Obedience and Discipline (Deuteronomy 4:1–14)
1 CPDV “And so, love the Lord your God, and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments, at all times. BSB BSB: You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
2 CPDV Acknowledge, on this day, the things that your sons did not know. For they did not see the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great acts, and powerful hand, and outstretched arm, BSB BSB: Know 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;
3 CPDV the signs and works that he did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king, and to his entire land, BSB BSB: the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;
4 CPDV and to the entire army of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord wiped them away, even to the present day; BSB BSB: what 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;
5 CPDV and the things that he accomplished for you in the wilderness, until you arrived at this place; BSB BSB: what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place;
6 CPDV and to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, who was the son of Reuben, those whom the earth, opening its mouth, engulfed with their households and tents, and with their entire substance which they had in the midst of Israel. BSB BSB: and 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.
7 CPDV Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, which he has accomplished, BSB BSB: For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.
God’s Great Blessings (Joshua 1:1–9)
8 CPDV so that you would keep all his commandments, which I entrust to you this day, and so that you would be able to enter and possess the land, toward which you are advancing, BSB BSB: You 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,
9 CPDV and so that you may live, for a long time, in the land which the Lord promised under oath to your fathers, and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. BSB BSB: and 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.
10 CPDV For the land, which you shall enter and possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from which you departed, where, when seed has been sown, waters are brought in by irrigation, in the manner of gardens. BSB BSB: For 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.
11 CPDV Rather, it has mountainous regions and plains, which lay waiting for rain from heaven. BSB BSB: But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
12 CPDV And the Lord your God always visits it, and his eyes are upon it, from the beginning of the year, all the way to its end. BSB BSB: It 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.
13 CPDV So then, if you obey my commandments, which I am instructing to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole soul, BSB BSB: So 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,
14 CPDV he will give to your land the early rain and the late rain, so that you may gather your grain, and your wine, and your oil, BSB BSB: then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
15 CPDV and your hay from the fields in order to feed your cattle, and so that you yourselves may eat and be satisfied. BSB BSB: And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16 CPDV Be careful, lest perhaps your heart may be deceived, and you might withdraw from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them. BSB BSB: But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,
17 CPDV And the Lord, becoming angry, might close up heaven, so that the rain would not descend, nor would the earth produce her seedlings, and then you would quickly perish from the excellent land, which the Lord will give to you. BSB BSB: or 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.
Remember God’s Words 18 CPDV Place these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between your eyes. BSB BSB: Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
19 CPDV Teach your sons to meditate on them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down or rise up. BSB BSB: Teach 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.
20 CPDV You shall write them upon the doorposts and the gates of your house, BSB BSB: Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
21 CPDV so that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your sons, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, that he would give it to them for as long as heaven is suspended above the earth. BSB BSB: so 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.
22 CPDV For if you keep the commandments which I am entrusting to you, and if you do them, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, clinging to him, BSB BSB: For 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—
23 CPDV the Lord will scatter all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, though they are greater and stronger than you. BSB BSB: then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
24 CPDV Every place upon which your foot shall tread will be yours. From the desert, and from Lebanon, from the great river Euphrates, as far as the western sea, shall be your borders. BSB BSB: Every 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.
25 CPDV No one will stand against you. The Lord your God will spread the terror and dread of you over all the land upon which you shall tread, just as he has spoken to you. BSB BSB: No 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.
A Blessing and a Curse 26 CPDV Behold, I am setting forth in your sight today a blessing and a curse. BSB BSB: See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
27 CPDV It will be a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am instructing to you this day. BSB BSB: a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today,
28 CPDV It will be a curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but instead you withdraw from the way, which I am revealing to you now, and you walk after foreign gods that you have not known. BSB BSB: but 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.
30 CPDV which are across the Jordan, behind the way which slopes toward the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite, who lives in the plains opposite Gilgal, which is near the valley extending toward and entering a distant place. BSB BSB: Are 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?
31 CPDV For you shall cross over the Jordan, so that you may possess the land which the Lord your God will give you, so that you may have it and possess it. BSB BSB: For 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,
32 CPDV Therefore, see to it that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I am placing in your sight this day.” BSB BSB: be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.