The Holy Bible

[28:15] “But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:

[28:16] “The Lord will curse your towns and your fields.

[28:17] “The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.

[28:18] “The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep.

[28:19] “The Lord will curse everything you do.

[28:20] “If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed.

[28:21] He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy.

[28:22] The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die.

[28:23] No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron.

[28:24] Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed.

[28:25] “The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you.

[28:26] When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off.

[28:27] The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure.

[28:28] The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion.

[28:29] You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you.

[28:30] “You will be engaged to a young woman—but someone else will marry her. You will build a house—but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard—but never eat its grapes.

[28:31] Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you.

[28:32] Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return.

[28:33] A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment.

[28:34] Your sufferings will make you lose your mind.

[28:35] The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot.

[28:36] “The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone.

[28:37] In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you.

[28:38] “You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops.

[28:39] You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines.

[28:40] Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off.

[28:41] You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war.

[28:42] All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects.

[28:43] “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours.

[28:44] They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.

[28:45] “All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you.

[28:46] They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever.

[28:47] The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts.

[28:48] So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked—in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed.

[28:49] The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle.

[28:50] They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old.

[28:51] They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die.

[28:52] They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall.

[28:53] “When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you.

[28:58] “If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God,

[28:59] he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped.

[28:60] He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover.

[28:61] He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed.

[28:62] Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

[28:63] Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy.

[28:64] “The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before.

[28:65] You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair.

[28:66] Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

[28:67] Your hearts will pound with fear at everything you see. Every morning you will wish for evening; every evening you will wish for morning.

[28:68] The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though he said that you would never have to go there again. There you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you.”

[29:1] These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai.

[29:2] Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, “You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country.

[29:3] You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed.

[29:4] But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced.

[29:5] For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out.

[29:6] You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God.

[29:7] And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them,

[29:8] took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

[29:9] Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do.

[29:10] “Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you—your leaders and officials, your men,

[29:11] women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you.

[29:12] You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations,

[29:13] so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[29:14] You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations.

[29:15] He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born.

[29:16] “You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations.

[29:17] You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold.

[29:18] Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant.

[29:19] Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.

[29:20] The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely.

[29:21] The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings.

[29:22] “In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land.

[29:23] The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry.

[29:24] Then the whole world will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?’

[29:25] And the answer will be, ‘It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt.

[29:26] They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship.

[29:27] And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book.

[29:28] The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.’

[29:29] “There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

[30:1] “I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you.

[30:2] If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today,

[30:3] then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again.

[30:4] Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back,

[30:5] so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were.

[30:6] The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land.

[30:7] He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you,

[30:8] and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

[30:9] The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous,

[30:10] but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart.

[30:11] “The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach.

[30:12] It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, ‘Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?’

[30:13] Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, ‘Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’

[30:14] No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it.

[30:15] “Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death.

[30:16] If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy.

[30:17] But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods,

[30:18] you will be destroyed—I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy.

[30:19] I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life.

[30:20] Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

[31:1] Moses continued speaking to the people of Israel,

[31:2] and said, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to be your leader. And besides this, the Lord has told me that I will not cross the Jordan.

[31:3] The Lord your God himself will go before you and destroy the nations living there, so that you can occupy their land; and Joshua will be your leader, as the Lord has said.

[31:4] The Lord will destroy those people, just as he defeated Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and destroyed their country.

[31:5] The Lord will give you victory over them, and you are to treat them exactly as I have told you.

[31:6] Be determined and confident. Do not be afraid of them. Your God, the Lord himself, will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”

[31:7] Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the presence of all the people of Israel, “Be determined and confident; you are the one who will lead these people to occupy the land that the Lord promised to their ancestors.

[31:8] The Lord himself will lead you and be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you, so do not lose courage or be afraid.”

[31:9] So Moses wrote down God's Law and gave it to the levitical priests, who were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box, and to the leaders of Israel.

[31:10] He commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, when the year that debts are canceled comes around, read this aloud at the Festival of Shelters.

[31:11] Read it to the people of Israel when they come to worship the Lord your God at the one place of worship.

[31:12] Call together all the men, women, and children, and the foreigners who live in your towns, so that everyone may hear it and learn to honor the Lord your God and to obey his teachings faithfully.

[31:13] In this way your descendants who have never heard the Law of the Lord your God will hear it. And so they will learn to obey him as long as they live in the land that you are about to occupy across the Jordan.”

[31:14] Then the Lord said to Moses, “You do not have much longer to live. Call Joshua and bring him to the Tent, so that I may give him his instructions.” Moses and Joshua went to the Tent,

[31:15] and the Lord appeared to them there in a pillar of cloud that stood by the door of the Tent.

[31:16] The Lord said to Moses, “You will soon die, and after your death the people will become unfaithful to me and break the covenant that I made with them. They will abandon me and worship the pagan gods of the land they are about to enter.

[31:17] When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them.

[31:18] And I will refuse to help them then, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods.

[31:19] “Now, write down this song. Teach it to the people of Israel, so that it will stand as evidence against them.

[31:20] I will take them into this rich and fertile land, as I promised their ancestors. There they will have all the food they want, and they will live comfortably. But they will turn away and worship other gods. They will reject me and break my covenant,

[31:21] and many terrible disasters will come on them. But this song will still be sung, and it will stand as evidence against them. Even now, before I take them into the land that I promised to give them, I know what they are thinking.”

[31:22] That same day Moses wrote down the song and taught it to the people of Israel.

[31:23] Then the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun and told him, “Be confident and determined. You will lead the people of Israel into the land that I promised them, and I will be with you.”

[31:24] Moses wrote God's Law in a book, taking care not to leave out anything.

[31:25] When he finished, he said to the levitical priests, who were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box,

[31:26] “Take this book of God's Law and place it beside the Covenant Box of the Lord your God, so that it will remain there as a witness against his people.

[31:27] I know how stubborn and rebellious they are. They have rebelled against the Lord during my lifetime, and they will rebel even more after I am dead.

[31:28] Assemble all your tribal leaders and officials before me, so that I can tell them these things; I will call heaven and earth to be my witnesses against them.

[31:29] I know that after my death the people will become wicked and reject what I have taught them. And in time to come they will meet with disaster, because they will have made the Lord angry by doing what he has forbidden.”

[32:45] When Moses had finished giving God's teachings to the people,

[32:46] he said, “Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today. Repeat them to your children, so that they may faithfully obey all of God's teachings.

[32:47] These teachings are not empty words; they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy.”

[32:48] That same day the Lord said to Moses,

[32:49] “Go to the Abarim Mountains in the land of Moab opposite the city of Jericho; climb Mount Nebo and look at the land of Canaan that I am about to give the people of Israel.

[32:50] You will die on that mountain as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor,

[32:51] because both of you were unfaithful to me in the presence of the people of Israel. When you were at the waters of Meribah, near the town of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, you dishonored me in the presence of the people.

[32:52] You will look at the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land that I am giving the people of Israel.”

[33:1] These are the blessings that Moses, the man of God, pronounced on the people of Israel before he died.

[33:2] The Lord came from Mount Sinai; he rose like the sun over Edom and shone on his people from Mount Paran. Ten thousand angels were with him, a flaming fire at his right hand.

[33:3] The Lord loves his people and protects those who belong to him. So we bow at his feet and obey his commands.

[33:4] We obey the Law that Moses gave us, our nation's most treasured possession.

[33:5] The Lord became king of his people Israel when their tribes and leaders were gathered together.

[33:6] Moses said about the tribe of Reuben: “May Reuben never die out, Although their people are few.”

[33:7] About the tribe of Judah he said: “Lord, listen to their cry for help; Unite them again with the other tribes. Fight for them, Lord, And help them against their enemies.”

[33:8] About the tribe of Levi he said: “You, Lord, reveal your will by the Urim and Thummim Through your faithful servants, the Levites; You put them to the test at Massah And proved them true at the waters of Meribah.

[33:9] They showed greater loyalty to you Than to parents, brothers, or children. They obeyed your commands And were faithful to your covenant.

[33:10] They will teach your people to obey your Law; They will offer sacrifices on your altar.

[33:11] Lord, help their tribe to grow strong; Be pleased with what they do. Crush all their enemies; Let them never rise again.”

[33:12] About the tribe of Benjamin he said: “This is the tribe the Lord loves and protects; He guards them all the day long, And he dwells in their midst.”

[33:13] About the tribe of Joseph he said: “May the Lord bless their land with rain And with water from under the earth.

[33:14] May their land be blessed with sun-ripened fruit, Rich with the best fruits of each season.

[33:15] May their ancient hills be covered with choice fruit.

[33:16] May their land be filled with all that is good, Blessed by the goodness of the Lord, Who spoke from the burning bush. May these blessings come to the tribe of Joseph, Because he was the leader among his brothers.

[33:17] Joseph has the strength of a bull, The horns of a wild ox. His horns are Manasseh's thousands And Ephraim's ten thousands. With them he gores the nations And pushes them to the ends of the earth.”

[33:18] About the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar he said: “May Zebulun be prosperous in their trade on the sea, And may Issachar's wealth increase at home.

[33:19] They invite foreigners to their mountain And offer the right sacrifices there. They get their wealth from the sea And from the sand along the shore.”

[33:20] About the tribe of Gad he said: “Praise God, who made their territory large. Gad waits like a lion To tear off an arm or a scalp.

[33:21] They took the best of the land for themselves; A leader's share was assigned to them. They obeyed the Lord's commands and laws When the leaders of Israel were gathered together.”

[33:22] About the tribe of Dan he said: “Dan is a young lion; He leaps out from Bashan.”

[33:23] About the tribe of Naphtali he said: “Naphtali is richly blessed by the Lord's good favor; Their land reaches to the south from Lake Galilee.”

[33:24] About the tribe of Asher he said: “Asher is blessed more than the other tribes. May he be the favorite of his brothers, And may his land be rich with olive trees.

[33:25] May his towns be protected with iron gates, And may he always live secure.”

[33:26] People of Israel, no god is like your God, riding in splendor across the sky, riding through the clouds to come to your aid.

[33:27] God has always been your defense; his eternal arms are your support. He drove out your enemies as you advanced, and told you to destroy them all.

[33:28] So Jacob's descendants live in peace, secure in a land full of grain and wine, where dew from the sky waters the ground.

[33:29] Israel, how happy you are! There is no one like you, a nation saved by the Lord. The Lord himself is your shield and your sword, to defend you and give you victory. Your enemies will come begging for mercy, and you will trample them down.

[34:1] Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan;

[34:2] the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea;

[34:3] the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, the city of palm trees.

[34:4] Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there.”

[34:5] So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would.

[34:6] The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial.

[34:7] Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good.

[34:8] The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab.

[34:9] Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the Lord had given them through Moses.

[34:10] There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face.

[34:11] No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the Lord sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country.

[34:12] No other prophet has been able to do the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.