Deuteronomy 29

The Agreement in Moab

1 The Lord commanded Moses to make an agreement with the Israelites in Moab in addition to the agreement he had made with them at Mount Sinai. These are the words of that agreement.

2 Moses called all the Israelites together and said to them:
You have seen everything the Lord did before your own eyes to the king of Egypt and to the king’s leaders and to the whole country.3 With your own eyes you saw the great troubles, signs, and miracles.4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands; you don’t really understand what you see with your eyes or hear with your ears.5 I led you through the desert for forty years, and during that time neither your clothes nor sandals wore out.

6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or beer. This was so you would understand that I am the Lord your God.
7 When you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight us, but we defeated them.

8 We captured their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh to be their own.
9 You must carefully obey everything in this agreement so that you will succeed in everything you do.10 Today you are all standing here before the Lord your God—your leaders and important men, your elders, officers, and all the other men of Israel,11 your wives and children and the foreigners who live among you, who chop your wood and carry your water.12 You are all here to enter into an agreement and a promise with the Lord your God, an agreement the Lord your God is making with you today.13 This will make you today his own people. He will be your God, as he told you and as he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.14 But I am not just making this agreement and its promises with you

15 who are standing here before the Lord your God today, but also with those who are not here today.
16 You know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries when we came here.17 You saw their hateful idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold.

18 Make sure no man, woman, family group, or tribe among you leaves the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. They would be to you like a plant that grows bitter, poisonous fruit.
19 These are the kind of people who hear these curses but bless themselves, thinking, “We will be safe even though we continue doing what we want to do.” Those people may destroy all of your land, both wet and dry.20 The Lord will not forgive them. His anger will be like a burning fire against those people, and all the curses written in this book will come on them. The Lord will destroy any memory of them on the earth.

21 He will separate them from all the tribes of Israel for punishment. All the curses of the Agreement that are written in this Book of the Teachings will happen to them.
22 Your children who will come after you, as well as foreigners from faraway lands, will see the disasters that come to this land and the diseases the Lord will send on it. They will say,23 “The land is nothing but burning cinders and salt. Nothing is planted, nothing grows, and nothing blooms. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed because he was very angry.”

24 All the other nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done this to the land? Why is he so angry?”
25 And the answer will be, “It is because the people broke the Agreement of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.26 They went and served other gods and bowed down to gods they did not even know. The Lord did not allow that,27 so he became very angry at the land and brought all the curses on it that are written in this book.

28 Since the Lord became angry and furious with them, he took them out of their land and put them in another land where they are today.”
29 There are some things the Lord our God has kept secret, but there are some things he has let us know. These things belong to us and our children forever so that we will do everything in these teachings.

Deuteronomy 29

Narrative Interlude

1 s These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.s

The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed

2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord didt in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land.3 Your eyes have seen the great judgments,t those signs and mighty wonders.4 But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!t5 I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn outt nor have your sandalst deteriorated.6 You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer – all so that you might know that Is am the Lord your God!7 When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them.

8 Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

The Present Covenant Setting

9 “Therefore, keep the termst of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do.10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes,s your elders, your officials, every Israelite man,11 your infants, your wives, and thet foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water –12 so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today.t13 Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God,t just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestorst Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.14 It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath,

15 but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today.t

The Results of Disobedience

16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled.17 You have seen their detestable thingst and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.)t18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.t19 When such a persont hears the words of this oath he secretlyt blesses himselft and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.”t This will destroyt the watered ground with the parched.t20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense angert will raget against that man; all the cursest written in this scroll will fall upon himt and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory.t21 The Lord will single him outt for judgmentt from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will seet the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it.23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.t24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of angert all about?”25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship.t27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the cursest written in this scroll.28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”

29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendantst forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.