Deuteronomy — Chapter 11
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1You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
2Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;
3the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;
4what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day;
5what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place;
6and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them.
7For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.
8You shall therefore keep every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and possess the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
9and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden.
11But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
12It is a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year.
13So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
15And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,
17or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.
18Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
19Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
20Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
21so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.
22For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
23then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
24Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
25No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
26See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
27a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today,
28but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
29When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30Are not these mountains across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?
31For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,
32be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.
1Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
2And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
3And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
4And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto 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 unto this day;
5And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
6And what he did unto 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:
7But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
8Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;
9And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
11But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
12A 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 unto the end of the year.
13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto 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,
14That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
16Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
18Therefore 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.
19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
21That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22For 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 unto him;
23Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
24Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
25There 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 unto you.
26Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
29And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.
30Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?
31For 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 therein.
32And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.
1Therefore thou shalt love Jehovah thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, alway.
2And know ye this day: for [I speak] not with your children that have not known, and that have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,
3and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
4and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto 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 Jehovah hath destroyed them unto this day;
5and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place;
6and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel:
7but your eyes have seen all the great work of Jehovah which he did.
8Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment which I command thee this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go over to possess it;
9and that ye may prolong your days in the land, which Jehovah sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs;
11but the land, whither ye go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, [and] drinketh water of the rain of heaven,
12a land which Jehovah thy God careth for: the eyes of Jehovah thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain, and thy new wine, and thine oil.
15And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be full.
16Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17and the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah giveth you.
18Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
19And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates;
21that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
22For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
23then will Jehovah drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
24Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border.
25There shall no man be able to stand before you: Jehovah 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 spoken unto you.
26Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
27the blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you this day;
28and the curse, if ye shall not hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
29And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt set the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.
30Are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
31For ye are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.
32And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.
1You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments at all times.
2Bear in mind today that I am not speaking to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments of the Lord your God, which revealed his greatness, strength, and power.
3They did not see the awesome deeds he performed in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land,
4or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he annihilated them.
5They did not see what he did to you in the wilderness before you reached this place,
6or what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and all the property they brought with them.
7I am speaking to you because you are the ones who saw with your own eyes all the great deeds of the Lord.
8Now pay attention to all the commandments I am giving you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed,
9and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10For the land where you are headed is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand like a vegetable garden.
11Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains,
12a land the Lord your God looks after. He is constantly attentive to it from the beginning to the end of the year.
13Now, if you pay close attention to my commandments that I am giving you today and love the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being,
14then he promises, “I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil.
15I will provide pasture for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”
16Make sure you do not turn away to serve and worship other gods!
17Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you, and he will close up the sky so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed from the good land that the Lord is about to give you.
18Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, tie them as a reminder on your hands, and let them be symbols on your forehead.
19Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.
20Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates
21so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land that the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself.
22For if you carefully observe all of these commandments I am giving you and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, and remain loyal to him,
23then he will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
24Every place you set your foot will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea.
25Nobody will be able to resist you; the Lord your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.
26Take note—I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
27the blessing if you take to heart the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today,
28and the curse if you pay no attention to his commandments and turn from the way I am setting before you today to pursue other gods you have not known.
29When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30Are they not across the Jordan River, toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the rift valley opposite Gilgal near the oak of Moreh?
31For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it.
32Be certain to keep all the statutes and ordinances that I am presenting to you today.
1Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
2Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm,
3his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;
4and 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 you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day;
5and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;
6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel;
7but your eyes have seen all of Yahweh’s great work which he did.
8Therefore you shall keep all the commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it;
9and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10For the land, where you go in to possess, isn’t like the land of Egypt, that you came out of, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;
11but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky,
12a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
13It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
15I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.
16Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.
18Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
19You shall teach them to your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
20You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates;
21that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
22For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him;
23then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
24Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.
25No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you.
26Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today;
28and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
29It shall happen, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
31For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.
32You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.
Summary
Moses calls Israel to love the LORD and keep His commandments always, reminding the generation that saw firsthand what God did to Pharaoh's army and to Dathan and Abiram, who were swallowed by the earth for their rebellion (vv. 1-7). He contrasts Egypt, watered by irrigation, with Canaan, a land watered by rain from heaven that the LORD personally cares for throughout the year, with blessing tied to obedience and drought and famine tied to turning to other gods (vv. 8-17). Moses instructs Israel to keep His words on their hearts, teach them to their children, and bind them as reminders in daily life, then closes the section by setting blessing and curse before Israel, blessing for obedience and curse for disobedience, to be pronounced from Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal once they enter the land (vv. 18-32).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Moses speaks from the plains of Moab. The Promised Land is described: watered by rain from heaven (vv.10-12), unlike Egypt where you irrigated by foot.
- Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (vv.29-30): Near Shechem — the mountains of blessing and cursing, where Israel will renew the covenant after crossing the Jordan.
Places on this map
- Moabwest-central JordanThe plateau east of the Dead Sea, cut off from Israel by the rift valley and from Ammon by the Arnon gorge. High enough to farm grain, which is why Naomi's family went there in a famine. Wikipedia
- EgyptEgyptA ribbon of irrigated land along the Nile, ending in the Delta where Israel settled in Goshen. Rain-fed Canaan depended on weather; Egypt depended on a river that flooded on schedule, which made it the place everyone went when the harvest failed. Wikipedia
- ShechemTell Balata, Nablus, West BankIn the pass between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, the natural east-west crossing of the central hills. Abraham's first altar, Joseph's burial and Joshua's covenant renewal all happen here, which made it the north's answer to Jerusalem. Wikipedia
- Jordan RiverIsrael / Jordan borderRuns about 65 miles as the crow flies from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, dropping from 700 to 1,400 feet below sea level. Narrow enough to wade at most fords, it was still the boundary that divided wilderness from inheritance. Wikipedia
- CanaanIsrael, West Bank, LebanonThe land bridge between Egypt and Mesopotamia, which is why armies crossed it for three thousand years. Within about 60 miles it goes from coastal plain to hill country to rift valley to desert plateau, so control of it was always local and piecemeal. Wikipedia
- Mount GerizimNablus, West BankThe southern side of the same pass and the mountain of blessing. Samaritans built their temple on it and still worship there, which is the this mountain of the woman at the well. Wikipedia
- Mount EbalNablus, West BankThe bare northern side of the Shechem pass, 3,080 feet. The curses of the covenant were read from this side, facing Gerizim across the valley, in a natural amphitheatre with remarkable acoustics. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik emphasizes the contrast between Egypt and Canaan: Egypt's irrigation was human-controlled; Canaan's rain was God-controlled. This made Canaan a land of faith — you had to trust God for rain. He notes that the blessing/curse formula (v.26) is the fundamental structure of covenant theology: two ways, two outcomes, one choice.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Deuteronomy -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Let Past Faithfulness Build Present Faith (v.7) — Moses reminds the people that they personally witnessed God's great acts and should let that experience shape their obedience going forward. What has God already done in your life that you need to remember the next time you are tempted to doubt Him?
- Designed for Dependence (v.12) — Unlike Egypt's irrigation, the Promised Land depended entirely on rain God sent, keeping His people continually reliant on Him. Where has God placed you in a situation you cannot control, precisely so you would trust Him?
- Trusting God's Timing (v.14) — God promises the early and latter rains in their proper seasons, each serving a different purpose in the growing cycle. Are you able to trust God's timing even when you cannot yet see the harvest?
- Guarding Against Slow Drift (v.16) — Moses warns Israel to watch that their hearts are not gradually deceived into turning aside. What small compromise in your life could be the beginning of a slow drift away from God?
- Love, Walk, and Cleave Together (v.22) — Moses describes devotion to God as loving Him, walking in His ways, and holding fast to Him, engaging heart, actions, and commitment together. Which of these three is currently the weakest in your walk with God?
- No Neutral Ground (v.26) — Moses sets blessing and curse before Israel as the only two real options, with no middle path. Where in your life are you trying to stay neutral on a choice God is actually asking you to make?