Cum ergo venerint super te omnes sermones isti, benedictio sive maledictio, quam proposui in conspectu tuo: et ductus pœnitudine cordis tui in universis gentibus, in quas disperserit te Dominus Deus tuus,

Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee,

And perhaps when thou hast had experience of all this, and hast met first the blessing and then the curse I have here pronounced before thee, thou wilt feel compunction of heart, there in thy exile among the countries where the Lord has scattered thee,

et reversus fueris ad eum, et obedieris ejus imperiis, sicut ego hodie præcipio tibi, cum filiis tuis, in toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua:

And shalt return to him, and obey his commandments, as I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul:

and wilt turn back to him again. Once more thou and thy children will be true, heart and soul, to those commandments of his which I have enjoined upon thee.

reducet Dominus Deus tuus captivitatem tuam, ac miserebitur tui, et rursum congregabit te de cunctis populis, in quos te ante dispersit.

The Lord thy God will bring back again thy captivity, and will have mercy on thee, and gather thee again out of all the nations, into which he scattered thee before.

And the Lord, in pity, will restore thee from banishment, will gather in those sons of thine from the lands in which he has dispersed them.

Si ad cardines cæli fueris dissipatus, inde te retrahet Dominus Deus tuus,

If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven, the Lord thy God will fetch thee back from hence,

Yes, though they should be sundered far apart as pole from pole, the Lord thy God will bring them back again,

et assumet, atque introducet in terram, quam possederunt patres tui, et obtinebis eam: et benedicens tibi, majoris numeri te esse faciat quam fuerunt patres tui.

And will take thee to himself, and bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and blessing thee, he will make thee more numerous than were thy fathers.

summoning them to return and take possession of the land where their fathers dwelt; granting them his blessing, till they are more in number than ever their fathers were.

Circumcidet Dominus Deus tuus cor tuum, et cor seminis tui, ut diligas Dominum Deum tuum in toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua, ut possis vivere.

The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live.

He will rid thy heart, and the hearts of thy children, of all defilement, and thou wilt find life in loving the Lord thy God, heart and soul;

Omnes autem maledictiones has convertet super inimicos tuos, et eos qui oderunt te et persequuntur.

And he will turn all these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee.

the curse he laid upon thee he will lay upon thy enemies instead, upon the men who would hate and persecute thee.

Tu autem reverteris, et audies vocem Domini Dei tui, faciesque universa mandata quæ ego præcipio tibi hodie:

But thou shalt return, and hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and shalt do all the commandments which I command thee this day:

So thou shalt return to thy obedience, listening to the Lord thy God and carrying out all the commandments I am giving thee this day;

et abundare te faciet Dominus Deus tuus in cunctis operibus manuum tuarum, in sobole uteri tui, et in fructu jumentorum tuorum, in ubertate terræ tuæ, et in rerum omnium largitate. Revertetur enim Dominus, ut gaudeat super te in omnibus bonis, sicut gavisus est in patribus tuis:

And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, in the fruitfulness of thy land, and in the plenty of all things. For the Lord will return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he rejoiced in thy fathers:

and the Lord thy God will prosper thee in all thy enterprises, children born to thee, thy cattle and thy lands fruitful, all things thine in abundance. Once more the Lord will take delight in blessing his people, as he did in their fathers’ days;

si tamen audieris vocem Domini Dei tui, et custodieris præcepta ejus et cæremonias, quæ in hac lege conscripta sunt: et revertaris ad Dominum Deum tuum in toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua.

Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep his precepts and ceremonies, which are written in this law: and return to the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

but only if thou wilt obey him, and hold fast to the commandments and observances this law contains, returning heart and soul to him, thy Lord and thy God.

Mandatum hoc, quod ego præcipio tibi hodie, non supra te est, neque procul positum,

This commandment, that I command thee this day is not above thee, nor far off from thee:

It is not above thy reach, it is not beyond thy compass, this duty which I am now enjoining upon thee.

nec in cælo situm, ut possis dicere: Quis nostrum valet ad cælum ascendere, ut deferat illud ad nos, et audiamus atque opere compleamus?

Nor is it in heaven, that thou shouldst say: Which of us can go up to heaven to bring it unto us, and we may hear and fulfil it in work?

It is not a secret laid up in heaven, that thou must needs find someone to scale heaven and bring it down to thee before thou canst hear what it is, and obey it.

neque trans mare positum: ut causeris, et dicas: Quis ex nobis poterit transfretare mare, et illud ad nos usque deferre, ut possimus audire et facere quod præceptum est?

Nor is it beyond the sea: that thou mayst excuse thyself, and say: Which of us can cross the sea, and bring it unto us: that we may hear, and do that which is commanded?

It is not an art, practised far overseas, that thou must wait for some one to go voyaging and bring it back to thee before thou canst learn to live by it.

sed juxta te est sermo valde, in ore tuo, et in corde tuo, ut facias illum.

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it.

No, this message of mine is close to thy side; it rises to thy lips, it is printed on thy memory; thou hast only to fulfil it.

Considera quod hodie proposuerim in conspectu tuo, vitam et bonum, et e contrario mortem et malum:

Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil:

See, I have set before thee this day a choice between life and death, between good fortune and ill.

ut diligas Dominum Deum tuum, et ambules in viis ejus, et custodias mandata illius ac cæremonias atque judicia: et vivas, atque multiplicet te, benedicatque tibi in terra, ad quam ingredieris possidendam.

That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live, and he may multiply thee, and bless thee in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

Thou art to love the Lord thy God and follow the path he has chosen for thee, to hold fast by all his commandments and observances and decrees, if thou wouldst live and thrive and prosper through him in the land that is to be thy home.

Si autem aversum fuerit cor tuum, et audire nolueris, atque errore deceptus adoraveris deos alienos, et servieris eis:

But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them:

If thy heart becomes estranged from him, so that thou dost no longer obey him, but art tempted away into worshipping other gods and doing them service,

prædico tibi hodie quod pereas, et parvo tempore moreris in terra, ad quam, Jordane transmisso, ingredieris possidendam.

I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it.

then I warn thee here and now that it will be thy ruin; the land thou art winning for thyself on the other side of Jordan will be thine only for a little.

Testes invoco hodie cælum et terram, quod proposuerim vobis vitam et mortem, benedictionem et maledictionem. Elige ergo vitam, ut et tu vivas, et semen tuum:

I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

I call heaven and earth to witness this day that I have set such a choice before thee, life or death, a blessing or a curse. Wilt thou not choose life, long life for thyself and for those that come after thee?

et diligas Dominum Deum tuum, atque obedias voci ejus, et illi adhæreas (ipse est enim vita tua, et longitudo dierum tuorum), ut habites in terra, pro qua juravit Dominus patribus tuis, Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob, ut daret eam illis.

And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,) that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

Wilt thou not learn to love the Lord thy God, and obey him, and keep close to his side? Thou hast no life, no hope of long continuance, but in him; shall not the land which he promised as a gift to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, be thine to dwell in?