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The Agreement in Moab

29 These are the words of the agreement the Lord told Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, as well as the agreement He had made with them at Mount Sinai.

Moses called all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all the Lord did in front of you in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land. You have seen great tests and powerful works. Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, or eyes to see, or ears to hear. I have led you forty years in the desert. Your clothes did not wear out. And your shoes did not wear out on your feet. You did not eat bread, or drink wine or strong drink, so you might know that I am the Lord your God. When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came to meet us to fight. But we won the fight. We took their land and gave it as a gift to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half family group of Manasseh. So be careful to keep the words of this agreement and obey them so all that you do will go well.

10 “Today you all stand before the Lord your God, you, your rulers, your families, your leaders, all the men of Israel, 11 your children, your wives, the stranger who is among your tents, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who gets your water. 12 You are here to take part in the agreement with the Lord your God, and in His promise which the Lord your God is making with you today. 13 So today He will make you His people. He will be your God, just as He told you and as He promised your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

14 “I am not making this agreement and this promise with you alone. 15 I am making them with those who stand here with us today before the Lord our God, and with those who are not here with us today. 16 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the land of the nations on our way here. 17 You have seen their sinful things and their gods of wood, stone, silver and gold, which they had with them. 18 Be careful not to have any man or woman or family or group among you whose heart turns away from the Lord our God today to go and worship the gods of those nations. Do not let there be a root among you giving poison fruit and bad-tasting plants. 19 When one hears the words of this curse, he will say in his pride, ‘I have peace even though I am strong-willed in my heart.’ This will destroy the land that is watered along with the dry land. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive him. But the Lord will be jealous and His anger will burn against that man. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. And the Lord will take out his name from under heaven. 21 The Lord will set him apart for trouble from all the families of Israel, with all the curses of the agreement which are written in this book of the Law.

22 “The children to come, your sons who grow up after you, and the stranger who comes from a land far away, will see the troubles and diseases the Lord has sent upon the land. And they will say, 23 ‘The whole land is sulphur and salt, a burning waste, not planted and not giving any plants, and no grass grows in it. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in His anger.’ 24 All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was He so angry?’ 25 Then men will say, ‘It is because they did not keep the agreement of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they had not known and whom He had not given to them. 27 So the anger of the Lord burned against that land. Every curse was brought upon it that is written in this book. 28 The Lord drove them from their land in much anger. And He sent them into another land, as it is today.’

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God. But the things that are made known belong to us and to our children forever, so we may obey all the words of this Law.

Good Comes to Those Who Return to the Lord

30 “When all these things have come upon you, the good things and the curses which I have told you about, you will remember them in all the nations where the Lord your God has sent you. When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul by all I have told you today, then the Lord your God will have you return from where you were held. He will have loving-pity for you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has sent you. Even if you are driven to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers lived in and it will be yours. He will bring good to you and make you more in number than your fathers. The Lord your God will take away the sin from your heart and from the heart of your children. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so you may live. Then the Lord your God will send all these curses upon those who hate you and upon those who made it hard for you. You will obey the Lord again, and keep all His Laws which I tell you today. And the Lord your God will bring much good upon all the work you do, and upon your children, and the young of your cattle, and the food of your field. For the Lord will again be happy to bring good to you, just as He was happy with your fathers. 10 But you must obey the Lord your God to keep His Laws which are written in this book of the Law. You must turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

Life or Death

11 “For this Law I give you today is not too hard for you, or too far from you. 12 It is not in heaven. You do not need to say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to make us hear it, so we may obey it?’ 13 It is not farther than the sea. You do not need to say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us to make us hear it, so we may obey it?’ 14 But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

15 “See, I have put in front of you today life and what is good, and death and what is bad. 16 I tell you today to love the Lord your God. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and all that He has decided. Then you will live and become many. And the Lord your God will bring good to you in the land you are going in to take. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but leave to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I tell you today that you will die for sure. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan which you are about to take for your own. 19 I call heaven and earth to speak against you today. I have put in front of you life and death, the good and the curse. So choose life so you and your children after you may live. 20 Love the Lord your God and obey His voice. Hold on to Him. For He is your life, and by Him your days will be long. You will be allowed to live in the land the Lord promised to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”