Bible in 90 Days
12 “And there shall be for you a designated place outside the camp; and you shall go there to relieve yourself,[a] 13 and a digging tool[b] shall be included in addition to your other utensils[c] for yourself; and then[d] when you relieve yourself[e] outside the camp you shall dig with it, and then you shall turn, and you shall cover your excrement. 14 For Yahweh your God is walking about in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to hand your enemies over to you before you,[f] and so let your camp be holy, so that he shall not see in it anything indecent,[g] and he shall turn away from going with you.[h]
15 “And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped and fled to you from his master. 16 He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of your towns wherever he pleases;[i] you shall not oppress him.
17 “No woman of Israel[j] shall be a temple prostitute, and no man of Israel[k] shall be a male shrine prostitute. 18 You may not bring the hire[l] of a prostitute or the earnings of a male prostitute[m] into the house of Yahweh your God, for any vow offerings, because both[n] are a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.
19 “You shall not charge your brother interest on money,[o] interest on[p] food, or interest on[q] anything that one could lend[r] on interest. 20 You may lend on interest to the foreigner, but to your countryman[s] you may not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your undertakings[t] in the land where you are going,[u] in order to take possession of it.[v]
21 “When you make a vow[w] to Yahweh your God, you shall not postpone fulfillment of it,[x] for certainly Yahweh your God shall require it from you and if postponed you will incur guilt.[y] 22 And if you refrain from vowing,[z] you shall not incur guilt.[aa] 23 The utterance of your lips you must perform diligently[ab] just as you have vowed freely to Yahweh your God whatever it was that you promised[ac] with your mouth.
24 “When[ad] you come into the vineyard of your neighbor, then you may eat grapes as you please[ae] and until you are full,[af] but you shall not put any into your container.
25 “When[ag] you come into the standing grain of your neighbor, then you may pluck ears with your hand, but you may not swing[ah] a sickle among the standing grain of your neighbor.”
24 “When[ai] a man takes a wife and he marries her and then[aj] she does not please him,[ak] because he found something objectionable[al] and writes her a letter of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her away from his house, 2 and she goes from his house, and she goes out and becomes a wife for another man,[am] 3 and then the second man dislikes her and he writes her a letter of divorce and places it into her hand and sends her from his house, or if the second man dies who took her to himself[an] as a wife, 4 her first husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again[ao] to become a wife to him after she has been defiled,[ap] for that is a detestable thing before[aq] Yahweh, and so you shall not mislead into sin the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance.
5 “When[ar] a man takes a new wife he shall not go out with the army, and he shall not be obligated with anything;[as] he shall be free from obligation, to stay at home[at] for one year, and he shall bring joy to his wife that he took.
6 “A person[au] shall not take[av] a pair of millstones or an upper millstone, for he is taking necessities of life as a pledge.[aw]
7 “If a man is caught[ax] kidnapping somebody from among his countrymen,[ay] the Israelites,[az] and he treats him as a slave or he sells him, then that kidnapper shall die, and so you shall purge the evil from among you.[ba]
8 Be watchful[bb] with respect to[bc] an outbreak of any infectious skin disease, by being very careful and by acting[bd] according to all that the priests and the Levites have instructed you, just as I have commanded them, so you shall diligently observe.[be] 9 So remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam on the journey when you went out from Egypt.[bf]
10 “When you make a loan to your neighbor, a loan of any kind, you shall not go into his house to take his pledge.[bg] 11 You shall wait outside, and the man to whom you are lending, he shall bring the pledge outside to you. 12 And if he is a needy man, you shall not sleep in his pledge.[bh] 13 You shall certainly return the pledge to him as the sun sets,[bi] so that he may sleep in his cloak and may bless you, and it shall be considered righteousness on your behalf[bj] before[bk] Yahweh your God.
14 “You shall not exploit a hired worker, who is needy and poor, from among your fellow men or from among your aliens[bl] who are in your land and in your towns.[bm] 15 On his day you shall give his wage, and the sun shall not go down,[bn] because he is poor and his life depends on it;[bo] do this so that he does not cry out against you to Yahweh, and you incur guilt.[bp]
16 “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, and children shall not be put to death because of their fathers; each one shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 You shall not subvert the rights of an alien or an orphan, and you shall not take as pledge the garment of a widow. 18 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this commandment.
19 “When[bq] you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not return to get it, for it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat off the fruit of your olive trees you shall not search through the branches afterward, for it[br] shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
21 When you harvest grapes, you shall not glean your vineyards again;[bs] it[bt] shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. 22 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.”
25 “When a legal dispute takes place[bu] between men and they come near to the court, and the judges judge with respect to them, then they shall declare the righteous to be in the right and they shall condemn the wicked, 2 then it will happen if the guilty one deserves beating,[bv] then the judge shall make him lie, and he shall beat him before him,[bw] according to[bx] the prescribed number of lashes proportionate to the offense.[by] 3 He may beat him with forty lashes, and he shall not do more than these, so that he will not beat more in addition to these many blows,[bz] and your countryman[ca] would be[cb] degraded before your eyes.
4 “You shall not muzzle an ox when he is threshing.[cc]
5 “When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not become the wife of a man of another family;[cd] her brother-in-law shall have sex with her,[ce] and he shall take her to himself[cf] as a wife, and he shall perform his duty as a brother-in-law with respect to her. 6 And then the firstborn that she bears shall represent his dead brother,[cg] so that his name is not blotted out from Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, ‘My brother-in-law refused to perpetuate his brother’s name[ch] in Israel, for he is not willing to marry me.’[ci] 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him, and if he persists and says, ‘I do not desire to[cj] marry her’ 9 then his sister-in-law shall go near him before the eyes of the elders, and she shall pull off his sandal from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she shall declare[ck] and she shall say, ‘This is how it is done to the man who does not build the house of his brother.’ 10 And his family[cl] shall be called in Israel, ‘The house where the sandal was pulled off.’[cm]
11 “If a man and his brother fight each other and the wife of the one man comes near to rescue her husband from the hand of his attacker and she stretches out her hand and she seizes his genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall not take pity.
13 “There shall not be for your use[cn] in your bag two kinds of stone weights, a large one and a small one.[co] 14 There shall not be in your house for your use[cp] two kinds of measures.[cq] 15 Rather a full and honest weight shall be for your use;[cr] there shall be for you a full and honest measure,[cs] so that your days on the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you may be long. 16 For detestable to[ct] Yahweh your God is everyone who is doing such things,[cu] everyone who is acting[cv] dishonestly.
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the journey when[cw] you went out from Egypt, 18 that he met you on the journey and attacked you, all those lagging behind you and when you were weary and worn out, and he did not fear God. 19 And when[cx] Yahweh your God gives rest to you from all your enemies from around about you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance to take possession of it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; you shall not forget!”
26 “And then[cy] when you come to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and you settle in it, 2 then you shall take from the firstfruit of all the fruit of the ground that you harvest from your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office in those days, and you shall say, ‘I declare today[cz] to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land that Yahweh swore to our ancestors[da] to give to us.’ 4 Then the priest takes the basket from your hand and places it before[db] the altar of Yahweh your God. 5 And you shall declare[dc] and you shall say before[dd] your God, ‘My ancestor[de] was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien few in number,[df] and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us badly, and they oppressed us and imposed on us hard labor. 7 And we cried to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors,[dg] and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression. 8 And Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and with wonders. 9 And he brought us to this place and gave to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And now, look, I am bringing[dh] the firstfruit of the fruit of the ground that you gave to me, Yahweh,’ and you shall place it before[di] Yahweh your God, and you shall bow down before[dj] Yahweh your God. 11 And you shall celebrate with all of the bounty that Yahweh your God gave to you and to your family, you and the Levite and the alien who is in your midst.
12 “When you are finished giving a tithe,[dk] all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied. 13 And you shall say before[dl] Yahweh your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from the[dm] house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten during my time of mourning, and I have not removed anything from it while being unclean, and I have not offered any of it[dn] to someone who has died. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done all that you commanded me to do. 15 Look down from the dwelling place of your holiness, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land that you have given to us, as you swore to our ancestors,[do] a land flowing with milk and honey.’
16 “This day Yahweh your God is commanding you to do these rules and regulations, and you must observe them diligently[dp] with all your heart and with all your soul.[dq] 17 Yahweh you have declared today[dr] to be for you as your God, and to go[ds] in his ways and to observe his rules and his commandments and his regulations and to listen to his voice. 18 And Yahweh has declared you today[dt] to be for him as a people, a treasured possession, as he promised[du] to you, and that you are to observe all his commandments, 19 and that he then will set you[dv] high above all the nations that he has made for his praise and for fame[dw] and for honor and for you to be a holy people[dx] to Yahweh your God, as he promised.”[dy]
Ceremonies
27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying,[dz] “Keep all of the commandment that I am commanding you today.[ea] 2 And then on the day that you cross the Jordan to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, then you shall set up for yourselves[eb] large stones, and you shall paint[ec] them with lime, 3 and you shall write on them all the words of this law at your crossing, so that you may come into the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[ed] promised[ee] to you. 4 And when you cross the Jordan,[ef] you shall set up these stones that I am commanding you about today[eg] on Mount Ebal, and you shall paint[eh] them with lime. 5 And you shall build an altar there for Yahweh your God, an altar of stone, but[ei] you shall not use an iron tool to shape the stones.[ej] 6 You must build the altar of your God with unhewn stones, and you shall sacrifice on it burnt offerings to Yahweh your God. 7 And you shall sacrifice fellowship offerings, and you shall eat them there, and you shall rejoice before[ek] Yahweh your God. 8 You shall write on the stone all of the words of this law very clearly.”
9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying,[el] “Be silent and hear, Israel, for this day you have become a people[em] for Yahweh your God. 10 And listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and observe his commandments and his rules that I am commanding you today.”[en]
Blessings and Curses
11 And Moses charged the people on that day, saying,[eo] 12 “These tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you cross[ep] the Jordan: Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for delivering the curse: Reuben, Gad and Asher and Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites shall declare,[eq] and they shall say to each man of Israel with a loud voice, 15 ‘Cursed be the man that makes a divine image or a cast image, which is a detestable thing for Yahweh, the work of the hand of a skilled craftsman, and then sets it in a hiding place.’[er] And all the people shall respond,[es] ‘Amen.’
16 ‘Cursed be the one who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all of the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
17 ‘Cursed be the one who moves the boundary marker of his neighbor.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
18 ‘Cursed be the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
19 ‘Cursed be the one who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
20 ‘Cursed be the one who lies with the wife of his father, because he has dishonored his father’s bed.’[et] And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
21 ‘Cursed be the one who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
22 ‘Cursed be the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
23 ‘Cursed be the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
24 ‘Cursed be the one who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
25 ‘Cursed be the one who takes a bribe to murder an innocent person.’[eu] And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
26 ‘Cursed be the one who does not keep[ev] the words of this law, to observe them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
28 “And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to diligently observe[ew] all his commandments that I am commanding you today,[ex] then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and they shall have an effect on you[ey] if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:
3 “You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field.
4 “Blessed will be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, the calf of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.[ez]
5 “Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.
6 “Blessed will you be when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out.[fa]
7 “Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you;[fb] on one road[fc] they shall come out against you, but on seven roads[fd] they shall flee before you.[fe] 8 Yahweh will command concerning you[ff] the blessing to be in your barns and in all your endeavors;[fg] and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 9 Yahweh will establish you for himself[fh] as a holy people as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and you walk in his ways. 10 And all of the peoples of the earth shall see that by the name of Yahweh you are called,[fi] and they shall fear you.[fj] 11 And Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous,[fk] in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors[fl] to give to you. 12 Yahweh shall open for you his rich[fm] storehouse, even the heavens, to give the rain for[fn] your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow from them. 13 And Yahweh shall make you[fo] as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top of the nations, and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today[fp] and diligently observe them.[fq] 14 And you shall not turn aside from any of[fr] the words that I am commanding you today[fs] to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.
15 “And then[ft] if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by diligently observing[fu] all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today,[fv] then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:
16 “You shall[fw] be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.
17 “Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough.
18 “The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.
19 “You shall be cursed when you come in,[fx] and you shall be cursed when you go out.[fy]
20 “Yahweh will send upon you[fz] the curse,[ga] the panic,[gb] and the threat[gc] in everything that you undertake,[gd] until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly[ge] because of[gf] the evil of your deeds in that[gg] you have forsaken me. 21 Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you until it consumes you[gh] from the land that you are going to,[gi] to take possession of it. 22 Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword[gj] and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish.[gk] 23 And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron. 24 Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.[gl]
25 “Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before[gm] your enemies; on one road you shall go against[gn] them,[go] but you will flee on seven roads before[gp] them,[gq] and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be anyone to frighten them away.[gr]
27 “Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with the skin rash that cannot be healed.[gs] 28 Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. 29 And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed all the time,[gt] and there will not be anyone who will rescue you. [gu] 30 You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep[gv] with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right before you,[gw] and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and there shall not be anyone who rescues you.[gx] 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and you will be looking on[gy] longingly[gz] for[ha] them all day, but you will be powerless to do anything.[hb] 33 A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.[hc] 34 You shall become mad because of what your eyes shall see.[hd] 35 Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which you will not be able to be healed,[he] from the sole of your foot and up to your crown. 36 Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors[hf] have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.
38 “You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress[hg] them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.[hh] 40 There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives[hi] shall drop off. 41 You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours,[hj] for they shall go into captivity. 42 The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail.
45 “And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you until you are destroyed,[hk] because you did not listen[hl] to the voice of Yahweh your God, by observing[hm] his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46 And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring forever.[hn]
47 “Because[ho] of the fact that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, 48 then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place[hp] a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.[hq] 49 Yahweh will raise up against you a nation from far off, from the end of the earth, attacking as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand,[hr] 50 a grim-faced nation[hs] who does not show respect[ht] to the old and the young and does not show pity. 51 And it[hu] shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed,[hv] and who will not leave for you any grain, wine, and olive oil, calves of your herds,[hw] and lambs of[hx] your flock until it has destroyed you.[hy] 52 And it shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls fall,[hz] which you are trusting in[ia] throughout your land;[ib] and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, during the siege and during the distress[ic] your enemy inflicts upon you. 54 The most refined and the very sensitive[id] man among you shall be mean with his brother[ie] and against his beloved wife[if] and against the rest[ig] of his children that he has left over, 55 by refraining from giving[ih] to even one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because there is not anything that is left over for him during the siege and distress[ii] that your enemy inflicts upon you. 56 The most refined and the most delicate woman among you, who shall[ij] not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being so delicate and from such gentleness, shall be mean to her beloved husband[ik] and against her son and against her daughter, 57 and even concerning her afterbirth that goes out[il] from between her feet and also concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret during the siege and during the distress[im] that your enemy inflicts upon her in your towns.[in]
58 “If you do not diligently observe[io] all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, 59 then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. 60 And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt concerning which you were in dread[ip] because of them.[iq] 61 Also any illness and any plague[ir] that is not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed. 62 And you shall remain only a few people[is] in place of the fact you were formerly as the stars of heaven as far as number is concerned, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 63 And then[it] as Yahweh delighted over you to make you prosperous[iu] to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you[iv] and to destroy you, and so you shall be plucked from the land that you are going there to take possession of it. 64 And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth up to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor[iw] your ancestors,[ix] gods of wood and stone. 65 And among these nations you shall not find rest, and there shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes[iy] and a languishing of your inner self.[iz] 66 And your life shall hang in doubt before you,[ja] and you shall be startled[jb] night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it was evening!’[jc] and in the evening you shall say ‘If only it was morning!’[jd] because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see. 68 And Yahweh shall bring you back to Egypt in ships by the route that I promised[je] to you that ‘You shall not see it again!’[jf] And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer.”
Covenant Renewal, Oaths, Restoration, Charges to the Nation
29 [jg] These are the words of the covenant that Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the Israelites[jh] in the land of Moab besides[ji] the covenant that he made with them at Horeb.
2 And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, “You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; 3 that is, the great trials that your eyes saw, and those great signs and wonders. 4 But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even to this day.[jj] 5 And I have led you forty years[jk] in the desert; your clothes have not worn out on you,[jl] and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.[jm] 6 You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 And when you came to this place then Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out to meet you for battle, and we defeated them. 8 And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites[jn] and to the Gadites[jo] and to the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9 And you must diligently observe the words of this covenant,[jp] so that you may succeed in all that you do.
10 “You are standing today,[jq] all of you, before[jr] Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, 11 your little children, your women and your aliens[js] who are in the midst of your camp, from the choppers[jt] of your wood to the drawers[ju] of your water, 12 in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God,[jv] and into[jw] his oath that Yahweh your God is making with you[jx] today,[jy] 13 in order to establish you today[jz] to himself[ka] as a people and so that he may be for you as God, just as he promised[kb] to you and just as[kc] he swore to your ancestors,[kd] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 “Now I am not making this covenant[ke] and this oath with you alone.[kf] 15 But with whoever is standing here[kg] with us today[kh] before[ki] Yahweh our God, and with whoever is not standing here[kj] with us today.[kk] 16 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the midst of the nations that you traveled[kl] through. 17 And you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood and stone, silver, and gold that were among them, 18 so that there is not[km] among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe whose heart[kn] turns today[ko] from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood. 19 And then when he hears the words of this oath, then[kp] he will assure himself[kq] in his heart, saying,[kr] ‘Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart,’[ks] thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched.[kt] 20 Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law.
22 “And the next generation, that is, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, when[ku] they will see the plagues of that land and its diseases that Yahweh has inflicted upon it, will say, 23 ‘All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, none of its land will be sown,[kv] and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.’ 24 And all the nations will say, ‘Why[kw] has Yahweh done such a thing[kx] to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?’ 25 And they will say,[ky] ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,[kz] which he made[la] with them when he brought them out[lb] from the land of Egypt. 26 And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he[lc] had not allotted to them. 27 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled[ld] against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, 28 and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, just as it is today.’[le]
29 “The hidden things belong to Yahweh[lf] our God, but the revealed things belong to us[lg] to know and to our children forever,[lh] in order to do all the words of this law.”
30 “And then when all of these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have set before you[li] and you call them to mind[lj] among the nations there where Yahweh your God has scattered you, 2 and you return to Yahweh and you listen to his voice according to all that I am commanding you today,[lk] both you and your children,[ll] with all your heart and with all your inner self,[lm] 3 and Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes, and he will have compassion upon you, and he will again gather you together[ln] from all the peoples where Yahweh your God scattered you there.
4 “Even if you are outcasts[lo] at the end of the heavens, even from there Yahweh your God shall gather you, and from there he shall bring you back.[lp] 5 And Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that your ancestors[lq] had taken possession of,[lr] and he will make you successful, and he will make you more numerous than your ancestors.[ls]
6 “And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self[lt] so that you may live.[lu] 7 And Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you,[lv] on those who harassed you.[lw] 8 And you will again listen[lx] to the voice of Yahweh, and you will do all his commandments that I am commanding you today.[ly] 9 And Yahweh your God will make you prosperous in all your undertakings,[lz] and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground abundantly,[ma] for Yahweh will again rejoice[mb] over you, just as he rejoiced over your ancestors.[mc] 10 He will do this if you listen to[md] the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping his commandment and his statutes written in the scroll of this law and if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self.[me]
11 “For this commandment that I am commanding you today[mf] is not too wonderful for you,[mg] and it is not too far from you. 12 It is not in the heavens so that you might say,[mh] ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 13 And it is not beyond the sea,[mi] so that you might say,[mj] ‘Who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and take it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.[mk]
15 “See, I am setting before you[ml] today[mm] life and prosperity and death and disaster; 16 what I am commanding you today[mn] is to love Yahweh your God by going[mo] in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his regulations, and then you will live, and you will become numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land where you are going.[mp] 17 However, if your heart turns aside and you do not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them, 18 I declare to you today[mq] that you will certainly perish; you will not extend your time[mr] on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it. 19 I invoke as a witness against you today[ms] the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you,[mt] blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,[mu] 20 by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,[mv] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.”
Succession, Deposition, and Recitation of Text
31 And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today;[mw] I am not able to go out and to come in any longer, and Yahweh said to me, ‘You may not cross this Jordan.’ 3 Yahweh your God is about to cross before you;[mx] he will destroy these nations before you,[my] and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will be crossing before you,[mz] just as Yahweh promised.[na] 4 And Yahweh will do to them just as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and to their land, which he destroyed with them. 5 And Yahweh will deliver them to you before you,[nb] and you shall do to them according to every commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and be courageous; you should not be afraid, and you should not be in dread from their presence,[nc] for Yahweh your God is the one going with you; he will not leave you alone and he will not forsake you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua, and he said to him in the presence of all Israel,[nd] “Be strong and be courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that Yahweh swore to their ancestors[ne] to give to them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance. 8 Yahweh is the one going before you;[nf] he will be with you, and he will not leave you alone, and he will not forsake you; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be discouraged.” 9 So Moses wrote this law, and he gave it to the priests, the descendants[ng] of Levi, the ones carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 Then Moses commanded them, saying,[nh] “At the end of seven years, in the time of the year for canceling debts during the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before[ni] Yahweh their God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.[nj] 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little children and your aliens that are in your towns,[nk] so that they may hear and so that they may learn and they may revere Yahweh your God, and they shall diligently observe[nl] all the words of this law. 13 And then their children,[nm] who have not known, they too may hear, and they may learn to revere Yahweh their God all the days that you live[nn] on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to get there[no] to take possession of it.”
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, you are about to die;[np] call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of assembly,[nq] so that I may instruct him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in[nr] the tent of assembly.[ns] 15 And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a column of cloud, and the column of the cloud stood at the entrance of the tent. 16 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, you are about to lie down with your ancestors,[nt] and this people will arise and they[nu] will play the prostitute after the foreign gods[nv] of the land to which they are going.[nw] 17 And my anger shall flare up against them[nx] on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they[ny] shall become as prey, and disasters and troubles shall find[nz] them,[oa] and they[ob] shall say on that day, ‘Is it not because our[oc] God is not in our[od] midst that these disasters have found[oe] us?’[of] 18 But I will certainly hide my face on that day, because of all of the evil that they[og] did because they[oh] turned to other gods.
19 “And so then write this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites;[oi] put it in their mouth, so that this song may be for me as a witness against the Israelites.[oj] 20 For when I bring them[ok] into the land that I swore to their[ol] ancestors,[om] a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill,[on] and they[oo] will become fat, and then they[op] will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they[oq] will break my covenant. 21 And then[or] many disasters and troubles will come upon them,[os] and this song will give evidence before them[ot] as a witness, because it will not be forgotten from out of the mouth of their descendants,[ou] for I know their[ov] inclination that they[ow] are having today[ox] before I have brought them[oy] into the land that I swore.” 22 And Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.[oz]
23 Then he[pa] told Joshua the son of Nun, and said to him, “Be strong and be courageous, for you shall bring the Israelites[pb] into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
24 And then when Moses finished writing[pc] the words of this law on the scroll until they were complete,[pd] 25 then Moses commanded the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying,[pe] 26 “Take the scroll of this law and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and it will be there as a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck even now while I am still alive with you today,[pf] rebelling against Yahweh, and how much more[pg] after my death. 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak in their ears these words, and that I may call as witness against them heaven and earth. 29 For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil[ph] in the eyes of Yahweh, provoking him with the work of your hands.”[pi] 30 So Moses spoke into the ears of the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete.[pj]
The Song of Moses
32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching trickle like the dew,
my words like rain showers on tender grass,
and like spring showers on new growth.
3 For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh;
ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are just;
he is a faithful God, and without injustice;[pk]
righteous and upright is he.
5 They have behaved corruptly toward[pl] him;
they are not his children; this is their flaw,
a generation crooked and perverse.
6 Like this do you treat Yahweh,
foolish and unwise[pm] people?
Has he not, your father, created you?
He made you, and he established you.
7 Remember the old days, the years long past;[pn]
ask your father, and he will inform you,
your elders and they will tell you.[po]
8 When the Most High apportioned[pp] the nations,
at his dividing up of the sons of humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples,
according to the number of the children of Israel.[pq]
9 For Yahweh’s portion was his people,
Jacob the share of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
and in a howling, desert wasteland;
he encircled him,[pr] he cared for him,
he protected him like the apple[ps] of his eye.
11 As an eagle stirs up its nest,
hovers over its young,
spreads out its wings, takes them,[pt]
carries them[pu] on its pinions,[pv]
12 so Yahweh alone guided him,[pw]
and there was no foreign god accompanying him.[px]
13 And he set him on the high places of the land,
and he fed him the crops[py] of the field,
and he nursed him with honey from crags,[pz]
and with oil from flinty rock,
14 With curds[qa] from the herd,
and with milk from the flock,
with the fat of young rams,
and rams, the offspring of Bashan,
and with goats along with the finest kernels of wheat,
and from the blood of grapes[qb] you drank fermented wine.[qc]
15 And Jeshurun grew fat, and he kicked;
you grew fat, you bloated, and you became obstinate;
and he abandoned God, his maker,
and he scoffed at the rock of his salvation.
16 They made him jealous with strange gods;
with detestable things they provoked him.
17 They sacrificed to the demons, not God,
to gods whom[qd] they had not known,
new gods who[qe] came from recent times;
their ancestors had not known them.[qf]
18 The rock who[qg] bore you, you neglected,
and you forgot God, the one giving you birth.
19 Then Yahweh saw, and he spurned them,
because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 So he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;
I will see what will be their end,
for they are a generation of perversity,
children in whom there is no faithfulness.[qh]
21 They annoyed me with what is not a god;
they provoked me with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those not a people,
with a foolish nation I will provoke them.
22 For a fire was kindled[qi] by my anger,
and it burned up to the depths of Sheol,[qj]
and it devoured the earth and its produce,
and it set afire the foundation of the mountains.
23 I will heap disasters upon them;
my arrows I will spend on them.
24 They will become weakened by famine,
and consumed by plague and bitter pestilence;
and the teeth of wild animals I will send against them,
with the poison of the creeping things in the dust;
25 From outside her boundaries the sword will make her childless,
and from inside, terror;
both for the young man and also the young woman,
the infant along with the gray-headed man.
26 I thought, “I will wipe them out;
I will make people forget they ever existed.”[qk]
27 If I had not feared a provocation of the enemy,
lest their foes might misunderstand, [ql]
lest they should say, [qm] “Our hand is
triumphant,[qn] and Yahweh did not do all this.”’
28 For they are a nation void of sense,[qo]
and there is not any understanding in them.
29 If only they were wise, they would understand this;
they would discern for themselves their end.[qp]
30 How could one chase a thousand
and two could cause a myriad to flee,
if their Rock had not sold them,
and Yahweh had not given them up?
31 For the fact of the matter is,
their rock is not like our Rock,
and our enemies recognize[qq] this.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
and from the terraces of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
their clusters are bitter.[qr]
33 Their wine is the poison of snakes,
and the deadly poison of horned vipers.
34 ‘Is not this stored up with me,
sealed in my treasuries?’[qs]
35 Vengeance belongs to me[qt] and also recompense,
for at the time their foot slips,[qu]
because the day of their disaster is near,
and fate comes quickly for them.’[qv]
36 For Yahweh will judge on behalf of his people,
and concerning his servants;
he will change his mind when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and there is no one left, confined[qw] or free.[qx]
37 And he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
their rock in whom[qy] they took refuge?
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their libations?
Let them rise up, and let them help you;
Let them be to you a refuge.[qz]
39 See, now, that I, even I am he,
and there is not a god besides me;
I put to death and I give life;
I wound and I heal;
there is not one who delivers from my hand!
40 For indeed I lift up my hand to heaven,
And I promise as I live forever,[ra]
41 When I sharpen[rb] my flashing sword,[rc]
and my hand takes hold[rd] of it in judgment,
I will take reprisals against my foes,[re]
and my haters I will repay.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain,
and captives[rf] from the heads[rg] of the leaders of the enemy.’
43 Call for songs of joy, O nations, concerning his people,[rh]
for the blood of his servants he will avenge,
and he will take reprisals against his foes,[ri]
and he will make atonement for his land, his people.”
44 And Moses came, and he spoke[rj] all the words of this song in the ears of the people; that is, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses finished speaking[rk] all these words to all Israel, 46 then he said to them, “Take to heart all the words[rl] that I am admonishing against you today[rm] concerning which you should instruct them with respect to your children[rn] so that they will observe diligently[ro] all the words of this law, 47 for it is not a trifling matter among you, but it is your life, and through this word you will live long in the land[rp] that you are about to cross the Jordan to get there to take possession of it.”
Instructions Concerning Moses’ Death
48 And Yahweh said to Moses on exactly this day, saying,[rq] 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim range, Mount Nebo, which is opposite Jericho,[rr] and see the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites[rs] as a possession. 50 You shall die on that mountain that you are about to go up there, and you will be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor[rt] and he was gathered to his people, 51 because of the fact that you broke faith with me in the midst of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the desert of Zin, because you did not treat me as holy[ru] in the midst of the Israelites.[rv] 52 Yes, from afar you may view the land, but there you shall not enter there, that is, into the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”[rw]
Blessings of Moses on Israel
33 Now[rx] this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites[ry] before[rz] his death.
2 Then[sa] he said,
“Yahweh came from Sinai,
and he dawned upon them from Seir;
he shone forth from Mount Paran,
and he came with myriads of holy ones,
at his right hand a fiery law for them.[sb]
3 Moreover,[sc] he loves his people,[sd]
all the holy ones were in your hand,
and they bowed down to[se] your feet,
each one accepted directions from you.[sf]
4 A law Moses instructed for us,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 And then a king arose in Jeshurun,
at the gathering of the leaders of the people,
united were the tribes of Israel.[sg]
6 “May Reuben live, and may he not die,
and let his number not be few.”[sh]
7 And he said this of Judah,[si]
“Hear, O Yahweh, the voice of Judah,
and bring him to his people;
his own hands strive[sj] for him,
and may you be a help against[sk] his foes.”
8 And of Levi he said,
“Your Thummim and your Urim
are for your faithful one,[sl]
whom you tested at Massah;[sm]
you contended with him
at the waters of Meribah.
9 The one saying of his father and of his mother,
‘I have not regarded them,’
and his brothers he did not acknowledge,
and his children[sn] he did not know,
but rather they observed your word,
and your covenant they kept.
10 They taught[so] your regulations to Jacob,
and your law to Israel;
they placed incense smoke before you,[sp]
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Yahweh, his substance,
and with the work of his hands you must be pleased;
smite the loins of those who attack him,
and those hating him, so that they cannot arise.”[sq]
12 Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of Yahweh dwells securely,[sr]
the Most High[ss] shields all around him,
all the day,
and between his shoulders he dwells.”
13 And of Joseph he said,
“Blessed by Yahweh is his land,
with[st] the choice things of heaven,
with[su] dew, and with[sv] the deep lying down beneath,
14 and with[sw] the choice things of the fruits[sx] of the the sun,
and with the choice things of the yield of the seasons,[sy]
15 and with[sz] the finest things of the ancient mountains,
and with[ta] the choice things of the eternal hills,[tb]
16 and with[tc] the choice things of the earth and its fullness,
and the favor of the one who dwelt[td] in the bush.[te]
Let them come to the head of Joseph,
and to the crown of the prince among his brothers.
17 As the firstborn of his ox, majesty belongs to him,[tf]
and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he drives people together,[tg]
and they are the myriads of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And of Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and rejoice, Issachar, in your tents;
19 They summon people to the mountains;[th]
there they sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness,
because the affluence of the seas they suck out,
and the most hidden treasures of the sand.”[ti]
20 And of Gad he said,
“Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad;[tj]
like a lion he dwells,
and he tears an arm as well as a scalp.
21 And he selected[tk] the best part for himself, [tl]
for there the portion of a ruler is included,
and he came with the heads of the people;[tm]
he did[tn] the righteousness of Yahweh,
and his regulations for Israel.”
22 And of Dan he said,
“Dan is a cub of a lion;
he leaps from Bashan.”[to]
23 And of Naphtali, he said,
“Oh, Naphtali, sated of favor,
and full of the blessing of Yahweh;
take possession of the lake,
and the land to the south.”
24 And of Asher he said,
“Blessed more than sons[tp] is Asher;
may he be the favorite[tq] of his brothers,
dipping his feet in the oil.[tr]
25 Your bars are[ts] iron and bronze,
and as your days, so is[tt] your strength.”
26 “There is no one like God, O, Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
and with his majesty through the skies.
27 The God of ancient time[tu] is a hiding place,
and underneath are the arms of eternity,[tv]
and he drove out from before[tw] you your enemy,
and he said, ‘Destroy them!’
28 So Israel dwells alone and carefree,
the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and wine;
his heavens even drip dew.
29 Blessed are you, O Israel.
Who is like you, a people who is saved by Yahweh,
the shield of your help,
and who is the sword of your triumph,
and your enemies, they shall fawn before you,[tx]
and you shall tread on their backs.”
The Death of Moses and the Commissioning of Joshua
34 Then Moses went up from the desert plateau[ty] of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite[tz] Jericho, and Yahweh showed him all of the land, Gilead all the way up to Dan, 2 and all of Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and all of the land of Judah, up to the western sea,[ua] 3 and the Negev and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palms, on up to Zoar. 4 And Yahweh said to him, “This is the land that I swore to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob, saying,[ub] ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross into it.”[uc] 5 Then Moses, the servant of Yahweh, died there in the land of Moab according to the command of Yahweh.[ud] 6 And he[ue] buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. But until this day no one knows his burial site. 7 Now Moses was a hundred and twenty years old[uf] when he died;[ug] his sight was not impaired and his vigor had not abated.[uh] 8 And the Israelites[ui] wept concerning Moses thirty days; finally the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were completed.
9 Now[uj] Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him, and the Israelites[uk] listened to him, and they did as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 10 And not again[ul] has a prophet arisen in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew[um] face to face, 11 as far as all the signs and the wonders Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, against[un] Pharaoh and all of his servants and against[uo] all of his land, 12 and as far as all of the mighty deeds[up] and as far as the great awesome wonders[uq] Moses did before the eyes of all Israel.
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