Feb 9 - Deuteronomy 8-10
Deuteronomy
1"All the commandments which I am entrusting to you this day, take care to observe them diligently, so that you may live and be multiplied, and so that, upon entering, you may possess the land, about which the Lord swore to your fathers2And you shall remember the entire journey along which the Lord your God led you, for forty years through the desert, to afflict you, and to test you, and to make known the things that were turning in your soul, whether or not you would keep his commandments3He afflicted you with need, and he gave you Manna as your food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, so as to reveal to you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by every word that goes forth from the mouth of God4Your garment, with which you were covered, has by no means decayed due to age, and your foot has not been worn down, even to this fortieth year5so that you would recognize in your heart that, just as a man educates his son, so has the Lord your God educated you6So may you keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and fear him7For the Lord your God will lead you into a good land: a land of brooks and waters and fountains, in which deep rivers burst forth from its plains and mountains8a land of crops, barley, and vineyards, in which fig and pomegranate and olive trees spring up, a land of oil and honey9In that place, without any need, you shall eat your bread and enjoy an abundance of all things: where the stones are like iron, and where ore for brass is dug out of its mountains10So then, when you have eaten and been satisfied, you should bless the Lord your God for the excellent land which he has given to you11Be observant and cautious, lest at sometime you may forget the Lord your God, and neglect his commandments, as well as the judgments and ceremonies, which I instruct to you this day12Otherwise, after you have eaten and been satisfied, and have built beautiful houses and have lived in them13and have obtained herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and a plentitude of gold and silver and all things14your heart might be lifted up, and you might not remember the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude15and who was your leader in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there was the serpent with a burning breath, and the scorpion, and the snake of thirst, and no waters at all. He led streams out of the hardest rock16and he nourished you in the wilderness with Manna, which your fathers had not known. And after he had afflicted and tested you, in the very end, he took pity on you17Otherwise, you might say in your heart: ‘My own strength, and the power of my own hand, have brought forth all these things for me.18But remember the Lord your God, that he himself has provided you with strength, so that he may fulfill his covenant, about which he swore to your fathers, just as the present day reveals19But if you forget the Lord your God, so that you follow foreign gods, and serve and adore them: behold, I now foretell to you that you shall utterly perish20Just like the nations, which the Lord destroyed upon your arrival, so shall you also perish, if you have been disobedient to the voice of the Lord your God.
1"Listen, O Israel: You shall cross over the Jordan today, in order to possess nations, very great and stronger than yourself, cities vast and walled even to the sky2a people great and lofty, the sons of the Anakim, whom you yourselves have seen and heard, against whom no one is able to stand3Therefore, you shall know today that the Lord your God himself will pass over before you, like a devouring and consuming fire, to crush and to wipe away and to utterly ruin them before your face, quickly, just as he has spoken to you4You should not say in your heart, when the Lord your God will have destroyed them in your sight: ‘It is because of my justice that the Lord led me in, so that I might possess this land, while these nations have been destroyed because of their impiety.5For it is not because of your justices or the uprightness of your heart that you will enter, so that you may possess their lands. Instead, it is because they have acted wickedly that they are destroyed upon your arrival, and so that the Lord may accomplish his word, which he promised under oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob6Therefore, know that the Lord your God will not give you this excellent land as a possession due to your justices, for you are a very stiff-necked people7Remember, and never forget, how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the wilderness. You have always contended against the Lord, from the day that you went forth from Egypt, even to this place8For at Horeb also, you provoked him, and, becoming angry, he was willing to destroy you9when I ascended onto the mountain, so that I might receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord formed with you. And I persevered on the mountain for forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water10And the Lord gave me two tablets of stone, written with the finger of God and containing all the words that he spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of fire, while the people, being stirred up, were assembled together11And when forty days, and as many nights, had passed, the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant12And he said to me: ‘Rise up, and descend quickly from here. For your people, whom you led away from Egypt, have quickly abandoned the way that you have shown to them, and they have made a molten idol for themselves.13And again, the Lord said to me: ‘I discern that this people is stiff-necked14Depart from me, so that I may crush them, and abolish their name from under heaven, and appoint you over a nation, which will be greater and stronger than this one.15And as I was descending from the burning mountain, and I held the two tablets of the covenant with both hands16and I had seen that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made a molten calf for yourselves, and had quickly abandoned his way, which he had revealed to you17I threw down the tablets from my hands, and I broke them in your sight18And I fell prostrate before the Lord, just as before, for forty days and nights, not eating bread, and not drinking water, because of all your sins, which you had committed against the Lord, and because you provoked him to anger19For I feared his indignation and wrath, which had been stirred up against you, so that he was willing to destroy you. And the Lord heeded me at this time also20Likewise, he became vehemently angry against Aaron, and he was willing to destroy him, and I prayed for him similarly21But as for your sin which you committed, that is, the calf, taking hold of it, I burned it with fire. And breaking it into pieces, and reducing it entirely to dust, I threw it into the torrent that descends from the mountain22Likewise, at the Burning, and at the Temptation, and at the Graves of Lust, you provoked the Lord23And when he sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Ascend and possess the land, which I have given to you,’ even so, you spurned the command of the Lord your God, and you did not believe him, nor were you willing to listen to his voice24Instead, you were ever rebellious, from the day when I first began to know you25And so, I lay prostrate before the Lord for forty days and nights, as I humbly begged him, lest he destroy you, just as he had threatened to do26And praying, I said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you have redeemed in your greatness, whom you have led away from Egypt with a strong hand27Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look upon the stubbornness of this people, nor upon their wickedness and sinfulness28Otherwise, perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which you have led us, may say: "The Lord was not able to lead them into the land, which he promised to them. And he hated them; therefore, he led them out, so that he might put them to death in the wilderness.29These are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led out by your great strength, and with your outstretched arm.’
1"At that time, the Lord said to me: ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone, like those that were before, and ascend to me on the mountain. And you shall make an ark of wood2And I will write on the tablets the words which were on those that you broke before, and you shall place them in the ark.3And so, I made an ark of setim wood. And when I had hewn two tablets of stone like the former, I ascended onto the mountain, having them in my hands4And he wrote on the tablets, according to that which he had written before, the ten words, which the Lord spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of fire, when the people were assembled. And he gave them to me5And returning from the mountain, I descended and placed the tablets in the ark, which I had made, and they are still there even now, just as the Lord instructed me6Then the sons of Israel moved their camp, from Beeroth among the sons of Jaakan, into Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and where his son Eleazar was installed in the priesthood in his place7From there, they went into Gudgodah. From that place, they set out and camped at Jotbathah, in a land of waters and torrents8At that time, he separated the tribe of Levi, so that he would carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and stand before him in the ministry, and speak blessings in his name, even to the present day9As a result, Levi has no portion or possession with his brothers. For the Lord himself is his possession, just as the Lord your God promised him10Then I stood on the mountain, as before, for forty days and nights. And the Lord heeded me at this time also, and he was not willing to destroy you11And he said to me: ‘Go forth and walk before the people, so that they may enter and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that I would deliver to them.12And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only that you fear the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and serve the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul13and that you keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which I am instructing to you this day, so that it may be well with you14Lo, heaven belongs to the Lord your God, and the heaven of heaven, and the earth, and all the things that are within these15Now the Lord was closely joined to your fathers, and he loved them, and he chose their offspring after them, that is, you yourselves, out of all the nations, just as is being proven today16Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and no longer stiffen your neck17For the Lord your God himself is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, a God great and powerful and terrible, who favors no person and accepts no bribe18He accomplishes judgment for the orphan and the widow. He loves the sojourner, and he gives him food as well as clothing19Therefore, you also should love sojourners, for you also were new arrivals in the land of Egypt20You shall fear the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name21He is your praise and your God. He has done for you these great and terrible things, which your eyes have seen22As seventy souls, your fathers descended into Egypt. And now, behold, the Lord your God has multiplied you to be like the stars of heaven.