Study Desk

Don't forget how the Lord your God has led you through the desert for the past forty years. He wanted to find out if you were truly willing to obey him and depend on him,

You can dig for copper in those hills, and the stones are made of iron ore. And you won't go hungry. Wheat and barley fields are everywhere, and so are vineyards and orchards full of fig, pomegranate, and olive trees, and there is plenty of honey.

Moses said to Israel: After you eat and are full, give praise to the Lord your God for the good land he gave you.

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 bowed down at the place of worship and prayed to the Lord , without eating or drinking for forty days and nights. You had committed a terrible sin by making that idol, and the Lord hated what you had done. He was angry enough to destroy all of you and Aaron as well. So I prayed for you and Aaron as I had done before, and this time the Lord answered my prayers.

It was a sin for you to make that idol, so I threw it into the fire to melt it down. Then I took the lump of gold, ground it into powder, and threw the powder into the stream flowing down the mountain.

In fact, you've rebelled against the Lord for as long as he has known you.

After you had made the idol in the shape of a calf, the Lord said he was going to destroy you. So I bowed down in front of the sacred tent for forty days and nights,

The Lord promised that he would always provide for the tribe of Levi, and that's why he won't give them any land, when he divides it among the other tribes.

and to obey his laws and teachings that I am giving you today. Do this, and all will go well for you.

The Lord defends the rights of orphans and widows. He cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing.

And you should also care for them, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Offer your praises to him, because you have seen him work such terrifying miracles for you.

You saw what the Lord did for you while you were in the desert, right up to the time you arrived here.

that the Lord promised your ancestors and their descendants. It's rich with milk and honey, and you will live there and enjoy it for a long time.

he will send rain at the right seasons, so you will have more than enough food, wine, and olive oil, and there will be plenty of grass for your cattle.

But if you disobey him and worship those gods that have never done anything for you, the Lord will put a curse on you.

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.

The Lord has promised that later on he will give Israel more land, and some of you may not be able to travel all the way from your homes to the place of worship each time you are hungry for meat. But the Lord will give you cattle, sheep, and goats, and you can butcher any of those animals at home and eat as much as you want.

It is the same as eating the meat from a deer or a gazelle that you kill when you go hunting. And in this way, anyone who is unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat.