29.
1 These are the
words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children
of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in
Horeb.
2 Now Moses
called all Israel and said to them: "You have seen all that the LORD did
before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and
to all his land--
3 "the
great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders.
4 "Yet the
LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to
this very day.
5 "And I
have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on
you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet.
6 "You
have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may
know that I am the LORD your God.
7 "And
when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came
out against us to battle, and we conquered them.
8 "We took
their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and
to half the tribe of Manasseh.
9
"Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may
prosper in all that you do.
10 "All of
you stand today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your
elders and your officers, all the men of Israel,
11 "your
little ones and your wives--also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one
who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water--
12 "that
you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath, which
the LORD your God makes with you today,
13 "that
He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to
you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 "I make
this covenant and this oath, not with you alone,
15 "but
with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with
him who is not here with us today
16 (for you
know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations
which you passed by,
17 and you saw
their abominations and their idols which were among them--wood and stone and
silver and gold);
18 "so
that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart
turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these
nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or
wormwood;
19 "and so
it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses
himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I follow the
dictates of my heart'--as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.
20 "The
LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy would
burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would
settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven.
21 "And
the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity,
according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of
the Law,
22 "so
that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the
foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the plagues of
that land and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid on it:
23 'The whole
land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor
does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and
Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath.'
24 "All
nations would say, 'Why has the LORD done so to this land? What does the heat
of this great anger mean?'
25 "Then
people would say: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of
their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of
Egypt;
26 'for they
went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and
that He had not given to them.
27 'Then the
anger of the LORD was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse
that is written in this book.
28 'And the
LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great
indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.'
29 "The
secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed
belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this
law.
30.
1 "Now it
shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the
curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the
nations where the LORD your God drives you,
2 "and you
return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command
you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,
3 "that
the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on
you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has
scattered you.
4 "If any
of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD
your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you.
5 "Then
the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and
you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your
fathers.
6 "And the
LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to
love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may
live.
7 "Also
the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who
hate you, who persecuted you.
8 "And you
will again obey the voice of the LORD and do all His commandments which I
command you today.
9 "The
LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit
of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your
land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced
over your fathers,
10 "if you
obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes
which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 "For
this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor
is it far off.
12 "It is
not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and
bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
13 "Nor is
it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and
bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
14 "But
the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 "See, I
have set before you today life and good, death and evil,
16 "in
that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to
keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and
multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to
possess.
17 "But if
your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship
other gods and serve them,
18 "I
announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your
days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.
19 "I call
heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you
life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and
your descendants may live;
20 "that
you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may
cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may
dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, to give them."
31.
1 Then Moses
went and spoke these words to all Israel.
2 And he said
to them: "I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go
out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross over this
Jordan.'
3 "The
LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations
from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over
before you, just as the LORD has said.
4 "And the
LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and
their land, when He destroyed them.
5 "The
LORD will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every
commandment which I have commanded you.
6 "Be
strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD
your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake
you."
7 Then Moses
called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and
of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD
has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit
it.
8 "And the
LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave
you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."
9 So Moses
wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the
ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 And Moses commanded
them, saying: "At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in
the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles,
11 "when
all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He
chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
12 "Gather
the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is
within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD
your God and carefully observe all the words of this law,
13 "and
that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD
your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to
possess."
14 Then the
LORD said to Moses, "Behold, the days approach when you must die; call
Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that I may
inaugurate him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the
tabernacle of meeting.
15 Now the LORD
appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood
above the door of the tabernacle.
16 And the LORD
said to Moses: "Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people
will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land,
where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant
which I have made with them.
17 "Then
My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them,
and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils
and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not
these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?'
18 "And I
will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have
done, in that they have turned to other gods.
19 "Now
therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of
Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against
the children of Israel.
20 "When I
have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their
fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they
will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My
covenant.
21 "Then
it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song
will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the
mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior
today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give
them."
22 Therefore
Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
23 Then He
inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and of good
courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I
swore to them, and I will be with you."
24 So it was,
when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they
were finished,
25 that Moses
commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying:
26 "Take
this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD
your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;
27 "for I
know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with
you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death?
28 "Gather
to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these
words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
29 "For I
know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the
way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days,
because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger
through the work of your hands."
30 Then Moses
spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until
they were ended: