The Greatness of the LORD

111 'And thou hast loved Jehovah thy God, and kept His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commands, all the days; 2 and ye have known to-day—for it is not your sons who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, His greatness, His strong hand, and His stretched-out arm, 3 and His signs, and His doings, which He hath done in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; 4 and that which He hath done to the force of Egypt, to its horses, and to its chariot, when He hath caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow against their faces in their pursuing after them, and Jehovah destroyeth them, unto this day; 5 and that which He hath done to you in the wilderness, till your coming in unto this place; 6 and that which He hath done to Dathan, and to Abiram, sons of Eliab, sons of Reuben, when the earth hath opened her mouth and swalloweth them, and their houses, and their tents, and all that liveth, which is at their feet, in the midst of all Israel: 7 '—But 'it is' your eyes which are seeing all the great work of Jehovah, which He hath done;

The Blessings of the Promised Land

8 and ye have kept all the command which I am commanding thee to-day, so that ye are strong, and have gone in, and possessed the land whither ye are passing over to possess it, 9 and so that ye prolong days on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers to give to them and to their seed—a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 'For the land whither thou art going in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt whence ye have come out, where thou sowest thy seed, and hast watered with thy foot, as a garden of the green herb; 11 but the land whither ye are passing over to possess it, 'is' a land of hills and valleys; of the rain of the heavens it drinketh water; 12 a land which Jehovah thy God is searching; continually 'are' the eyes of Jehovah thy God upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the latter end of the year. 13 'And it hath been—if thou hearken diligently unto My commands which I am commanding you to-day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul— 14 that I have given the rain of your land in its season—sprinkling and gathered—and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil, 15 and I have given herbs in thy field for thy cattle, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied. 16 'Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be enticed, and ye have turned aside, and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, 17 and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and He hath restrained the heavens, and there is no rain, and the ground doth not give her increase, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which Jehovah is giving to you.

18 'And ye have placed these my words on your heart, and on your soul, and have bound them for a sign on your hand, and they have been for frontlets between your eyes; 19 and ye have taught them to your sons, by speaking of them in thy sitting in thy house, and in thy going in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up, 20 and hast written them on the side-posts of thy house, and on thy gates, 21 so that your days are multiplied, and the days of your sons, on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers to give to them, as the days of the heavens on the earth. 22 'For, if ye diligently keep all this command which I am commanding you—to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him, 23 then hath Jehovah dispossessed all these nations from before you, and ye have possessed nations, greater and mightier than you; 24 every place on which the sole of your foot treadeth is yours; from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Phrat, even unto the farther sea is your border; 25 no man doth station himself in your presence; your dread and your fear doth Jehovah your God put on the face of all the land on which ye tread, as He hath spoken to you.

26 'See, I am setting before you to-day a blessing and a reviling: 27 the blessing, when ye hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God, which I am commanding you to-day; 28 and the reviling, if ye do not hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God, and have turned aside out of the way which I am commanding you to-day, to go after other gods which ye have not known. 29 'And it hath been, when Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it, that thou hast given the blessing on mount Gerizim, and the reviling on mount Ebal; 30 are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going in of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite, who is dwelling in the plain over-against Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh? 31 for ye are passing over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you; and ye have possessed it, and dwelt in it, 32 and observed to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you to day.

Only One Place of Worship

121 'These 'are' the statutes and the judgments which ye observe to do in the land which Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath given to thee to possess it, all the days that ye are living on the ground: 2 ye do utterly destroy all the places where the nations which ye are dispossessing served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the heights, and under every green tree; 3 and ye have broken down their altars, and shivered their standing pillars, and their shrines ye burn with fire, and graven images of their gods ye cut down, and have destroyed their name out of that place. 4 'Ye do not do so to Jehovah your God;

5 but unto the place which Jehovah your God doth choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His tabernacle ye seek, and thou hast entered thither, 6 and hast brought in thither your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your free-will offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock; 7 and ye have eaten there before Jehovah your God, and have rejoiced in every putting forth of your hand, ye and your households, with which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee. 8 'Ye do not do according to all that we are doing here to-day, each anything that is right in his own eyes, 9 for ye have not come in hitherto unto the rest, and unto the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee; 10 and ye have passed over the Jordan, and have dwelt in the land which Jehovah your God is causing you to inherit, and He hath given rest to you from all your enemies round about, and ye have dwelt confidently: 11 'And it hath been, the place on which Jehovah your God doth fix to cause His name to tabernacle there, thither ye bring in all that which I am commanding you, your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all the choice of your vows which ye vow to Jehovah; 12 and ye have rejoiced before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your handmaids, and the Levite who 'is' within your gates, for he hath no part and inheritance with you. 13 'Take heed to thee, lest thou cause thy burnt-offerings to ascend in any place which thou seest, 14 except in the place which Jehovah doth choose in one of thy tribes, there thou dost cause thy burnt-offerings to ascend, and there thou dost do all that which I am commanding thee. 15 'Only, with all the desire of thy soul thou dost sacrifice, and hast eaten flesh according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which He hath given to thee, in all thy gates; the unclean and the clean do eat it, as of the roe, and as of the hart. 16 'Only, the blood ye do not eat—on the earth thou dost pour it as water; 17 thou art not able to eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, and of thy new wine, and thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock, and any of thy vows which thou vowest, and thy free-will offerings, and heave-offering of thy hand; 18 but before Jehovah thy God thou dost eat it, in the place which Jehovah thy God doth fix on, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and the Levite who 'is' within thy gates, and thou hast rejoiced before Jehovah thy God in every putting forth of thy hand; 19 take heed to thee lest thou forsake the Levite all thy days on thy ground. 20 'When Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath spoken to thee, and thou hast said, Let me eat flesh—for thy soul desireth to eat flesh—of all the desire of thy soul thou dost eat flesh. 21 'When the place is far from thee which Jehovah thy God doth choose to put His name there, then thou hast sacrificed of thy herd and of thy flock which Jehovah hath given to thee, as I have commanded thee, and hast eaten within thy gates, of all the desire of thy soul; 22 only, as the roe and the hart is eaten, so dost thou eat it; the unclean and the clean doth alike eat it. 23 'Only, be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood 'is' the life, and thou dost not eat the life with the flesh; 24 thou dost not eat it, on the earth thou dost pour it as water; 25 thou dost not eat it, in order that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, when thou dost that which 'is' right in the eyes of Jehovah. 26 'Only, thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou dost take up, and hast gone in unto the place which Jehovah doth choose, 27 and thou hast made thy burnt-offerings—the flesh and the blood—on the altar of Jehovah thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices is poured out by the altar of Jehovah thy God, and the flesh thou dost eat. 28 Observe, and thou hast obeyed all these words which I am commanding thee, in order that it may be well with thee and with thy sons after thee—to the age, when thou dost that which 'is' good and right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.

Warning against Idolatry

29 'When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations—whither thou art going in to possess them—from thy presence, and thou hast possessed them, and hast dwelt in their land— 30 take heed to thee, lest thou be snared after them, after their being destroyed out of thy presence, and lest thou enquire about their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods, and I do so—even I? 31 'Thou dost not do so to Jehovah thy God; for every abomination of Jehovah which He is hating they have done to their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they burn with fire to their gods. 32 The whole thing which I am commanding you—it ye observe to do; thou dost not add unto it, nor diminish from it.

131 'When there ariseth in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he hath given unto thee a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign and the wonder hath come which he hath spoken of unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known), and serve them, 3 thou dost not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of the dream, for Jehovah your God is trying you, to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul; 4 after Jehovah your God ye walk, and Him ye fear, and His commands ye keep, and to His voice ye hearken, and Him ye serve, and to Him ye cleave. 5 'And that prophet, or that dreamer of the dream, is put to death, for he hath spoken apostacy against Jehovah your God (who is bringing you out of the land of Egypt, and hath ransomed you out of a house of servants), to drive you out of the way in which Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to walk, and thou hast put away the evil thing from thy midst.

6 'When thy brother—son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend who 'is' as thine own soul—doth move thee, in secret, saying, Let us go and serve other gods—(which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers, 7 of the gods of the peoples who 'are' round about you, who are near unto thee, or who are far off from thee, from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth)— 8 thou dost not consent to him, nor hearken unto him, nor doth thine eye have pity on him, nor dost thou spare, nor dost thou cover him over. 9 'But thou dost surely kill him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; 10 and thou hast stoned him with stones, and he hath died, for he hath sought to drive thee away from Jehovah thy God, who is bringing thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants; 11 and all Israel do hear and fear, and add not to do like this evil thing in thy midst.

12 'When thou hearest, in one of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to dwell there, 'one' saying, 13 Men, sons of worthlessness, have gone out of thy midst, and they force away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known— 14 and thou hast enquired, and searched, and asked diligently, and lo, truth; the thing is established; this abomination hath been done in thy midst: 15 'Thou dost surely smite the inhabitants of that city by the mouth of the sword; devoting it, and all that 'is' in it, even its cattle, by the mouth of the sword; 16 and all its spoil thou dost gather unto the midst of its broad place, and hast burned with fire the city and all its spoil completely, before Jehovah thy God, and it hath been a heap age-during, it is not built any more; 17 and there doth not cleave to thy hand any of the devoted thing, so that Jehovah doth turn back from the fierceness of His anger, and hath given to thee mercies, and loved thee, and multiplied thee, as He hath sworn to thy fathers, 18 when thou dost hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commands which I am commanding thee to-day, to do that which 'is' right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.