Deuteronomy 10:12-12:10

New American Standard Bible

¹²“^(A)And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to ^[a]fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and ^(B)love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with ^(C)all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? ¹⁴Behold, ^(D)to the Lord your God belong heaven and the ^[b]highest heavens, ^(E)the earth and all that is in it. ¹⁵^(F)Yet the Lord set His affection on your fathers, to love them, and He chose their ^[c]descendants after them, you over all the other peoples, as it is this day. ¹⁶^(G)So circumcise ^[d]your heart, and do not ^(H)stiffen your neck any longer. ¹⁷^(I)For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the ^(J)Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, ^(K)who does not show partiality, nor ^(L)take a bribe. ¹⁸He executes justice for ^(M)the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹^(N)So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²⁰You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and ^(O)cling to Him, and ^(P)you shall swear by His name. ²¹He is ^(Q)your glory and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. ²²^(R)Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, ^(S)and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

Rewards of Obedience

11 “You shall therefore ^(T)love the Lord your God, and always ^(U)keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. ²Know this day ^(V)that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the ^[e]discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, ³and ^(W)His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; ⁴and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, ^(X)when He made the water of the ^[f]Red Sea ^[g]engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord ^[h]completely eliminated them; ⁵and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; ⁶and ^(Y)what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and ^(Z)every living thing that ^[i]followed them, among all Israel— ⁷but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

⁸“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, ^(AA)so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; ⁹and ^(AB)so that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their ^[j]descendants, ^(AC)a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it ^[k]by your foot like a vegetable garden. ¹¹But ^(AD)the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, ¹²a land for which the Lord your God cares; ^(AE)the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it, from the ^[l]beginning even to the end of the year.

¹³“And it shall come about, ^(AF)if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, ^(AG)to love the Lord your God and to serve Him ^(AH)with all your heart and all your soul, ¹⁴that ^[m]^(AI)He will provide rain for your land in its season, the ^[n]^(AJ)early and ^[o]late rain, so that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. ¹⁵^[p]^(AK)He will also provide grass in your field for your cattle, and ^(AL)you will eat and be satisfied. ¹⁶^[q]^(AM)Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them. ¹⁷Otherwise, ^(AN)the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will ^(AO)shut up the sky ^(AP)so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce; then ^(AQ)you will quickly perish from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸“^(AR)You shall therefore take these words of mine to ^[r]heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your ^[s]hand, and they shall be as ^[t]frontlets ^[u]on your forehead. ¹⁹^(AS)You shall also teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. ²⁰^(AT)And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹so that ^(AU)your days and the days of your sons may be increased on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as ^[v]^(AV)long as the heavens are above the earth. ²²For if you are ^(AW)careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, ^(AX)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and ^(AY)cling to Him, ²³then the Lord will ^[w]^(AZ)dispossess all these nations from you, and you will ^[x]^(BA)dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. ²⁴^(BB)Every place on which the sole of your foot steps shall be yours; ^(BC)your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as ^[y]the western sea. ²⁵^(BD)No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will ^[z]instill the dread of you and the fear of you in all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.

²⁶“^(BE)See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: ²⁷the ^(BF)blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; ²⁸and the ^(BG)curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, ^[aa]by following other gods which you have not known.

²⁹“And it shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, ^(BH)that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite ^(BI)Gilgal, beside ^(BJ)the ^[ab]oaks of Moreh? ³¹For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and ^(BK)you shall possess it and live in it, ³²and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am placing before you today.

Laws of the Sanctuary

12 “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully ^[ac]follow in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess ^[ad]^(BL)as long as you live on the ^[ae]earth. ²You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the ^(BM)high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. ³And ^(BN)you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their ^[af]Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall ^(BO)eliminate their name from that place. ⁴You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God. ⁵^(BP)But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there. ⁶You shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ^(BQ)your tithes, the ^[ag]contribution of your hand, your vowed offerings, your ^[ah]voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. ⁷There you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^(BR)rejoice in all ^[ai]your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, ^(BS)everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes; ⁹for you have not as yet come to ^(BT)the resting place and the ^(BU)inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and ^(BV)He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,