Deuteronomy

Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

1So love the LORD your God. Do what he says, always. Keep his rules and his laws.

2And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

2Remember today what you saw. I am not talking to your children. They did not see how God taught you with hard lessons. They did not see how great and strong he is.

Note"Chastisement" in the old wording means correcting or teaching someone, often in a hard way. It does not only mean punishment.

3And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

3You saw the wonderful things he did in Egypt. He did them to Pharaoh, Egypt's king, and to his whole land.

4And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

4You saw what he did to Egypt's army, horses, and chariots. They chased you, and God made the Red Sea cover them. They have never risen up again.

5And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

5You saw what he did for you in the desert, until you came to this place.

6And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

6You saw what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, from the family of Reuben. The ground opened up like a mouth. It swallowed them, their families, their tents, and everything they owned. All Israel watched it happen.

7But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

7Your own eyes saw all these great things the LORD did.

8Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

8So keep every command I give you today. Then you will be strong. You will go in and take the land you are going to.

9And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

9You will live a long time in that land. God promised it long ago to your great-grandfathers and their children after them. It is a rich land, full of milk and honey.

10For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

10The land you are going into is not like Egypt. In Egypt you planted seed and carried water to it yourself, like a vegetable garden.

Note"Watered it with thy foot" means carrying water by hand and using your feet to open little channels in the dirt. Egypt's farmers watered crops from the river this way.

11But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

11But this new land has hills and valleys. It drinks water from the rain that falls from the sky.

12A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

12The LORD your God takes care of that land. He watches over it all year long, from start to finish.

13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

13Listen carefully to the commands I give you today. Love the LORD your God. Serve him with your whole heart and your whole self.

14That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

14If you do, I will send rain on your land at the right times. There will be rain in the fall and rain in the spring. Then you can bring in your grain, your grapes, and your olive oil.

NoteThe old word "corn" means grain of any kind, like wheat or barley. It does not mean corn on the cob.

15And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

15I will make grass grow in your fields for your animals. You will have plenty to eat.

16Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

16Be careful. Do not let your heart be fooled. Do not turn away and serve other gods or bow down to them.

17And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

17If you do, the LORD will be angry with you. He will close up the sky so no rain falls. The ground will grow no food. You will soon die off the good land he is giving you.

18Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

18So keep my words deep inside you. Tie them on your hands to help you remember. Wear them on your forehead too.

19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

19Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home. Talk about them when you walk down the road. Talk about them at bedtime and when you wake up.

20And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

20Write them on the door frames of your house. Write them on your gates too.

21That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

21Then you and your children will live many days in the land. God promised this land to your great-grandfathers. Your days there will last as long as the sky stays above the earth.

22For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

22Carefully keep all these commands I give you. Love the LORD your God. Live the way he tells you. Hold on to him tightly.

23Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

23If you do, the LORD will push out all these nations ahead of you. You will take over nations bigger and stronger than you are.

24Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

24Every place you set your foot will be yours. Your land will stretch from the desert to Lebanon. It will reach from the Euphrates River to the sea in the west.

Note"The uttermost sea" means the sea farthest west, which is the Mediterranean Sea.

25There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

25No one will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will make everyone afraid of you. That will be true everywhere you go, just as he told you.

26Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

26Look. Today I am giving you a choice: a blessing or a curse.

27A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

27You get the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I give you today.

28And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

28You get the curse if you will not obey them. That happens if you leave the path I show you today and follow other gods you never knew.

29And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

29The LORD your God will bring you into the land you are going to take. When he does, say the blessing on Mount Gerizim. Say the curse on Mount Ebal.

30Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

30Those mountains are across the Jordan River, over toward the west. They are in the land of the Canaanites who live in the flat valley near Gilgal. They are close to the big trees of Moreh.

31For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

31You are about to cross the Jordan River. You will go in and take the land the LORD your God is giving you. You will make it yours and live there.

32And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

32So be careful to obey all the rules and laws I am giving you today.