Holman Christian Standard Bible (57 page)

The People's Response

22
 “The
Lord
spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and thick darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
23
 All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.
24
 You said, ‘Look, the
Lord
our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God speaks with a person, yet he still lives.
25
 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the
Lord
our God any longer.
26
 For who out of all mankind has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived?
27
 Go near and listen to everything the
Lord
our God says. Then you can tell us everything the
Lord
our God tells you; we will listen and obey.' 

28
 “The
Lord
heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.
29
 If only they had such a heart to
•fear
Me and keep all My commands always, so that they and their children will prosper forever.
30
 Go and tell them: Return to your tents.
31
 But you stand here with Me, and I will tell you every command — the statutes and ordinances — you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.'

32
 “Be careful to do as the
Lord
your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left.
33
 Follow the whole instruction the
Lord
your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.

Deuteronomy

The Greatest Commandment

6
“This is the command — the statutes and ordinances — the
Lord
your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. 
2
 Do this so that you may
•fear
 the
Lord
your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.
3
 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because
•Yahweh
, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey. 

4
 “Listen, Israel: The
Lord
our God, the
Lord
is One.
5
 Love the
Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 
6
 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 
7
 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8
 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.
9
 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Remembering God through Obedience

10
 “When the
Lord
your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you — a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build,
11
 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant  — and when you eat and are satisfied, 
12
 be careful not to forget the
Lord
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 
13
 Fear Yahweh your God, worship Him, and take your oaths in His name. 
14
 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,
15
 for the
Lord
your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, the
Lord
your God will become angry with you and wipe you off the face of the earth.
16
 Do not test the
Lord
your God as you tested Him at Massah. 
17
 Carefully observe the commands of the
Lord
your God, the decrees and statutes He has commanded you.
18
 Do what is right and good in the
Lord
's sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land the
Lord
your God swore to give your fathers, 
19
 by driving out all your enemies before you, as the
Lord
has said. 

20
 “When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the
Lord
our God has commanded you? '
21
 tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the
Lord
brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.
22
 Before our eyes the
Lord
inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household,
23
 but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers.
24
 The
Lord
commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the
Lord
our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today.
25
 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the
Lord
our God, as He has commanded us.'

Deuteronomy

Israel to Destroy Idolatrous Nations

7
“When the
Lord
your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and He drives out many nations before you — the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you —
2
 and when the
Lord
your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must
•completely
destroy them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
3
 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 
4
 because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the
Lord
's anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.
5
 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their
•Asherah
poles, and burn up their carved images.
6
 For you are a holy people belonging to the
Lord
your God. The
Lord
your God has chosen you to be His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

7
 “The
Lord
was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
8
 But because the
Lord
loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9
 Know that
•Yahweh
your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands. 
10
 But He directly pays back and destroys those who hate Him. He will not hesitate to directly pay back the one who hates Him.
11
 So keep the command — the statutes and ordinances — that I am giving you to follow today.

12
 “If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the
Lord
your God will keep His covenant loyalty with you, as He swore to your fathers. 
13
 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your descendants, and the produce of your land — your grain, new wine, and oil — the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you.
14
 You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock.
15
 The
Lord
will remove all sickness from you; He will not put on you all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.
16
 You must destroy all the peoples the
Lord
your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

17
 “If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out? '
18
 do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the
Lord
your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:
19
 the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which the
Lord
your God brought you out. The
Lord
your God will do the same to all the peoples you fear.
20
 The
Lord
your God will also send the hornet against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish. 
21
 Don't be terrified of them, for the
Lord
your God, a great and awesome God, is among you.
22
 The
Lord
your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you. 
23
 The
Lord
your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.
24
 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
25
 You must burn up the carved images of their gods. Don't covet the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the
Lord
your God.
26
 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be
•set
apart for destruction like it. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

Deuteronomy

Remember the
Lord

8
“You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the
Lord
swore to your fathers.
2
 Remember that the
Lord
your God led you on the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.
3
 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the
Lord
. 
4
 Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these 40 years. 
5
 Keep in mind that the
Lord
your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.
6
 So keep the commands of the
Lord
your God by walking in His ways and
•fearing
Him.
7
 For the
Lord
your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams of water, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills;
8
 a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;
9
 a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.
10
 When you eat and are full, you will praise the
Lord
your God for the good land He has given you.

11
 “Be careful that you don't forget the
Lord
your God by failing to keep His command — the ordinances and statutes — I am giving you today.
12
 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in,
13
 and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases,
14
 be careful that your heart doesn't become proud and you forget the
Lord
your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 
15
 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint-like rock for you.
16
 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
17
 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,'
18
 but remember that the
Lord
your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant He swore to your fathers, as it is today.
19
 If you ever forget the
Lord
your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will perish. 
20
 Like the nations the
Lord
is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the
Lord
your God.