Deuteronomy 30 : 1 - 20
translation Common English Bible, 2011
Fifth book in the Pentateuch - Books of Moses
Now, once all these things happen to you,
the blessing and the curse that I'm setting
before you, you must call them to mind
as you sit among the various nations where
the Lord your God has driven you; you
must return to the Lord your God, obeying
his voice, in line with all that I'm commanding
you right now - you and your children - with
all your mind and with all your being. Then
the Lord your God will restore you as you were
before and will have compassion on you,
gathering you up from all the peoples where
the Lord your God scattered you. Even if he
has driven you to the far end of heaven, the Lord
your God will bring you home to the land that
your ancestors possessed; you will possess it
again. And he will do good things for you and
multiply you -- making you more numerous even
than your ancestors!
Then the Lord your God will circumcise your
hearts and the hearts of your descendants so
that you love the Lord your God with all your
mind and with all your being in order that you
may live. The Lord your God will put all these
curses on your enemies and on those who hate
you and chase you. But you will change and obey
the Lord's voice and do all his commandments
that I'm commanding you right now. The Lord
your God will help you succeed in everything
you do -- in your own fertility, your livestock's
offspring, and your land's produce -- everything
will be great! Because the Lord will once again
enjoy doing good things for you just as he
enjoyed doing them for your ancestors, and
because you will be obeying the Lord your
God's voice, keeping his commandments and
his regulations that are written in this
Instruction Scroll (Torah) , and because
you will have returned to the Lord your
God with all your heart and all your being!
This commandment that I'm giving you
right now is definitely not too difficult
for you. It isn't unreachable. It isn't up
in heaven somewhere so that you have to
ask, 'Who will go up for us to heaven
and get it for us that we can hear it and
do it?' Nor is it across the ocean somewhere
so that you have to ask, 'Who will cross the
ocean for us and get it for us that we can
hear it and do it?' Not at all! The word is
very close to you. It's in your mouth
and in your heart, waiting for you to do it!
Look here! Today I've set before you
life and what's good versus
death and what's wrong.
If you obey the Lord your God's
commandments that I'm command-
ing you right now by loving the Lord
your God, by walking in his ways,
and by keeping his commandments,
his regulations, and his case laws,
then you will live and thrive, and
the Lord your God will bless you in
the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you
refuse to listen, and so are misled,
worshipping other _gods and
serving them, I'm telling you right
now that you will definitely die. You
will not prolong your life on the fertile
land that you are crossing the Jordan
River to enter and possess. I call
heaven and earth as my witnesses
[ Deut. 4:26 ] against you right now!
I have set life and death, blessing and
curse [ Deut. 11:26 ] before you. Now
choose life -- so that you and your
descendants will live -- by loving the
Lord your God, by obeying his voice,
and by clinging to him. That's how
you will survive and live long on the
fertile land that Lord swore to give
to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob.
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