Deuteronomy, 11

1. "Love the LORD, your God, therefore, and always heed his charge: his statutes, decrees and commandments.

1. 'You must love Yahweh your God and always keep his observances, his laws, his customs, his commandments.

2. It is not your children, who have not known it from experience, but you yourselves who must now understand the discipline of the LORD, your God; his majesty, his strong hand and outstretched arm;

2. You are the ones who have had the experience, not your children. They have not had the experience, they have not witnessed the lessons of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,

3. the signs and deeds he wrought among the Egyptians, on Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and on all his land;

3. the signs and the deeds which he performed in the heart of Egypt, against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his entire country,

4. what he did to the Egyptian army and to their horses and chariots, engulfing them in the water of the Red Sea as they pursued you, and bringing ruin upon them even to this day;

4. what he did to the armies of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, by overwhelming them with the waters of the Sea of Reeds when they were pursuing you, and leaving no trace of them to this day;

5. what he did for you in the desert until you arrived in this place;

5. what he did for you in the desert, until you arrived here;

6. and what he did to the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, when the ground opened its mouth and swallowed them up out of the midst of Israel, with their families and tents and every living thing that belonged to them.

6. what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when, with all Israel standing round, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their families, their tents and all their supporters.

7. With your own eyes you have seen all these great deeds that the LORD has done.

7. All these great deeds of Yahweh you have seen with your own eyes.

8. Keep all the commandments, then, which I enjoin on you today, that you may be strong enough to enter in and take possession of the land into which you are crossing,

8. 'You must keep all the commandments which I enjoin on you today, so that you may have the strength to conquer the country into which you are about to cross, to take possession of it,

9. and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers he would give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

9. and so that you may live long in the country which Yahweh promised on oath to bestow on your ancestors and their descendants, a country flowing with milk and honey.

10. "For the land which you are to enter and occupy is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you would sow your seed and then water it by hand, as in a vegetable garden.

10. 'For the country which you are about to enter and make your own is not like the country of Egypt from which you have come, where, having done your sowing, you had to water the seed by foot, as though in a vegetable garden.

11. No, the land into which you are crossing for conquest is a land of hills and valleys that drinks in rain from the heavens,

11. No, the country which you are about to enter and make your own, is a country of hills and valleys watered by the rain of heaven.

12. a land which the LORD, your God, looks after; his eyes are upon it continually from the beginning of the year to the end.

12. Yahweh your God looks after this country, the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end.

13. If, then, you truly heed my commandments which I enjoin on you today, loving and serving the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul,

13. Depend on it: if you faithfully obey the commandments I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh your God and serving him with all your heart and all your soul,

14. I will give the seasonal rain to your land, the early rain and the late rain, that you may have your grain, wine and oil to gather in;

14. I shall give your country rain at the right time, rain in autumn, rain in spring, so that you can harvest your wheat, your new wine and your oil.

15. and I will bring forth grass in your fields for your animals. Thus you may eat your fill.

15. I shall provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat to your heart's content.

16. But be careful lest your heart be so lured away that you serve other gods and worship them.

16. Beware of letting your heart be seduced: if you go astray, serve other gods and bow down to them,

17. For then the wrath of the LORD will flare up against you and he will close up the heavens, so that no rain will fall, and the soil will not yield its crops, and you will soon perish from the good land he is giving you.

17. Yahweh's anger will be kindled against you, he will shut the heavens, there will be no more rain, the soil will not yield its produce and, in the fine country given you by Yahweh, you will quickly perish.

18. "Therefore, take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your forehead.

18. 'Let these words of mine remain in your heart and in your soul; fasten them on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a headband.

19. Teach them to your children, speaking of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.

19. Teach them to your children, and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up.

20. And write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,

20. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

21. so that, as long as the heavens are above the earth, you and your children may live on in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers he would give them.

21. so that you and your children may live long in the country which Yahweh swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is a sky above the earth.

22. "For if you are careful to observe all these commandments I enjoin on you, loving the LORD, your God, and following his ways exactly, and holding fast to him,

22. 'For if you faithfully keep and observe all these commandments that I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh your God, following all his ways and holding fast to him,

23. the LORD will drive all these nations out of your way, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.

23. Yahweh will dispossess all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and more powerful than yourselves.

24. Every place where you set foot shall be yours: from the desert and from Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.

24. Wherever the sole of your foot treads will be yours; your territory will run from the desert all the way to the Lebanon; and from the River, from the River Euphrates, as far as the Western Sea, will be your territory.

25. None shall stand up against you; the LORD, your God, will spread the fear and dread of you through any land where you set foot, as he promised you.

25. No one will be able to resist you; Yahweh your God will make you feared and dreaded throughout the territory you tread, as he has promised you.

26. "I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse:

26. 'Today, look, I am offering you a blessing and a curse:

27. a blessing for obeying the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today;

27. a blessing, if you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God which I enjoin on you today;

28. a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today, to follow other gods, whom you have not known.

28. a curse, if you disobey the commandments of Yahweh your God and leave the way which today I have marked out for you, by following other gods hitherto unknown to you.

29. When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which you are to enter and occupy, then you shall pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, the curse on Mount Ebal.

29. And when Yahweh your God has brought you into the country which you are about to enter and make your own, you must set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

30. (Are they not beyond the Jordan, on the other side of the western road in the country of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite the Gilgal beside the terebinth of Moreh?)

30. (These mountains, as everyone knows, are on the other side of the Jordan on the westward road, in the territory of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the Oak of Moreh.)

31. For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. When, therefore, you take possession of it and settle there,

31. For you are about to cross the Jordan, to enter and take possession of the country given you by Yahweh your God. You will possess it, you will live in it,

32. be careful to observe all the statutes and decrees that I set before you today.

32. and you must keep and observe all the laws and customs promulgated by me to you today.'