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].

Take care to keep all the orders which I give you today, so that you may have life and be increased and go in and take as a heritage the land which the Lord, by his oath to your fathers, undertook to give you.

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.

And keep in mind the way by which the Lord your God has taken you through the waste land these forty years, so that he might make low your pride and put you to the test, to see what was in your heart and if you would keep his orders or not.

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].

And he made low your pride and let you be without food and gave you manna for your food, a thing new to you, which your fathers never saw; so that he might make it clear to you that bread is not man's only need, but his life is in every word which comes out of 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].

Through all these forty years your clothing did not get old or your feet become tired.

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

Keep in mind this thought, that as a son is trained by his father, so you have been trained by the Lord your God.

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

Then keep the orders of the Lord your God, fearing him and walking in his ways.

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 guiding you into a good land, a land of water-springs, of fountains, and deep streams flowing out from the valleys and the 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 grain and vines and fig-trees and fair fruits; a land of oil-giving olive-trees 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.

Where there will be bread for you in full measure and you will be in need of nothing; a land where the very stones are iron and from whose hills you may get 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.

And you will have food enough and be full, praising the Lord your God for the good land 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.

Then take care that you are not turned away from the Lord your God and from keeping his orders and decisions and laws which I give you this day:

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

And when you have taken food and are full, and have made fair houses for yourselves and are living in them;

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 your flocks are increased, and your stores of silver and gold, and you have wealth of every sort;

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.

Take care that your hearts are not lifted up in pride, giving no thought to the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house;

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.

Who was your guide through that great and cruel waste, where there were poison-snakes and scorpions and a dry land without water; who made water come out of the hard rock for you;

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.

Who gave you manna for your food in the waste land, a food which your fathers had never seen; so that your pride might be broken and your hearts tested for your good in the end;

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

Say not then, in your hearts, My power and the strength of my hands have got me this wealth.

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 keep in mind the Lord your God: for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth, so that he may give effect to the agreement which he made by his oath with your fathers, as at 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.

And it is certain that if at any time you are turned away from the Lord your God, and go after other gods, to be their servants and to give them worship, destruction will overtake you.

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 which the Lord is cutting off before you, so you will be cut off; because you would not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God.