Yours, then, to love the Lord your God, and be true at all times to every decree and observance, every award and command of his;

Ama itaque Dominum Deum tuum, et observa præcepta ejus et cæremonias, judicia atque mandata, omni tempore.

Therefore love the Lord thy God and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments at all times.

yours to remember those past things which do not lie within the memory of your children. They were never warned by the sight of those marvellous things the Lord your God did, that constraining force of his, that display of his power.

Cognoscite hodie quæ ignorant filii vestri, qui non viderunt disciplinam Domini Dei vestri, magnalia ejus et robustam manum, extentumque brachium,

Know this day the things that your children know not, who saw not the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great doings and strong hand, and stretched out arm,

What portents were done in Egypt, to humble king Pharao and all his subjects,

signa et opera quæ fecit in medio Ægypti Pharaoni regi, et universæ terræ ejus,

The signs and works which he did in the midst of Egypt to king Pharao, and to all his land,

the army, too, of the Egyptians with their horses and chariots, all drowned in the Red Sea when they went in pursuit of you, and never heard of again to this day!

omnique exercitui Ægyptiorum, et equis ac curribus: quomodo operuerint eos aquæ maris Rubri, cum vos persequerentur, et deleverit eos Dominus usque in præsentem diem:

And to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued you, and how the Lord destroyed them until this present day:

In the desert, on your way to this place,

vobisque quæ fecerit in solitudine donec veniretis ad hunc locum:

And what he hath done to you in the wilderness, till you came to this place:

you saw strange things, when the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed up Dathan and Abiron, the sons of Eliab, that was son of Ruben, with their households and their tents, and all that belonged to them, alone among the sons of Israel.

et Dathan atque Abiron filiis Eliab, qui fuit filius Ruben: quos aperto ore suo terra absorbuit, cum domibus et tabernaculis, et universa substantia eorum, quam habebant in medio Israël.

And to Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, who was the son of Ruben: whom the earth, opening her mouth swallowed up with their households and tents, and all their substance, which they had in the midst of Israel.

If your eyes have witnessed all these great acts the Lord did,

Oculi vestri viderunt opera Domini magna quæ fecit,

Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, that he hath done,

it was so that you might learn to keep all those laws of his which I now proclaim to you. So you will take possession of the land that awaits you yonder,

ut custodiatis universa mandata illius, quæ ego hodie præcipio vobis, et possitis introire, et possidere terram, ad quam ingredimini,

That you may keep all his commandments, which I command you this day, and may go in, and possess the land, to which you are entering,

a land all milk and honey, a gift which the Lord promised on oath to your fathers and their sons after them; so will you live long to enjoy it.

multoque in ea vivatis tempore: quam sub juramento pollicitus est Dominus patribus vestris, et semini eorum, lacte et melle manantem.

And may live in it a long time: which the Lord promised by oath to your fathers, and to their seed, a land which floweth with milk and honey.

You must know that the land which lies before you is not like Egypt, where you lived formerly, a garden watered by sluices wherever the seed is sown;

Terra enim, ad quam ingrederis possidendam, non est sicut terra Ægypti, de qua existi, ubi jacto semine in hortorum morem aquæ ducuntur irriguæ:

For the land, which thou goest to possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from whence thou camest out, where, when the seed is sown, waters are brought in to water it after the manner of gardens.

it is a country of hill and dale, that waits for rain from heaven to water it,

sed montuosa est et campestris, de cælo expectans pluvias,

But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting rain from heaven.

so that the Lord your God himself must be at pains to tend it, watching over it from year’s end to year’s end.

quam Dominus Deus tuus semper invisit, et oculi illius in ea sunt a principio anni usque ad finem ejus.

And the Lord thy God doth always visit it, and his eyes are on it from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof.

And if you obey the commands I am giving you now, by loving the Lord and serving him, heart and soul,

Si ergo obedieritis mandatis meis, quæ ego hodie præcipio vobis, ut diligatis Dominum Deum vestrum, et serviatis ei in toto corde vestro, et in tota anima vestra:

If then you obey my commandments, which I command you this day, that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul:

then he will send your land rain in autumn, rain in spring, to give you a harvest of wheat, and wine, and oil;

dabit pluviam terræ vestræ temporaneam et serotinam, ut colligatis frumentum, et vinum, et oleum,

He will give to your land the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil,

your beasts will have grass to graze on in the countryside, and you food to your hearts’ content.

fœnumque ex agris ad pascenda jumenta, et ut ipsi comedatis ac saturemini.

And your hay out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you may eat and be filled.

But do not let your hearts be led away into forsaking the Lord your God, and enslaving yourselves to alien worship;

Cavete ne forte decipiatur cor vestrum, et recedatis a Domino, serviatisque diis alienis, et adoretis eos:

Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them:

or the Lord, in his anger, will shut the doors of heaven; no rain will fall, earth will yield no crops, and soon the fair land the Lord means to make yours will know you no longer.

iratusque Dominus claudat cælum, et pluviæ non descendant, nec terra det germen suum, pereatisque velociter de terra optima, quam Dominus daturus est vobis.

And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

Keep these words of mine in memory, treasure them up in your hearts, let them be bound close to your hands as a remembrancer, let them hang before your eyes.

Ponite hæc verba mea in cordibus et in animis vestris, et suspendite ea pro signo in manibus, et inter oculos vestros collocate.

Lay up these my words in your hearts and minds, and hang them for a sign on your hands, and place them between your eyes.

Teach them to your sons, thoughts to be pondered well, at home and abroad, sleeping and waking,

Docete filios vestros ut illa meditentur: quando sederis in domo tua, et ambulaveris in via, et accubueris atque surrexeris.

Teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up.

the legend you inscribe on door and gate-post.

Scribes ea super postes et januas domus tuæ,

Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy house:

So this land which the Lord promised to your fathers, to be their own as long as there is a sky above us, shall be held by you and your sons in long possession.

ut multiplicentur dies tui, et filiorum tuorum in terra, quam juravit Dominus patribus tuis, ut daret eis quamdiu cælum imminet terræ.

That thy days may be multiplied, and the days of thy children in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he would give them as long as the heaven hangeth over the earth.

Remember the commandments I am giving you, live by them, love the Lord your God, be true to him, follow all the paths he has chosen for you,

Si enim custodieritis mandata quæ ego præcipio vobis, et feceritis ea, ut diligatis Dominum Deum vestrum, et ambuletis in omnibus viis ejus, adhærentes ei,

For if you keep the commandments which I command you, and do them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, cleaving unto him,

and the Lord will scatter all these nations at your coming, and you shall dispossess them, though you be no match for them in number or in strength.

disperdet Dominus omnes gentes istas ante faciem vestram, et possidebitis eas, quæ majores et fortiores vobis sunt.

The Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, which are greater and stronger than you.

All shall be yours, wherever your feet shall tread; the desert, and Lebanon, and the western sea, and the great river Euphrates shall be your frontiers.

Omnis locus, quem calcaverit pes vester, vester erit. A deserto, et a Libano, a flumine magno Euphrate usque ad mare occidentale erunt termini vestri.

Every place, that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours. From the desert, and from Libanus, from the great river Euphrates unto the western sea shall be your borders.

None shall be able to withstand you; such fear of you, such dread of your coming will the Lord, in his faithfulness, spread abroad wherever you go.

Nullus stabit contra vos: terrorem vestrum et formidinem dabit Dominus Deus vester super omnem terram quam calcaturi estis, sicut locutus est vobis.

None shall stand against you: the Lord your God shall lay the dread and fear of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he hath spoken to you.

Such is the choice I set before you this day, blessing or curse.

En propono in conspectu vestro hodie benedictionem et maledictionem:

Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse:

A blessing, if you will obey the commands I now give you from the Lord your God;

benedictionem, si obedieritis mandatis Domini Dei vestri, quæ ego hodie præcipio vobis:

A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

a curse, if you disobey those commands, and forsake the path I am shewing to you, and follow the worship of other gods, untried till now.

maledictionem, si non obedieritis mandatis Domini Dei vestri, sed recesseritis de via, quam ego nunc ostendo vobis, et ambulaveritis post deos alienos, quos ignoratis.

A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God, but revolt from the way which now I shew you, and walk after strange gods which you know not.

When the Lord has given you entrance into the land which is to be your home, you will proclaim the blessing from mount Garizim, and the curse from mount Hebal.

Cum vero introduxerit te Dominus Deus tuus in terram, ad quam pergis habitandam, pones benedictionem super montem Garizim, maledictionem super montem Hebal:

And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, whither thou goest to dwell, thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Garizim, the curse upon mount Hebal:

(These lie beyond Jordan, on its western side, in the territory of those Chanaanites who hold the plain near Galgal, where a long valley stretches up into the hills.)

qui sunt trans Jordanem, post viam quæ vergit ad solis occubitum in terra Chananæi, qui habitat in campestribus contra Galgalam, quæ est juxta vallem tendentem et intrantem procul.

Which are beyond the Jordan, behind the way that goeth to the setting of the sun, in the land of the Chanaanite who dwelleth in the plain country over against Galgala, which is near the valley that reacheth and entereth far.

Cross Jordan you will, to conquer the land which the Lord your God means you to have and to hold;

Vos enim transibitis Jordanem, ut possideatis terram quam Dominus Deus vester daturus est vobis, ut habeatis et possideatis illam.

For you shall pass over the Jordan, to possess the land, which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have it and possess it.

and look well to it that all the observances and decrees I proclaim before you to-day are carried out faithfully.

Videte ergo ut impleatis cæremonias atque judicia, quæ ego hodie ponam in conspectu vestro.

See therefore that you fulfil the ceremonies and judgments, which I shall set this day before you.