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 keep all the commands that I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that Yahweh swore to 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.

You will call to mind all the ways that Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order that he might humble you, that he might test you to know what was in your heart, as to whether you would keep his commandments 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].

He humbled you, and made you hunger, and fed you with manna, which you had not known and which your fathers had not known. He did that to make you know that it is not by bread alone that people live; rather, it is by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh that people live.

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 fall off you, and your feet did not swell up during those forty years.

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

You will think about in your heart, how, as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh 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.

You will keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, so that you might walk in his ways and honor 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 Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out into valleys and among 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 and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of 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.

It is a land in which you will eat bread without lack, and where you will not go without anything; a land whose stones are made of iron, and out of whose hills you may dig 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.

You will eat and be full, and you will bless Yahweh 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 that you do not forget Yahweh your God, and that you do not neglect his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes that I am commanding you today,

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 full, and when you build good houses and live in them, your heart will be lifted up.

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,

Be careful when your herds and flocks multiply and when 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 becomes lifted up and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

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.

Do not forget him who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of 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 ancestors had never known, so that he might humble you and test you, to do you 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.’

but you may say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand acquired all 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 you will call to mind Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

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.

It will happen that, if you will forget Yahweh your God and walk after other gods, worship them, and reverence 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 Yahweh is making to perish before you, so will you perish, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.