1 T hese are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.

These are the words of the agreement the Lord told Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, as well as the agreement He had made with them at Mount Sinai.

2 M oses called to all Israel and said to them, You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land;

Moses called all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all the Lord did in front of you in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land.

3 T he great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders.

You have seen great tests and powerful works.

4 Y et the Lord has not given you a heart to understand and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this day.

Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.

5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out upon you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.

I have led you forty years in the desert. Your clothes did not wear out. And your shoes did not wear out on your feet.

6 Y ou have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you might recognize and know, I am the Lord your God.

You did not eat bread, or drink wine or strong drink, so you might know that I am the Lord your God.

7 A nd when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them.

When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came to meet us to fight. But we won the fight.

8 W e took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites.

We took their land and gave it as a gift to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half family group of Manasseh.

9 T herefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may deal wisely and prosper in all that you do.

So be careful to keep the words of this agreement and obey them so all that you do will go well.

10 A ll of you stand today before the Lord your God—your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,

“Today you all stand before the Lord your God, you, your rulers, your families, your leaders, all the men of Israel,

11 Y our little ones, your wives, and the stranger and sojourner in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water—

your children, your wives, the stranger who is among your tents, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who gets your water.

12 T hat you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, and into His oath which He makes with you today,

You are here to take part in the agreement with the Lord your God, and in His promise which the Lord your God is making with you today.

13 T hat He may establish you this day as a people for Himself, and that He may be to you a God as He said to you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So today He will make you His people. He will be your God, just as He told you and as He promised your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

14 I t is not with you only that I make this sworn covenant

“I am not making this agreement and this promise with you alone.

15 B ut with future Israelites who do not stand here with us today before the Lord our God, as well as with those who are here with us this day.

I am making them with those who stand here with us today before the Lord our God, and with those who are not here with us today.

16 Y ou know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came through the midst of the nations you crossed.

You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the land of the nations on our way here.

17 A nd you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.

You have seen their sinful things and their gods of wood, stone, silver and gold, which they had with them.

18 B eware lest there should be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood,

Be careful not to have any man or woman or family or group among you whose heart turns away from the Lord our God today to go and worship the gods of those nations. Do not let there be a root among you giving poison fruit and bad-tasting plants.

19 A nd lest, when he hears the words of this curse and oath, he flatters and congratulates himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace and safety, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart and sweep away the watered land with the dry.

When one hears the words of this curse, he will say in his pride, ‘I have peace even though I am strong-willed in my heart.’ This will destroy the land that is watered along with the dry land.

20 T he Lord will not pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall settle on him; the Lord will blot out his very name from under the heavens.

The Lord will never be willing to forgive him. But the Lord will be jealous and His anger will burn against that man. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. And the Lord will take out his name from under heaven.

21 A nd the Lord will single him out for ruin and destruction from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law,

The Lord will set him apart for trouble from all the families of Israel, with all the curses of the agreement which are written in this book of the Law.

22 S o that the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a distant land, shall say, when they see the plagues of this land and the diseases with which the Lord has made it sick—

“The children to come, your sons who grow up after you, and the stranger who comes from a land far away, will see the troubles and diseases the Lord has sent upon the land. And they will say,

23 T he whole land is brimstone and salt and a burned waste, not sown or bearing anything, where no grass can take root, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath—

‘The whole land is sulphur and salt, a burning waste, not planted and not giving any plants, and no grass grows in it. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in His anger.’

24 E ven all the nations shall say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?

All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was He so angry?’

25 T hen men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.

Then men will say, ‘It is because they did not keep the agreement of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

26 F or they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they knew not and that He had not given to them.

They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they had not known and whom He had not given to them.

27 S o the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses that are written in this book.

So the anger of the Lord burned against that land. Every curse was brought upon it that is written in this book.

28 A nd the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

The Lord drove them from their land in much anger. And He sent them into another land, as it is today.’

29 T he secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all of the words of this law.

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God. But the things that are made known belong to us and to our children forever, so we may obey all the words of this Law.