Study Desk

But the Lord your God has promised to go ahead of you, like a raging fire burning everything in its path. So when you attack your enemies, it will be easy for you to destroy them and take their land.

I saw how quickly you had sinned and disobeyed the Lord your God. There you were, worshiping the metal idol you had made in the shape of a calf.

Moses said: People of Israel, what does the Lord your God want from you? The Lord wants you to respect and follow him, to love and serve him with all your heart and soul,

Everything belongs to the Lord your God, not only the earth and everything on it, but also the sky and the highest heavens.

The Lord your God is more powerful than all other gods and lords, and his tremendous power is to be feared. His decisions are always fair, and you cannot bribe him to change his mind.

Respect the Lord your God, serve only him, and make promises in his name alone.

Moses said to Israel: The Lord is your God, so you must always love him and obey his laws and teachings.

because the Lord your God keeps his eye on this land and takes care of it all year long.

The Lord your God commands you to love him and to serve him with all your heart and soul. If you obey him,

Love the Lord your God and obey all the laws and teachings that I'm giving you today. If you live the way the Lord wants,

After the Lord your God helps you take the land, you must have a ceremony where you announce his blessings from Mount Gerizim and his curses from Mount Ebal.

Soon you will cross the Jordan River to conquer the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you have settled there,

Don't worship the Lord your God in the way those nations worship their gods.

Soon you will cross the Jordan, and the Lord will help you conquer your enemies and let you live in peace, there in the land he has given you. But after you are settled, life will be different. You must not offer sacrifices just anywhere you want to. Instead, the Lord will choose a place somewhere in Israel where you must go to worship him. All of your sacrifices and offerings must be taken there, including sacrifices to please the Lord and any gift you promise or voluntarily give him. That's where you must also take one tenth of your grain, wine, and olive oil, as well as the first-born of your cattle, sheep, and goats. You and your family and servants will eat your gifts and sacrifices and celebrate there at the place of worship, because the Lord your God has made you successful in everything you have done. And since Levites will not have any land of their own, you must ask some of them to come along and celebrate with you. Sometimes you may want to kill an animal for food and not as a sacrifice. If the Lord has blessed you and given you enough cows or sheep or goats, then you can butcher one of them where you live. You can eat it just like the meat from a deer or gazelle that you kill when you go hunting. And even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat. But you must not eat the blood of any animal—let the blood drain out on the ground.

If you obey these laws, you will be doing what the Lord your God says is right and good. Then he will help you and your descendants be successful.

If the prophet says this, don't listen! The Lord your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul.

because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt. If a prophet tells you to disobey the Lord your God and to stop worshiping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death.

Someone else may say to you, "Let's worship other gods." That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity. The gods worshiped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the Lord , who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god.

After the Lord your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumor about one of the towns.

Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the marketplace, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the Lord your God. Then he won't be angry anymore, and he will have mercy on you and make you successful, just as he promised your ancestors.