Deu_7:1-26; Deu_8:1-20; Deu_9:1-29; Deu_10:1-22; Deu_11:1-32

SECTION XLVI.

EKEB. AND it shall be that because thou wilt have obeyed these judgments, and have observed and performed them, the Lord thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the mercy which He sware to thy fathers. And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee, and will bless the offspring of thy womb, the fruit of thy land, thy corn, wine, and oil, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep, on the land which He sware to thy fathers to give thee. Blessed shalt thou be above all peoples; there shall not be among thee a barren male or a barren female, neither among thy cattle. And the Lord thy God will remove from thee all diseases, and all the plagues of Mizraim; the evil things that thou knowest He will not lay upon thee, but will put them on all that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the peoples that the Lord thy God will give up to thee; thine eye shall not have pity upon them, nor shalt thou serve their idols, for that will be a stumbling-block to thee.

If thou say in thy heart, These nations are greater than I am: how can I drive them out? thou shalt not be afraid of them; remembering thou shalt remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharoh and all Mizraim; the great miracles which thine eye beheld, and the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and uplifted arm, by which the Lord thy God led thee forth; so shall the Lord thy God do to all the nations before whom thou art afraid. And moreover, the Lord thy God will stir up the hornet among them, until they who remain and who hid themselves from before thee have perished. Thou shalt not be broken down before them; for the Lord thy God dwelleth in the midst of thee, the Great and fearful God. And the Lord thy God will put away those nations before thee by little and little; for thou mayest not consume them instantly, lest the wild beast of the field multiply against thee. Yet will the Lord thy God deliver them up before thee, and destroy them with a great destruction, till they be consumed; and He will deliver their kings into thy hand, and destroy their names from under the heavens, and not a man will stand before thee till thou wilt have destroyed them. The images of their idols thou shalt burn with fire; thou shalt not desire the silver or the gold upon them, nor take (it) to thyself, lest thou offend through it, for it is an abomination before the Lord thy God. Nor shalt thou bring what is abominable into thy house, and thou be accursed as that is; but with loathing thou shalt loathe it, and with abhorrence abhor it, for it is a thing accursed.

VIII. Every mandate that I command thee this day, you shall observe to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord did covenant unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way that the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or not: and He humbled ( or afflicted) thee, and let thee hunger, and fed thee with the manna which thou knewest not, nor did thy fathers know; that He might make thee to know, That not by bread only is man sustained, but by every forth-coming word from before the Lord shall man live. Thy raiment faded not away from thee, and thy shoes wore not out these forty years; and know thou with thy heart, that as a man instructeth his son, (so) the Lord thy God instructeth thee. Keep then the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in the ways which are right before Him, to fear Him for the Lord thy God bringeth thee into the good [and; a land streaming with brooks of water, with fountain-springs, and depths (of water) gushing from valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olives yielding oil, and which produceth honey; a land where, without poverty, thou mayest eat bread, and have want of nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest cast brass: and thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and shalt bless the Lord thy God in the good land.

Beware, lest thou forget the fear of the Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day. Lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and bast built goodly houses and inhabited (them), and when thy oxen and sheep have multiplied to thee, and silver and gold have increased, and whatever thou hast is increased with thee, thy heart should be lifted up, and thou shouldest forget the fear of the Lord thy God, who brought thee up from the land of Mizraim, from the house of bondage; who led thee through the great and terrible desert, the place of burning serpents and scorpions, the place of thirsting, where there is no water, who brought out water for thee from the hard rock; who fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and prove the, to do thee good in thy latter end. And (lest) thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand have gathered to me these possessions: but remember the Lord thy God, for He it is who giveth thee power to acquire riches, that He may confirm his covenant which He sware to thy fathers, as at this day. But it will be that if thou forget the fear of the Lord thy God, and walk after the idols of the Gentiles to serve and worship them, I testify against you this day that perishing you will perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth from before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the Word of the Lord your God.

IX. Hear, Israel: thou art this day (about) to pass over the Jordana, to enter, to drive out nations greater and stronger than thou, and (to take possession of) cities, great and fortified to the height of heaven; a people great and mighty, the sons of the giants whom thou knowest, and (of whom) thou hast heard (it said), Who can stand before the sons of the giants? But know this day that the Word of the Lord thy God, He it is who goeth over before thee, He who is a burning fire, He will consume them, He will break them down before thee, and thou wilt soon drive them out, as the Lord hath told thee. Thou shalt not (therefore) speak in thy heart when the Lord thy God hath broken them before thee, saying: For the sake of my righteousness hath the Lord brought me in to inherit this land; but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord driveth them out before thee. Not for thy righteousness or the integrity of thy heart dost thou go in to possess their land, but for the guilt of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee, and that He may confirm the word which he sware to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob. Know, then, that not for thy righteousness will the Lord thy God give thee this good land to possess it, for thou art a hard-necked people. Be mindful, and forget not that thou didst provoke the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that thou camest out from the land of Mizraim until thou hast come to this place, ye have been rebellious before the Lord. And in Horeb (itself) you provoked the Lord, and aroused the Lord’s anger to destroy you. When I had gone up to the mountain to receive the tables of the stones, the tables of the covenant which the Lord had made with you, and I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights - I ate no bread, I drank no water - And the Lord gave to me the two tables of stones, written upon by the finger of the Lord, according to all the words which the Lord had spoken with you on the mount from the midst of the fire, on the day of the convocation. It was at the end of forty days and nights, when the Lord gave to me the two tables of the stones, the tables of the covenant, that the Lord said to me, Arise, go down quickly from hence; for thy people whom I brought out from Mizraim are corrupted; they have soon turned from the way that I commanded them, and have made them a molten image. And the Lord spake to me, saying: This people are disclosed before me, and, behold, it is a hard-necked people.

Cease from thy prayer before me, and I will destroy them, and blot out their name from under the heavens, and I will make thee for a people stronger and greater than they. And I turned and descended from the mount; and the mountain burned with fire, and the two tables of the covenant were upon my two hands. And I looked, and, behold, yon had sinned before the Lord your God; you had made you a molten calf; you had turned quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. And I took the two tables, and cast them away from my two hands, and brake them before your eyes. And I fell down before the Lord as at the first, forty days and forty nights, bread I ate not, water I drank not, for all your sins which you sinned to do evil before the Lord, to provoke to anger before Him; for I was afraid before the anger and indignation wherewith the Lord was angry against you to destroy you; but the Lord hearkened to my prayer on that day also. And against Aharon was there great displeasure before the Lord to destroy him; but I prayed for Aharon also at that time. And your sin which you had made, the calf, I took and burned it in fire, and ground it to a fine grinding till it was small as powder, and I threw the dust of it into the stream that descended from the mount. And at the Burning, and at the Temptation, and at the Graves of Desire, you were rebellious before the Lord; and when the Lord sent you from Rekem Giah, saying: Go up and possess the land I have given, then rebelled you against the decree of the Word of the Lord your God, and would not believe Him, nor be obedient to His Word. You have been contumacious before the Lord from the day that I have known you; but I fell down before the Lord the forty days and the forty nights that I was prostrate, for the Lord had spoken to consume you. And I prayed before the Lord, and said: O Lord God, destroy not Thy people, and Thine inheritance, which Thou hast redeemed by Thy power, and brought out from Mizraim with a mighty hand. Remember Thy servants Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob; regard not the stubbornness of this people, nor their wickedness, nor their sin: lest the inhabitants of the land from whence Thou hast led us should say: Because there was no power before the Lord to bring them into the land which He had told them of, or because He hated them, He led them forth to kill them in the wilderness. But they are Thy people, and Thy inheritance, which thou hast led forth with Thy great power and Thy uplifted arm.

X. At that time the Lord said to me: Hew thee two tables of stones like the first, and come up before Me on the mount, and make thee an ark of wood; and I will write upon the tables the words that were upon the former tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them into the ark. And I made an ark of sittin wood, and hewed two tables of stones like the former, and went up to the mountain, and the two tables were in my hand; and He wrote upon the tables according to the former writing, the Ten Words which the Lord spake with you on the mount from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. And I returned and descended from the mount, and put the tables into the ark which I had made, and they are there, as the Lord commanded me. And the children of Israel went forward from Bearith of the Beni Jaakan unto Moserah; there Aharon died, and was buried there, and Elazar his son hath ministered in his stead. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgod, and from Gudgod unto Jatbath, a land flowing with streams of water. At that time the Lord had set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him, and to bless in His Name, unto this day. Wherefore, Levi hath no portion or inheritance with his brethren; the gifts which the Lord shall give him are his inheritance, as the Lord thy God hath told him. And I stood on the mountain as in the former days, forty days and nights; and the Lord received my prayer at that time also, that He would not destroy thee. And the Lord said to me: Arise, go, to proceed before the people, that they may be brought in to possess the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear before the Lord thy God, to walk in all the ways that are right before Him, and to love Him, and to serve before the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee? Behold, the heavens the heavens of the heavens, are the Lord’s thy God, and all that is therein; only the Lord did choose thy fathers to love them, and He hath taken pleasure in their children after them, even in you, above all people, as at this day. Put away, therefore, the foolishness of your hearts, and harden your neck no more; for the Lord your God is the God of judges, and the Lord of kings, the Great God, mighty and terrible, before whom is no respect of persons, nor doth He accept a reward.^{[7] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} He executeth judgment for the orphan and the widow, and hath pity on the stranger to give him food and raiment. Be loving then to the stranger, for you were sojourners in the land of Mizraim. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve before Him; to His fear thou shalt keep close, and shalt swear by His Name;

He is thy glory, and He is thy God, who hath done for thee these vast and mighty acts which thy eyes have seen. With seventy souls went thy fathers down into Mizraim, and now the Lord thy God hath set thee as the stars of the heavens for multitude.

XI. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keeping keep His word, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments all days. And you know this day what your children have not known or seen, the discipline of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand and uplifted arm, His miracles, and His works which He did in Mizraim, to Pharoh king of Mizraim, and to all his land; and what He did to the host of the Mizraee, to their horses and their chariots, when he made the waters of the Sea of Suph to overflow their faces as they followed after you, and the Lord destroyed them unto this day; and what He did to you in the wilderness until your coming unto this place; and what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab bar Reuben, when the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up with the men of their house, their tents, and all the substance they had, in the midst of all Israel; for your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which He hath wrought.

You shall observe all the precepts which I command thee this day, that you may be strengthened, and go in and possess the land unto which you are going over to inherit, and may prolong your days upon the land which the Lord sware to your fathers to give them and their children, a land producing milk and honey; for the land into which thou art going to possess it, is not as the land of Mizraim from which thou hast come out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and didst water it with thy feet as a garden of herbs (or a green garden); but the land to which thou goest over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, drinking water of the rains of heaven; keep a land which the Lord thy God looketh after; (inquireth for;) the eyes^{[8] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} of the Lord thy God are evermore upon it, from the beginning unto the end of the year. And it shall be, if you will be diligently obedient to all My commandments which I command you this day to love the Lord your God, and to serve before Him with all most your heart, and with all your soul, I will give you the rain of your land in its season, the early and the latter; and thou shalt gather in thy corn, thy wine, and thy oil; and I will give herbage in thy field for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied.

Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside to serve the gods of the Gentiles and worship them; and the anger of the Lord be aroused against you, and He shut up the skies that there be no rain, and the earth yield not her fruit, and you perish soon from off the good land which the Lord will give you: but lay these my words upon your heart, and upon your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, and let them be for tephillin between your eyes; and teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest in the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up; and write them upon the posts, and fix them to the entrance of thy house, and upon thy gates;^{[9] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied on the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if you surely keep all this precept that I command you to perform it, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all the ways that are right before Him, and keep close unto His fear, then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, that you may possess (the lands) of nations greater and stronger than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Phrat, unto the uttermost sea shall be your border. There shall not a man stand before you; for the Lord your God will put the fear and dread of you upon the face of all the land that you tread upon, as the Lord hath said unto you.