Deuteronomy 8
Common English Bible
8 You must carefully perform all of the commandment that I am commanding you right now so you can live and multiply and enter and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors. 2 Remember the long road on which the Lord your God led you during these forty years in the desert so he could humble you, testing you to find out what was in your heart: whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 He humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you the manna that neither you nor your ancestors had ever experienced, so he could teach you that people don’t live on bread alone. No, they live based on whatever the Lord says.[a] 4 During these forty years, your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t swell up. 5 Know then in your heart that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a father disciplines his children. 6 Keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him, 7 because the Lord your God is bringing you to a wonderful land, a land with streams of water, springs, and wells that gush up in the valleys and on the hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without any shortage—you won’t lack a thing there—a land where stone is hard as iron and where you will mine copper from the hills. 10 You will eat, you will be satisfied, and you will bless the Lord your God in the wonderful land that he’s given you.
Against wealth and overconfidence
11 But watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commands or his case laws or his regulations that I am commanding you right now. 12 When you eat, get full, build nice houses, and settle down, 13 and when your herds and your flocks are growing large, your silver and gold are multiplying, and everything you have is thriving, 14 don’t become arrogant, forgetting the Lord your God:
the one who rescued you from Egypt, from the house of slavery;
15 the one who led you through this vast and terrifying desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, of cracked ground with no water;
the one who made water flow for you out of a hard rock;
16 the one who fed you manna in the wilderness, which your ancestors had never experienced, in order to humble and test you, but in order to do good to you in the end.
17 Don’t think to yourself, My own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. 18 Remember the Lord your God! He’s the one who gives you the strength to be prosperous in order to establish the covenant he made with your ancestors—and that’s how things stand right now. 19 But if you do, in fact, forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, serving and bowing down to them, I swear to you right now that you will be completely destroyed. 20 Just like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, that’s exactly how you will be destroyed—all because you didn’t obey the Lord your God’s voice.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 8:3 Or whatever comes out of the Lord’s mouth
Deuteronomy 8
New King James Version
Remember the Lord Your God
8 “Every commandment which I command you today (A)you must [a]be careful to observe, that you may live and (B)multiply,[b] and go in and possess the land of which the Lord [c]swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God (C)led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and (D)test you, (E)to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, (F)allowed you to hunger, and (G)fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall (H)not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 (I)Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 (J)You should [d]know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, (K)to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, (L)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 (M)When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 (N)lest—when you have eaten and are [e]full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are [f]multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 (O)when your heart [g]is lifted up, and you (P)forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who (Q)led you through that great and terrible wilderness, (R)in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; (S)who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with (T)manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, (U)to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, (V)for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, (W)that He may [h]establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, (X)I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, (Y)so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 8:1 observe to do
- Deuteronomy 8:1 increase in number
- Deuteronomy 8:1 promised
- Deuteronomy 8:5 consider
- Deuteronomy 8:12 satisfied
- Deuteronomy 8:13 increased
- Deuteronomy 8:14 becomes proud
- Deuteronomy 8:18 confirm
Deuteronomy 8
New International Version
Do Not Forget the Lord
8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live(A) and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.(B) 2 Remember how the Lord your God led(C) you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test(D) you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled(E) you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,(F) which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach(G) you that man does not live on bread(H) alone but on every word that comes from the mouth(I) of the Lord.(J) 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.(K) 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.(L)
6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him(M) and revering him.(N) 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land(O)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;(P) 8 a land with wheat and barley,(Q) vines(R) and fig trees,(S) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;(T) 9 a land where bread(U) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;(V) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.(W)
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied,(X) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget(Y) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,(Z) 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget(AA) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,(AB) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes(AC) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.(AD) 16 He gave you manna(AE) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,(AF) to humble and test(AG) you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself,(AH) “My power and the strength of my hands(AI) have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,(AJ) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods(AK) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.(AL) 20 Like the nations(AM) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.(AN)
Deuteronomy 8
English Standard Version
Remember the Lord Your God
8 “The whole commandment that I command you today (A)you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you (B)these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, (C)testing you (D)to know what was in your heart, (E)whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and (F)let you hunger and (G)fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that (H)man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word[a] that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 (I)Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, (J)as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, (K)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, (L)of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 (M)lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 (N)then your heart be lifted up, and you (O)forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who (P)led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, (Q)with its fiery serpents and scorpions (R)and thirsty ground where there was no water, (S)who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with (T)manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, (U)to do you good in the end. 17 Beware (V)lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for (W)it is he who gives you power to get wealth, (X)that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, (Y)I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, (Z)so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 8:3 Hebrew by all
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