Study Desk

"You shall therefore ^(a)love the Lord your God, and always ^(b)keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.

Know this day ^(c)that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the ^[a]discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm,

and ^(d)His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land;

and what He did to Egypt's army, to its horses and its chariots, ^(e)when He made the water of the ^[b]Red Sea to ^[c]engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord ^[d]completely destroyed them;

and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;

and ^(f)what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and ^(g)every living thing that ^[e]followed them, among all Israel—

but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

"You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, ^(h)so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it;

⁽ⁱ⁾so that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their ^[f]descendants, ^(j)a land flowing with milk and honey.

For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your ^[g]foot like a vegetable garden.

But ^(k)the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,

a land for which the Lord your God cares; ^(l)the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the ^[h]beginning even to the end of the year.

"It shall come about, ^(m)if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, ⁽ⁿ⁾to love the Lord your God and to serve Him ^(o)with all your heart and all your soul,

that ^[i](p)He will give the rain for your land in its season, the ^[j](q)early and ^[k]late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.

^[l](r)He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and ^(s)you will eat and be satisfied.

^[m](t)Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them.

Or ^(u)the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will ^(v)shut up the heavens ^(w)so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and ^(x)you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

"^(y)You shall therefore ^[n]impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as ^[o]frontals ^[p]on your forehead.

^(z)You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.

^(aa)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

so that ^(ab)your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as ^[q](ac)long as the heavens remain above the earth.

For if you are ^(ad)careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, ^(ae)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and ^(af)hold fast to Him,

then the Lord will ^(ag)drive out all these nations from before you, and you will ^(ah)dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.

^(ai)Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; ^(aj)your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as ^[r]the western sea.

^(ak)No man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.

"^(al)See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:

the ^(am)blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today;

and the ^(an)curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, ^[s]by following other gods which you have not known.

"It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, ^(ao)that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

Are they not across the Jordan, west of the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite ^(ap)Gilgal, beside ^(aq)the ^[t]oaks of Moreh?

For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and ^(ar)you shall possess it and live in it,

and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.

"These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord , the God of your fathers, has given you to possess ^[a](a)as long as you live on the ^[b]earth.

You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the ^(b)high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.

^(c)You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their ^[c]Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and ^(d)obliterate their name from that place.

You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God.

^(e)But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.

There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ^(f)your tithes, the ^[d]contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

There also you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^(g)rejoice in all ^[e]your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

"You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes;

for you have not as yet come to ^(h)the resting place and the ⁽ⁱ⁾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 ^(j)He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,

^(k)then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the ^[f]contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord .

And you shall ^(l)rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the ^(m)Levite who is within your gates, since ⁽ⁿ⁾he has no portion or inheritance with you.

"^(o)Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see,

but in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

"^(p)However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, ^[g]whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of ^(q)the gazelle and the deer.

^(r)Only you shall not eat the blood; ^(s)you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

^(t)You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the ^[h]contribution of your hand.

But ^(u)you shall eat them before the Lord your God in ^(v)the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the ^(w)Levite who is within your gates; and you shall ^(x)rejoice before the Lord your God in all ^[i]your undertakings.

^(y)Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite ^[j]as long as you live in your land.

"When the Lord your God extends your border ^(z)as He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,' because ^[k]you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, ^[l]whatever you desire.

If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates ^[m]whatever you desire.

Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it.

Only be sure ^(aa)not to eat the blood, for the blood is the ^[n]life, and you shall not eat the ^[o]life with the flesh.

You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

You shall not eat it, so that ^(ab)it may be well with you and your sons after you, for ^(ac)you will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord .

^(ad)Only your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses.

And ^(ae)you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and ^(af)you shall eat the flesh.

"Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that ^(ag)it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

"When ^(ah)the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,

beware that you are not ensnared ^[p]to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?'

^(ai)You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for ^(aj)they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

"^[q](ak)Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; ^(al)you shall not add to nor take away from it.