Knox Bible

1

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;

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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.

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

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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!

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In the desert, on your way to this place,

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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.

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

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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,

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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.

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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;

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

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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.

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

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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the legend you inscribe on door and gate-post.

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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.

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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,

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.✻

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(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.)

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

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