Deuteronomy

So, love the Lord, your God, and observe all that he has commanded you: his laws, norms, and commandments.

You, with whom I am speaking, understand all this. Perhaps this may be more difficult for your children who have not known the teachings of the Lord or seen his greatness and strength.

But you saw the signs and the marvels he did in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land,

and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and chariots, when he buried them in the waters of the Red Sea, destroying them as they pursued us.

Remember, too, all that the Lord did for you in the desert, until you came to this place,

what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, from the tribe of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with all their families, their tents and their followers, amid all Israel.

You have seen all these marvelous wonders the Lord has done with your eyes.

Therefore, observe all these commandments that I give you, that you may gather strength and occupy the land you are going over to possess.

And you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, flowing with milk and honey.

For the land you are to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt which you left, where after having sown your seeds, you had to water them like a vegetable garden with your feet on the water wheel,

but a land of mountains and valleys, which drinks water from the rain that comes from the heavens.

The Lord, your God, cares for this land, and his eyes are constantly fixed on it from the beginning of the year until its end.

If you indeed obey the commandments that I give you today, if you love the Lord and serve me with all your heart and with all your soul,

I will give rain to your land in season, both in autumn and in spring, that you may harvest your wheat, wine, and oil.

Your field will give you grass for your cattle, and you will eat until you are satisfied.

But if you turn aside, if you serve other gods and bow before them,

the anger of the Lord will break out against you. He will close up the heavens, and it will cease to rain; the land will not yield its fruit, and you will suddenly perish in that beautiful land the Lord gives you.

Engrave these words of mine on your heart and soul, brand them on your hand as a sign, and keep them before your eyes.

Teach them to your children. Speak of them when you are at home and when you travel, when you lie down, and when you rise.

Engrave them on your doorposts and your city gates.

Then your days and the days of your children will be multiplied in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers, and you will dwell in that land as long as the heavens are above the earth.

For if you observe the commandments that I command you to practice if you love the Lord and follow his ways, clinging to him,

the Lord will destroy all those nations before you, and you will seize the land from greater and more powerful nations.

Every place you set foot will be yours; your territory will be from the desert to Lebanon, the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.

No one will be able to stand against you. In all the land you tread, the Lord will make the people fear and be afraid when they hear of you, as he has said.

See that on this day, I set before you a blessing and a curse.

A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord that I command you today;

a curse if you disobey these commandments and turn aside from the way that I show you now, to follow strange gods which are not yours.

When the Lord, your God, has brought you into the land you will conquer, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

(Those mountains are at the other side of the Jordan, beyond the western road, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oak of Moreh.)

Now you are going to cross the Jordan to take possession of the land which the Lord gives you. You are to possess and live in it,

and be careful to carry out all the laws and precepts I now set before you.

SECOND SPEECH OF MOSES – LEGAL TEXT

This is the so-called “Deuteronomic Code,” consisting of chapters 12–26, which brings together various collections of laws from different periods and authors in no apparent order. Some biblical scholars believe that the book of the Law found in the Temple during the time of Josiah (2 Kgs 22:8) is reflected in it; however, the repetitions and homiletic developments make this unlikely.