Deuteronomy 11

1  THEREFORE YOU shall love the Lord your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His precepts, and His commandments always.2  And know this day--for I am not speaking to your children who have not [personally] known and seen it--the instruction and discipline of the Lord your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;3  His signs and His deeds which He did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land;4  And what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and chariots, how He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day;5  And what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;6  And what He did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. 7  For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.8  Therefore you shall keep all the commandments which I command you today, that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you go across [the Jordan] to possess,9  And that you may live long in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.10  For the land which you go in to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you came out, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot laboriously as in a garden of vegetables.11  But the land which you enter to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water of the rain of the heavens,12  A land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.13  And if you will diligently heed My commandments which I command you this day--to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being--14  I will give 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  And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, that you may eat and be full.16  Take heed to yourselves, lest your [minds and] hearts be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,17  And the Lord’s anger be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit, and you perish quickly off the good land which the Lord gives you.18  Therefore you shall lay up these My words in your [minds and] hearts and in your [entire] being, and bind them for a sign upon your hands and as forehead bands between your eyes.19  And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise up.20  And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates,21  That your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.22  For if you diligently keep all this commandment which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him--23  Then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.24  Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea [the Mediterranean] your territory shall be.25  There shall no man be able to stand before you; the Lord your God shall lay the fear and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread, as He has said to you.26  Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse--27  The blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day;28  And the curse if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day to go after other gods, which you have not known.29  And when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30  Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites living in the Arabah opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks or terebinths of Moreh?31  For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you shall possess it and live in it.32  And you shall be watchful to do all the statutes and ordinances which I set before you this day.

Deuteronomy 11

Chapter 11

1 “You must love the LORD your God and obey all his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands.2 Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the LORD your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm.3 They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land.

4 They didn’t see what the LORD did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots—how he drowned them in the Red Seat as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!
5 “Your children didn’t see how the LORD cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here.6 They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them.

7 But you have seen the LORD perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!

The Blessings of Obedience

8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter.9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey!10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden.11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain—

12 a land that the LORD your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!
13 “If you carefully obey all the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the LORD your God and serve him with all your heart and soul,14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil.

15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.
16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the LORD and serve and worship other gods.

17 If you do, the LORD’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the LORD is giving you.
18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.
22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the LORD your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.23 Then the LORD will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land.24 Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.t

25 No one will be able to stand against you, for the LORD your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.
26 “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.

28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the LORD your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.
29 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.30 (These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley,t near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.)31 For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it,

32 you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.