Deuteronomy 11

1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always.

Love the Lord your God and do everything he says—his rules, regulations, and commandments.

2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,

You should realize that it's not your children who have experienced the Lord your God's discipline. It was you who saw his greatness, his power and strength;

3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;

and his miracles. You saw what he did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole country.

4 And what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them to this day;

You saw what he did to the Egyptian army and its horses and chariots when he swept them away in the Red Sea, drowning them as they chased after you. The story hasn't changed!

5 And what he did to you in the wilderness, until ye came to this place;

You saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived here.

6 And what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

You saw what he did, right there among you, to Dothan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben, when the earth split open and swallowed them down—their families, their tents, and all their animals.

7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

You saw with your own eyes all the amazing things that the Lord has done.

8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where ye go to possess it;

So you must keep every commandment I am giving you today That way you will have the strength to enter and take over the country that you are crossing the Jordan to have as your own,

9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

You will also have long lives in the country that the Lord promised to give your forefathers and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 For the land, where thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from which ye came out, where thou didst sow thy seed, and water it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

The country you're entering to occupy isn't like the country of Egypt that you've come from. There you had to sow your seed and work hard irrigating the ground, like taking care of a vegetable garden.

11 But the land, where ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

But here in the country that you are crossing the Jordan to take over is a land of mountains and valleys that receives plenty of rain

12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.

It is a land that the Lord your God takes care of. The Lord your God it is always watching over it, all year long.

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

So if you pay careful attention to keep the commandments I'm giving you today, if you love the Lord your God and to worship with all your mind and with all your being,

14 That I will give you the rain of your land in its due season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain, and thy wine, and thy oil.

then I will send rain for your land at the right time, rain in autumn and spring, so that you can harvest your grain, new wine, and olive oil.

15 And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

I will also provide grass in the fields for your livestock. You will have more than enough to eat.

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

But make sure you're not that you're not fooled into worshiping and bowing down to other gods,

17 And then the LORD’S wrath shall be kindled against you, and he shall shut up the heaven, that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

or the Lord will become angry with you. He won't send any rain, and the land won't produce any crops, and you will soon die, even in the good land that the Lord is giving you.

18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

Focus your minds on the words that I'm saying. Tie them on your hands as reminders and put them on your foreheads as well.

19 And ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Teach them to your children and talk about them when you're at home and when you're traveling, when you lie down and when you get up.

20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates:

Write them on the doorposts of your homes and on your gates,

21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

so that as long as the earth lasts, you and your children may have long lives in the country the Lord promised to give your forefathers.

22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him;

If you are careful to keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow, if you love the Lord your God and follow all his ways, and hold onto him,

23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

then the Lord will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will take over the country from nations that are greater and stronger than you.

24 Every place on which the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the uttermost sea shall your border be.

Everywhere you walk will belong to you. Your territory will extend from the desert all the way to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.

25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said to you.

No one will be able to withstand you; the Lord your God will make everyone living there absolutely terrified of you wherever you go, just as he promised you.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

Look! Today I'm placing before you both a blessing and a curse.

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

You will receive a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today.

28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

But you will receive a curse if you disobey the commandments of the Lord your God and don't keep to the path I'm ordering you to follow today by worshiping some other unknown gods.

29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in to the land where thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

When the Lord your God takes you into the country you are going in to occupy, announce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

30 Are they not on the other side of Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

(These mountains are to the west of the Jordan, in the country of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh.)

31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell in it.

Shortly you're going to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the country the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there,

32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

make sure you follow all the rules and regulations that I'm giving you today.