Deuteronomy, 29

1. Moses called all Israel together and said to them: 'You have seen everything that Yahweh did before your eyes in Egypt, to Pharaoh, to his servants and to his whole country-

1. These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he had made with them at Horeb.

2. the great ordeals which you yourselves witnessed, those signs and the great wonders.

2. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,

3. But until today Yahweh has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

3. the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders;

4. 'I have been leading you for forty years in the desert, yet the clothes which you have been wearing have not worn out, nor have the sandals on your feet.

4. but to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.

5. You have had no bread to eat, you have had no wine or fermented liquor to drink, so that you would learn that I, Yahweh, am your God.

5. I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out upon you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet;

6. 'When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to do battle against us; we defeated them.

6. you have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

7. We conquered their country and gave it as heritage to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

7. And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them;

8. 'Keep the words of this covenant, put them into practice, and you will thrive in everything you do.

8. we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manas'sites.

9. 'All of you are standing here today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your tribal leaders, your elders, your scribes, all the men of Israel,

9. Therefore be careful to do the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all that you do.

10. with your children and your wives (and the foreigner too who is in your camp, be he your wood-cutter or your water-carrier),

10. "You stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,

11. and you are about to pass into the covenant of Yahweh your God, sworn with imprecation, which he has made with you today,

11. your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, both he who hews your wood and he who draws your water,

12. and by which, today, he makes you a nation for himself and he himself becomes a God to you, as he has promised you, and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

12. that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God makes with you this day;

13. Not only on your behalf am I today making this covenant and pronouncing this solemn curse,

13. that he may establish you this day as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

14. not only on behalf of those standing here with us in the presence of Yahweh our God today, but also on behalf of those not here with us today.

14. Nor is it with you only that I make this sworn covenant,

15. 'Yes, you know the people with whom we used to live in Egypt, and those through whose countries we have travelled -- the nations through whom we have passed.

15. but with him who is not here with us this day as well as with him who stands here with us this day before the LORD our God.

16. You have seen their abominations and their idols made of wood and stone, silver and gold, which were there.

16. "You know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;

17. 'Let there be no man or woman of you, no clan or tribe, whose heart turns away from Yahweh your God today, to go and serve the gods of these nations. Among you let there be no root which bears poison or wormwood.

17. and you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.

18. If, after hearing this imprecation, anyone, blessing himself, should say in his heart, "I shall do well enough if I follow the dictates of my heart; much water drives away thirst,"

18. Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations; lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,

19. Yahweh will not pardon him. The wrath and jealousy of Yahweh will blaze against such a person; every curse written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot his name out under heaven.

19. one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, `I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' This would lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

20. Yahweh will single him out of all the tribes of Israel for misfortune, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in the book of this Law.

20. The LORD would not pardon him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy would smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book would settle upon him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven.

21. 'The future generation, that of your children coming after you, and the foreigner arriving from some far-away land, on seeing the plagues and diseases inflicted on this country by Yahweh, will exclaim,

21. And the LORD would single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

22. "Sulphur! Salt!-The whole country is burning! No one will sow, nothing grow, no vegetation spring ever again! Devastation like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, devastated by Yahweh in his furious wrath!"

22. And the generation to come, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick --

23. And all the nations will exclaim, "Why has Yahweh treated this country like this? Why this great blaze of anger?"

23. the whole land brimstone and salt, and a burnt-out waste, unsown, and growing nothing, where no grass can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomor'rah, Admah and Zeboi'im, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath --

24. 'And people will say, "Because they deserted the covenant of Yahweh, God of their ancestors, the covenant which he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt;

24. yea, all the nations would say, `Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What means the heat of this great anger?'

25. because they went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods hitherto unknown to them, gods that were no part of their heritage from him:

25. Then men would say, `It is because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,

26. this is why Yahweh's anger has blazed against this country, afflicting it with all the curses written in this book.

26. and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them;

27. In anger, in fury, in fierce wrath, Yahweh has torn them from their own country and flung them into another country, where they are today."

27. therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book;

28. Things hidden belong to Yahweh our God, but things revealed are ours and our children's for ever, so that we can put all the words of this Law into practice.'

28. and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as at this day.'

29.

29. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.