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1 Love the Lord your God, and do what he wants you to do. Always obey his laws, rules, and commands. 2 Remember today the discipline you learned from the Lord your God. (⌞I’m not talking⌟ to your children. They didn’t see or experience any of this.) You saw and experienced his great power—his mighty hand and powerful arm. 3 You saw the miraculous signs and deeds he did in Egypt to Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) and to his whole country. 4 You saw what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots. He drowned them in the Red Sea when they pursued you. So the Lord destroyed them forever. 5 You saw what he did for you in the desert until you came here. 6 You also saw what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, from the tribe of Reuben. In the middle of all the Israelites the ground opened up and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and every living creature with them. 7 You saw with your own eyes all these spectacular things that the Lord did.
8 Obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will have the strength to enter and take possession of the land once you’ve crossed ⌞the Jordan River⌟. 9 Then you will also live for a long time in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors and their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 The land you’re about to enter and take possession of isn’t like the land you left in Egypt. There you used to plant your seed, and you had to water it like a vegetable garden. 11 The land you’re about to enter is a land with hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares about. He watches over it all year long.
13 If you faithfully obey the commands that I’m giving you today, love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 I will send rain on your land at the right time, both in the fall and in the spring. Then you will gather your own grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your animals, and you will be able to eat all you want.
16 Be careful, or you’ll be tempted to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 The Lord will become angry with you. He’ll shut the sky so that there’ll be no rain. Then the ground won’t grow any crops, and you’ll quickly disappear from this good land the Lord is giving you.
18 Take these words of mine to heart and keep them in mind. ⌞Write them down,⌟ tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands as a reminder. 19 Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you’re at home or away, when you lie down or get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 21 Then you and your children will live for a long time in this land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors—as long as there’s a sky above the earth.
22 Faithfully obey all these commands I’m giving you. Love the Lord your God, follow all his directions, and be loyal to him. 23 Then the Lord will force all these people out of your way. Then you will take possession of ⌞the land belonging to⌟ people taller and stronger than you. 24 I will give you every place on which you set foot. Your borders will be from the desert to Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stop you. As the Lord your God promised, he will make people terrified of you wherever you go in this land.
Choose the Blessing or the Curse
26 Today I’m giving you the choice of a blessing or a curse. 27 You’ll be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I’m giving you today. 28 You’ll be cursed if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God, if you turn from the way I’m commanding you to live today, and if you worship other gods you never knew. 29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you’re about to enter, recite the blessing from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal. 30 (These mountains are on the west side of the Jordan, beyond the road that goes west, in the region of the Canaanites who live on the plains facing Gilgal, next to the oak trees of Moreh.) 31 You’re about to cross the Jordan River to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and live there, 32 be careful to obey all the laws and rules I’m giving you today.