1 “ Love the Lord your God. Always do what He tells you and keep all His Laws.

“Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.

2 I am not speaking to your children. They have not seen how the Lord worked and how great He is.

Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the Lord your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm—

3 T hey have not seen the special things you have seen, what He did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land.

His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land;

4 T hey have not seen what He did to Egypt’s army, the horses and war-wagons. He made the water of the Red Sea flow over them while they were coming after you. He destroyed every one of them.

what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day;

5 T hey have not seen what He did to you in the desert until you came to this place.

what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place;

6 T hey do not know what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, those of their house, their tents, and every living thing that followed them among Israel.

and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel—

7 B ut your own eyes have seen all the great work the Lord has done.

but your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord which He did.

8 “ So keep every Law which I am telling you today. And you will be strong and go in and take the land which is to be yours.

“Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess,

9 Y ou will live long in the land the Lord promised to your fathers and their children, a land flowing with milk and honey.

and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

10 F or the land you are going in to take is not like the land you came from in Egypt. There you planted your seed and watered it using your feet, like a vegetable garden.

For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden;

11 B ut the land you are about to go into and take for your own is a land of hills and valleys. It drinks water from the rain of heaven.

but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven,

12 T he Lord your God cares for this land. His eyes watch over it from the beginning to the end of the year.

a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

13 “ Listen to and obey all the Laws I am telling you today. Love the Lord your God. Work for Him with all your heart and soul. If you do,

‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14 H e will give the rain for your land at the right times, the early and late rain. So you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil.

then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.

15 H e will give grass in your fields for your cattle. And you will eat and be filled.

And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’

16 B e careful not to let your hearts be fooled so you turn away and work for other gods and worship them.

“Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,

17 O r the anger of the Lord will burn against you. He will shut the heavens so there will be no rain and the ground will not give its fruit. Then you will be quick to die from the good land the Lord is giving you.

lest the Lord ’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “ Keep these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. Tie them as something special to see upon your hand and on your forehead between your eyes.

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 T each them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.

You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

20 W rite them beside the door of your house and on your gates.

And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

21 A nd your days and the days of your children will become many in the land the Lord promised to give to your fathers, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

22 B e careful to obey all this Law which I am telling you. Love the Lord your God. Walk in all His ways and hold on to Him. If you do,

“For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—

23 t he Lord will drive out all these nations in front of you. And you will take for your own what has belonged to nations greater and stronger than you.

then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.

24 E very place where your foot steps will be yours. Your land will be from the desert to Lebanon, and from the River Euphrates to the sea in the west.

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.

25 T here no man will be able to stand in front of you. The Lord your God will put the fear of you on all the land where you walk, as He has promised you.

No man shall be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

26 “ See, I am putting in front of you today good and a curse.

“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:

27 G ood will come to you if you listen to the Laws of the Lord your God, which I am telling you today.

the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today;

28 B ut a curse will come to you if you do not listen to the Laws of the Lord your God and turn aside from the way I am telling you today, by following other gods you have not known.

and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

29 W hen the Lord your God brings you into the land which is to be yours, you are to speak on Mount Gerizim about the good and on Mount Ebal the curses.

Now it shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

30 Y ou know they are on the other side of the Jordan, west of the road where the sun goes down. They are in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, beside Gilgal, next to the trees of Moreh.

Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?

31 Y ou are about to cross the Jordan to go in to take the land the Lord your God is giving you. It will be your land and you will live in it.

For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it.

32 B e careful to obey all the Laws which I am giving you today.

And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.