1Therefore, you must love Yahweh your God and always obey his instructions, rules, laws, and commands.
2Understand this today: I am not speaking to your children, who have not known or seen the discipline of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his strong hand, and his powerful arm.
3You saw his miraculous signs and the things he did in Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land.
4You saw what he did to the Egyptian army, their horses, and their chariots. He made the waters of the Red Sea flood over them as they chased you, and Yahweh destroyed them completely, as they are to this day.
5You saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place.
6And you saw what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, who was the son of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and everyone who followed them, right in the middle of all Israel.
7However, you have personally seen all the great things Yahweh has done.
8So, you must obey all the commands I'm giving you today. Then you will be strong, and you will be able to go in and take possession of the land you are about to enter.
9This way, you will live a long time in the land that Yahweh promised to give your ancestors and their descendants—a land rich with milk and honey.
10The land you are entering to take possession of is not like the land of Egypt, which you left. There, you planted your seeds and had to water them by foot, like a vegetable garden.
11But the land you are crossing over to take is a land of hills and valleys that gets its water from the rain that falls from the sky.
12It is a land that Yahweh your God cares for. His eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end.
13If you diligently listen to my commands that I'm giving you today, if you love Yahweh your God and serve him with all your heart and soul,
14then I will send rain on your land at the right time—both the autumn rains and the spring rains—so you can gather your grain, new wine, and olive oil.
15I will also provide grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be full.
16Be careful, or your heart might be deceived, and you might turn away to serve other gods and worship them.
17If that happens, Yahweh's anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky so there is no rain, and the land won't produce its crops. Then you will quickly die off from the good land Yahweh is giving you.
18Therefore, fix these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. Tie them as a sign on your hand and wear them on your forehead as a reminder.
19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.
20Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,
21so that you and your children may live many days in the land that Yahweh promised your ancestors to give them—as many days as the heavens are above the earth.
22For if you carefully obey all these commands I am giving you—to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to follow all his ways, and to remain loyal to him—
23then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will take possession of lands from nations that are greater and stronger than yourselves.
24Every place where you set foot will belong to you. Your territory will extend from the wilderness and Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
25No one will be able to stand against you. Yahweh your God will spread fear and dread of you over all the land you walk on, just as he told you.
26Look, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse:
27a blessing, if you listen to the commands of Yahweh your God that I am giving you today;
28and a curse, if you do not listen to the commands of Yahweh your God, but turn aside from the path I am commanding you today by following other gods you have not known.
29When Yahweh your God brings you into the land you are going to take possession of, you are to pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30Aren't these mountains beyond the Jordan, west of the road, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley, near Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?
31For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. You will take possession of it and live there.
32You must faithfully obey all the laws and rules I am giving you today.