Deuteronomy 27
The Assembly at Shechem
1Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Pay attention to all the commandments ▼ I am giving ▼ you today. 2When you cross the Jordan River ▼▼ The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover ▼ them with plaster. 3Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ▼▼ Heb “fathers.”
said to you. 4So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal ▼▼ Smr reads “Mount Gerizim” for the MT reading “Mount Ebal” to justify the location of the Samaritan temple there in the postexilic period. This reading is patently self-serving and does not reflect the original. In the NT when the Samaritan woman of Sychar referred to “this mountain” as the place of worship for her community she obviously had Gerizim in mind (cf. John 4:20).
these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover them with plaster. 5Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones – do not use an iron tool on them. 6You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 7Also you must offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God. 8You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear.” 9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10You must obey him ▼
▼ Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord your God.” Here “listen” (NAB “hearken”) means “obey” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
and keep his commandments and statutes that I am giving you today.” 11Moreover, Moses commanded the people that day: 12“The following tribes ▼▼ The word “tribes” has been supplied here and in the following verse in the translation for clarity.
must stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13And these other tribes must stand for the curse on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. The Covenant Curses
14 “The Levites will call out to every Israelite ▼▼ Heb “Israelite man.”
with a loud voice: 15‘Cursed is the one ▼▼ Heb “man,” but in a generic sense here.
who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ▼ to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ▼▼ Heb “craftsman’s hands.”
– and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ▼▼ Or “So be it!” The term is an affirmation expressing agreement with the words of the Levites.
16‘Cursed ▼▼ The Levites speak again at this point; throughout this pericope the Levites pronounce the curse and the people respond with “Amen.”
is the one who disrespects ▼▼ The Hebrew term קָלָה (qalah) means to treat with disdain or lack of due respect (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “dishonors”; NLT “despises”). It is the opposite of כָּבֵד (kaved, “to be heavy,” that is, to treat with reverence and proper deference). To treat a parent lightly is to dishonor him or her and thus violate the fifth commandment (Deut 5:16; cf. Exod 21:17).
his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 17‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 18‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 19‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 20‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with ▼ his father’s former wife, ▼▼ See note at Deut 22:30.
for he dishonors his father.’ ▼▼ Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.
Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 21‘Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.’ ▼▼ Heb “lies with any animal” (so NASB, NRSV). “To lie with” is a Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations with someone (or in this case, some animal).
Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 22‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 23‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 24‘Cursed is the one who kills ▼▼ Or “strikes down” (so NRSV).
his neighbor in private.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 25‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 26‘Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ Deuteronomy 28
The Covenant Blessings
1“If you indeed ▼▼ The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”
obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ▼ you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 2All these blessings will come to you in abundance ▼▼ Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”
if you obey the Lord your God: 3You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. ▼ 4Your children ▼▼ Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 5Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 6You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. ▼▼ Come in…go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.
7The Lord will cause your enemies who attack ▼▼ Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).
you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction ▼ but flee from you in seven different directions. 8The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he ▼▼ Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.
is giving you. 9The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments ▼▼ Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.
and obey him. ▼▼ Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
10Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, ▼▼ Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).
and they will respect you. 11The Lord will greatly multiply your children, ▼▼ Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”
the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he ▼ promised your ancestors ▼ he would give you. 12The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; ▼▼ Heb “all the work of your hands.”
you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 13The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his ▼ commandments which I am urging ▼▼ Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”
you today to be careful to do. 14But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving ▼▼ Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”
you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship ▼▼ Heb “in order to serve.”
them. Curses as Reversal of Blessings
15 “But if you ignore ▼▼ Heb “do not hear the voice of.”
the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ▼▼ Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”
16You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 17Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 18Your children ▼▼ Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 19You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. ▼ Curses by Disease and Drought
20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you ▼▼ Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”
in everything you undertake ▼▼ Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”
until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. ▼▼ For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.
▼▼ Heb “the evil of your doings wherein you have forsaken me”; CEV “all because you rejected the Lord.”
21The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases ▼▼ Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”
until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 22He ▼ will afflict you with weakness, ▼▼ Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
fever, inflammation, infection, ▼▼ Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
sword, ▼▼ Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 23The ▼▼ The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”
sky ▼▼ Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 24The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed. Curses by Defeat and Deportation
25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror ▼▼ The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zeva’ah, “terror”).
to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 27The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. ▼▼ Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).
29You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; ▼▼ Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”
you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 30You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape ▼▼ For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.
her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 31Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 32Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. ▼▼ Heb “and there will be no power in your hand”; NCV “there will be nothing you can do.”
33As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 34You will go insane from seeing all this. 35The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 36The Lord will force you and your king ▼▼ The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 37You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you. The Curse of Reversed Status
38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 39You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 40You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. ▼▼ Heb “your olives will drop off” (נָשַׁל, nashal), referring to the olives dropping off before they ripen.
41You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 42Whirring locusts ▼▼ The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).
will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 43The foreigners ▼▼ Heb “the foreigner.” This is a collective singular and has therefore been translated as plural; this includes the pronouns in the following verse, which are also singular in the Hebrew text.
who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 44They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail! 45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given ▼
▼ Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”
you. 46These curses ▼▼ Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. ▼▼ Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
The Curse of Military Siege
47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 48instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty ▼▼ Heb “lack of everything.”
you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They ▼▼ Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).
will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 49The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth ▼▼ Heb “from the end of the earth.”
as the eagle flies, ▼▼ Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
a nation whose language you will not understand, 50a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 51They ▼ will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, ▼▼ Heb “increase of herds.”
or lambs of your flocks ▼▼ Heb “growth of flocks.”
until they have destroyed you. 52They will besiege all of your villages ▼ until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 53You will then eat your own offspring, ▼▼ Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”
the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege ▼▼ Heb “siege and stress.”
by which your enemies will constrict you. 54The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 55He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict ▼▼ Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”
you in your villages. 56Likewise, the most ▼ tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, ▼▼ Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”
will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 57and will secretly eat her afterbirth ▼▼ Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”
and her newborn children ▼▼ Heb “her sons that she will bear.”
(since she has nothing else), ▼▼ Heb includes “in her need for everything.”
because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages. The Curse of Covenant Termination
58 “If you refuse to obey ▼▼ Heb “If you are not careful to do.”
all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 59then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 60He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt ▼▼ These are the plagues the Lord inflicted on the Egyptians prior to the exodus which, though they did not fall upon the Israelites, must have caused great terror (cf. Exod 15:26).
that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. ▼▼ Heb “will cling to you” (so NIV); NLT “will claim you.”
61Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, ▼▼ The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”
until you have perished. 62There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, ▼▼ Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
because you will have disobeyed ▼▼ Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”
the Lord your God. 63This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he ▼ will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 64The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 65Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 66Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. ▼▼ Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.
67In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 68Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” Deuteronomy 29
Narrative Interlude
1[Heb. 28:69] ▼ 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. ▼▼ Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed
2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did ▼▼ The Hebrew text includes “to your eyes,” but this is redundant in English style (cf. the preceding “you have seen”) and is omitted in the translation.
in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. 3Your eyes have seen the great judgments, ▼ those signs and mighty wonders. 4But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! ▼▼ Heb “a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear” (NASB similar); NAB, NRSV “a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.”
5I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out ▼▼ The Hebrew text includes “on you.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
nor have your sandals ▼▼ The Hebrew text includes “from on your feet.”
deteriorated. 6You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer – all so that you might know that I ▼▼ The LXX reads “that he is the Lord your God.”
am the Lord your God! 7When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. 8Then 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 terms ▼▼ Heb “words.”
of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. 10You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes, ▼▼ Heb “your heads, your tribes.” The Syriac presupposes either “heads of your tribes” or “your heads, your judges,” etc. (reading שֹׁפְטֵכֶם [shofetekhem] for שִׁבְטֵיכֶם [shivtekhem]). Its comparative difficulty favors the originality of the MT reading. Cf. KJV “your captains of your tribes”; NRSV “the leaders of your tribes”; NLT “your tribal leaders.”
your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, 11your infants, your wives, and the ▼▼ Heb “your.”
foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water – 12so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. ▼▼ Heb “for you to pass on into the covenant of the Lord your God and into his oath, which the Lord your God is cutting with you today.”
13Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, ▼ just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors ▼ Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, 15but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. ▼▼ This is interpreted by some English versions as a reference to generations not yet born (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
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. 17You have seen their detestable things ▼▼ The Hebrew term שִׁקּוּץ (shiquts) refers to anything out of keeping with the nature and character of Yahweh and therefore to be avoided by his people Israel. It is commonly used with or as a synonym for תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “detestable, abhorrent”; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 16:18; Ezek 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; see note on the term “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:243–46.
and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) ▼ 18Beware 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. ▼▼ Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”
19When such a person ▼ hears the words of this oath he secretly ▼▼ Heb “in his heart.”
blesses himself ▼▼ Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.
and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ▼▼ Heb “heart.”
This will destroy ▼▼ Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.
the watered ground with the parched. ▼▼ Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”
20The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger ▼▼ Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.
will rage ▼▼ Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”
against that man; all the curses ▼▼ Heb “the entire oath.”
written in this scroll will fall upon him ▼▼ Or “will lie in wait against him.”
and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. ▼▼ Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”
21The Lord will single him out ▼▼ Heb “set him apart.”
for judgment ▼▼ Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”
from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 22The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see ▼▼ Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.
the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 23The 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. ▼▼ Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.
24Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ▼▼ Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”
all about?” 25Then 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. 26They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ▼▼ Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”
27That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ▼▼ Heb “the entire curse.”
written in this scroll. 28So 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.” 29Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants ▼▼ Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV “children.”
forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 30
The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation
1“When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ▼▼ Heb “the blessing and the curse.”
I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ▼▼ Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”
in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. 2Then if you and your descendants ▼▼ Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”
turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ▼ just as ▼▼ Heb “according to all.”
I am commanding you today, 3the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ▼▼ Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
has scattered you. 4Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, ▼▼ Heb “are at the farthest edge of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5Then he ▼ will bring you to the land your ancestors ▼ possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. 6The Lord your God will also cleanse ▼▼ Heb “circumcise” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “will give you and your descendents obedient hearts.” See note on the word “cleanse” in Deut 10:16.
your heart and the hearts of your descendants ▼▼ Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
so that you may love him ▼ with all your mind and being and so that you may live. 7Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. 8You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving ▼▼ Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I now enjoin on you.”
you today. 9The Lord your God will make the labor of your hands ▼▼ The MT reads “hand” (singular). Most versions read the plural.
abundantly successful and multiply your children, ▼▼ Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV); NRSV “of your body.”
the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lord your God will once more ▼▼ Heb “return and.” The Hebrew verb is used idiomatically here to indicate the repetition of the following action.
rejoice over you to make you prosperous ▼▼ The Hebrew text includes “for good.”
just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, 10if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this scroll of the law. But you must turn to him ▼ with your whole mind and being. Exhortation to Covenant Obedience
11 “This commandment I am giving ▼▼ Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you.”
you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 12It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind ▼▼ Heb “heart.”
so that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16What ▼
▼ A number of LXX mss insert before this verse, “if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,” thus translating אֲשֶׁר (’asher) as “which” and the rest as “I am commanding you today, to love,” etc., “then you will live,” etc.
I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. ▼▼ Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
17However, if you ▼▼ Heb “your heart,” as a metonymy for the person.
turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18I declare to you this very day that you will certainly ▼▼ The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. ▼▼ Heb “to go there to possess it.”
19Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! 20I also call on you ▼ to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually ▼▼ Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”
in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
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