Deuteronomy 11
1 Therefore shalt thou love Yahweh thy God and keep his observance and his statutes and his regulations and his commandments all the days.
“[Because of all that] Yahweh your God [has done for you], you must love him and continually obey all his rules and regulations and commandments.
2 And ye must know to-day, (for not with your sons [do I speak] who know not, neither have they seen) the discipline of Yahweh your God, —his greatness, his firm hand, and his stretched-out arm;
It was you and your ancestors, not your children, whom he disciplined [by causing all of you to have/experience difficulties]. So, starting today, continue to think about how very great and very powerful he is [DOU, MTY].
3 and his signs and his doings, which he did in the midst of Egypt, —unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and unto all his land;
Think about the various miracles [DOU] that he performed in Egypt. Think about what he did to the king of Egypt and to his country.
4 and what he did unto the forces of Egypt—unto his horses and unto his chariots in that he caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow over their faces, when they were pursuing after you, —and so Yahweh destroyed them (unto this day);
Think about what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots. Think about how he caused the Red Sea to flood/cover over them while they were pursuing your ancestors, and how the army of Egypt was completely (wiped out/destroyed).
5 and what he did unto you, in the desert, —until ye came in as far as this place;
Think about what Yahweh did for your ancestors in the desert before you arrived at this place.
6 and what he did to Dathan and to Abiram, sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, in that the earth opened wide her mouth, and swallowed-up them and their households and their tents, —and all the living things that attended them, in the midst of all Israel.
Think about what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the two sons of Eliab from the tribe of Reuben. While all of your ancestors were watching, the earth split open, and they fell into the opening [and disappeared], along with their families and their tents, their servants, and their animals.
7 For yours, are the eyes that have seen every great deed of Yahweh, —which he hath done.
You [SYN] and your ancestors have seen all these miracles that Yahweh performed.
8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment which I am commanding thee, today, —that ye may be strong, and so enter and possess the land, whither ye are passing over to possess it;
So, obey all the commandments that I am giving you today, in order that you will be strong and able to cross the river and occupy the land that you are about to enter,
9 and that ye may prolong your days upon the soil which Yahweh sware unto your fathers, to give unto them and unto their seed, —a land flowing with milk and honey.
and in order that you will live for a long time in that land, the land that Yahweh solemnly promised your ancestors that he would give to them and to their descendants, a land that is very fertile [IDM].
10 For the land which thou art entering to, possess, not like the land of Egypt, it is, from whence ye came out, —where thou didst sow thy seed, and then water it with thy foot, like a garden of herbs;
The land that you are about to enter and occupy is not like the land of Egypt, where your ancestors lived. In Egypt, after they planted seeds, it was necessary for them to work hard [MTY] to water [the plants that grew].
11 but the land whereinto ye are passing over to, possess it, is a land of hills, and valleys, —which of the rain of the heavens, doth drink water:
But the land that you are about to enter is a land where there are many hills and valleys, where there is plenty of rain.
12 a land which Yahweh thy God careth for, —continually are the eyes of Yahweh thy God upon it, from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year.
Yahweh takes care of that land. He [SYN] watches over it every day, from the beginning of each year to the end of each year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye will hearken, unto my commandments, which, I am commanding you to-day, —to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him, with, all your heart, and with all your soul,
Today I am commanding you to love Yahweh our God and to serve him with your entire inner beings. If you do that,
14 then [saith he] I will give the rain of your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain; so shalt thou gather in thy corn, and thy new wine and thine oil;
each year he will send rain on your land at the (right times/times when it is needed), (in the autumn/at the end of the dry season) and (in the spring/before the next dry season starts). As a result, you will have grain and [grapes to make] wine and [olives to make olive] oil.
15 and I will give grass in thy field for thy cattle, —and thou shalt eat and be satisfied.
And he will cause grass to grow in your fields for your livestock [to eat]. You will have all the food that you want.
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be befooled, —and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and bow down to them.
“But I warn you, do not turn away from Yahweh our God and start to worship other gods,
17 So would the anger of Yahweh kindle upon you and he would shut up the heavens, that there should be no rain, and the ground, would not yield her increase, —so should ye perish speedily, from off the good land, which Yahweh is giving unto you.
because if you do that, Yahweh will become very angry with you. He will prevent any rain from falling. As a result, the crops will not grow, and you will soon die [from hunger] in the good land that Yahweh is about to give to you.
18 Therefore shall ye lay these my words upon your heart, and upon your soul, —and bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall serve as bands between your eyes;
So, keep thinking [IDM] about these commands. Write them [on tiny scrolls] and fasten them to your arms/wrists, and write them on bands that you fasten to your foreheads [to help you to remember them].
19 and ye shall teach them unto your children by speaking of them, —when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up;
Teach them to your children again and again. Talk about them [all the time]: When you are in your houses and when you are walking outside; talk about them when you are lying down at night and when you are getting up in the morning.
20 and thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house and within thy gates:
Write them on the doorposts and on the gates of your houses.
21 that your days may multiply, and the days of your children, upon the soil which Yahweh sware unto your fathers, to give unto them, —like the days of the heavens upon the earth.
Do that in order that you and your children will live for a long time in the land that Yahweh promised to our ancestors that he would give to them. That land will belong to you [and your descendants] as long as there is a sky above the earth.
22 For if ye do, indeed keep, all this commandment which I am commanding you to do it, —to love Yahweh your God, to Walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him,
“Faithfully continue to obey what I am commanding you to do—to love Yahweh our God, and to conduct your lives as he wants you to do, and to (be faithful to/have a close relationship with) him.
23 then will Yahweh dispossess all these nations, from before you, —and ye shall dispossess nations greater and stronger than ye:
If you do that, Yahweh will expel all the people-groups in that land as you advance, people-groups that are more numerous and more powerful than you are.
24 every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread yours, shall it be, —from the desert and the Lebanon from the river—the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea, shall be your boundary.
All the ground [in that land] on which you walk will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert [in the south] to the Lebanon [Mountains in the north], and from the Euphrates River [in the east] to the [Mediterranean] Sea in the west.
25 No man shall stand before you, —the dread of you and the fear of you, will Yahweh your God put forth over the face of all the land whereon ye shall tread, as he spake unto you.
Yahweh our God will cause all the people in that land to be afraid of you, which is what he promised, with the result that no people-group will be able to stop you.
26 See! I am setting before you to-day, —a blessing, and a curse:
“Listen carefully: Today I am telling you [that Yahweh will either] bless [you or he will] curse you.
27 the blessing, when ye shall hearken unto the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am commanding you to-day;
If you obey the commandments of Yahweh our God that I am giving to you today, he will bless you.
28 and the curse if ye, shall not hearken unto the commandments of Yahweh your God, but shall turn aside out of the way which I am commanding you to-day, —to go after other gods which ye know not.
If you do not obey them, and if you turn away from him to worship other gods that you have never known about before, he will curse you.
29 And it shall come to pass when Yahweh thy God shall bring thee into the land which thou art entering to possess, then shalt thou put the blessing, upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse, upon Mount Ebal.
And when Yahweh brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, [some of you must stand on top of] Gerizim Mountain and proclaim what will cause Yahweh to bless you, and [the others must stand on top of] Ebal Mountain and proclaim [what will cause Yahweh to] curse you.”
30 Are, they, not over the Jordan on the way towards the entering in of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite who dwelleth in the plain over against Gilgal beside the Teacher’s Terebinths?
(Those two mountains are [RHQ] west of the Jordan [River], west of the Jordan Valley near the huge oak tree at Moreh [village] in the land where the Canaan people-group lives. They live close to the sacred trees near Gilgal.)
31 For ye are passing over the Jordan, to enter to possess the land which Yahweh your God, is giving unto you, —so shall ye possess it and dwell therein.
“You will soon cross the Jordan [River] to occupy the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you. When you enter that land and start to live there,
32 Therefore shall ye observe to do all the statutes and the regulations, —which I am setting before you to-day.
be sure to obey all the rules and regulations that I am giving to you today.”
