 yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Perath, even to the western sea shall be your border.

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 man shall be able to stand before you: Jehovah your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to 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 Look, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

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

27 the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which 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 shall not listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.

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 It shall happen, when Jehovah your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.

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 Aren't they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?

(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 to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and 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 You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.

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