Obedience and Discipline (Deuteronomy 4:1–14)
1 DBY Thou shalt love then Jehovah thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments continually. BSB BSB: You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
2 DBY And know ye this day...; for I speak not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, his greatness, his powerful hand, and his stretched-out 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 DBY and his signs and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; BSB BSB: the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;
4 DBY and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and unto their chariots, over which he made the water of the Red sea flow as they pursued after you, and Jehovah destroyed them unto this 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 DBY — and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came to this place; BSB BSB: what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place;
6 DBY and 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, with their households, and their tents, and all the living substance that belonged to them, in the midst of all 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 DBY For your eyes have seen all the great work of Jehovah which he hath done. 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 DBY Keep then all the commandment which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and enter in and possess the land, whither ye pass over to possess it; 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 DBY and that ye may prolong your days in the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers to give unto them and unto their seed, 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 DBY For the land, whither thou enterest 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; 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 DBY but the land, whereunto ye are passing over to possess it, is a land of mountains and valleys, which drinketh water of the rain of 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 DBY a land which Jehovah thy God careth for; the eyes of Jehovah thy God are constantly upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 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 DBY And it shall come to pass, if ye 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, 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 DBY that I will give rain to your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain; and thou shalt gather in thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine 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 DBY and I will give grass in thy field for thy cattle; and thou shalt eat and be full. BSB BSB: And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16 DBY Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and bow down to them, BSB BSB: But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,
17 DBY and Jehovah's wrath kindle against you, and he shut up the heavens, that there be no rain, and that the ground yield not its produce, and ye perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah is giving 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 DBY And ye shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets 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 DBY And ye shall teach them unto your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest 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 DBY and write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates; BSB BSB: Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
21 DBY that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens which are 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 DBY For if ye diligently keep all this commandment which I command you this day to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto 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 DBY then will Jehovah dispossess all these nations from before you, and ye shall take possession of nations greater and mightier than yourselves. BSB BSB: then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
24 DBY Every 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 your border be. 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 DBY No man shall be able to stand before you: the fear of you and the dread of you will Jehovah your God lay upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto 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 DBY See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: BSB BSB: See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
27 DBY a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you this day; BSB BSB: a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today,
28 DBY and a curse, if ye will not obey 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. 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 DBY Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, beyond the way toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell on the plain opposite to Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 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 DBY For ye pass over the Jordan to enter in to possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth you, and ye shall take possession of it, and dwell therein. 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 DBY And ye shall take heed to do all the statutes and ordinances which I set before you this day. BSB BSB: be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.