Deuteronomy 29

1 These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides 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 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, You have seen all that the LORD did 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 saw, the signs, and those great wonders:

You saw with your own eyes the amazing tests, and those great signs and miracles.

4 but the LORD has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to 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 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your shoes have not worn out on your feet.

For forty years I led you through the desert, but your clothes and sandals didn't wear out.

6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

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 When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck 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 we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.

We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to own.

9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

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 stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men 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 little ones, your wives, and your foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water;

your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your firewood and carry your water.

12 that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you this day,

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 so that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore 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 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,

It's not only with you that the Lord is making this agreement and solemn promise,

15 but with him who stands here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day

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 know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;

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 have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them);

You saw their disgusting religious practices and their idols of wood and stone, and silver and gold.

18 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears 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 happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry."

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 God will not be willing to forgive him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book shall rest on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.

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 The LORD will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book 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 The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick;

Later generations, your descendants and foreigners from far away, will see how the Lord has brought disaster on the country and devastated it.

23 and that the whole land of it is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

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 even all the nations shall say, "Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?"

Everyone everywhere will ask, “Why did the Lord do this to the country? Why did he get so terribly angry?”

25 Then men shall say, "Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth 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 went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods that they did not know, and that he had not given 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 therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book;

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 the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast 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 secret things belong to the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may 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.