Deuteronomy 29
Covenant Renewal, Oaths, Restoration, Charges to the Nation
1 ▼▼Deuteronomy 29:1–29 in the English Bible is 28.69–29:28 in the Hebrew Bible
These are the words of the covenant that Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the ⌞Israelites⌟ ▼▼Literally “sons/children of Israel”
in the land of Moab ⌞besides⌟ ▼▼Literally “from to alone”
the covenant that he made with them at Horeb. 2And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, “You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; 3that is, the great trials that your eyes saw, and those great signs and wonders. 4But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even ⌞to this day⌟. ▼▼Literally “until the day the this”
5And I have led you forty years ▼▼Hebrew “year”
in the desert; your clothes have not worn out ⌞on you⌟, ▼▼Literally “from on you”
and your sandal has not worn out ⌞on your foot⌟. ▼▼Literally “from on your foot”
6You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7And when you came to this place then Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out to meet you for battle, and we defeated them. 8And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites ▼▼Hebrew “Reubenite”
and to the Gadites ▼▼Hebrew “Gadite”
and to the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9And ⌞you must diligently observe the words of this covenant⌟, ▼▼Literally “you must keep the words of the covenant the this and you must do them”
so that you may succeed in all that you do. 10“You are standing ⌞today⌟, ▼▼Literally “the day”
all of you, ⌞before⌟ ▼▼Literally “to the face of”
Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, 11your little children, your women and your aliens ▼▼Hebrew “alien”
who are in the midst of your camp, from the choppers ▼▼Hebrew “chopper”
of your wood to the drawers ▼▼Hebrew “drawer”
of your water, 12⌞in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God⌟, ▼▼Literally “for you to go over into the covenant of Yahweh your God”
and into ▼▼Or “with”
his oath that Yahweh your God is ⌞making with you⌟ ▼▼Literally “cutting with you”
⌞today⌟, ▼▼Literally “the day”
13in order to establish you ⌞today⌟ ▼▼Literally “the day”
⌞to himself⌟ ▼▼Literally “for him”
as a people and so that he may be for you as God, just as he ⌞promised⌟ ▼▼Literally “spoke”
to you and ⌞just as⌟ ▼▼Literally “according to that which”
he swore to your ancestors, ▼▼Or “your fathers”
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14“Now I am not ⌞making this covenant⌟ ▼▼Literally “cutting this covenant”
and this oath ⌞with you alone⌟. ▼▼Literally “with you to alone you”
15But with ⌞whoever is standing here⌟ ▼▼Literally “with who he is here with us standing”
with us ⌞today⌟ ▼▼Literally “the day”
⌞before⌟ ▼▼Literally “to the face of”
Yahweh our God, and with ⌞whoever is not standing here⌟ ▼▼Literally “with who he is not standing here with us”
with us ⌞today⌟. ▼▼Literally “the day”
16For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the midst of the nations that you traveled ▼▼Or “journeyed”
through. 17And you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood and stone, silver, and gold that were among them, 18so that ⌞there is not⌟ ▼▼Literally “lest there be/develop”
among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe ⌞whose heart⌟ ▼▼Literally “his heart”
turns ⌞today⌟ ▼▼Literally “the day”
from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood. 19And then when he hears the words of this oath, then ▼▼Or “and”
⌞he will assure himself⌟ ▼▼Literally “he will bless himself”; HALOT 160 suggests “to consider oneself fortunate”
in his heart, ⌞saying⌟, ▼▼Literally “to say”
‘⌞Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart⌟,’ ▼▼Literally “Peace shall happen/be for me, although/even if in the stubbornness of my heart I go”
thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched. ▼▼Some translators prefer to include the last clause as a part of the words of the wicked man (NASV vs. NEB)
20Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. 21And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law. 22“And the next generation, that is, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, when ▼▼Hebrew “and”
they will see the plagues of that land and its diseases that Yahweh has inflicted upon it, will say, 23‘All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, ⌞none of its land will be sown⌟, ▼▼Literally “all of its land will not be sown”
and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.’ 24And all the nations will say, ‘⌞Why⌟ ▼▼Literally “On what basis”
has Yahweh done ⌞such a thing⌟ ▼▼Literally “so”
to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?’ 25And they will say, ▼▼Or “answer/respond”
‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, ▼▼Or “fathers”
which he ⌞made⌟ ▼▼Literally “cut”
with them ⌞when he brought them out⌟ ▼▼Literally “at/in his to bring them out from the land of Egypt”
from the land of Egypt. 26And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he ▼▼That is, Yahweh
had not allotted to them. 27So ⌞the anger of Yahweh was kindled⌟ ▼▼Literally “became hot the nose of Yahweh”
against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, 28and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, ⌞just as it is today⌟.’ ▼▼Literally “as the day the this”
29“The hidden things ⌞belong to Yahweh⌟ ▼▼Literally “are for Yahweh”
our God, but the revealed things ⌞belong to us⌟ ▼▼Literally “are for us”
to know and to our children ⌞forever⌟, ▼▼Literally “until eternity”
in order to do all the words of this law.”
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