Deuteronomy 8

1 “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].

You must carefully follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and enter and possess the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.

2 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.

Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

3 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].

He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

4 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].

Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

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

So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

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

Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.

7 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.

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;

8 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.

a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;

9 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.

a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.

10 [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.

When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.

11 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.

Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day.

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

Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,

13 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,

and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied,

14 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.

then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

15 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.

He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.

16 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.

He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.

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

You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”

18 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.

But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

19 “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.

If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.

20 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.”

Like the nations that the LORD has destroyed before you, so you will perish if you do not obey the LORD your God.