Deuteronomy 11

Rewards of Obedience

1“You shall therefore 1love the Lord your God, and always 2keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. 2Know this day 3that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the 4discipline of the Lord your God--His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm, 3and 5His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; 4and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, 6when He made the water of the 7Red Sea to 8engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord 9completely destroyed them; 5and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6and 10what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and 11every living thing that 12followed them, among all Israel-- 7but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.

8“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, 13so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; 914so that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their 15descendants, 16a land flowing with milk and honey. 10For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your 17foot like a vegetable garden. 11But 18the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12a land for which the Lord your God cares; 19the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the 20beginning even to the end of the year.

13“It shall come about, 21if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, 22to love the Lord your God and to serve Him 23with all your heart and all your soul, 14that 2425He will give the rain for your land in its season, the 2627early and 28late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 152930He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and 31you will eat and be satisfied. 163233Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17Or 34the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will 35shut up the heavens 36so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and 37you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18“38You shall therefore 39impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as 40frontals 41on your forehead. 1942You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 2043You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21so that 44your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as 4546long as the heavens remain above the earth. 22For if you are 47careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, 48to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and 49hold fast to Him, 23then the Lord will 50drive out all these nations from before you, and you will 51dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 2452Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; 53your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as 54the western sea. 2555No man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.

26“56See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27the 57blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28and the 58curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, 59by following other gods which you have not known.

29“It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, 60that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30Are they not across the Jordan, west of the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite 61Gilgal, beside 62the 63oaks of Moreh? 31For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and 64you shall possess it and live in it, 32and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.