Deuteronomy 8
Chapter 8
A Call to Remember and Obey
1 “Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.2 Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.4 For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.
5 Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.
6 “So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.8 It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey.9 It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.
10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
11 “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.12 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,13 and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!14 Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.15 Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock!16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’
18 Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
19 “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.
20 Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God.
DEUTERONOMY 8
The [Lord] Takes Care //of You
Moses said:
1 Israel, do you want to go into the land the [Lord] promised your ancestors? Do you want to capture it, live there, and become a powerful nation? Then be sure to obey every command I am giving you.
2 Don't forget how the [Lord] your God has led you through the desert for the past 40 years. He wanted to find out if you were truly willing to obey him and depend on him,
3 t so he made you go hungry. Then he gave you manna, t a kind of food that you and your ancestors had never even heard about. The [Lord] was teaching you that people need more than food to live—they need every word that the [Lord] has spoken.
4 Over the past 40 years, your clothing hasn't worn out, and your feet haven't swollen. 5 t So keep in mind that the [Lord] has been correcting you, just as parents correct their children.
6 Obey the commands the [Lord] your God has given you and worship him with fear and trembling.
7 The [Lord] your God is bringing you into a good land with streams that flow from springs in the valleys and hills.
8-9 You can dig for copper in those hills, and the stones are made of iron ore. And you won't go hungry. Wheat and barley fields are everywhere, and so are vineyards and orchards full of fig, pomegranate, t and olive trees, and there is plenty of honey.Don't Forget the [Lord]
Moses said to Israel:
10 After you eat and are full, give praise to the [Lord] your God for the good land he gave you. 11 t Make sure that you never forget the [Lord] or disobey his laws and teachings that I am giving you today. If you always obey them, 12 you will have plenty to eat, and you will build good houses to live in.
13 You will get more and more cattle, sheep, silver, gold, and other possessions.
14 But when all this happens, don't be proud! Don't forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and that it was the [Lord] who set you free. 15 Remember how he led you in that huge and frightening desert where poisonous snakes and scorpions live. There was no water, but the [Lord] split open a rock, and water poured out so you could drink.
16 He also gave you manna, t a kind of food your ancestors had never even heard about. The [Lord] was testing you to make you trust him, so that later on he could be good to you.
17 When you become successful, don't say, “I'm rich, and I've earned it all myself.”
18 Instead, remember that the [Lord] your God gives you the strength to make a living. That's how he keeps the promise he made to your ancestors.
19-20 But I'm warning you—if you forget the [Lord] your God and worship other gods, the [Lord] will destroy you, just as he destroyed the nations you fought.
