Category: Deuteronomy

The book of Deuteronomy records the great speech Moses gives just before his death. He addresses the generation of Israelites who grew up in the wilderness just as they are preparing to enter the land of Canaan. God wants this promised land to show what renewed life under God’s blessing looks like. The book presents the covenant in a form commonly used by rulers of the time to make treaties with those they ruled over. The standard form of these treaties included five elements:

: The great ruler is identified by name and title.

: The history and mighty acts of the great ruler are told.

: The allegiance and specific duties expected of the ruler’s servants are spelled out.

: Blessings for keeping the treaty and curses for breaking it are listed.

: Provisions for continuing the covenant with future generations are laid out.

Deuteronomy follows this pattern very closely. Moses is identified as the representative of the Great King—the God of Israel—whose mighty acts for his people are recalled. Moses reminds them to give exclusive allegiance to their king and lists their duties. He then calls on the people to join in a sacred oath to ratify the covenant. After naming a successor and climbing a mountain to look out over the land, Moses dies. The people of Israel stand on the edge of their inheritance, the promise of a new creation before them.

The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)

3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that theLordhad commanded him concerning them.

4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:

6 TheLordour God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land theLordswore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

The Appointment of Leaders

9 At that time I said to you, “You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone.

10 TheLordyour God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11 May theLord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!

12 But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?

13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.”

14 You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.”

15 So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.

16 And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.

17 Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.”

18 And at that time I told you everything you were to do.

Spies Sent Out

19 Then, as theLordour God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.

20 Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which theLordour God is giving us.

21 See, theLordyour God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as theLord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”

23 The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe.

24 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol and explored it.

25 Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that theLordour God is giving us.”

Rebellion Against the Lord

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of theLordyour God.

27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “TheLordhates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.

28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ”

29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.

30 TheLordyour God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,

31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how theLordyour God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

32 In spite of this, you did not trust in theLordyour God,

33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

34 When theLordheard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:

35 “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors,

36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed theLordwholeheartedly.”

37 Because of you theLordbecame angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either.

38 But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.

40 But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”

41 Then you replied, “We have sinned against theLord. We will go up and fight, as theLordour God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

42 But theLordsaid to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’ ”

43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against theLord’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country.

44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.

45 You came back and wept before theLord, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you.

46 And so you stayed in Kadesh many days—all the time you spent there.

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Wanderings in the Wilderness

1 Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea,as theLordhad directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.

2 Then theLordsaid to me,

3 “You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.

4 Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.

5 Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.

6 You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ”

7 TheLordyour God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years theLordyour God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

8 So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

9 Then theLordsaid to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.”

10 (The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.

11 Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

12 Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land theLordgave them as their possession.)

13 And theLordsaid, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley.

14 Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as theLordhad sworn to them.

15 TheLord’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.

16 Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,

17 theLordsaid to me,

18 “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.

19 When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”

20 (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

21 They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. TheLorddestroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.

22 TheLordhad done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

23 And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtordestroyed them and settled in their place.)

Defeat of Sihon King of Heshbon

24 “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

26 From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying,

27 “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot—

29 as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land theLordour God is giving us.”

30 But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For theLordyour God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

31 TheLordsaid to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

32 When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz,

33 theLordour God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.

34 At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyedthem—men, women and children. We left no survivors.

35 But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.

36 From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. TheLordour God gave us all of them.

37 But in accordance with the command of theLordour God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.

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Defeat of Og King of Bashan

1 Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.

2 TheLordsaid to me, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”

3 So theLordour God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors.

4 At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.

6 We completely destroyedthem, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroyingevery city—men, women and children.

7 But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.

8 So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.

9 (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)

10 We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salekah and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

11 (Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide.It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

Division of the Land

12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns.

13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.

14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.)

15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.

16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites.

17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.

18 I commanded you at that time: “TheLordyour God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites.

19 However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you,

20 until theLordgives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that theLordyour God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”

Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that theLordyour God has done to these two kings. TheLordwill do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going.

22 Do not be afraid of them; theLordyour God himself will fight for you.”

23 At that time I pleaded with theLord:

24 “SovereignLord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?

25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

26 But because of you theLordwas angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” theLordsaid. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.

27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.

28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

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Obedience Commanded

1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land theLord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of theLordyour God that I give you.

3 You saw with your own eyes what theLorddid at Baal Peor. TheLordyour God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,

4 but all of you who held fast to theLordyour God are still alive today.

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as theLordmy God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.

6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way theLordour God is near us whenever we pray to him?

8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

10 Remember the day you stood before theLordyour God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

12 Then theLordspoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.

14 And theLorddirected me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 You saw no form of any kind the day theLordspoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,

16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,

17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,

18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.

19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things theLordyour God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

20 But as for you, theLordtook you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

21 TheLordwas angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land theLordyour God is giving you as your inheritance.

22 I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.

23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of theLordyour God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything theLordyour God has forbidden.

24 For theLordyour God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of theLordyour God and arousing his anger,

26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

27 TheLordwill scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which theLordwill drive you.

28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

29 But if from there you seek theLordyour God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to theLordyour God and obey him.

31 For theLordyour God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

33 Has any other people heard the voice of Godspeaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?

34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things theLordyour God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

35 You were shown these things so that you might know that theLordis God; besides him there is no other.

36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.

37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,

38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that theLordis God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land theLordyour God gives you for all time.

Cities of Refuge

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,

42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life.

43 The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.

45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt

46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.

47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

48 This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion(that is, Hermon),

49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,below the slopes of Pisgah.

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The Ten Commandments

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.

2 TheLordour God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

3 It was not with our ancestorsthat theLordmade this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

4 TheLordspoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.

5 (At that time I stood between theLordand you to declare to you the word of theLord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

6 “I am theLordyour God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

7 “You shall have no other gods beforeme.

8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, theLordyour God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “You shall not misuse the name of theLordyour God, for theLordwill not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as theLordyour God has commanded you.

13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to theLordyour God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that theLordyour God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore theLordyour God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 “Honor your father and your mother, as theLordyour God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land theLordyour God is giving you.

17 “You shall not murder.

18 “You shall not commit adultery.

19 “You shall not steal.

20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

22 These are the commandments theLordproclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me.

24 And you said, “TheLordour God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.

25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of theLordour God any longer.

26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

27 Go near and listen to all that theLordour God says. Then tell us whatever theLordour God tells you. We will listen and obey.”

28 TheLordheard you when you spoke to me, and theLordsaid to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.

29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents.

31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.”

32 So be careful to do what theLordyour God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

33 Walk in obedience to all that theLordyour God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

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Love the Lord Your God

1 These are the commands, decrees and laws theLordyour God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,

2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear theLordyour God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as theLord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: TheLordour God, theLordis one.

5 Love theLordyour God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

10 When theLordyour God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,

11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,

12 be careful that you do not forget theLord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

13 Fear theLordyour God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;

15 for theLordyour God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

16 Do not put theLordyour God to the test as you did at Massah.

17 Be sure to keep the commands of theLordyour God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

18 Do what is right and good in theLord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land theLordpromised on oath to your ancestors,

19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as theLordsaid.

20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws theLordour God has commanded you?”

21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but theLordbrought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

22 Before our eyes theLordsent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household.

23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors.

24 TheLordcommanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear theLordour God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.

25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before theLordour God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/DEU/6-624b8c1d5061cc3822dc62c62b4cf629.mp3?version_id=111—

Driving Out the Nations

1 When theLordyour God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—

2 and when theLordyour God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.

3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and theLord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah polesand burn their idols in the fire.

6 For you are a people holy to theLordyour God. TheLordyour God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

7 TheLorddid not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

8 But it was because theLordloved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know therefore that theLordyour God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

10 But

those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;

he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then theLordyour God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.

13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.

15 TheLordwill keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

16 You must destroy all the peoples theLordyour God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

17 You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?”

18 But do not be afraid of them; remember well what theLordyour God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.

19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which theLordyour God brought you out. TheLordyour God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.

20 Moreover, theLordyour God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.

21 Do not be terrified by them, for theLordyour God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

22 TheLordyour God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.

23 But theLordyour God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

24 He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them.

25 The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to theLordyour God.

26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/DEU/7-7abcb34bdef36fb4c1696b7051b472a0.mp3?version_id=111—

Do Not Forget the Lord

1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land theLordpromised on oath to your ancestors.

2 Remember how theLordyour God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of theLord.

4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so theLordyour God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of theLordyour God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.

7 For theLordyour God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;

8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;

9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise theLordyour God for the good land he has given you.

11 Be careful that you do not forget theLordyour God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,

13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,

14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget theLordyour God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.

16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

18 But remember theLordyour God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget theLordyour God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

20 Like the nations theLorddestroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying theLordyour God.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/DEU/8-46f7477b5313be7f176e1f58f1506058.mp3?version_id=111—

Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

1 Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.

2 The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”

3 But be assured today that theLordyour God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as theLordhas promised you.

4 After theLordyour God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “TheLordhas brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that theLordis going to drive them out before you.

5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, theLordyour God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that theLordyour God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

The Golden Calf

7 Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of theLordyour God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against theLord.

8 At Horeb you aroused theLord’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you.

9 When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that theLordhad made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.

10 TheLordgave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments theLordproclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights, theLordgave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.

12 Then theLordtold me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

13 And theLordsaid to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!

14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.

16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against theLordyour God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that theLordhad commanded you.

17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

18 Then once again I fell prostrate before theLordfor forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in theLord’s sight and so arousing his anger.

19 I feared the anger and wrath of theLord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again theLordlistened to me.

20 And theLordwas angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.

21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

22 You also made theLordangry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.

23 And when theLordsent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, “Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of theLordyour God. You did not trust him or obey him.

24 You have been rebellious against theLordever since I have known you.

25 I lay prostrate before theLordthose forty days and forty nights because theLordhad said he would destroy you.

26 I prayed to theLordand said, “SovereignLord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.

28 Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, ‘Because theLordwas not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’

29 But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/DEU/9-a426e4766c62ab9240f5e75e60b7253b.mp3?version_id=111—