The Covenant Renewed in Moab
1 1 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel cin the land of Moab, besides dthe covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.
2 2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: e“You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great ftrials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day gthe Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5 hI have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. 6 iYou have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 7 And when you came to this place, jSihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and kgave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 lTherefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper3 in all that you do.
10 “You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God: the heads of your tribes,4 your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the msojourner who is in your camp, from nthe one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 so that you may enter into the osworn covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 that he may pestablish you today as his people, and that qhe may be your God, as he promised you, and ras he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 It is not with you alone sthat I am making this sworn covenant, 15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, tand with whoever is not here with us today.
16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you ua root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather vthe anger of the Lord and whis jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord xwill blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, ywill say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick— 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and zsalt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, aan overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, bAdmah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath— 24 all the nations cwill say, d‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, ebringing upon it all the curses written in this book, 28 and the Lord fuprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and gcast them into another land, as they are this day.’
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Repentance and Forgiveness
1 h“And iwhen all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and jyou call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and kreturn to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God lwill restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will mgather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 nIf your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. oAnd he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And pthe Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, qso that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 rThe Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. sFor the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Choice of Life and Death
11 “For this commandment that I command you today tis not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 uIt is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 “See, vI have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God5 that I command you today, wby loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,6 then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if xyour heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 yI declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, zblessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice aand holding fast to him, for bhe is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in cthe land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
1 eThe wisest of women fbuilds her house,
but folly with her own hands gtears it down.
2 Whoever hwalks in uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is idevious in his ways despises him.
3 By the mouth of a fool comes ja rod for his back,1
kbut the lips of the wise will preserve them.
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
5 lA faithful witness does not lie,
but ma false witness breathes out lies.
6 nA scoffer seeks wisdom oin vain,
but pknowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
7 Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
9 qFools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.2
10 The heart knows its own rbitterness,
and no stranger shares its joy.
11 sThe house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 tThere is a way that seems right to a man,
but uits end is the way to death.3
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and vthe end of joy may be wgrief.
14 The backslider in heart will be xfilled with the fruit of his ways,
and ya good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
15 zThe simple believes everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
16 aOne who is wise is cautious4 and bturns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
17 A man of cquick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19 dThe evil bow down before the good,
the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 eThe poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
fbut the rich has many friends.
21 Whoever gdespises his neighbor is a sinner,
but hblessed is he who is generous to the poor.
22 Do they not go astray who idevise evil?
Those who devise good meet5 jsteadfast love and faithfulness.
23 In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk ktends only to poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who lbreathes out lies is deceitful.
26 In the fear of the Lord one has mstrong confidence,
and nhis children will have oa refuge.
27 The fear of the Lord is pa fountain of life,
that one may qturn away from the snares of death.
28 In ra multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29 Whoever is sslow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30 A tranquil6 heart gives tlife to the flesh,
but uenvy7 makes vthe bones rot.
31 Whoever oppresses a poor man winsults his xMaker,
ybut he who is generous to the needy honors him.
32 zThe wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
but athe righteous finds refuge in his death.
33 Wisdom brests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.8
34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35 A servant who deals wisely has cthe king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
