Study Desk

"For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

"You shall fear [and worship] the LORD your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect]; you shall serve Him and cling to Him [hold tightly to Him, be united with Him], and you shall swear [oaths] by His name.

"He is your praise and glory; He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which you have seen with your own eyes.

"Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy persons [in all], and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

"Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His precepts, and His commandments [it is your obligation to Him].

"Know this day that I am not speaking to your children who have not known [by personal experience] and who have not seen [firsthand] the instruction and discipline of the LORD your God—His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm;

a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

"It shall come about, if you listen obediently and pay attention to My commandments which I command you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being]—

"For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to hold tightly to Him—

"No man will be able to stand before you; the LORD your God will lay the fear and the dread of you on all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.

the blessing, if you listen to and obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today;

and the curse, if you do not listen to and obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following (acknowledging, worshiping) other gods which you have not known.

"It shall come about, when the LORD your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

"For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall possess it and live in it,

"These are the statutes and judgments (precepts) which you shall be careful to do in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth.

"You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God.

"But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to establish His Name there for His dwelling [place], and there you shall come [to worship Him].

"And there you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all to which you put your hand, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

"For you have not yet come to the resting place and to the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.

"When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,