Bible in 90 Days

¹² Choose a place outside the camp where you can go ⌞to relieve yourself⌟. ¹³ You must carry a pointed stick as part of your equipment. When you go outside to squat, dig a hole with it. When you’re done, cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ The Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and hand your enemies over to you. So your camp must always be holy. This way, the Lord will never see anything offensive among you and turn away from you.

¹⁵ If a slave escapes from his master and comes to you, don’t return him to his master. ¹⁶ Let him stay with you ⌞and live⌟ among your people wherever he chooses, in any of your cities that seems best to him. Never mistreat him.

¹⁷ No Israelite man or woman should ever become a temple prostitute. ¹⁸ Never bring gifts or money earned by prostitution into the house of the Lord your God as an offering you vowed to give. These earnings are disgusting to the Lord your God.

¹⁹ Never charge another Israelite any interest on money, food, or anything else that is borrowed. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but not an Israelite. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do once you’ve entered the land and taken possession of it.

²¹ If you make a vow to the Lord your God, don’t avoid keeping it. The Lord your God expects you to keep it. You would be guilty of a sin if you didn’t. ²² If you didn’t make a vow, you would not be guilty. ²³ Make sure you do what you said you would do ⌞in your vow⌟. You freely chose to make your vow to the Lord your God.

²⁴ If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you like until you’re full. But never put any in your basket. ²⁵ If you go into your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick grain by hand. But never use a sickle to cut your neighbor’s grain.

Various Laws

24 This is what you must do if a husband writes out a certificate of divorce, gives it to his wife, and makes her leave his house. (He divorced her because he found out something indecent about her and she no longer pleased him.) ² She might marry another man after she leaves his house. ³ If her second husband doesn’t love her and divorces her, or if he dies, ⁴ her first husband is not allowed to marry her again. She has become unclean.^[a] This would be disgusting in the Lord’s presence. Don’t pollute with sin the land that the Lord your God is giving you as your property.

⁵ A man who has recently been married will be free from military duty or any other public service. For one year he is free to stay at home and make his new wife happy.

⁶ Never let a family’s handmill for grinding flour—or even part of a handmill—be taken to guarantee a loan. The family wouldn’t be able to prepare food in order to stay alive.

⁷ Whoever kidnaps another Israelite must die. The kidnapper must die, whether he treated the other person like a slave or sold him. You must get rid of this evil.

⁸ Guard against outbreaks of serious skin diseases. Be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. Make sure you do what I commanded them. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your trip from Egypt.

¹⁰ When you make a loan to your neighbor, don’t go into his house to take a security deposit. ¹¹ Wait outside, and the person to whom you’re making the loan will bring the deposit out to you. ¹² If the person is poor, don’t keep the coat you took as a deposit overnight. ¹³ Make sure you bring it back to him at sunset. When he wears his coat to bed ⌞that night⌟, he’ll bless you. You will have done the right thing in the presence of the Lord your God.

¹⁴ Don’t withhold pay from hired workers who are poor and needy, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your cities. ¹⁵ Pay them each day before sunset because they are poor and need their pay. Otherwise, they will complain to the Lord about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.

¹⁶ Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.

¹⁷ Never deprive foreigners and orphans of justice. And never take widows’ clothes to guarantee a loan. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God freed you from slavery. So I’m commanding you to do this.

¹⁹ This is what you must do when you’re harvesting wheat in your field. If you forget to bring in one of the bundles of wheat, don’t go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

²⁰ When you harvest olives from your trees, never knock down all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows.

²¹ When you pick the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. So I’m commanding you to do this.

Various Laws

25 This is what you must do whenever ⌞two⌟ people have a disagreement that is brought into court. The judges will hear the case and decide who’s right and who’s wrong. ² If the person who’s in the wrong deserves to be beaten, the judge will order him to lie down. Then the judge will have him beaten with as many lashes as the crime deserves. ³ Forty lashes may be given, but no more. If an Israelite were given more than that, he would be publicly humiliated.

⁴ Never muzzle an ox when it’s threshing ^[b] grain.

⁵ When brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother must marry her and sleep with her. He must do his duty as her brother-in-law. ⁶ Then the first son she has will carry the dead brother’s name so that his name won’t die out in Israel.

⁷ But if the man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the leaders of the city at the city gate. She must say, “My brother-in-law refuses to let his brother’s name continue in Israel. He doesn’t want to do his duty as my brother-in-law.” ⁸ Then the leaders of the city must summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying that he doesn’t want to marry her, ⁹ his brother’s widow must go up to him in the presence of the leaders. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face. She must make this formal statement: “This is what happens to a man who refuses to continue his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰ Then in Israel his family will be called the Family of the Man Without a Sandal.

¹¹ This is what you must do when two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from the man who is beating him. If she tries to stop the fight by grabbing the other man’s genitals, ¹² cut off her hand. Have no pity on her.

¹³ Never carry two sets of weights, a heavier one and a lighter one. ¹⁴ Never have two kinds of measures in your house, a larger one and a smaller one. ¹⁵ Use accurate and honest weights and measures. Then you will live for a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ Everyone who uses dishonest weights and measures is disgusting to the Lord.

¹⁷ Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your trip from Egypt. ¹⁸ They attacked you when you were tired and exhausted and killed all those who were lagging behind. They weren’t afraid of God. ¹⁹ So when the Lord your God gives you peace from all your enemies around you in the land that he is giving you as your own property, don’t forget to erase every memory of the Amalekites from the earth.

A Reminder to Keep God’s Laws

26 Soon you will enter and take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you as your property. When you have settled there, ² take some of the first produce harvested from the fields in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket. Then go to the place where the Lord your God will choose for his name to live. ³ Go to the priest who is serving at that time, and tell him, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land that the Lord is giving us, as he swore to our ancestors.” ⁴ Then the priest will take the basket from you and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵ You will make this formal statement in the presence of the Lord your God: “My ancestors were wandering Arameans. There were only a few of them when they went to Egypt and lived as foreigners. But then they became a great, powerful, and large nation. ⁶ So the Egyptians treated us cruelly, oppressed us, and made us do back-breaking work for them. ⁷ We cried out to the Lord God of our ancestors, and he heard us. He saw our misery, suffering, and oppression. ⁸ Then the Lord used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring us out of Egypt. He used spectacular and awe-inspiring deeds, miraculous signs, and amazing things. ⁹ He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ So now I’ve brought the first produce harvested from the fields you gave me, Lord.”

You will place the basket in the presence of the Lord your God and bow down in front of him. ¹¹ Then you, the Levites, and the foreigners who live among you can enjoy all the good things which the Lord your God has given you and your family.

¹² Every third year is the year when you will store a tenth of that year’s crops ⌞in your houses⌟. During that year distribute what you have stored to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows in your cities, and they may eat all they want. ¹³ When you have distributed all that was stored, say to the Lord your God, “Nothing is left of the holy offering stored in my house. I distributed it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows as you commanded me. I disobeyed none of your commands, and I didn’t forget to do what you commanded. ¹⁴ I didn’t eat any of this holy offering while I was in mourning. I didn’t distribute any of it while I was unclean.^[c] I didn’t offer any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God. I have done everything you commanded me. ¹⁵ Look down from your holy place in heaven. Bless your people Israel and the land flowing with milk and honey that you have given us, as you promised with an oath to our ancestors.”

¹⁶ Today the Lord your God is commanding you to obey these laws and rules. You must faithfully obey them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ Today you have declared that the Lord is your God and that you will follow his directions, obey his laws, commands, and rules, and listen to him. ¹⁸ Today the Lord has declared that you are his people, his own special possession, as he told you. But you must be sure to obey his commands. ¹⁹ Then he will place you high above all the other nations he has made. He will give you praise, fame, and honor, and you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

Write the Law on Stones

27 Moses and the leaders of Israel told the people, “Obey every command I’m giving you today.

² “The day you cross the Jordan River and enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and cover them with plaster. ³ The Lord God of your ancestors is giving you a land flowing with milk and honey, as he promised you. After you’re in that land, write all the words of these teachings on the stones. ⁴ After you cross the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, and cover them with plaster, following the command I’m giving you today. ⁵ Build an altar of stones there dedicated to the Lord your God. Don’t use an iron chisel on the stones. ⁶ You must use uncut stones to build the altar of the Lord your God. Sacrifice burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. ⁷ Sacrifice fellowship offerings, eat them there, and enjoy yourselves in the presence of the Lord your God. ⁸ Write clearly and carefully all the words of these teachings on the stones you set up.”

⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Be quiet and listen, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and laws which I’m giving you today.”

Curses Which Are to Be Recited

¹¹ That same day Moses gave the people this command: ¹² After you cross the Jordan River, these are the tribes that will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ These are the tribes that will stand on Mount Ebal to announce the curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴ The Levites will declare to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:

¹⁵ “Whoever has a carved or metal statue, anything disgusting to the Lord that was made by a craftsman, and sets it up in secret will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

¹⁶ “Whoever curses his father or mother will himself be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

¹⁷ “Whoever moves his neighbor’s boundary marker will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

¹⁸ “Whoever leads blind people in the wrong direction will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

¹⁹ “Whoever deprives foreigners, orphans, or widows of justice will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

²⁰ “Whoever has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife will be cursed. He has disgraced his father.” Then all the people will say amen.

²¹ “Whoever has sexual intercourse with any animal will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

²² “Whoever has sexual intercourse with his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

²³ “Whoever has sexual intercourse with his mother-in-law will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

²⁴ “Whoever kills another person secretly will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

²⁵ “Whoever accepts money to kill an innocent person will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

²⁶ “Whoever doesn’t obey every word of these teachings will be cursed.” Then all the people will say amen.

Blessings from the Lord

28 Carefully obey the Lord your God, and faithfully follow all his commands that I’m giving you today. If you do, the Lord your God will place you high above all the other nations in the world. ² These are all the blessings that will come to you and stay close to you because you obey the Lord your God:

³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

⁴ You will be blessed. You will have children. Your land will have crops. Your animals will have offspring. Your cattle will have calves, and your flocks will have lambs and kids.

⁵ The grain you harvest and the bread you bake will be blessed.

⁶ You will be blessed when you come and blessed when you go.

⁷ The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction but run away from you in seven directions.

⁸ The Lord will bless your barns and everything you do. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you.

⁹ You will be the Lord’s holy people, as he promised you with an oath. He will do this if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and follow his directions. ¹⁰ Then all the people in the world will see that you are the Lord’s people, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ The Lord will give you plenty of blessings: You will have many children. Your animals will have many offspring. Your soil will produce many crops in the land the Lord will give you, as he swore to your ancestors.

¹² The Lord will open the heavens, his rich storehouse, for you. He will send rain on your land at the right time and bless everything you do. You will be able to make loans to many nations but won’t need to borrow from any. ¹³ The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. You will always be at the top, never at the bottom, if you faithfully obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. ¹⁴ Do everything I’m commanding you today. Never worship other gods or serve them.

Curses from the Lord

¹⁵ Obey the Lord your God, and faithfully follow all his commands and laws that I am giving you today. If you don’t, all these curses will come to you and stay close to you:

¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

¹⁷ The grain you harvest and the bread you bake will be cursed.

¹⁸ You will be cursed. You will have few children. Your land will have few crops. Your cattle will be cursed with few calves, and your flocks will have few lambs and kids.

¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come and cursed when you go.

²⁰ The Lord will send you curses, panic, and frustration in everything you do until you’re destroyed and quickly disappear for the evil you will do by abandoning the Lord. ²¹ The Lord will send one plague after another on you until he wipes you out of the land you’re about to enter and take possession of. ²² The Lord will strike you with disease, fever, and inflammation; heat waves,^[d] drought,^[e] scorching winds,^[f] and ruined crops. They will pursue you until you die. ²³ The sky above will look like bronze, and the ground below will be as hard as iron. ²⁴ The Lord will send dust storms and sandstorms on you from the sky until you’re destroyed.

²⁵ The Lord will let your enemies defeat you. You will attack them from one direction but run away from them in seven directions. You will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms in the world. ²⁶ Your dead bodies will be food for all the birds and wild animals. There will be no one to scare them away. ²⁷ The Lord will strike you with the same boils that plagued the Egyptians. He will strike you with hemorrhoids,^[g] sores,^[h] and itching that won’t go away. ²⁸ The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. ²⁹ You will grope in broad daylight as blind people grope in their blindness. You won’t be successful in anything you do.^[i] As long as you live, you will be oppressed and robbed with no one to rescue you.

³⁰ You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will have sex with her. You will build a house, but you won’t live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you won’t enjoy the grapes. ³¹ Your ox will be butchered as you watch, but you won’t eat any of its meat. You will watch as your donkey is stolen from you, but you’ll never get it back. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue it. ³² You will watch with your own eyes as your sons and daughters are given to another nation. You will strain your eyes looking for them all day long, but there will be nothing you can do. ³³ People you never knew will eat what your land and your hard work have produced. As long as you live, you will know nothing but oppression and abuse. ³⁴ The things you see will drive you mad. ³⁵ The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with severe boils that can’t be cured. The boils will cover your whole body from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

³⁶ The Lord will lead you and the king you choose to a nation that you and your ancestors never knew. There you will worship gods made of wood and stone. ³⁷ You will become a thing of horror. All the nations where the Lord will send you will make an example of you and ridicule you.

³⁸ You will plant many crops in your fields, but harvest little because locusts will destroy your crops. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you won’t drink any wine or gather any grapes, because worms will eat them. ⁴⁰ You will have olive trees everywhere in your country but no olive oil to rub on your skin, because the olives will fall off the trees. ⁴¹ You will have sons and daughters, but you won’t be able to keep them because they will be taken as prisoners of war. ⁴² Crickets will swarm all over your trees and the crops in your fields.

⁴³ The ⌞standard of living for the⌟ foreigners who live among you will rise higher and higher, while your ⌞standard of living⌟ will sink lower and lower. ⁴⁴ They will be able to make loans to you, but you won’t be able to make loans to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁵ All these curses will come to you. They will pursue you and stay close to you until you’re destroyed, because you didn’t obey the Lord your God or follow his commands and laws, which I’m giving you. ⁴⁶ These curses will be a sign and an amazing thing to warn you and your descendants forever. ⁴⁷ You didn’t serve the Lord your God with a joyful and happy heart when you had so much. ⁴⁸ So you will serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you. You will serve them even though you are already hungry, thirsty, naked, and in need of everything. The Lord will put a heavy burden of hard work on you until he destroys you.

⁴⁹ The Lord will bring against you a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth. The nation will swoop down on you like an eagle. It will be a nation whose language you won’t understand. ⁵⁰ Its people will be fierce-looking. They will show no respect for the old and no pity for the young. ⁵¹ They’ll eat the offspring of your animals and the crops from your fields until you’re destroyed. They’ll leave you no grain, no new wine, no olive oil, no calves from your herds, and no lambs or kids from your flocks. They’ll continue to do this until they’ve completely ruined you. ⁵² They will blockade all your cities until the high, fortified walls in which you trust come down everywhere in your land. They’ll blockade all the cities everywhere in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

⁵³ Because of the hardships your enemies will make you suffer during the blockade, you will eat the flesh of your own children, the sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. ⁵⁴ Even the most tender and sensitive man among you will become stingy toward his brother, the wife he loves, and the children he still has left. ⁵⁵ He will give none of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all that he has left, because of the hardships your enemies will make you suffer during the blockade of all your cities. ⁵⁶ The most tender and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and tender that she wouldn’t even step on an ant—will become stingy toward the husband she loves or toward her own son or daughter. ⁵⁷ She won’t share with them the afterbirth from her body and the children she gives birth to. She will secretly eat them out of dire necessity, because of the hardships your enemies will make you suffer during the blockade of your cities.

⁵⁸ You might not faithfully obey every word of the teachings that are written in this book. You might not fear this glorious and awe-inspiring name: the Lord your God. ⁵⁹ If so, the Lord will strike you and your descendants with unimaginable plagues. They will be terrible and continuing plagues and severe and lingering diseases. ⁶⁰ He will again bring all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The Lord will also bring you every kind of sickness and plague not written in this Book of Teachings. They will continue until you’re dead. ⁶² At one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky. But only a few of you will be left, because you didn’t obey the Lord your God. ⁶³ At one time the Lord was more than glad to make you prosperous and numerous. Now the Lord will be more than glad to destroy you and wipe you out. You will be torn out of the land you’re about to enter and take possession of.

⁶⁴ Then the Lord will scatter you among all the people of the world, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve gods made of wood and stone that neither you nor your ancestors ever knew. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you will find no peace, no place to call your own. There the Lord will give you an unsettled mind, failing eyesight, and despair. ⁶⁶ Your life will always be hanging by a thread. You will live in terror day and night. You will never feel sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you’ll say, “If only it were evening!” And in the evening you’ll say, “If only it were morning!” You’ll talk this way because of the things that will terrify you and because of the things you’ll see. ⁶⁸ The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships ^[j] on a journey that I said you would never take again. There you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you.

Israel’s Past, Present, and Future

29 ^[k]These are the terms of the promise ^[l] that the Lord commanded Moses to give to the Israelites in Moab. This was in addition to the promise the Lord gave them at Mount Horeb.

² Moses summoned all the people of Israel and said to them:

You’ve seen with your own eyes everything that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country. ³ You also saw those terrible plagues, those miraculous signs, and those spectacular, amazing things. ⁴ But to this day the Lord hasn’t given you a mind that understands, eyes that see, or ears that hear. ⁵ For 40 years I led you through the desert. During that time your clothes and shoes never wore out. ⁶ You ate no bread and drank no wine or liquor. I did this so that you would know that I am the Lord your God.

⁷ When you came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight us, but we defeated them. ⁸ We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh as their property. ⁹ Faithfully obey the terms of this promise. Then you will be successful in everything you do.

¹⁰ All of you are standing here today in the presence of the Lord your God. The heads of your tribes,^[m] your leaders, your officers, and all the men of Israel are here. ¹¹ Your children, your wives, and the foreigners who cut wood and carry water in your camp are also here. ¹² You are ready to accept the terms and conditions of the promise that the Lord your God is giving you today. ¹³ With this promise the Lord will confirm today that you are his people and that he is your God. This is what he told you, and this is what he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with an oath. ¹⁴ You aren’t the only people to receive this promise and its conditions. ¹⁵ It is for those of you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and also for those who are not here today.

¹⁶ You know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through other countries on our way here. ¹⁷ You saw their disgusting gods and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. ¹⁸ Make sure there is no man, woman, family, or tribe among you today who turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of those nations. Make sure that no one among you is the source of this kind of bitter poison.

¹⁹ Someone may hear the conditions of this promise. He may think that he is so blessed that he can say, “I’ll be safe even if I go my own stubborn way. After all, ⌞the Lord would never⌟ sweep away well-watered ground along with dry ground.” ²⁰ The Lord will never be willing to forgive that person, because the Lord’s burning anger will smolder against him. All the curses described in this book will happen to him. The Lord will erase ⌞every memory of⌟ that person’s name from the earth. ²¹ And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster based on all the conditions of the promise written in this Book of the Teachings.

²² Then the next generation of your children and foreigners who come from distant countries will see the plagues that have happened in this land and the diseases the Lord sent here. ²³ They will see all the soil poisoned with sulfur and salt. Nothing will be planted. Nothing will be growing. There will be no plants in sight. It will be as desolate as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, cities the Lord destroyed in fierce anger. ²⁴ Then all the other nations in the world will ask, “Why has the Lord done this to their land? Why is he so angry?”

²⁵ The answer will be, “Because they abandoned the promise of the Lord God of their ancestors. He made this promise to them when he brought them out of Egypt. ²⁶ They worshiped other gods and bowed down to them. These were gods they never heard of, gods the Lord didn’t permit them to have. ²⁷ So the Lord became angry with this land and brought on it all the curses described in this book. ²⁸ In his fierce anger and fury the Lord uprooted these people from their land and deported them to another country, where they still are today.”

²⁹ Some things are hidden. They belong to the Lord our God. But the things that have been revealed in these teachings belong to us and to our children forever. We must obey every word of these teachings.

30 All these blessings and curses I have spoken about will happen to you. Take them to heart when you are among all the nations where the Lord your God will scatter you. ² If you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, doing everything I command you today, ³ he will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you from all the nations of the world where he will scatter you. ⁴ Even if you are scattered to the most distant country in the world, the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back from there. ⁵ The Lord your God will bring you to the land your ancestors owned. You will take possession of it, and the Lord will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors were.

⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will live. ⁷ Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, those who hate you and persecute you. ⁸ You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands that I’m giving you today. ⁹ The Lord your God will give you many blessings in everything you do: You will have many children. Your animals will have many offspring. Your soil will produce many crops. The Lord will again delight in making you as prosperous as he made your ancestors. ¹⁰ He will do this if you obey him and follow his commands and laws that are written in this Book of Teachings and return to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹ This command I’m giving you today isn’t too hard for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It’s not in heaven. You don’t have to ask, “Who will go to heaven to get this command for us so that we can hear it and obey it?” ¹³ This command isn’t on the other side of the sea. You don’t have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it for us so that we can hear it and obey it?” ¹⁴ No, these words are very near you. They’re in your mouth and in your heart so that you will obey them.

Choose between Life and Death

¹⁵ Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction. ¹⁶ This is what I’m commanding you today: Love the Lord your God, follow his directions, and obey his commands, laws, and rules. Then you will live, your population will increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you’re about to enter and take possession of.

¹⁷ But your hearts might turn away, and you might not listen. You might be tempted to bow down to other gods and worship them. ¹⁸ If you do, I tell you today that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live for a long time in the land that you’re going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River.

¹⁹ I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live. ²⁰ Love the Lord your God, obey him, and be loyal to him. This will be your way of life, and it will mean a long life for you ^[n] in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Joshua Becomes Israel’s Leader to Replace Moses

31 Moses continued to speak to all the Israelites:

² “I’m 120 years old now, and I’m not able to lead you anymore. Besides, the Lord has told me that I cannot cross the Jordan River. ³ The Lord your God is the one who will cross the river ahead of you. He will destroy those nations as you arrive, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will also cross the river ahead of you, as the Lord told you. ⁴ The Lord will do to those nations what he did to King Sihon and King Og of the Amorites and to their lands when he destroyed them. ⁵ The Lord will hand them over to you, and you must do to them everything that I commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous. Don’t tremble! Don’t be afraid of them! The Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He won’t abandon you or leave you.”

⁷ Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous. You will go with these people into the land that the Lord will give them, as he swore to their ancestors. You will help them take possession of the land.^{[o] 8} The Lord is the one who is going ahead of you. He will be with you. He won’t abandon you or leave you. So don’t be afraid or terrified.”

⁹ Moses wrote down these teachings and gave them to the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the Lord’s promise and to all the leaders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel debts. At that time, during the Festival of Booths, ¹¹ all the Israelites will come into the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose. Read these teachings so that they can hear them. ¹² Assemble the men, women, and children, as well as the foreigners who live in your cities. Have them listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and faithfully obey every word of these teachings. ¹³ Their children, who don’t know these teachings, must hear them and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land that you are going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River.”

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “The time of your death is coming soon. Call for Joshua. Both of you come to the tent of meeting, and I will give him his instructions.” Moses and Joshua came to the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ Then the Lord appeared in a column of smoke at the entrance to the tent.

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you are going to lie down in death with your ancestors. When these people enter the land and are living among the foreigners there, they will chase after foreign gods as though they were prostitutes. They will abandon me and reject the promise ^[p] I made to them. ¹⁷ On that day I will become angry with them. I will abandon them and turn away from them. They will be destroyed, and many terrible disasters will happen to them. On that day they will ask, ‘Haven’t these disasters happened to us because our God isn’t with us?’ ¹⁸ On that day I will certainly turn away from them because of all the evil they’ve done in turning to other gods.

¹⁹ “Write down this song, teach it to the Israelites, and have them sing it. This song will be a witness for me against the Israelites. ²⁰ I will bring them into the land that I swore to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. When they have eaten all they want and have become fat,^[q] they will turn to other gods and worship them. They will despise me and reject my promise. ²¹ When many terrible disasters happen to them, this song will testify against them, because it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know what their hearts are set on doing, even now before I bring them into the land that I swore to give them.” ²² That day Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ The Lord gave this command to Joshua, son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, because you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴ Finally, Moses finished writing all the words of these teachings in a book. ²⁵ He gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s promise: ²⁶ “Take this Book of Teachings, and put it next to the ark of the promise of the Lord your God, where it will be a witness against you. ²⁷ I know how rebellious you are. You are impossible to deal with. While I am alive and still with you, you are rebelling against the Lord. How much more rebellious will you be after I die? ²⁸ Assemble all the leaders of your tribes and your officers in front of me. As they listen, I will speak these words and call on heaven and earth to testify against them. ²⁹ I know that after I die you will become thoroughly corrupt and turn from the way I have commanded you to live. In the days to come disasters will happen to you because you will make the Lord furious by doing what he considers evil.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ Then, as the whole congregation of Israel listened, Moses recited all the words of this song:

32 Listen, heaven, and I will speak.

Earth, hear the words from my mouth.

Moses Is Allowed to See Canaan

⁴⁴ Moses came with Hoshea,^[t] son of Nun, and recited all the words of this song as the people listened. ⁴⁵ When Moses had finished reciting all these words to Israel, ⁴⁶ he said to them, “Pay attention to all these warnings I’ve given you today. Then you will command your children to faithfully obey every word of these teachings. ⁴⁷ Don’t think these words are idle talk. They are your life! By these words you will be able to live for a long time in the land that you are going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River.”

⁴⁸ That same day the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁹ “Go into the Abarim Mountains, to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho. Take a look at the land of Canaan that I’m giving the Israelites as their own property. ⁵⁰ On this mountain where you’re going, you will die and join your ancestors in death, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor. ⁵¹ This is because both of you were unfaithful to me at the oasis of Meribah at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin. You didn’t show the Israelites how holy I am. ⁵² You may see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I’m giving the Israelites.”

Moses Blesses the Twelve Tribes

33 Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites with this blessing before he died. ² He said,

⁷ This is what he said about the tribe of Judah:

⁸ About the tribe of Levi he said,

¹² About the tribe of Benjamin he said,

¹³ About the tribes of Joseph he said,

¹⁸ About the tribe of Zebulun he said,

²⁰ About the tribe of Gad he said,

²² About the tribe of Dan he said,

²³ About the tribe of Naphtali he said,

²⁴ About the tribe of Asher he said,

²⁶ “There’s no one like your God, Jeshurun!

²⁸ So Israel will live securely.

Moses’ Death and Burial

34 Then Moses went up on Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab. He went to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land. He could see Gilead as far as Dan, ² all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the territory of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, ³ the Negev, and the Jordan Plain—the valley of Jericho (the City of Palms)—as far as Zoar.

⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised with an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I said I would give it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you may not go there.”

⁵ As the Lord had predicted, the Lord’s servant Moses died in Moab. ⁶ He was buried in a valley in Moab, near Beth Peor. Even today no one knows where his grave is.

⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight never became poor, and he never lost his physical strength. ⁸ The Israelites mourned for Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days. Then the time of mourning for him was over.

⁹ Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the Spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him. The Israelites obeyed him and did what the Lord had commanded through Moses.

¹⁰ There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord dealt with face to face. ¹¹ He was the one the Lord sent to do all the miraculous signs and amazing things in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country. ¹² Moses used his mighty hand to do all the spectacular and awe-inspiring deeds that were seen by all the Israelites.