< Deuteronomy 30 >

1 “I have now told you about the ways that Yahweh our God will bless you [if you obey him] and the ways that he will curse you [if you disobey him]. I am saying that you must choose which you want. But when [you choose not to obey his laws], some day you will be living in the countries to which he will scatter you, and you will remember [what I told you].
And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you,
2 Then, if you return to Yahweh our God and faithfully [IDM] obey all that I have today commanded you to do,
And shall return unto the LORD your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all of your heart, and with all your soul;
3 he will be merciful to you. He will bring you back from the nations to which he scattered you, and he will cause you to be prosperous again.
That then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you.
4 Even if you have been scattered to the most distant places on the earth, Yahweh our God will gather you from there and bring you back [to your land].
If any of your be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD your God gather you, and from thence will he fetch you:
5 He will enable you to possess again the land where your ancestors lived. And he will cause you to be more prosperous and more numerous than you are now.
And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
6 Yahweh our God will change [MET] your inner beings, with the result that you will love him more than you love anything else and want to do only what he wants you to do. And then you will continue to live in that land.
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all of your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
7 Yahweh our God will cause your enemies and those who oppressed/persecuted you to experience all the disasters that I have told you about.
And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies, and on them that hate you, which persecuted you.
8 You will do what Yahweh wants you to do, as you did before, and you will obey all the commands that I have given to you today.
And you shall return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
9 Yahweh our God will cause you to be very successful in all that you do. You will have many children [IDM], and a lot of cattle, and you will have abundant crops. He will again be happy to enable you to prosper, just like he was happy to enable your ancestors to prosper.
And the LORD your God will make you abundant in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers:
10 [But he will do those things only] if you do what he has told you to do, and if you obey all his rules and regulations that I have written about [in this scroll], and if you will love him more than you love anything else and want to do only what he wants you to do.
If you shall hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn unto the LORD your God with all of your heart, and with all your soul.
11 The commands that I am giving to you today are not very difficult for you [to obey], and they are not [difficult to know].
For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not hidden from you, neither is it far off.
12 They are not in heaven, with the result that you need to say, ‘(Who will need to go up to heaven for us to bring them [down here to us] in order that we can hear them and obey them?/Someone will need to go up to heaven for us to bring them [down here to us] in order that we can hear them and obey them.)’ [RHQ]
It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 And they are not on the other side of the sea, with the result that you need to say, ‘(Who will need to cross the sea for us and bring them back to us, in order that we can hear them and obey them?/Someone will need to cross the sea for us and bring them back to us, in order that we can hear them and obey them.)’ [RHQ]
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 [You do not need to do that because] his commands are here with you. You know them [MTY] and you have (memorized them/put them in your minds). So you can [easily] obey them.
But the word is very nigh unto you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 So listen! Today I am allowing you to choose between [doing what is] evil and [doing what is] good, between what will enable you to live [for a long time] and [what will cause you] to die [while you are still young].
See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 [I say again], if you obey the commands of Yahweh our God that I am giving to you today, and if you love him and conduct your lives as he wants you to do, and if you obey all his rules and regulations, you will prosper and become very numerous, and Yahweh our God will bless you in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.
17 But if you turn away [from Yahweh] and refuse to heed what he says, and if you allow yourselves to be led away to worship other gods,
But if your heart turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I am warning you today that you will [soon] die. You will not live for a long time in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan [River] to enter and possess.
I denounce unto you this day, that all of you shall surely perish, and that all of you shall not prolong your days upon the land, where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I am requesting that [everyone in] heaven and the earth testify to you, that today I am allowing you to choose whether you [want to] live for a long time or to soon die, whether [you want Yahweh to] bless you or to curse you. So choose to live.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live:
20 [Choose to] love Yahweh our God, and to obey him [MTY], and to (be faithful to/have a close relationship with) him. If you do that, you and your descendants will live for a long time in the land that Yahweh solemnly promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give to them.”
That you may love the LORD your God, and that you may obey his voice, and that you may cleave unto him: for he is your life, and the length of your days: that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

< Deuteronomy 30 >