11.
1
"Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His
statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.
2 "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 "His
signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and to all his land;
4 "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 "what He
did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place;
6 "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 "but
your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.
8
"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 "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 "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 "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 "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 '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 '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 'And I will
send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.'
16 "Take
heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve
other gods and worship them,
17 "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
"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 "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 "And
you shall write them on 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 of which
the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above
the earth.
22 "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 "then
the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will
dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
24 "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 "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
"Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 "the
blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you
today;
28 "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 "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 "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 "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 "And
you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set
before you today.
12.
1 "These
are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the
land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days
that you live on the earth.
2 "You
shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall
dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under
every green tree.
3 "And you
shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden
images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and
destroy their names from that place.
4 "You
shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.
5 "But you
shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes,
to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.
6 "There
you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave
offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the
firstborn of your herds and flocks.
7 "And
there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to
which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your
God has blessed you.
8 "You
shall not at all do as we are doing here today--every man doing whatever is
right in his own eyes--
9 "for as
yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God
is giving you.
10 "But
when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is
giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about,
so that you dwell in safety,
11 "then
there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.
There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your
sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice
offerings which you vow to the LORD.
12 "And
you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your
daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your
gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
13 "Take
heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that
you see;
14 "but in
the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer
your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
15
"However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever
your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has
given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer
alike.
16 "Only
you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
17 "You
may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your
oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings
which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand.
18 "But
you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God
chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female
servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before
the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands.
19 "Take
heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your
land.
20 "When
the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say,
'Let me eat meat,' because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as
your heart desires.
21 "If the
place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then
you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given
you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as
your heart desires.
22 "Just
as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the
clean alike may eat them.
23 "Only
be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not
eat the life with the meat.
24 "You
shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
25 "You
shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you,
when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
26 "Only
the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go
to the place which the LORD chooses.
27 "And
you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of
the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the
altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat.
28
"Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well
with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and
right in the sight of the LORD your God.
29 "When
the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to
dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land,
30 "take
heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are
destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods,
saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.'
31 "You
shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the
LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons
and daughters in the fire to their gods.
32
"Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it
nor take away from it.
13.
1 "If
there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a
sign or a wonder,
2 "and the
sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go
after other gods'--which you have not known--'and let us serve them,'
3 "you
shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for
the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 "You
shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and
obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
5 "But
that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has
spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you
from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put
away the evil from your midst.
6 "If your
brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your
bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying,
'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor
your fathers,
7 "of the
gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you,
from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth,
8 "you
shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor
shall you spare him or conceal him;
9 "but you
shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to
death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
10 "And
you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you
away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the
house of bondage.
11 "So all
Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
12 "If you
hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell
in, saying,
13 'Corrupt men
have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying,
"Let us go and serve other gods"'--which you have not known--
14 "then
you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and
certain that such an abomination was committed among you,
15 "you
shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the
sword--utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock, with the
edge of the sword.
16 "And
you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely
burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be
a heap forever; it shall not be built again.
17 "So
none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn
from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and
multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers,
18
"because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all
His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of
the LORD your God.