Deuteronomy 8
EasyEnglish Bible
The Lord takes care of his people
8 Be careful to obey all the commands that I am giving to you today. If you do that, you will continue to live, and you will have many children. You will go into the land that the Lord your God promised to your ancestors. It will become your home. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way across the desert. He took care of you for 40 years. He caused many troubles to come and to test you. He did that to see if you would trust him. He wanted to know whether you would continue to obey his commands. 3 He caused you to become hungry and then he fed you with manna.[a] Neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen this food before. In this way, he taught you that food alone cannot cause people to live. They need to hear every word that the Lord speaks. That is what gives them true life.
4 During those 40 years in the desert, your clothes did not spoil. Your feet did not become big with pain. 5 You should realize that the Lord your God wants you to learn what is right. When he punishes you, he is warning you. That is what a parent does to teach his child. 6 So obey the Lord's commands. Live in a way that pleases him. Respect him with fear.
7 Remember that the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. It is a land that has many streams, pools and springs of water. There is water that runs in the valleys and in the hills. 8-9 It is a land where you will have plenty of food to eat. There is wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and honey. You will have everything that you need. The rocks have iron in them. You can dig copper out of the hills. 10 You can eat all the food that you want. Then remember to thank the Lord your God for the good land that he has given to you.
Remember that God has blessed you
11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God. Always remember to obey his commands, rules and laws that I am telling you today. 12 When you are living in the land, you will have plenty of food to eat. You will build beautiful houses to live in. 13 You will have many cows, sheep and goats. You will have plenty of gold and silver. You will have many more things than you have now. 14 Then be careful! Do not become proud. Never forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. He rescued you from the place where you were slaves. 15 He led you through the large and terrible desert where there were dangerous snakes and scorpions. It was very hot and dry. There was no water there for you to drink. But the Lord made water pour out of a hard rock for you. 16 In the desert, he gave you manna to eat. That was food that your ancestors had never seen. He tested you, to see if you would trust him. He did that to help you enjoy good things in the end.
17 You must never say to yourself, ‘I have got all these valuable things because I am strong and clever!’ 18 Instead, you must always remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you the strength to get good things. He does that to show that his covenant still has authority today. That is the covenant that he promised to your ancestors. 19 But if you forget the Lord your God, he will destroy you. If you turn to other gods and you worship them, I warn you now: God will certainly destroy you! 20 The Lord will do the same thing to you as he does to your enemies. Like those nations, he will completely destroy you if you do not obey him.
Footnotes
- 8:3 In Exodus 16:4-5 we can read how God sent manna for the Israelites to eat in the desert.
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
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.

