Deuteronomy 29

These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

1These are the words of the covenant. A covenant is a solemn promise between two sides. The LORD told Moses to make this promise with Israel in the land of Moab. God had already made another promise with them at Mount Horeb.

2And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;

2Moses called all Israel together. He said, "You saw what the LORD did in Egypt. You saw it with your own eyes. He acted against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He acted against Pharaoh's helpers and his whole land."

3The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

3"You saw the hard tests God sent there. You saw the signs and the great wonders."

NoteThe KJV says "temptations" here. In 1611 that word meant hard tests or trials. It does not mean being tempted to do something wrong.

4Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

4"But even today the LORD has not given you minds that understand. He has not given you eyes that truly see. He has not given you ears that truly hear."

5And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

5"I led you forty years in the desert. Your clothes did not wear out. The sandals on your feet did not wear out."

6Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

6"You had no bread to eat. You had no wine or strong drink. This was so you would know that I am the LORD your God."

7And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

7"When you came to this place, two kings came out to fight us. They were Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. We beat them."

8And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

8"We took their land. We gave it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. We gave part of it to half the tribe of Manasseh. It became their family land to keep."

9Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

9"So keep the words of this promise. Do what it says. Then you will do well in everything you do."

10Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,

10"Today all of you are standing before the LORD your God. Your tribe leaders are here. Your elders and officers are here. All the men of Israel are here."

11Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:

11"Your little children and your wives are here too. So are the foreigners who live in your camp. They chop your wood and carry your water."

12That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:

12"You are here to enter the covenant of the LORD your God. He is making this promise with you today. You promise back to him with a solemn oath."

13That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

13"Today he makes you his own people. He will be your God. He told you this before. He promised it long ago to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

14Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

14"I am not making this promise and this oath with you only."

15But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

15"It is with everyone standing here today before the LORD our God. It is also with those who are not here with us today."

16(For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;

16"You know how we lived in the land of Egypt. You know how we passed through other nations on the way here."

17And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)

17"You saw the disgusting things they had. You saw their idols, statues they worshiped, made of wood, stone, silver, and gold."

18Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

18"Make sure no one here turns away from the LORD our God today. Not a man, not a woman, not a family, not a tribe. No one should go and serve the gods of those nations. No one should be like a root that grows bitter, poison fruit."

19And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

19"Someone might hear the words of this curse. He might tell himself that he is safe. He might say, 'I will be fine, even if I do whatever I want.' That would ruin the wet ground and the dry ground alike."

NoteThe last part of this verse is hard to put into English. The old words say "to add drunkenness to thirst." It seems to mean that everything gets swept away, wet land and dry land together.

20The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

20"The LORD will not forgive that man. His anger will burn against him. Every curse written in this book will fall on him. The LORD will wipe his name off the earth."

21And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:

21"The LORD will pick that man out from all the tribes of Israel. Trouble will come to him. It will happen just as this book of the law says."

22So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;

22"Later your children will grow up and look at this land. Foreigners from far away will look at it too. They will see the sickness and the ruin the LORD sent on it."

23And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

23"The whole land will be salt and burning sulfur. No seed will be planted there. Nothing will grow, not even grass. It will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. The LORD destroyed those cities in his anger."

Note"Brimstone" is an old word for sulfur. It is a yellow rock that burns with a strong smell.

24Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

24"Then all the nations will ask, 'Why did the LORD do this to this land? Why was he so very angry?'"

25Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

25"People will answer, 'They broke the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers. He made that promise when he brought them out of Egypt.'"

26For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:

26"'They went and served other gods and bowed down to them. These were gods they did not know. The LORD had not given these gods to them.'"

27And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:

27"'So the LORD became angry with this land. He brought on it every curse written in this book.'"

28And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

28"'The LORD pulled them out of their land in great anger. He threw them into another land. That is where they are today.'"

29The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

29"Some things are secret, and they belong to the LORD our God. Other things he has shown us. Those belong to us and to our children forever. We are to obey all the words of this law."