The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 11 -

(Deuteronomy 4:1–14)

“And so, love the Lord your God, and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments, at all times.

Acknowledge, on this day, the things that your sons did not know. For they did not see the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great acts, and powerful hand, and outstretched arm,

the signs and works that he did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king, and to his entire land,

and to the entire army of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord wiped them away, even to the present day;

and the things that he accomplished for you in the wilderness, until you arrived at this place;

and to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, who was the son of Reuben, those whom the earth, opening its mouth, engulfed with their households and tents, and with their entire substance which they had in the midst of Israel.

Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, which he has accomplished,

God’s Great Blessings

(Joshua 1:1–9)

so that you would keep all his commandments, which I entrust to you this day, and so that you would be able to enter and possess the land, toward which you are advancing,

and so that you may live, for a long time, in the land which the Lord promised under oath to your fathers, and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

For the land, which you shall enter and possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from which you departed, where, when seed has been sown, waters are brought in by irrigation, in the manner of gardens.

Rather, it has mountainous regions and plains, which lay waiting for rain from heaven.

And the Lord your God always visits it, and his eyes are upon it, from the beginning of the year, all the way to its end.

So then, if you obey my commandments, which I am instructing to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole soul,

he will give to your land the early rain and the late rain, so that you may gather your grain, and your wine, and your oil,

and your hay from the fields in order to feed your cattle, and so that you yourselves may eat and be satisfied.

Be careful, lest perhaps your heart may be deceived, and you might withdraw from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them.

And the Lord, becoming angry, might close up heaven, so that the rain would not descend, nor would the earth produce her seedlings, and then you would quickly perish from the excellent land, which the Lord will give to you.

Remember God’s Words

Place these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between your eyes.

Teach your sons to meditate on them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down or rise up.

You shall write them upon the doorposts and the gates of your house,

so that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your sons, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, that he would give it to them for as long as heaven is suspended above the earth.

For if you keep the commandments which I am entrusting to you, and if you do them, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, clinging to him,

the Lord will scatter all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, though they are greater and stronger than you.

Every place upon which your foot shall tread will be yours. From the desert, and from Lebanon, from the great river Euphrates, as far as the western sea, shall be your borders.

No one will stand against you. The Lord your God will spread the terror and dread of you over all the land upon which you shall tread, just as he has spoken to you.

A Blessing and a Curse

Behold, I am setting forth in your sight today a blessing and a curse.

It will be a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am instructing to you this day.

It will be a curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but instead you withdraw from the way, which I am revealing to you now, and you walk after foreign gods that you have not known.

Yet truly, when the Lord your God will have led you into the land, to which you are traveling for a habitation, you shall place the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, the curse upon Mount Ebal,(a)

which are across the Jordan, behind the way which slopes toward the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite, who lives in the plains opposite Gilgal, which is near the valley extending toward and entering a distant place.

For you shall cross over the Jordan, so that you may possess the land which the Lord your God will give you, so that you may have it and possess it.

Therefore, see to it that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I am placing in your sight this day.”

Footnotes

(a)11:29 Put the blessing, et:See Deut. 27:12, etc. and Josue. 8:33, etc.(Challoner)

(Deuteronomy 4:1–14)

Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.

Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm,

his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;

and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day;

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

and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel;

but your eyes have seen all of the LORD’s great work which he did.

God’s Great Blessings

(Joshua 1:1–9)

Therefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess;

and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;

but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky,

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

It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently 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,

that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.

I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them;

and the LORD’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD gives you.

Remember God’s Words

Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates;

that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.

For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him—

then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.

No man will be able to stand before you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you.

A Blessing and a Curse

Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:

the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today;

and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

It shall happen, when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.

Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?

For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it.

You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.