Deuteronomy 29

1 These are the things that the Israelis were required to do to keep the agreement that Yahweh was making with them. Moses/I commanded them to keep this agreement [when they/we were] in the Moab region [on the east side of the Jordan River]. This was in addition to the agreement that Yahweh had made with them/us at Sinai [Mountain].

The following are the terms of the agreement that the Lord ordered Moses to make with the Israelites in the country of Moab This was in addition to the agreement he had made with them at Horeb.

2 Moses/I summoned all the Israeli people and said to them, “You saw [SYN] for yourselves what Yahweh did to the king of Egypt and to his officials and to his entire country.

Moses called all the Israelites together and announced to them, You saw with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country.

3 You [SYN] saw all the plagues [that Yahweh caused them to experience], and all the various miracles [DOU] [that Yahweh performed].

You saw with your own eyes the amazing tests, and those great signs and miracles.

4 But until now, Yahweh has not enabled you to understand [the meaning of] all that you have seen and heard.

But up to now the Lord has not given you minds that understand, or eyes that see, or ears that hear, saying,

5 For 40 years Yahweh has led you while you traveled/walked through the desert. During that time, your clothes and your sandals have not worn out.

For forty years I led you through the desert, but your clothes and sandals didn't wear out.

6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or other fermented/strong drinks to drink, but Yahweh [took care of you], in order that you would know that he is your God.

You didn't have bread to eat, or wine or alcohol to drink in order that you would realize that I am the Lord your God.

7 “And when we came to this place, Sihon, the king who ruled in Heshbon [city], and Og, the king who ruled the Bashan [region], came [with their armies] to attack us, but we defeated them.

When we arrived here, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan marched out to fight us in battle, but we defeated them.

8 We took/conquered their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.

We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to own.

9 “So faithfully keep all of this agreement, in order that you will be successful in everything that you do.

So make sure you keep and follow the terms of this agreement in order that you may be successful in everything you do.

10 Today all of us are standing in the presence of Yahweh our God. The leaders of all our tribes, our elders, our officials, all you Israeli men,

Every one of you is stand here today before the Lord your God: you tribal leaders, officials, and all the men of Israel,

11 your wives, your children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood for you and carry water for you, are here.

your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your firewood and carry your water.

12 [We are here] today to promise to keep this solemn agreement with Yahweh.

You're here so you can enter into the agreement of the Lord your God, which he is making with you today, and accept his solemn promise,

13 [He is making this agreement with you] in order to confirm that you are his people, and that he is your God. This agreement is what he promised you, and which is what he vowed to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

and so he can confirm you today as his people. He will be your God as he told you and as he promised your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 This agreement is not only with you.

It's not only with you that the Lord is making this agreement and solemn promise,

15 He is making this agreement with us [who are here today] and also with our descendants who are not yet born.

those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God, but also with those who are not here today.

16 “You remember [the things that our ancestors suffered] in Egypt, and how they traveled through the land that belonged to other nations [after they came out of Egypt].

You know very well what it was like when we lived in the land of Egypt and our experiences as we passed through the nations on the way here.

17 In those countries they saw those disgusting idols made of wood and stone and [decorated with] silver and gold.

You saw their disgusting religious practices and their idols of wood and stone, and silver and gold.

18 So be sure that no man or woman or family or tribe that is here [today] turns away from Yahweh our God, to worship/serve the gods of those nations. Doing that would be like a root [of a plant that would grow] among you and bear poisonous and bitter fruit [MET].

You need to make sure today that there's no man or woman, family or tribe of yours who wants to turn from the Lord our God and go and worship the gods of these nations. Make sure there is nothing like that among you that would produce such poison and bitterness.

19 “Be sure that no one here today who hears this agreement thinks, ‘Everything will go well with me, even if I stubbornly do what I want to.’ If you are stubborn like that, the result will be that Yahweh will eventually get rid of all of you, both good people and evil people [MET].

For when someone like that hears the words of this solemn promise, they think they'll still receive a blessing, telling themselves, “I'll be safe, even though I'll go on doing whatever I feel like.” Such an attitude would destroy good and bad alike.

20 Yahweh will not forgive anyone who is [stubborn] like that. Instead, he will be extremely angry [DOU] with that person, and that person will experience all the curses that I have told you about, until Yahweh gets rid of that person and his family [IDM].

The Lord would never want to pardon them. In fact, his passionate anger will burn against them, and every curse written in this book will fall on them. The Lord will erase their name from the earth,

21 From all the tribes of Israel, Yahweh will separate that individual. Yahweh will cause him to experience all the disasters that I have listed in the agreement that states the things that Yahweh will do to curse [those who disobey] the laws [that I have written] in this scroll/book.

and punish them as an example of them for all the Israelite tribes, in accordance with all the curses of the agreement written in this Book of the Law.

22 “In the future, your descendants and people from other countries will see the disasters and the illnesses that Yahweh has caused to happen to you.

Later generations, your descendants and foreigners from far away, will see how the Lord has brought disaster on the country and devastated it.

23 They will see that all your land has been ruined by burning sulfur and salt. Nothing will have been planted. Not even weeds will grow there. Your land will resemble Sodom and Gomorrah [cities], and Admah and Zeboiim [cities], which Yahweh destroyed when he was very angry [DOU] [with the people who lived there].

The whole country will be burning wasteland of sulfur and salt. Nothing is sown; it's totally unproductive; no plant grows there—just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his furious anger.

24 And the people from those other nations will ask, ‘Why did Yahweh do this to this land? Why was he very angry [with the people who lived here]?’

Everyone everywhere will ask, “Why did the Lord do this to the country? Why did he get so terribly angry?”

25 “Then other people will reply, ‘It is because they refused to keep the agreement that Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped], had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.

The people will answer, “It's because they abandoned the agreement of the Lord, the God of their forefathers, which he made with them when he led them out of Egypt.

26 Instead, they served/worshiped other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that Yahweh had told them not to worship.

They went off and worshiped other gods, bowing down to gods they'd never heard of—gods that the Lord had not given to them.

27 So, Yahweh became very angry with the Israeli people in this land, and he caused them to experience all the disasters that their leader warned them about.

That's why the Lord was so angry with this land, and he rained down on it every curse written in this book.

28 Yahweh became extremely angry [DOU] with them and took/yanked them [MET] out of their land and banished them into another land, and they are still there.’

The Lord uprooted them from their country in his anger, rage, and fury, and he threw them out, leaving them in another land, where they are to this day.”

29 “[There are some] things that Yahweh our God has (kept secret/not revealed), but he has revealed his laws to us, and [he expects] us and our descendants to obey them forever.”

The Lord our God has secrets that belong to him, but what has been revealed belong to us and to our descendants forever, so that we may follow everything in this law.