Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul – 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your corn, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

22 If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him – 23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. 24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours: your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the River Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses. 30 As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, towards the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal. 31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, 32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

The one place of worship

12 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess – as long as you live in the land. Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

Observe therefore all the commands(A) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,(B) and so that you may live long(C) in the land the Lord swore(D) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.(E) 10 The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,(F) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys(G) that drinks rain from heaven.(H) 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes(I) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

13 So if you faithfully obey(J) the commands I am giving you today—to love(K) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul(L) 14 then I will send rain(M) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,(N) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass(O) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.(P)

16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.(Q) 17 Then the Lord’s anger(R) will burn against you, and he will shut up(S) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,(T) and you will soon perish(U) from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.(V) 19 Teach them to your children,(W) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.(X) 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,(Y) 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many(Z) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.(AA)

22 If you carefully observe(AB) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love(AC) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast(AD) to him— 23 then the Lord will drive out(AE) all these nations(AF) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.(AG) 24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours:(AH) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River(AI) to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror(AJ) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.(AK)

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing(AL) and a curse(AM) 27 the blessing(AN) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey(AO) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,(AP) which you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim(AQ) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal(AR) the curses.(AS) 30 As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,(AT) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.(AU) 31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession(AV) of the land the Lord your God is giving(AW) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, 32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

The One Place of Worship

12 These are the decrees(AX) and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.(AY) Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,(AZ) on the hills and under every spreading tree,(BA) where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash(BB) their sacred stones and burn(BC) their Asherah(BD) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names(BE) from those places.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.(BF) But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name(BG) there for his dwelling.(BH) To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes(BI) and special gifts, what you have vowed(BJ) to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.(BK) There, in the presence(BL) of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice(BM) in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

17 And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.

18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

22 For if ye 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 cleave unto him;

23 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

12 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.

But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.