דברים 8

1 כל המצוה אשר אנכי מצוך היום--תשמרון לעשות למען תחיון ורביתם ובאתם וירשתם את הארץ אשר נשבע יהוה לאבתיכם

“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].

2 וזכרת את כל הדרך אשר הוליכך יהוה אלהיך זה ארבעים שנה--במדבר למען ענתך לנסתך לדעת את אשר בלבבך התשמר מצותו--אם לא

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.

3 ויענך וירעבך ויאכלך את המן אשר לא ידעת ולא ידעון אבתיך למען הודיעך כי לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם--כי על כל מוצא פי יהוה יחיה האדם

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].

4 שמלתך לא בלתה מעליך ורגלך לא בצקה--זה ארבעים שנה

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].

5 וידעת עם לבבך כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו יהוה אלהיך מיסרך

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

6 ושמרת את מצות יהוה אלהיך ללכת בדרכיו וליראה אתו

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

7 כי יהוה אלהיך מביאך אל ארץ טובה ארץ נחלי מים--עינת ותהמת יצאים בבקעה ובהר

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.

8 ארץ חטה ושערה וגפן ותאנה ורמון ארץ זית שמן ודבש

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.

9 ארץ אשר לא במסכנת תאכל בה לחם--לא תחסר כל בה ארץ אשר אבניה ברזל ומהרריה תחצב נחשת

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.

10 ואכלת ושבעת--וברכת את יהוה אלהיך על הארץ הטבה אשר נתן לך

[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.

11 השמר לך פן תשכח את יהוה אלהיך לבלתי שמר מצותיו ומשפטיו וחקתיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום

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.

12 פן תאכל ושבעת ובתים טבים תבנה וישבת

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

13 ובקרך וצאנך ירבין וכסף וזהב ירבה לך וכל אשר לך ירבה

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,

14 ורם לבבך ושכחת את יהוה אלהיך המוציאך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים

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.

15 המוליכך במדבר הגדל והנורא נחש שרף ועקרב וצמאון אשר אין מים המוציא לך מים מצור החלמיש

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.

16 המאכלך מן במדבר אשר לא ידעון אבתיך למען ענתך ולמען נסתך--להיטבך באחריתך

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.

17 ואמרת בלבבך כחי ועצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה

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

18 וזכרת את יהוה אלהיך--כי הוא הנתן לך כח לעשות חיל למען הקים את בריתו אשר נשבע לאבתיך כיום הזה

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.

19 והיה אם שכח תשכח את יהוה אלהיך והלכת אחרי אלהים אחרים ועבדתם והשתחוית להם--העדתי בכם היום כי אבד תאבדון

“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.

20 כגוים אשר יהוה מאביד מפניכם--כן תאבדון עקב לא תשמעון בקול יהוה אלהיכם

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.”