Study Desk

"The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you.

"If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised.

The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today.

"But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:

"All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you.

They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall.

"When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you.

"If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God,

Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God.

"Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you—your leaders and officials, your men,

You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations,

so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant.

And the answer will be, ‘It is because the Lord 's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt.

"There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

"I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you.

then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again.

Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back,

The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land.