Deuteronomy

The Covenant Setting

1:1 These are the things1 that Moses said to the assembly of Israel2 in the Transjordanian3 wastelands, the dry country opposite4 Suph,5 between6 Paran,7 Tophel,8 Laban,9 Hazeroth,10 and Di Zahab11 1:2 (Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey12 from Horeb13 to Kadesh Barnea14 by way of Mount Seir.15 1:3 However, it was not until16 the first day of the eleventh month17 of the fortieth year18 that Moses addressed the Israelites as the LORD had instructed him to do. 1:4 This took place after the defeat19 of King Sihon20 of the Amorites, whose capital was21 in Heshbon;22 and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was23 in Ashtaroth,24 specifically in Edrei.25 1:5 So, it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver this instruction26 as follows):

Events at Horeb

1:6 The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb and said,27 "You have been28 in the area of this mountain long enough. 1:7 Get up now,29 resume your journey, heading for30 the Amorite hill country, to all its areas31 including the dry country,32 the highlands, the Shephelah,33 the Negev,34 and the coastal plain--all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 1:8 Look! I have already given over the land to you. Go, occupy the territory35 that I36 swore to give to your ancestors37 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants."38 1:9 Then I also said to you at that time, "I am no longer able to sustain39 you by myself. 1:10 The LORD your God has increased your population40 to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky.41 1:11 Indeed, may the LORD, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times as many as you are now, blessing you42 just as he said he would. 1:12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of43 your hardship and strife? 1:13 Select wise and practical44 men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders." 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose45 as your tribal leaders wise and well known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they46 should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens47 and judge fairly,48 whether between one citizen49 and another50 or a citizen and an immigrant.51 1:17 They52 must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the little and great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.53

Instructions at Kadesh Barnea

1:18 Thus I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. 1:19 Then we struck out from Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the LORD our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving54 at Kadesh Barnea. 1:20 Then I said to you, "You have come to the Amorite hill country which the LORD our God is about to give us. 1:21 Look, he55 has set the land before56 you. Go up, take possession of it just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Don't be afraid or discouraged." 1:22 So all of you approached me and said, "Let's send some people ahead of us to scout out the land and bring us back word as to how we should go up and what the cities are like there." 1:23 I thought this was a good idea57 so I sent twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 1:24 They left and ascended to the hill country, coming to the Eshcol Valley,58 which they spied out. 1:25 Then they took some of the produce of the land and, carrying it back down to us, they also brought news that the land that the LORD our God was about to give us was good.

Disobedience at Kadesh Barnea

1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the LORD your God. 1:27 You complained among yourselves59 and said, "Because the LORD hated us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us. 1:28 What is going to happen to us?60 Our brothers have drained away our courage61 by describing people who are more numerous62 and taller than we are, and great cities whose battlements appear to be as high as heaven63 itself. Moreover, they said they saw64 Anakites65 there." 1:29 So I responded to you, "Do not be so terrified66 of them. 1:30 The LORD your God is about to go up ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt67 1:31 and in the desert, where you experienced him68 carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place." 1:32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the LORD your God, 1:33 the one who was constantly with you to find campsites for you and, by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.

Judgment at Kadesh Barnea

1:34 When the LORD heard you,69 he became angry and swore that 1:35 not a single person70 of that evil generation would see the good land that he had pledged to give to their71 ancestors.72 1:36 The exception would be Caleb son of Jephunneh;73 he would see it and would also be given74 the territory on which he had walked, as would his descendants, because he had wholeheartedly followed the LORD. 1:37 As for me, the LORD was also angry with me on your account. He said, "You also will not be able to go there. 1:38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your attendant,75 will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land.76 1:39 Also, your infants, who you thought would never make it,77 and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad,78 will go there and I will give them the land and they will possess it. 1:40 But as for you, turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea."79

Unsuccessful Conquest of Canaan

1:41 Then you responded to me and admitted, "We have sinned against the LORD. We will now go up and fight as he80 has told us to do." So you each put on your war apparel and made as though you were going up to the hill country. 1:42 But the LORD told me to tell you not to go up and fight because he would not be81 with you and the result would be defeat at the hands of82 your enemies. 1:43 I therefore spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the LORD83 and recklessly ascended to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area84 came out to meet you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from85 Seir to Hormah.86 1:45 Then you came back and wept before the LORD, but he87 paid no attention to you88 whatsoever.89 1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time;90 indeed, for the full time.91

The Journey from Kadesh Barnea to Moab

2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea1 just as the LORD told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.2 2:2 At this point3 the LORD 2:3 said to me, "You have circled around this mountain long enough--now turn north. 2:4 Instruct4 these people as follows: `You are about to cross the border of your relatives5 the descendants of Esau,6 who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile against them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint,7 for I have given Mount Seir8 as an inheritance for Esau. 2:6 You may purchase9 food from them to eat and water to drink. 2:7 All along the way I10 have blessed your every effort.11 I have12 been attentive to13 your travels through this great wasteland. All these forty years I have14 been with you; you have lacked for nothing.'"

2:8 So we turned away from our brothers15 the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, from the desert16 route, from Elath17 and Ezion Geber,18 and turned instead and traveled the way of the Moab wastelands. 2:9 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar19 to the descendants of Lot20 as their possession. 2:10 The Emites21 used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. 2:11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites22--the Moabites call them Emites. 2:12 Previously the Horites23 lived in Seir but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and utterly annihilated them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land I24 gave them. 2:13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered."25 So we did so.26 2:14 Now the length of time27 it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to be finished off, just as the LORD had sworn to them. 2:15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the LORD that devoured them from the middle of the camp until they were totally decimated.

Instructions Concerning Ammon

2:16 So it was that after all the military men had been put to death from among the rest of the people, 2:17 the LORD said to me, 2:18 "Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar.28 2:19 But when you come close to the Ammonites do not bother or provoke them, because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites' land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot's descendants29 as their possession.

2:20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites.30 The Rephaites lived there originally;31 the Ammonites call them Zamzummites.32 2:21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as Anakites. But the LORD destroyed the Rephaites33 in advance of the Ammonites,34 so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 2:22 This is just what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess35 them and settle in their area to this very day. 2:23 Also, as for the Avvites36 who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites37 who came from Caphtor demolished them and lived there instead.38)

2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon,39 and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! 2:25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth40 with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your coming."41

Defeat of Sihon, King of Heshbon

2:26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth42 Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with words of peace, 2:27 "Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway.43 I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 2:28 Sell me food for cash44 so that I can eat and give me water to drink. Just allow me to go through on foot, 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau at Seir and the Moabites of Ar did for me until I cross the Jordan to the land the LORD our God is giving us." 2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass over near him because the LORD our God had given him a resistant spirit45 and stubborn determination46 so that he might deliver him over to you this very day. 2:31 Surely enough, the LORD said to me, "Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession." 2:32 When Sihon and all his troops47 emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz,48 2:33 the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his son and everyone else.49 2:34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them that was inhabited50 under the divine curse,51 even the women and children; there was not a single survivor. 2:35 Only the livestock and plunder from the cities did we keep52 for ourselves. 2:36 From Aroer,53 which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon, and the city in the wadi,54 all the way to Gilead there was not a city too inaccessible to us--the LORD our God gave them all to us. 2:37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok55 valley, the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the LORD our God.

Defeat of King Og of Bashan

3:1Next we set out on1 the route to Bashan,2 but King Og of Bashan and his whole army3 came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.4 3:2 The LORD, however, said to me, "Don't be afraid of him because I have already given him, his army,5 and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon." 3:3 So the LORD our God did indeed give over King Og of Bashan and all his people to us and we rained blows on6 him until not a single survivor was left.7 3:4 We took all his cities at that time--there was not a one we did not capture from them--sixty cities, all the region of Argob,8 the dominion of Og in Bashan. 3:5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and bars; in addition there were a great many open villages.9 3:6 We put all of these under the divine curse10 just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon--every occupied city, including women and children. 3:7 But all the livestock and urban plunder we appropriated to ourselves. 3:8 Thus at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon11 3:9 (the Sidonians12 call Hermon Sirion13 and the Amorites call it Senir),14 3:10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah15 and Edrei,16 cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy17 that his sarcophagus18 was made of iron.19 Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath20 of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet21 long and six feet22 wide according to standard measure.)23

Distribution of the Transjordanian Allotments

3:12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: from Aroer24 by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites.25 3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh.26 (All the region of Argob,27 that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim. 3:14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the Argob region as far as the border with the Geshurites28 and Maacathites29 and called it,30 namely, Bashan, by his name, Havvoth-Jair,31 to this very day.) 3:15 I gave Gilead to Machir.32 3:16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated from Gilead beginning with33 Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi as a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 3:17 The Arabah and Jordan River34 also were a border, from Chinnereth35 to the Arabah sea, that is, the Salt Sea,36 beneath the watershed37 of Pisgah38 to the east.

Instructions to the Transjordanian Tribes

3:18 I instructed39 you at that time as follows, "The LORD your God has given you this land for your possession.40 You are to cross over before your fellow Israelites,41 all the warriors, equipped for battle. 3:19 But your wives, children, and livestock (of which I know you have many) must remain in the cities I have given you 3:20 until the LORD helps your fellow countrymen prevail42 as you have, and allows them to possess the land that he43 is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own territory which I have given you." 3:21 I also commanded Joshua at the same time, "You have seen44 everything the LORD your God did to these two kings; he will do the same to the kingdoms where you are going.45 3:22 Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God will personally fight for you."

Denial to Moses of the Promised Land

3:23 Moreover, at that time I pleaded with the LORD, 3:24 "O, Lord GOD,46 you have begun to show me47 your greatness and strength (what god in fact in heaven or earth can rival your works and mighty deeds?); 3:25 let me please cross over to see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River--this good hill country and the Lebanon." 3:26 But the LORD was angry at me because of you and would not listen to me. Instead, he said to me, "Enough of that!48 Do not speak to me anymore about the matter. 3:27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west, north, south, and east with your own eyes, for you will not be allowed to cross the Jordan. 3:28 Commission, encourage, and strengthen Joshua, because he will lead these people over49 and will enable them to inherit the land you will see." 3:29 So we settled down in the valley opposite Beth Peor.50

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to1 the statutes and ordinances2 I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors,3 is giving you. 4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep completely the commandments of the LORD your God that I am delivering to4 you. 4:3 You5 have witnessed what the LORD did at Baal Peor,6 how he7 eradicated from your midst everyone8 who followed Baal Peor. 4:4 But you who remained faithful to9 the LORD your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. 4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as he10 told me to do, so that you might carry them out11 in the midst of the land where you are headed to take possession. 4:6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding12 to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, "Indeed, this great nation has a very wise13 people." 4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the LORD our God whenever we call on him? 4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as pure14 as this whole law15 that I am about to share with you today?

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention,16 lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them17 for the rest of your life; instead teach them18 to your children and grandchildren. 4:10 At the time19 you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb and he20 said to me, "Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my words and teach them to revere21 me all the days they live in the land, and also to instruct their children." 4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it,22 and yet dark with a thick cloud.23 4:12 Then the LORD spoke to you from the fire; you indeed heard speech24 but you could not see anything--only a voice. 4:13 And he revealed to you the covenant25 he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments,26 writing them on two stone tablets. 4:14 Moreover, at that same time the LORD commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land to which you are going as your inheritance.

The Nature of Israel's God

4:15 Be most careful,27 then, because you saw nothing at the time the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the fire's midst. 4:16 I say this so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure, the likeness of a human male or a female, 4:17 of any kind of land animal, of a bird that flies in the sky, 4:18 of any insect28 on the ground, or of any fish in the deep waters of the earth.29 4:19 It is also to guard you against looking up to the sky30 and seeing the sun, moon, and stars--the whole heavenly creation31--and then being seduced by them to worship and serve them, things that the LORD your God has distributed among all the people of the world.32 4:20 You, however, the LORD has selected33 and brought from Egypt, the "iron-smelting furnace,"34 to be the people that he inherits, as you are today. 4:21 But the LORD became angry with me because of you and swore that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he35 is about to give you as an inheritance. 4:22 So I must die here in this land--there is no crossing of the Jordan for me; but you are going over and will possess that good land. 4:23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any shape, just as he36 has forbidden you. 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.37

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, if you become corrupted and make an image of any kind38 and do other evil things before the LORD your God that enrage him, 4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you39 today that you will surely and swiftly be destroyed from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there40 because you will be totally devastated. 4:27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you41 in the nations where the LORD will drive you. 4:28 There you will worship gods made by human hands--wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 4:29 But if42 you seek the LORD your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. 4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you43 in the latter days, if you return to the LORD your God and listen to him44 4:31 (for he45 is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.

The Uniqueness of Israel's God

4:32 Indeed, ask about earlier days that have preceded you, from the day God created mankind46 on the earth and from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.47 4:33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? 4:34 Or has God ever before tried to deliver48 a nation to himself from the middle of another nation, accompanied by testings, signs, wonders, war, strength, power,49 and other very terrifying things like the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 4:35 You have been made to understand50 that the LORD alone is God--there is no other besides him. 4:36 From heaven he spoke to you51 in order to teach you, and on earth showed you his great fire from which you also heard him.52 4:37 Moreover, because he loved53 your ancestors he chose their54 descendants who followed55 them,56 and personally57 brought you out of Egypt with great power 4:38 to dispossess nations greater and more powerful than you and brought you in to give you their land as an inheritance--just as it has taken place today. 4:39 May you understand today and take it to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below--there is no other! 4:40 And may you keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth58 today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you might enjoy longevity59 in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you forever.

The Narrative Concerning Cities of Refuge

4:41 After all this Moses separated off three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east, 4:42 so that anyone who accidentally killed another60 without having hated him in the past could flee to one of those cities and be safe.61 4:43 These cities are Bezer, in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.

The Setting and Introduction of the Covenant

4:44 Finally, this is the instruction that Moses set before the Israelites--4:45 the stipulations, statutes, and requirements that he62 spoke to them63 after he had brought them out of Egypt, 4:46 in the Transjordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. (It is he whom Moses and the Israelites attacked after they came out of Egypt. 4:47 They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan--both of these being Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east-- 4:48 from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon valley as far as Mount Siyon64--that is, Hermon-- 4:49 all the Arabah of the Transjordan in the east to the Arabah Sea, beneath the watershed65 of Pisgah.)

The Opening Exhortation

5:1 At that time Moses called out to all Israel:1 Listen, Israel, to the statutes and decrees that I am about to deliver to you2 today; hear them and be careful to keep them! 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 5:3 He3 did not make this covenant with our ancestors4 but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now. 5:4 The LORD spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the fire 5:5 (I was standing between the LORD and you then5 to reveal to you the message of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain), and said:

The Ten Commandments

5:6 "I am the LORD your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery.6 5:7 There must not be any other gods for you besides me.7 5:8 You must not make for yourself an image, any kind of a likeness of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath.8 5:9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, responding to9 the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject10 me, 5:10 but showing covenant faithfulness11 to the thousands12 who choose13 me and keep my14 commandments. 5:11 You must not make use of15 the name of the LORD your God for worthless purposes,16 for the LORD will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way.17 5:12 Be careful to set apart18 the Sabbath day just as the LORD your God has commanded. 5:13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 5:14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath19 of the LORD your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you,20 so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, might have rest. 5:15 Recall that you were slaves21 in the land of Egypt and that the LORD brought you out of there by might and power; therefore, the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 5:16 Honor22 your father and your mother just as the LORD your God has told23 you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he24 is about to give you. 5:17 You must not murder.25 5:18 You must not commit adultery. 5:19 You must not steal. 5:20 You must not offer false testimony with respect to your fellow man.26 5:21 You must not desire27 another man's28 wife, nor should you crave his29 house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns."30

The Narrative of the Sinai Revelation and Israel's Response

5:22 All these things the LORD said to your entire assembly at the mountain from the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all.31 And he inscribed the words32 on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 5:23 Then, when you heard the voice from the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, you approached me--all of your tribal leaders and elders-- 5:24 and you said, "The LORD our God has shown us his great glory33 and we have heard him from the fire. It is now clear to us34 that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 5:25 Now, therefore, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the LORD our God we will certainly die! 5:26 Who is there from all the human race35 who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire as we have and has lived? 5:27 Please get near so that you can hear everything the LORD our God is saying and then tell us whatever he36 says to you; then we will pay attention and do it." 5:28 When the LORD heard you37 speaking to me he said to me, "I have heard all that these people have said to you--they have spoken well. 5:29 If only it would really be their desire38 to fear me and keep all my commandments forever, so that it may go well with them and their descendants eternally. 5:30 Go and tell them, `Return to your tents!' 5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments,39 statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them as an inheritance."40 5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as41 he42 has said43 so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land you are going to possess.

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments,1 statutes, and ordinances that the LORD your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed as your possession;2 6:2 and that you might so revere the LORD your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments3 that I am giving4 you--you, your children, and your grandchildren--all your lives, to prolong your days. 6:3 Pay attention,5 Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may greatly increase--as the LORD, God of your ancestors,6 said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

The Essence of the Covenant Principles

6:4 Listen, Israel: As for the LORD your God, the LORD is one.7 6:5 You must love8 the LORD your God with your whole mind,9 your whole being,10 and your whole strength.11

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,12 6:7 and you must teach13 them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the way, as you lie down, and as you get up. 6:8 You should tie them as a sign on your forearm14 and fasten them as symbols15 on your forehead.16 6:9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.17

Exhortation to Worship the LORD Exclusively

6:10 Then when the LORD your God brings you to the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--to give you large, excellent cities you did not build, 6:11 houses filled with choice things you did not provide,18 hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--and you eat to your satisfaction,19 6:12 be careful lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, the place of slavery.20 6:13 You must revere the LORD your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name. 6:14 You must not go after other gods, those21 of the surrounding peoples 6:15 (for the LORD your God, he who is present among you, is a jealous God), lest the anger of the LORD your God erupt22 against you and he destroy you from the very earth.

Exhortation to Obey the LORD Exclusively

6:16 You must not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah.23 6:17 Keep his24 commandments very carefully, as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to do. 6:18 Do whatever is proper25 and good before the LORD so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he26 swore to give to your ancestors, 6:19 and that you may expel all your enemies just as the LORD said.

Exhortation to Remember the Past

6:20 When your children27 ask you later on, "What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?," 6:21 you must say to them,28 "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way.29 6:22 And he30 brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family31 before our very eyes. 6:23 He delivered us from there so that he could enable us to have32 the land he had promised our ancestors. 6:24 And the LORD commanded us to obey all these statutes, that is, to revere him,33 for our good forever, to preserve us as he has to this day. 6:25 Our very righteousness consists in34 carefully keeping this entire commandment35 before the LORD our God, just as he demands."

The Dispossession of Non-Vassals

7:1 When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you--Hittites,1 Girgashites,2 Amorites,3 Canaanites,4 Perizzites,5 Hivites,6 and Jebusites,7 seven8 nations more numerous and powerful than you--7:2 and he9 delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no covenant with them nor show them compassion! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters10 to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, 7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the wrath of the LORD will erupt against you and he will soon destroy you. 7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars,11 cut down their sacred Asherah poles,12 and burn up their images. 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. He13 has chosen you to be a people prized14 above all others on the face of the earth.

The Basis of Israel's Election

7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the LORD considered and chose you--for in fact you were the smallest of all peoples-- 7:8 but because of his15 love16 for you and his faithfulness to the oath17 he swore to your ancestors18 the LORD brought you out with great power, redeeming19 you from the place of slavery,20 from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 Therefore, take note that it is the LORD your God who is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully21 with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate22 him as they deserve23 and destroys them. He will not ignore24 those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve. 7:11 Thus, keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I am commanding you today to do.

Promises of Good for Covenant Obedience

7:12 Then it will be that because you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the gracious covenant25 he swore to your ancestors. 7:13 And he will love, bless, and increase you; he will bless you with many children,26 with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of our oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he swore to your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all people; there will be no barrenness27 among you or your livestock. 7:15 The LORD will protect you from28 all sickness, and you will not experience29 any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; rather he will inflict them on all who hate you.

Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism

7:16 You will overwhelm30 all the people whom the LORD your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them nor worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 7:17 If you think,31 "These nations are more numerous than I--how can I dispossess them?," 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great afflictions you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and extended arm by which he32 brought you out--thus the LORD your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, he33 will release the hornet34 among them until the very last ones who hide from you35 perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the LORD your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He,36 the God who leads you,37 will expel the nations little by little. You must not overcome38 them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 7:23 The LORD your God will give them over to you; he will trouble them with great difficulty until they are destroyed. 7:24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory.39 Nobody will be able to stand before you until you annihilate them. 7:25 You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent40 to the LORD your God. 7:26 You must not bring any detestable thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine annihilation41 like it is. You must absolutely abhor42 and detest it, for it is an object of divine annihilation.

The LORD's Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully the entire commandment1 I am giving you today so that you may live, multiply, and go in and occupy the land that the LORD promised to your ancestors.2 8:2 Remember the whole way by which he3 has brought you these forty years through the desert so that he might, by humbling you, test to see whether deep within yourselves4 you would keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and feeding you with unfamiliar manna5 to make you understand that mankind6 cannot live by food alone, but also by everything that comes from the LORD's mouth.7 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 8:5 Be keenly aware8 that just as a human being disciplines his child, the LORD your God disciplines you. 8:6 Thus, you must keep his9 commandments, that is, walk according to his ways and revere him. 8:7 For the LORD your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of10 olive trees and honey, 8:9 a land where you may eat food in plenty11 and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron12 and from whose hills you can mine copper. 8:10 You will eat and drink and then bless the LORD your God because of the good land he will have given you.

Exhortation to Remember That Blessing Comes from God

8:11 Be very careful lest you forget the LORD your God, not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving13 you today. 8:12 When you eat to your satisfaction,14 when you build and occupy good houses, 8:13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 8:14 be careful15 lest you feel self-important16 and forget the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery,17 8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents18 and scorpions, a thirsty place of no water, bringing forth for you water from flint rock and 8:16 feeding you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might test you and eventually bring good to you. 8:17 Be careful19 lest you say, "My own ability20 has gotten me this wealth." 8:18 You must remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors,21 even as he has to this day. 8:19 Now it will come about that if you forget the LORD your God at all and run after other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will be utterly destroyed. 8:20 Just like the nations the LORD is about to decimate from your sight, so he will do to you because you would not pay attention to him.22

Theological Justification of the Conquest

9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan River1 so you can dispossess2 the nations there, people greater and stronger than you, large cities with extremely high3 fortifications, 9:2 the Anakites,4 a numerous and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said,5 "Who is able to withstand the Anakites?" 9:3 Understand today that the LORD your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will devastate and humiliate them before you. Thus you will expel and demolish them quickly just as he6 has told you. 9:4 Do not think to yourself after the LORD your God has run them out before you, "Because of my own righteousness the LORD has enabled7 me to possess this land, and because of the wickedness of these nations he8 is dispossessing them from before me."9 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness,10 that you have come to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is expelling them before you in order to confirm the promise he11 swore to your ancestors,12 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 9:6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn13 people!

The History of Israel's Stubbornness

9:7 Remember--don't ever forget14--how you provoked the LORD your God in the desert; from the time you left Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him.15 9:8 At Horeb you provoked him16 and he17 was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9:9 When I ascended the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I remained there18 forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing.19 9:10 And the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, written with the very finger20 of God; and on them was everything21 he22 said to you at the mountain from the fire at the time of that assembly. 9:11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the LORD presented me with the two stone tablets, the texts23 of the covenant. 9:12 And he24 said to me, "Get up, go down from here25 because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made a cast image."26 9:13 Moreover, he27 said to me, "I have taken note of these people, that they are a stubborn28 lot! 9:14 Step aside29 and I will annihilate them, obliterating their very name from memory30 and making from you a stronger and more numerous nation than they."

9:15 So I turned and descended from the mountain while it was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 9:16 When I looked, you had indeed31 sinned against the LORD your God and had made a cast calf;32 so quickly you had turned aside from the way he33 had taught34 you! 9:17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down,35 and shattered them before your very eyes. 9:18 Then I fell down before the LORD as at the first time, forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing36 because of all the sin you had committed, doing such wickedness before the LORD as to offend him. 9:19 For I was terrified at the LORD's intense anger37 against you going so far as to destroy you; but he38 listened to me then also. 9:20 The LORD was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him also. 9:21 As for your sinful thing39 that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down,40 ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah,41 Massah,42 and Kibroth-Hattaavah.43 9:23 And when he44 sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, "Go up and possess the land I have given you," you rebelled against the LORD your God and would neither believe nor obey him. 9:24 You have been rebellious against him45 from the very first day I knew you!

Moses' Plea on Behalf of the LORD's Reputation

9:25 Thus I lay flat on the ground before the LORD for forty days and nights,46 for he47 had said he would destroy you. 9:26 And I prayed to him:48 O, Lord GOD,49 do not destroy your people, your very inheritance that you have powerfully redeemed,50 whom you brought out of Egypt by your mighty strength.51 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore52 the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people, 9:28 lest the people of the land53 from which you brought us say, "The LORD was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert." 9:29 They are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out with great strength and powerful leadership.54

The Opportunity to Begin Again

10:1 At that same time the LORD said to me, "Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and ascend the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark.1 10:2 I will write on the tablets the same words2 that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark." 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia3 wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I ascended the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 10:4 The LORD4 then wrote on the tablets the identical writing5 that had been on the first tablets, the ten commandments,6 which he7 had spoken to you at the mountain from the fire at the time of that convocation, and he8 gave them to me. 10:5 Then I turned, descended the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made--they are still there, just as the LORD commanded me.

Conclusion of the Historical Resume

10:6 During those days9 Israel traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan10 to Moserah.11 There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar was made priest in his place. 10:7 From there they went to Gudgodah,12 and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah,13 a place of flowing streams. 10:8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi14 to carry the ark of the LORD's covenant, to stand before the LORD to serve him, and to render blessing15 in his name, as they do to this very day. 10:9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance16 among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance just as the LORD your God told him. 10:10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as at the first time, forty days and nights. The LORD listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 10:11 Then he17 said to me, "Get up, set out before the people, and go and possess the land I promised to give to your ancestors."18

An Exhortation to Love Both God and People

10:12 Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you except to fear him,19 to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve him20 with all your mind21 and being?22 10:13 Keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD that I am commanding you today for your own good. 10:14 The heavens, indeed the highest heavens,23 belong to the LORD your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 10:15 However, only your ancestors did he24 decide25 to select,26 and he chose you, their descendants after them, from all peoples--as is apparent today. 10:16 Therefore, cleanse27 your heart and stop being so stubborn!28 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God and awesome warrior who is unbiased29 and takes no bribe, 10:18 who acts justly toward orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 10:19 You, therefore, love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 10:20 Revere the LORD your God, serve him, cleave to him and take oaths only in his name. 10:21 He is the object of your praise and your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you30 have seen. 10:22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt as only seventy people but now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.31

Reiteration of the Call to Obedience

11:1 Therefore, love the LORD your God and keep his obligations, that is, his statutes, ordinances, and commandments1 forever. 11:2 Bear in mind2 today that I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen the instruction of the LORD your God, his greatness, strength,3 and power,4 11:3 or his signs and works that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land; 11:4 what he did to the army of Egypt, their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea5 overwhelm them when they were pursuing you, and how he6 destroyed them to this very day; 11:5 what he did to you in the desert until you reached this place, 11:6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram,7 sons of Eliab the Reubenite,8 when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their children, their tents, and everything that followed them, in the middle of all Israel-- 11:7 but it is your very eyes that saw all the great deeds of the LORD!

The Bounties of the Land of Promise

11:8 Now pay attention9 to the whole commandment10 I am giving11 you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed,12 11:9 and that you may enjoy long life13 in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors14 and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 11:10 For the land where you are headed as your possession15 is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you sowed seed and which you irrigated by hand16 like a vegetable garden. 11:11 Rather, the land where you are going as your possession is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks water from the rains,17 11:12 one18 the LORD your God looks19 after. He is constantly attentive to it20 from the beginning to the end of the year.21 11:13 Now, if you conscientiously attend to my commandment that I am giving you today, that is, to love22 the LORD your God and to serve him with all your mind23 and being,24 11:14 then, he says, "I will send the rain of your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains,25 so that you may gather in your wheat, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide26 pasturage27 for your livestock and you yourself will eat until you are satisfied."28

Exhortation to Instruction and Obedience

11:16 Watch yourselves lest you become deceived29 and turn to serve and worship other gods! 11:17 Then the anger of the LORD will boil up30 against you and he will close up the sky31 so that it does not rain, the land will not yield its produce, and you will soon die off from the good land that he32 is about to give you. 11:18 Firmly fix these words of mine into your thinking33 and being,34 and tie them as a symbol on your hands and let them be reminders35 on your forehead.36 11:19 Teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit down, while inside your houses, when you travel about, when you lie down, and when you get up. 11:20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 11:21 so that your days and those of your children may be extended in the land which the LORD promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself.37 11:22 For if you are careful to observe all of this commandment I am giving you--to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him--11:23 then he38 will expel all these nations before you and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. 11:24 Every place you set your foot39 will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea.40 11:25 Nobody will be able to resist you;41 the LORD your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you tread, just as he told you.

Anticipation of a Blessing and Cursing Ceremony

11:26 Take note--I am setting42 before you today a blessing and a curse:43 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart44 the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving45 you today, 11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention46 to his47 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before48 you today to pursue49 other gods you have not known. 11:29 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce50 the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.51 11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River,52 toward the west,53 in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal54 near the oak55 of Moreh? 11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it. 11:32 Be certain to keep all the statutes and commandments that I am presenting56 to you today.

The Central Sanctuary

12:1 These are the statutes and commandments that you must be careful to obey in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors,1 has given you to possess for as long2 as you live in the land. 12:2 You must by all means destroy all the places there where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods--on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.3 12:3 You must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars4 to pieces, burn up their sacred Asherah poles,5 and hack up the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory6 from that place. 12:4 You must not worship the LORD your God they way they worship.7 12:5 But you must seek only the place that he8 has chosen to establish his name, his place of residence,9 and you must go there. 12:6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared,10 your votive offerings,11 your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your children must feast there before the LORD your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor12 with which he13 has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone doing what seems best to him,14 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop15 and inheritance the LORD your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River16 and settle in the land that he17 is granting you as an inheritance,18 and you find respite from all your surrounding enemies and live in safety, 12:11 then you must bring to the place the LORD your God will select as the place of residence for his name everything I am commanding you--your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared,19 and all your choice votive-offerings which you devote to him.20 12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levite in your villages21 (since he has no allotment or inheritance with you).22 12:13 Watch yourself carefully lest you offer burnt offerings in any place you wish,23 12:14 for you may do so24 only in the place the LORD chooses in one of your tribal areas25--there you may do everything I am commanding you.26

Regulations for Profane Slaughter

12:15 On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you in all your villages.27 Both the ritually pure and impure may eat it, whether it be a gazelle or an ibex. 12:16 However, you must not eat blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 12:17 You will not be allowed to eat in your villages28 your tithe of grain, grape juice, oil, first-born of the herd and flock, any votive-offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings. 12:18 Only in the presence of the LORD your God may you eat these, in the place he29 has chosen--both you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levite in your villages.30 In that place you will rejoice before the LORD your God in all your activity.31 12:19 Be careful not to overlook32 the Levite as long as you live in the land.

The Sanctity of Blood

12:20 When the LORD your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, "I want to eat meat just as I please," you may do so as you wish.33 12:21 If the place he34 has chosen to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he35 has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat in your villages36 just as you wish. 12:22 Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them. 12:23 However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself;37 you must not eat life with its meat! 12:24 You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. 12:25 You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the LORD's sight.38 12:26 Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the LORD will choose.39 12:27 You must offer your burnt offerings, meat and blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; the blood of your other sacrifices40 you must pour out on his41 altar while you eat the meat. 12:28 Pay utmost attention to these things that I am commanding you so that it may go well with you and your descendants forever--that is, do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

The Abomination of Pagan Gods

12:29 After the LORD your God has cut off the nations from the place where you are going to dispossess them and you do so and settle down in their land, 12:30 be careful not to be ensnared like they are,42 after they have been destroyed from your presence, and pursue their gods and say, "How do these nations serve their gods? I myself will do the same." 12:31 You must not do this against the LORD your God! For everything abominable to him,43 everything he hates, they have done for their gods. They even burn up44 their sons and daughters to their gods!

Idolatry and False Prophets

12:32 (13:1)1 You2 must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!3 13:1 If a prophet or one who foretells by dreams4 should appear5 among you and show you a sign or token,6 13:2 and the sign or token should come to pass7 concerning what he said to you, namely, "Let us follow other gods"--gods whom you have not previously known--"and let us serve them," 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer,8 for the LORD your God will be testing you to see9 if you love him10 with all your mind11 and being.12 13:4 You must walk after the LORD your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him. 13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer,13 he must be executed because he encouraged14 rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from Egypt, redeeming15 you from the place of slavery,16 and because he has tried to deflect you from the way the LORD your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within.17

False Prophets in the Family

13:6 If your own full brother,18 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend19 should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that you have not previously known, either you or your ancestors,20 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near to or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other), 13:8 you must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to put him to death, and then the hands of the whole community21 afterward.22 13:10 You must pelt him to death with stones23 because he tried to entice you away from the LORD your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you.24

Punishment of Community Idolatry

13:12 If it should come to your attention25 in one of your cities that the LORD your God is giving you as a place to live26 that 13:13 some evil people27 have departed from among you to entice28 the inhabitants of their cities,29 saying, "Let's go and serve other gods whom you have not known before," 13:14 you must investigate thoroughly30 and inquire carefully. If it is true and certain that this abomination is being done among you,31 13:15 you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; put under the divine curse32everyone in it, even the livestock, by the sword. 13:16 You must collect all of its spoil into the middle of the plaza33 and burn the city34 and all its spoil as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It will be an abandoned ruin35 forever--it must never be rebuilt again. 13:17 You must not take for yourself anything of that which has been cursed,36 so that the LORD might relent37 of his intense wrath and show you compassion, that he might have mercy on you and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 13:18 Thus you must obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am presenting38 you today and doing the thing that is right39 before him.40

The Holy and the Profane

14:1 You are children of the LORD your God. Do not cut yourselves nor make your forehead bald1 for the sake of the dead. 14:2 For you are a holy people to the LORD your God and he2 has chosen you to be for him a select3 people above all other peoples on the earth. 14:3 You must not eat any forbidden4 thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex,5 the gazelle,6 the roebuck,7 the wild goat, the antelope,8 the wild oryx,9 and the chamois.10 14:6 Every animal with divided hoof--one divided into two parts--and that chews11 the cud,12 that animal you may eat. 14:7 However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew13 the cud and that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger.14 (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore unclean to you). 14:8 Also the pig, though it has parted hooves,15 does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean to you. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains.16 14:9 These you may eat from among water creatures:17 anything with fin and scale you may eat, 14:10 but whatever does not have fin and scale you may not eat; it is unclean to you. 14:11 All ritually clean birds you may eat. 14:12 These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle,18 the vulture,19 the black vulture,20 14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah21 by its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich,22 the owl,23 the seagull, the falcon24 by its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl,25 14:17 the jackdaw,26 the carrion-vulture, the cormorant, 14:18 the stork, the heron by its species, the hoopoe, the bat, 14:19 and any winged thing on the ground are unclean to you--they may not be eaten.27 14:20 You may eat any clean bird. 14:21 You may not eat any corpse; you may give to the resident alien who is in your villages28 and he may eat it or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.29

The Offering of Tribute

14:22 You must be certain to tithe all the produce of your seed that comes from the field year after year. 14:23 And in the presence of the LORD your God you must eat from the tithe of your grain, your grape juice,30 your olive oil, and the first-born of your herds and flocks in the place he will choose to locate his name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 14:24 If the31 place where he32 has decided to locate his name so that he33 may bless you is distant, 14:25 you may convert34 the tithe into money, secure the money,35 and travel to the place the LORD your God will choose for himself. 14:26 Then you may spend the money however you wish for cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever you desire.36 You and your household may eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and enjoy it.37 14:27 As for the Levite in your villages,38 you must not ignore39 him, for he has no allotment or inheritance along with you. 14:28 At the end of every three years you must bring all the tithe of your produce, in that very year, and you must store it up40 in your villages.41 14:29 Then the Levite (because he has no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow of your villages42 may come and eat to the full43 so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work you do.44

Release for Debtors

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must undertake1 a remission2 of debts. 15:2 And this is the nature of the remission: Every creditor3 must remit what he has lent to his neighbor; he must not force payment from his neighbor or brother, for it is to be recognized4 as "the LORD's remission." 15:3 You may exact payment of a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite5 owes you,6 you7 must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the LORD8 will surely bless you in the land that he9 is giving you as an inheritance,10 15:5 if you listen carefully to him11 to keep scrupulously this whole commandment that I am giving12 you today. 15:6 For the LORD your God will bless you just as he said; you will lend generously13 to many nations but will not borrow from any, and will rule over many nations but they will not dominate you.

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If there should be a poor brother from one of your villages14 in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you must not harden your heart or keep a clenched fist15 toward your poor brother. 15:8 Instead, you must open your hand to him and lend him whatever he needs.16 15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of remission, has almost arrived, and your attitude17 be wrong toward your poor brother and you do not give him anything; he will cry out to the LORD against you and it will be regarded as a sin.18 15:10 You must by all means give to him and not be upset by doing it,19 for because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt.20 15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am instructing21 you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites22 who are needy and poor23 in your land.

Release of Debtors

15:12 If your brother or sister Hebrew24 is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant25 go free.26 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress--as the LORD your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15:15 Never forget27 that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. 15:16 However, if the servant28 says to you, "I will not leave29 you," because he loves you and your household, since he has gotten on well with you,30 15:17 you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through31 his ear to the door.32 Then he will become your servant forever (this applies to your female servant as well). 15:18 You should not consider it difficult33 to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice34 the time of a hired worker; the LORD your God will thus bless you in everything you do.

Giving God the Best

15:19 You must set apart35 to the LORD your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 15:20 You and your household must eat them36 annually before the LORD your God in the place he will choose. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish--lameness, blindness, or anything else37--you may not offer them as sacrifice to him.38 15:22 You may eat it in your villages,39 whether you are ritually unclean or clean,40 just as you would eat a gazelle or an antelope. 15:23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

The Passover-Unleavened Bread Festival

16:1 Observe the month Abib1 and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in that month2 he3 brought you out of the land of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal (from the flock or the herd) to the LORD your God in the place he4 will choose to locate his name. 16:3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat the bread make without yeast--symbolic of affliction--with it (for you came out of Egypt hurriedly), so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 16:4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land5 for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain overnight.6 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any7 of your villages8 that the LORD your God is giving you, 16:6 but you must sacrifice it in the evening in9 the place he10 will choose to locate his name, at sunset, the time you came out of Egypt. 16:7 You must boil and eat the Passover in the place he11 will choose; you may return in the morning to your tents.12 16:8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the LORD your God; you must not do any work on that day.

The Festival of Weeks

16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them from the time you begin to harvest13 the standing grain. 16:10 Then you are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks14 before the LORD your God with the measure of your own voluntary offering15 that you will bring, just as he16 has blessed you. 16:11 You shall rejoice before him17--you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages,18 the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you--in the place the LORD will choose to locate his name. 16:12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes.

The Festival of Temporary Shelters

16:13 You must celebrate19 the Festival of Temporary Shelters20 for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest.21 16:14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages.22 16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the LORD your God in the place he23 will choose, for he24 will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do;25 thus you will indeed rejoice! 16:16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the LORD your God in the place he will choose for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him26 empty-handed.27 16:17 Every one of you must give as you are able,28 according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.

Provision for Justice

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants29 in all your villages30 that the LORD your God is giving you by your tribes, and they must judge the people fairly.31 16:19 You must not twist justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes32 blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous. 16:20 You must pursue only justice alone33 so that you may live and inherit the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Examples of Legal Cases

16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole1 near the altar of the LORD your God which you will build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar,2 a thing3 he4 detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him5 a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect,6 because that is considered disgraceful7 to the LORD your God. 17:2 If a man or woman is discovered among you--in one of your villages8 that the LORD your God is giving you--who commits against him9 the evil of breaking his covenant 17:3 and going after and serving other gods and worshiping them--the sun,10 moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted11-- 17:4 and it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing12 has been done in Israel, 17:5 you must summon13 to your villages14 that man or woman who has done this wicked thing--that very man or woman--and you must stone that person to death.15 17:6 At the testimony16 of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses17 must be first to begin his execution, and then all the people are to join in afterward. Thus you will purge evil from among you.

Appeal to a Higher Court

17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge--bloodshed,18 legal claim,19 or assault20--matters of controversy in your villages21--you must leave there22 and go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.23 17:9 You will go to the levitical priests and the judge in office24 in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict.25 17:10 You must then do as they have determined26 at that place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what27 you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce28 to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention29 to the priest currently serving30 the LORD your God there, or to the verdict--that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.

Provision for Kingship

17:14 When you come to the land the LORD your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, "I will appoint a king over me like all the nations surrounding me," 17:15 you must without fail select over you a king whom the LORD your God will choose. From among your fellow citizens31 you must appoint a king--you may not designate32 a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites.33 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so,34 for the LORD has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many35 wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 17:18 When he sits on his royal throne36 he must make a copy of this instruction37 on a scroll given to him by the levitical priests. 17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and observe all the words of this instruction and these statutes in order to carry them out,38 17:20 so that he will not exalt himself39 above his fellow citizens40 and turn from the commandment right or left, and so that he and his descendants may enjoy many years41 ruling over his kingdom42 in43 Israel.

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The levitical priests1--indeed, the entire tribe of Levi--will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings2 of the LORD and of his inheritance.3 18:2 And they4 will have no inheritance in the midst of their brothers; the LORD alone5 is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 18:3 This shall be the priests' fair allotment6 from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep--they must give to the priest7 the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. 18:4 You must give them your choice8 grain, new wine, olive oil, and wool from shearing your flocks. 18:5 For the LORD your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand9 and10 serve in his11 name forever. 18:6 If a12 Levite should come from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, and he comes by his own free will13 to the place the LORD has chosen, 18:7 and serves in the name of the LORD his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD, 18:8 he must eat the same14 share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his inheritance.

Provision for Prophetism

18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not learn the detestable practices of those nations there. 18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire,15 anyone who practices divination,16 a soothsayer,17 an augurer,18 a sorcerer,19 18:11 one who casts spells,20 one who consults a ghost,21 a practitioner of the occult,22 or a necromancer.23 18:12 Whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD and because of these things24 the LORD your God will expel them before you. 18:13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God. 18:14 Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to soothsayers and diviners, but the LORD your God has not appointed you to such things.

18:15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you--from your fellow Israelites;25 you must listen to him 18:16 in line with everything you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb in the day of the convocation: "Do not let us hear the voice of the LORD our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die." 18:17 The LORD then said to me, "What they have asked is good. 18:18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites.26 I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I want.27 18:19 I myself with hold responsible28 anyone who then pays no attention29 to the words that prophet30 will speak in my name.

18:20 "But any prophet who presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods--that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, `How can we know what the LORD has not spoken?'-- 18:22 Whenever a given31 prophet speaks in my32 name and the thing is not fulfilled,33 then I have34 not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him."

Laws Concerning Manslaughter

19:1 When the LORD your God destroys1 the nations whose land he2 is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and buildings, 19:2 you must separate off for yourselves three cities3 in the middle of your land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession. 19:3 You shall build a4 roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent5 of your land that the LORD your God is providing as your inheritance; any killer should be able to flee there. 19:4 Now this is the case6 of the killer who flees there in order to live, one who has inadvertently killed his friend whom he had not hated in the past. 19:5 For example,7 he goes with his friend to the forest to cut wood and when he raises his hand with the ax8 to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose9 from the handle and strikes10 his friend so that he dies. The person responsible11 may then flee to one of these cities to save himself.12 19:6 Otherwise13 the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger14 and overtake him because of the long distance and kill him,15 though this is not a capital case,16 since he did not hate him previously. 19:7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities. 19:8 If the LORD your God should enlarge your borders as he promised your ancestors17 and should give you all the land he pledged to them,18 19:9 and then you are careful to observe the whole commandment19 I am giving you today, namely, to love him20 and to walk forever in his ways, then you must add three more cities21 to these three. 19:10 So you must not shed innocent blood22 in your land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus be guilty of injustice.23 19:11 However, if a person hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, attacks him and kills him,24 and then flees to one of these cities, 19:12 the elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger25 to die. 19:13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent26 from Israel, so that it may go well with you.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

19:14 You must not encroach on your neighbor's property,27 which will have been defined from the first28 in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

19:15 A single witness may not testify29 against another person for any trespass or sin--any whatsoever30--that he may have committed.31 A matter may be legal32 only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 19:16 If a false33 witness takes the stand34 against another person35 to accuse him of rebellion, 19:17 then both parties36 to the controversy must stand before the LORD, that is, before the priests and judges37 who will be in office in those days. 19:18 The judges will seek the truth38 in the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and has given false testimony against the accused,39 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused;40 thus you will purge41 evil from among you. 19:20 The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you. 19:21 You must not react with pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.42

Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies

20:1 When you go to war with your enemies and see chariotry1 and troops2 who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you. 20:2 As you draw near for battle, the priest3 will approach and say to the people, 20:3 "Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward4 to make war with your enemies. Do not become fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them, 20:4 for the LORD your God is the one who accompanies you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory." 20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the people, "Who among you5 has built a new house and not dedicated6 it? He should return home,7 lest he die in battle and someone else dedicate it. 20:6 And who among you8 has planted a vineyard and not benefited from it?9 He should go home, lest he die in battle and another benefit from it. 20:7 And who among you10 has become engaged to a woman but has not married11 her? He should return home, lest he die in battle and another marry her." 20:8 In addition, the officers are to say to the people,12 "Who among you13 becomes immobilized by fear?14 He should return home so that he will not make his fellow soldier's15 spirit16 as unstable17 as his own." 20:9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking,18 they must appoint commanders19 to lead20 the people.

20:10 When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace.21 20:11 If it accepts them22 and submits to you,23 all the people found in it will become compulsory servants24 to you.25 20:12 But if they do not accept terms of peace but make war with you, then you are to lay siege against their city.26 20:13 The LORD your God will deliver it over to you27 and you must kill every single male by the sword. 20:14 However,28 the women, little children, cattle, and anything else in the city--all its plunder--you may take as your booty. You may appropriate29 the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you. 20:15 This is how you are to deal with all those cities very distant from you, those that do not belong to nearby nations.

Laws Concerning War with Canaanite Nations

20:16 As for the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing30 to survive.31 20:17 Instead you must put them under the divine curse32--the Hittite,33 Amorite,34 Canaanite,35 Perizzite,36 Hivite,37 and Jebusite,38--just as the LORD your God has commanded you, 20:18 so that they cannot teach you to do the detestable things they do to their gods and you thereby sin against the LORD your God. 20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not chop down its trees,39 for you may eat from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human, that you should besiege it.40 20:20 However, you may destroy any tree you know not to be suitable for food by cutting it down, and you may use it build siege works41 against the city that is making war with you until you have subjugated it.

Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder

21:1 If a homicide victim1 should be found lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession,2 and no one knows who killed3 him, 21:2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.4 21:3 And the elders of the city nearest to the victim5 must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked--that has never pulled with the yoke-- 21:4 and bring6 the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water,7 to a valley that is neither plowed or sown.8 There at the wadi they are to break the heifer's neck. 21:5 Then the levitical priests9 will approach (for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve him and to bless in his name,10 and by their decision11 every controversy and punishment12 is to be settled) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse13 must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.14 21:7 Then they must proclaim,15 "Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we16 witnessed the crime.17 21:8 Do not blame18 your people Israel whom you redeemed, O LORD, and do not attribute the bloodshed of an innocent person to them in general."19 Then the bloodshed will be atoned. 21:9 In this manner you will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before the LORD.

Laws Concerning Wives

21:10 When you engage your enemies in warfare and the LORD your God allows you to prevail20 and you take prisoners, 21:11 if you should see among them21 an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife, 21:12 you may bring her back to your house. She must shave her head,22 trim her nails, 21:13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured,23 go to your house, and lament for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations24 with her and become her husband and she your wife. 21:14 If it should turn out that you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go25 where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell her;26 you must not take advantage of27 her, since you have already humiliated28 her.

Laws Concerning Children

21:15 If a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other,29 and they both30 bear him children,31 21:16 in the day he divides his inheritance32 he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other33 wife's son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved34 wife as firstborn and give him the double portion35 of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father's procreative power36--to him should go the right of the firstborn.

21:18 If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail,37 21:19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city. 21:20 They must declare to the elders38 of his city, "Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no heed to what we say--he is a glutton and drunkard." 21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. Thus you will purge out39 wickedness from among you, and all Israel40 will hear about it and fear.

Disposition of a Criminal's Remains

21:22 If a person commits a sin punishable by death41 and is executed, and is then hung on a tree, 21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must bury him that same day, for the one who is hung on a tree is cursed by God.42 You must not thereby pollute your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

22:1 You must not observe your neighbor's1 ox or sheep going astray and close your eyes2 to them--you must return them without fail to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner3 does not live4 near you or you do not know who the owner is,5 then you must corral the animal6 at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 22:3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor7 has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved.8 22:4 Do not observe your neighbor's donkey or ox fallen along the road and avoid them;9 instead, you must help him get them up.

22:5 A woman must not wear men's clothing,10 nor should a man dress up in women's clothing, for all who do this are an offense11 to the LORD your God.

22:6 If you happen to notice a bird's nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them,12 you must not take the mother from the young. 22:7 You must be sure to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

22:8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail around your roof to avoid bringing culpability to yourself13 in the event someone should fall from it.

Illustrations of the Principle of Purity

22:9 You must not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed lest the entire yield, both of the seed you sow and the produce of the vineyard, be defiled.14 22:10 You must not plow with an ox and donkey harnessed together. 22:11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together.15 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels16 for the four corners of the clothing you wear.17

Purity in the Marriage Relationship

22:13 If a man marries18 a wife, has sexual intercourse with her, and then rejects19 her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety20 and defaming her reputation21 by saying, "I married this woman but when I became intimate22 with her I discovered she was not a virgin," 22:15 then the father and mother of the young woman must obtain and exhibit23 the evidence of virginity24 for the elders of the city at the gate. 22:16 The young woman's father must say to the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected25 her. 22:17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, `I did not find your daughter to be a virgin,' but this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity!" The cloth must then be spread out26 before the city's elders. 22:18 The elders of that city will then seize the man and punish27 him. 22:19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman's father, for the man who made the accusation28 ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her29 as long as he lives.

22:20 But if it is true that the young woman could produce no evidence of virginity, 22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father's house and stone her to death, for she has done a foolish thing30 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father's house; thus you will purge31 evil from among you.

22:22 If a man is caught32 having sexual relations with a married woman33 both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman herself must die; thus you will purge34 evil from Israel.

22:23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man finds her in the city and has sex with her, 22:24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated35 his neighbor's fiancée; thus you will purge36 evil from among you. 22:25 But if the man found the engaged woman in the field and seized her and raped37 her, then only the man who did this38 must die. 22:26 You must not do anything to the young woman--she has done nothing deserving of death; for just as someone39 attacks another person40 and kills him, so is this case, 22:27 for the man41 found her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.

22:28 If a man comes across42 a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers43 and rapes her and they are discovered, 22:29 the man who has raped her must pay her44 father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

22:30 (23:1)45 A man may not marry46 his father's former47 wife, nor even look on her nakedness.48

Purity in Public Worship

23:1 A man with crushed testicles1 or severed penis may not enter the assembly of the LORD.2 23:2 A person of illegitimate birth3 may not enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation no one related to him4 may do so.5

23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite6 may not enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of their descendants7 shall do so,8 forever,9 23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they10 hired11 Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 23:5 But the LORD your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed12 the curse to a blessing, for the LORD your God loved13 you. 23:6 You must not seek peace and prosperity14 for them through all the ages to come.15 23:7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative;16 you must not hate an Egyptian, for you were a foreigner17 in his land. 23:8 Children of the third generation born to them18 may enter the assembly of the LORD.

Purity in Personal Hygiene

23:9 When you go out as an army19 against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure.20 23:10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal accident,21 he must leave the camp; he may not reenter22 it immediately. 23:11 When evening arrives he must wash himself with water and then at sunset he may reenter23 the camp.

23:12 You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine.24 23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself25 outside you must dig a hole with the spade26 and then turn and cover your excrement.27 23:14 For the LORD your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat28 your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent29 among you and turn away from you.

Purity in the Treatment of the Nonprivileged

23:15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. 23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of30 your villages he prefers; you must not oppress him.

Purity in Cultic Personnel

23:17 There must never be a sacred prostitute31 from among the young women32 of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute33 from the young men34 of Israel. 23:18 No pay of a female prostitute35 or wage of a male prostitute36 may be brought into the temple of the LORD your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are detestable to the LORD your God.

Respect for Others' Property

23:19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite,37 whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 23:20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite,38 so that the LORD your God may bless you in all you undertake39 in the land you are about to enter to possess. 23:21 When you make40 a vow to the LORD your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he41 will surely hold you accountable42 as a sinner.43 23:22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful.44 23:23 Whatever you vow,45 you must be careful to do what you have promised,46 such as what you have vowed to the LORD your God as a freewill offering. 23:24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat grapes as you please to your satisfaction,47 but you must not take away any in a48 container. 23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand,49 but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor's ripe grain.

24:1 If a man marries a woman1 and it turns out that she does not please him2 because he has found something offensive3 in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 24:2 When she has left him4 she may go and become someone else's wife. 24:3 If the second5 husband hates her and then divorces her,6 gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her7 dies, 24:4 her first husband who divorced her8 is not permitted to return and remarry9 her after she has become ritually impure, for that is detestable to the LORD.10 You must not bring sin11 on the land12 which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

24:5 When a man is newly married,13 he need not go into the army nor be obligated with anything;14 he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to15 the wife he has married.

24:6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan for that is like taking a life itself as security.

24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his brothers, fellow Israelites, and regards him as mere property16 and sells him, that kidnapper17 must die. Thus you will purge18 evil from among you.

Respect for Human Dignity

24:8 Be careful in a leprosy plague to follow precisely19 all that the levitical priests instruct you; as I commanded them, so you should do. 24:9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam20 along the way after you left Egypt.

24:10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor you may not go into his house to claim his what he is offering as security.21 24:11 You must stand outside and the person22 to whom you are making the loan will bring what he is offering as security23 outside to you. 24:12 If the person24 is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering.25 24:13 You must by all means return the item he gave you as security to him at sunset so that he may sleep in his garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a righteous deed by the LORD your God.

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites26 or from the resident foreigners who are in your land and villages. 24:15 You must pay his wage that very27 day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it.28 Otherwise he will cry out to the LORD against you and it will become a sin to you.

24:16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children29 do, nor children30 for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.

24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow's garment as security for a loan. 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 24:19 Whenever you reap your harvest in the field and leave some unraked grain there,31 you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the LORD your God may bless every work you do.32 24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure a second time;33 the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time;34 they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.

25:1 If controversy arises between people1 and they go to court for judgment and the judges2 hear the case, they shall exonerate3 the just but condemn4 the guilty.5 25:2 Then,6 if the guilty person7 is sentenced to a beating,8 the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves.9 25:3 Forty blows the judge10 may administer,11 but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your brother with contempt.

25:4 You must not muzzle your12 ox when it is treading grain.

Respect for the Sanctity of Others

25:5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man's wife must not remarry to a stranger, outside the family. Instead, her late husband's brother must go to her, marry her,13 and perform the duty of a brother-in-law.14 25:6 Then15 the first son16 she bears will continue the name of the17 dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel. 25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother's widow, then she18 must go to the elders at the gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to preserve19 his brother's name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me." 25:8 Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, "I don't want to marry her," 25:9 then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face.20 She will then respond, "Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother's lineage." 25:10 His family name will be recorded21 in Israel as "the family22 of the one whose sandal was removed."

25:11 If two men23 get into a hand-to-hand fight, and the wife of one of them gets involved24 to help her husband against his attacker, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals,25 25:12 then you must cut off her hand--do not pity her.

25:13 You must not have26 in your bag different stone weights, a heavy and a light one.27 25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers,28 a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate29 and correct30 stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the LORD your God is about to give you. 25:16 For anyone who does these things is detestable31 to the LORD your God, anyone at all who acts dishonestly.

Treatment of the Amalekites

25:17 Remember what the Amalekites32 did to you on your way from Egypt, 25:18 how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and spent; they were unafraid of God.33 25:19 When, therefore, the LORD your God has brought you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land he34 is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you must wipe the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven35--do not forget!36

Presentation of the First Fruits

26:1 When the time comes1 for you to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 26:2 you must take the first of all the ground's produce you harvest from the land the LORD your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he2 has chosen to locate3 his name.4 26:3 You must go to the priest in office5 at that time and say to him, "I declare today to the LORD your6 God that I have come into the land that the LORD7 swore to our ancestors8 to give us." 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you9 and set it before the altar of the LORD your God. 26:5 And you must affirm10 before the LORD, "A wandering11 Aramean12 was my ancestor,13 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number;14 but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, assigning us burdensome labor. 26:7 So we cried out to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and he15 heard us16 and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the LORD brought us out of Egypt by a powerful hand and an extended arm,17 with great fearsomeness, signs, and wonders. 26:9 And he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 26:10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground's produce that you, LORD, have given me." Then you must set it down before the LORD your God and worship18 before him.19 26:11 Thus you will rejoice at all the good things that the LORD your God has given you and your family,20 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.

Presentation of the Third Year Tithe

26:12 When you finish tithing all21 your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows22 so that they may eat to their satisfaction23 in your villages. 26:13 Then you shall say before the LORD your God, "I have removed the sacred offering24 from my house and given it to the Levites, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me.25 I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 26:14 I have not eaten anything when in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead;26 I have obeyed27 you28 and have done everything you have commanded me. 26:15 Look down from your holy habitation in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors--a land flowing with milk and honey."

Narrative Interlude

26:16 Today the LORD your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do29 with all your heart and being.30 26:17 Today you have declared the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, ordinances, and obey him.31 26:18 And today the LORD has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so that you may keep all his commandments, 26:19 so that he may elevate you above all the nations he has made as a cause of praise, as a name, and as an honor, and so that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, as he has said.

The Assembly at Shechem

27:1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: Pay attention to the whole commandment I am giving1 you today. 27:2 And at the time2 you cross the Jordan to the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover3 them with plaster. 27:3 Then 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,4 said to you. 27:4 So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal5 these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover6 them with plaster. 27:5 And you must build an altar there to the LORD your God, an altar of stones--do not use an iron tool on them. 27:6 You must build the altar of the LORD your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God. 27:7 Also you must offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, rejoicing7 before the LORD your God. 27:8 You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear.

27:9 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. 27:10 You must pay attention to his8 voice and obey9 his commandments and statutes that I am giving10 you today." 27:11 Moreover, Moses commanded the people that day: 27:12 "The following11 must stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 27:13 And these others must stand for the curse on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

The Covenant Curses

27:14 "The Levites will call out to every Israelite12 with a loud voice: 27:15 `Cursed is the one13 who makes a carved or cast image, something detestable14 to the LORD, the work of the craftsman,15 and sets it in a secret place.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:16 `Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother disrespectfully.'16 And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:17 `Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:18 `Cursed is the one who misleads the blind on the road.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:19 `Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:20 `Cursed is the one who has sexual relations17 with his father's wife, for he gains access to his father's privacy.'18 And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:21 `Cursed is the one who commits bestiality.'19 And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:22 `Cursed is the one who has sexual relations20 with his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:23 `Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:24 `Cursed is the one who secretly strikes21 his neighbor.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:25 `Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.' And all the people will say, `Amen!' 27:26 `Cursed is the one who will not pledge himself22 to keep the words of this law and do them.' And all the people will say, `Amen!'

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 "And1 if you indeed obey2 the LORD your God and are careful to observe3 all his commandments I am giving4 you today, the LORD your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 And all these blessings will come to5 you in abundance6 if you obey7 the LORD your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.8 28:4 Your children9 will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your cattle, and the lambs of your sheep. 28:5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.10 28:7 The LORD will cause your enemies who attack11 you to be struck down before you; they will come against you from one direction12 but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The LORD will decree blessing for13 you with respect to your barns and in everything you do;14 yes,15 he will bless you in the land he16 is giving you. 28:9 The LORD will designate you for himself as a holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his17 commandments and walk in his ways. 28:10 And all the people of the earth will see that the name of the LORD is linked with you18 and they will fear you. 28:11 The LORD will enhance his goodness to you19 in respect to your children,20 the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he21 promised to your ancestors22 to give you. 28:12 The LORD will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you the rain of the land in its season and to bless all you do;23 you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The LORD will appoint you to be the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom,24 if you obey25 his26 commandments which I am urging27 you today to be careful to do,28 28:14 and if you do not turn away from all the things I am commanding you today, to either the right or left, to go after other gods and worship29 them.

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 "But if you pay no attention30 to the LORD your God and are not careful to keep31 all his commandments and statutes I am relating to32 you today, then all these curses will come and overtake you: 28:16 You be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 28:18 Your children will be cursed,33 as well as the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your cattle, and the lambs of your flock. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.34

Curses by Disease and Drought

28:20 "The LORD will send on you the curse, confusion, and rebuke in everything you undertake35 until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me.36 28:21 The LORD will plague you with deadly diseases37 until he has completely removed you from the land where you are going, to possess it. 28:22 He38 will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, infection,39 sword,40 scorching, and mildew, and these will attack41 you until you perish. 28:23 The42 sky43 above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky44 until you are destroyed.

Curses by Defeat and Deportation

28:25 "The LORD will allow you45 to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them46 from one direction but flee from them47 in seven directions and will become an object of terror48 to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your 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. 28:27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The LORD will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind.49 28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do;50 you will be constantly51 oppressed and continually robbed,52 with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape53 her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will be unable to eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not return to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you54 look in vain55 all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it.56 28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be only oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.57 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this.58 28:35 The LORD will afflict you in your59 knees and on your legs with painful boils that you will be unable to heal--from the sole of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The LORD will force you and your king60 whom you will appoint over you to go to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule61 to all the people among whom the LORD will drive you.

The Curse of Reversed Status

28:38 "You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because the locust will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because the worm will eat them.62 28:40 You 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.63 28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep64 them because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts65 will take over66 every tree and all the produce of your land. 28:43 The foreigner who resides among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 He will lend to you but you will not lend to him; he will be the head and you will be the tail!

28:45 All these curses will fall on67 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 demanded of68 you. 28:46 These curses69 will be a sign and wonder with reference to70 you and your descendants71 forever.

The Curse of Military Siege

28:47 "Because you have not served the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly72 with73 the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and lack of everything you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. They74 will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The LORD will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth75 as the eagle flies,76 a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or consideration for the young. 28:51 They77 will devour the offspring of your cattle and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with grain, new wine, olive oil, increased herds,78 or larger flocks79 until they have demolished you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages80 until all of your high and fortified walls collapse--those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will put under siege all your gates in all parts of the land the LORD your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring,81 the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you, because of82 the stressful siege83 in which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will look with evil on his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children 28:55 and will withhold from all of them his children's flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the bitter siege with which your enemy will oppress84 you in your villages.85 28:56 Likewise, the most86 tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting the even sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness,87 will turn against88 her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 her afterbirth,89 and her newborn children,90 for she will eat them secretly (since she has nothing else)91 because of the severe siege which your enemy will impose on you in your villages.92

The Curse of Covenant Termination

28:58 "If you refuse to obey all the words of this law, the things written in this book, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, 28:59 then the LORD will magnify93 your punishments94 and those of your descendants, great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you95 with all the diseases of Egypt96 that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you.97 28:61 Moreover, the LORD will pour out on you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned98 in this book of instruction99 until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky,100 because you will not obey the LORD your God. 28:63 This is what will happen:101 Just as the LORD was delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he102 will be pleased to destroy and decimate you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are entering to inherit. 28:64 The 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. 28:65 Among 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. 28:66 Your 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.103 28:67 In 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 fear104 and the things you will see.105 28:68 Then the LORD will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route106 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."

Narrative Interlude

29:1 (28:69)1 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.

The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed

29:2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows:2 "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land, 29:3 the great testings that you yourselves3 saw, those signs and mighty4 wonders. 29:4 But to this very day the LORD has not given you an understanding mind,5 perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! 29:5 I have led you in the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out6 nor have your sandals7 deteriorated. 29:6 You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer--all so that you might know that I8 am the LORD your God! 29:7 When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war9 and we defeated them.10 29:8 Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

The Present Covenant Setting

29:9 "Therefore, keep the terms11 of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. 29:10 You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God--the heads of your tribes,12 your elders, your officials, every Israelite, 29:11 your infants, your wives, and the13 foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water--29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God and into the benefits of the oath that the LORD is making with you today, 29:13 to affirm you today as his people and himself as your God just as he said to you and already swore to your ancestors,14 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29:14 And it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and oath, 29:15 but with whoever stands with us here today before the LORD your God as well as those not with us here today.

The Results of Disobedience

29:16 "(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations that we traversed. 29:17 And you have seen their detestable things15 and idols--the wood, stone, silver, and gold that were with them.) 29:18 Beware that there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you whose heart is turning away from the LORD our God today to go and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.16 29:19 When such a person17 hears the words of this oath he blesses himself within18 and says, I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit,19 thus destroying the watered ground with the parched.20 29:20 The LORD will be unwilling to forgive him, and his zealous wrath21 will smoke against that man; all the curses written in this book will fall down on him22 and the LORD will blot his very remembrance23 out from under heaven. 29:21 Then the LORD will select24 him from all the tribes of Israel for catastrophe25 according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law. 29:22 And the generation to come--your descendants who will rise up after you as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places--will say when they see the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the LORD has brought on it, 29:23 and that the whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning waste, not planted or sprouting or producing grass, like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD destroyed in his fury and rage, 29:24 all the nations will ask, "Why has the LORD done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger all about?" 29:25 Then 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. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they had not known and that he had not allowed26 them-- 29:27 that is why the LORD's anger broke out against this land, bringing27 on it all the curses written in this book. 29:28 So the LORD has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear28 today." 29:29 Secret things belong to the LORD our God but those that are revealed to us and our descendants forever are shown so that we might accomplish all the words of this law.

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 "Now when all these things happen to you1--the blessing and the curse I have set before you--and you remember them in all the nations where the LORD your God has exiled you, 30:2 if you turn to the LORD your God and listen to him2 just as3 I am commanding you today--you and your descendants--with your whole mind4 and being,5 30:3 then the LORD your God will reverse6 your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he7 has scattered you. 30:4 Even if any of your dispersed are under the most distant skies,8 from there the LORD your God will gather and bring you back. 30:5 Then he9 will bring you to the land your ancestors10 possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. 30:6 The LORD your God will also cleanse11 your heart and the hearts of your descendants12 so that you may love him13 with all your mind14 and being,15 in order to live. 30:7 Then the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. 30:8 You will return and pay attention to16 the LORD, keeping17 all his commandments I am giving18 you today. 30:9 The LORD your God will make the labor of your hands19 abundantly successful--in your offspring,20 the offspring21 of your cattle, and the crops of your fields. For the LORD your God will once more22 rejoice over you for good just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, 30:10 if you obey23 the LORD your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, that is, if you turn to him24 with your whole mind25 and being.26

Exhortation to Covenant Obedience

30:11 "For this commandment that I am giving27 you today is not too awesome for you, nor is it too remote. 30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, "Who will go up to heaven to get it for us so that we may hear and obey28 it?" 30:13 And 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 so that we may hear and keep29 it?" 30:14 For the thing is very near you--it is in your mouth and mind30 so that you can do it.

30:15 "Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 30:16 What31 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 where you are going to take possession of it. 30:17 However, if you32 turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 30:18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan River33 to possess. 30:19 I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you today that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you may live--you and your descendants!34 30:20 I also call on you to love the LORD your God, to obey him and cling to him, for he is your life and the means of your longevity35 as you36 live in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Succession of Moses by Joshua

31:1 Then Moses went1 and spoke these things to all Israel. 31:2 He then said to them, "Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about,2 and the LORD has said to me, `You will not cross the Jordan.' 31:3 As for the LORD your God, he is about to cross over before you; he will destroy these nations before you and dispossess them. As for Joshua, he is about to cross before you just as the LORD has said. 31:4 The LORD will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their land, which he destroyed. 31:5 The LORD will deliver them over to you and you will do to them according to the whole commandment I have given you. 31:6 Be strong and bold! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you!" 31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua3 in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the LORD swore to give their ancestors,4 and you will enable them to inherit it. 31:8 And the LORD is indeed5 going before you--he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be discouraged!"

The Deposit of the Covenant Text

31:9 Then Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the levitical priests responsible for carrying the ark of the LORD's covenant and to all Israel's elders. 31:10 He6 commanded them: "At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the release,7 at the Feast of Temporary Shelters,8 31:11 when all Israel has come to appear before the LORD your God in the place he has chosen, you must read this law before them9 within their hearing. 31:12 Gather the people--men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages--so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the LORD your God and be careful to do all the things contained in this law, 31:13 and their children, who have not known, may also hear about and learn to fear the LORD your God for as long as10 you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

The Commissioning of Joshua

31:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Your day of death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent11 of meeting12 so that I can commission him."13 So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 31:15 The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud that14 stood above the door of the tent. 31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, "You are about to die,15 and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they16 are going. They17 will leave me and break my covenant that I have made with them.18 31:17 On that day my anger will flare up against them19 and I will leave them and hide myself from them until they are devoured.20 Many hurts and distresses will overcome them21 so that they22 will say at that time, `Have not these difficulties23 overcome us24 because God is not among us25?' 31:18 But I will certainly hide myself on that day because of all the wickedness they26 will have done by turning to other gods. 31:19 Now compose for yourselves the following27 song and teach it to the Israelites--put it into their very mouths!--so that this song may serve me as a witness against the Israelites. 31:20 For after I have brought them28 to the land I promised to their29 ancestors--one flowing with milk and honey--and they30 eat and become satisfied and fat, then they31 will turn to other gods to worship them and will32 reject me and break my covenant. 31:21 Then when33 many hurts and distresses overcome them34 this song will become a witness against them,35 for their36 descendants will not forget it.37 I know the38 intentions they have in mind39 today, even before I bring them40 to the land I have promised." 31:22 Therefore on that day Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites, 31:23 and the LORD41 commissioned Joshua son of Nun, "Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you."42

Anticipation of Disobedience

31:24 When Moses finished writing on a scroll43 the words of this law in their entirety,44 31:25 he45 commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the LORD's covenant, 31:26 "Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. It will be there as a witness against you, 31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness.46 Indeed, even while I have been alive among you, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more will you be so after my death? 31:28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly47 of these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly before the LORD, inciting him to wrath because of your works." 31:30 Then Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish48 in the hearing49 of the whole assembly of Israel.

Invocation of Witnesses

Israel's Rebellion

A Word of Judgment

The Weakness of Other Gods

The Vindication of the LORD

Narrative Interlude

32:44 Then Moses went with Joshua60 son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to61 the people. 32:45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel 32:46 he said to them, "Instill in62 your mind all the things I am testifying to you today, things you must command your children to observe, all the words of this law. 32:47 For this is no idle word for you--it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan River63 to possess."

Instructions about Moses' Death

32:48 Then the LORD said to Moses that same day, 32:49 "Go up to this Abarim64 hill country, to Mount Nebo (which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho) and see the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites as a possession. 32:50 Die on the mountain that you ascend and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor65 and was gathered to his people, 32:51 for you66 rebelled against me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the desert of Zin because you would not give me proper respect67 among the Israelites. 32:52 You will see the land before you, but you will not enter the land that I am giving to the Israelites."

Introduction to the Blessing of Moses

33:1This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

Blessing on Reuben

Blessing on Judah

Blessing on Levi

Blessing on Benjamin

Blessing on Joseph

Blessing on Zebulun and Issachar

Blessing on Gad

Blessing on Dan

Blessing on Naphtali

Blessing on Asher

General Praise and Blessing

The Death of Moses

34:1Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho;1 and the LORD showed him the whole land--Gilead to Dan, 34:2 and all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the distant2 sea, 34:3 the Negev, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of the date palm trees, as far as Zoar. 34:4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised3 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, `I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your own eyes but you will not cross over there."

34:5 So Moses, servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab as the LORD had said.4 34:6 The Israelites5 buried him in the land of Moab near Beth Peor, but no one knows his burial place to this very day. 34:7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, but his eye was not dull6 nor had his vitality7 departed. 34:8 The Israelites mourned over8 Moses in the deserts of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping in mourning for Moses were completed.

The Epitaph of Moses

34:9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him;9 and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses. 34:10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, who knew the LORD face to face,10 34:11 with all the signs and wonders the LORD had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land, 34:12 and with all the great power11 and all the mighty terror that Moses had performed in view of all Israel.