"When your child asks you in the future, {saying}, 'What [is the meaning of] the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Yahweh our God commanded for you?'

Then you shall say to your child, 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand.

And Yahweh gave great and awesome signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and against his entire household {in our presence}.

And [so] Yahweh commanded us to observe all [of] these rules [and] to revere Yahweh our God {for our benefit} {all the days that we live}, {as it is today}.

And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe [and] do all [of] this commandment {before} Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.'

"When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you [are] about to enter {into it} to take possession of it, and he drives out many nations {before you}, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you,

and Yahweh your God will give them {over to you} and you defeat them, you must {utterly destroy them}; you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy [to them].

For their sons and daughters will cause your son to turn away {from following me}, and [so] they will serve other gods, and {the anger of Yahweh would be kindled} against you, and he would quickly destroy you.

For you [are] a holy people for Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be for him a people, a treasured possession from [among] all the peoples that [are] on the face of the earth.

"Yahweh loved you and chose you not {because of your great number} exceeding all [other] peoples, for you [are] fewer than all of the peoples,

but {because of} the love of Yahweh [for] you and because of his keeping [of] the sworn oath that he swore to your ancestors, Yahweh brought you [out] with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

[So] know that Yahweh your God, he [is] God, the trustworthy God, maintaining his covenant and his loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments to a thousand generations,

"{And then} because you listen [to] these regulations and you diligently keep and you do them, then Yahweh your God will maintain his covenant and his loyal love that he swore to your ancestors.

And Yahweh will turn away from you all the illness and all the harmful diseases of Egypt that you experienced; he will not lay them on you, but he will lay them on all [of] those who hate you.

And you shall devour all of the peoples [that] Yahweh your God [is] giving to you; {you shall not pity them}, and you shall not serve their gods, [which] will be a snare for you.

[then remember] you must not be afraid of them; you must well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all [of] Egypt:

the great trials that your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the [workings of] the strong hand and the outstretched arm [by] which Yahweh your God brought you out; so Yahweh your God will do to all [of] the peoples {because of whom} you [are] in fear {before them}.

And, moreover, Yahweh your God will send the hornets among them until [both] the survivors and the fugitives {are destroyed} {before you}.

You must not [be in dread] from the presence of them, because Yahweh your God, [who is] in your midst, [is] a great and awesome God.

And Yahweh your God will clear away these nations {from before you} little by little; you will not be able to finish them off quickly, {lest} the {wild animals} {multiply} {against you}.

But Yahweh your God will {give them to you}, and he will throw them into great panic {until they are destroyed}.

You shall burn the images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet [the] silver or gold [that is] on them, and [so] you take [it] for yourself, so that you are not ensnared by it, for it [is] a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

"All of the commandments that I [am] commanding you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and multiply, and you may go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors.

And you shall remember all [of] the way that Yahweh your God led you [during] these forty years in the desert in order to humble you and to test you to know what [is] in your heart, whether you would [diligently] keep his commandments or not.

And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and [then] he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all [that] goes out of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live.

And you should know with your heart that as a man disciplines his son, [so] Yahweh your God [is] disciplining you.

So you must keep the commandments of Yahweh your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.

For Yahweh your God [is] bringing you to a good land [with] streams of water, springs and underground water, welling up in the valleys and in the hills,

And you will eat, and {you will be satisfied}, and you will bless Yahweh your God because [of] the good land that he has given to you.

"Take care for yourself so that you not forget Yahweh your God [by] not keeping his commandments and his regulations and his statutes that I [am] commanding you {today},

then your heart {becomes proud} and you forget Yahweh your God, {the one who brought you out} from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery,

But you must remember Yahweh your God, for he [is] the [one] giving you strength to acquire wealth in order to confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors {as it is today}.

And it will happen [that] if you indeed forget Yahweh your God and you go after other gods and you serve them and you bow down before them, I warn you today that you will surely perish.

As [with] the nations that Yahweh [is] destroying {before you}, so you shall perish because you would not obey the voice of Yahweh your God.

You should know {today} that Yahweh your God is the one crossing {ahead of you} [as] a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before you; so you will dispossess them, and you will destroy them quickly, {just as} Yahweh {promised} you.

"You shall not say {to yourself} {when Yahweh your God is driving them out} {before you}, {saying}, 'Because of my righteousness Yahweh brought me to take possession of this land'; but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh [is] driving them out {before you}.

[It is] not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart [that] you [are] coming to take possession of their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God [is] driving them {before you}, and in order to confirm the {promise} that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

"So you should understand that [it is] not because of your righteousness [that] Yahweh your God [is] giving you this good land to take possession of it, because {you are a stubborn people}.

Remember, {do not forget}, that you provoked Yahweh your God in the desert, [and] from the day that you went out from the land of Egypt until {you came to this place} you were rebelling against Yahweh.

"And [remember] at Horeb you provoked Yahweh, and Yahweh became angry [enough] to destroy you.

{When I went up the mountain} to receive {the stone tablets}, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh {made} with you, and remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights, I did not eat food and I did not drink water.

And Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them [was writing] according to all the words that Yahweh spoke with you at the mountain, from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.

{And then} at the end of forty days and forty nights, Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

And Yahweh said to me, 'Come [now], go down quickly from this mountain because your people behave corruptly whom you brought out from Egypt, [for] they turned quickly from the way that I commanded them [to follow]; they have made for themselves a cast image.'

And Yahweh spoke to me, {saying}, 'I have seen this people, and look! {They are a stubborn people}.

And I looked, and indeed you had sinned against Yahweh your God; you [had] made for yourselves an image of a calf [of] cast metal; you [had] turned quickly from the way that Yahweh had commanded [for] you.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him.

For {I was in dread} from [being in] the presence of the anger and the wrath [with] which Yahweh was angry with you [so as] to destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me also {at that time}.

And with Aaron Yahweh was {angry enough} to destroy him, and I prayed also for Aaron at that time.

"And [also] at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to anger.

And when Yahweh sent you [out] from Kadesh Barnea, {saying}, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice.

You have been rebellious toward Yahweh {from the day I have known you}.

"And I lay prostrate before Yahweh through forty days, and through forty nights I prostrated myself, because Yahweh intended to kill you.

And I prayed to Yahweh, and I said, 'Lord Yahweh, you must not destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out from Egypt with a strong hand.

lest [the people of] the land from which you brought us out from there say, "Because Yahweh was not able to bring them to the land that he {promised} to them and because of his hatred [toward] them, he has brought them out to kill them in the desert."

"At that time Yahweh said to me, 'Carve for yourself two tablets of stone [just] as the former [ones], and come up the mountain to me, and you shall make for yourself an ark of wood.

And he wrote upon the tablets {according to the first writing}, the ten words that Yahweh spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly, and Yahweh gave them to me.

And I turned, and I came down from the mountain, and I put the tablets in the ark that I had made, and they are there, [just] as Yahweh commanded me.

At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to stand {before} Yahweh, to serve him and to bless [the people] in his name until this day.

Therefore {there was not} for Levi an allotment or an inheritance [along] with his brothers; [rather] Yahweh [is] his inheritance [just] as Yahweh your God {promised} to him.

And I stayed on the mountain [just] as [during] the former forty days and forty nights, and Yahweh listened to me also on that occasion; Yahweh was not willing to destroy you.

And Yahweh said to me, '{Come, continue} your journey {before the people}, so that you may go and take possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give to them.'

And now, Israel, what [is] Yahweh your God asking from you, except to revere Yahweh your God, to go in all his ways and to love him and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

to keep the commandments of Yahweh and his statutes that I am commanding you today {for your own good}.

Look! For to Yahweh your God {belong} heaven and the {highest heavens}, the earth and all that [is] in it.

{Yet} to your ancestors Yahweh was very attached, [so as to] love them, and [so] he chose their offspring after them, [namely] you, from all the peoples, as it is {today}.

For Yahweh your God, he [is] God of the gods and Lord of the lords, the great and mighty God, the awesome [one] who {is not partial}, and he does not take bribes.

Yahweh your God, you shall revere him, you shall serve him, and to him you shall cling, and by his name you shall swear.

With [only] seventy persons your ancestors went down to Egypt, but now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the heaven {with respect to multitude}.

"And you shall love Yahweh your God, and you shall keep his obligations and his statutes and his regulations and his commandments {always}.

And you shall realize {today} that [it is] not [with] your children who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of Yahweh your God--his greatness, his strong hand, and his outstretched arm,

and what he did to the army of Egypt and to their horses and to their chariots, [and] how he made the water of the {Red Sea} flow over them, {when they pursued after them}, and so Yahweh has destroyed them, {as is the case today},

The fact of the matter is, {your own eyes have seen} all [of] the great deeds of Yahweh that he did.

so that {you may live long} on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to give [it] to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

a land that Yahweh your God [is] caring for it; continually the eyes of Yahweh your God [are] on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of [the] year.

"And it will happen [that] if you listen carefully to my commandments that I [am] commanding you {today}, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all [of] your heart and with all [of] your soul,

And [then] {the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you}, and he will shut up the heavens, and there shall not be rain, and [so] the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land that Yahweh [is] giving to you.

so that [they] may multiply your days and the days of your children on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors to give [it] to them {as long as heaven endures over the earth}.

Yes, if you diligently keep all this commandment that I [am] commanding you {to observe it}, by loving Yahweh your God {by walking in} all his ways and by holding fast to him,

then Yahweh will drive out all [of] these nations {before you}, and you will dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you.

No one can take a stand {against you}; your dread and your fear Yahweh your God will put on the {surface} of all the land {where you tread}, [just] as he {promised} to you.

the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I [am] commanding you {today},

and the curse, if you [do] not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but [rather] you turn from the way that I [am] commanding you {today} to go after other gods that you have not known.

"And it will happen [that] when Yahweh your God has brought you to {the land that you are going to}, to take possession of it, then you shall pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

For you are [now] about to cross the Jordan to go to take possession of the land that Yahweh, your God, [is] giving to you, and you will take possession of it and live in it,

"These [are] the rules and the regulations {that you must diligently observe} in the land that Yahweh, [the] God of your ancestors, has given to you to take possession of it, [during] all the days that you [are] living on the land.

You shall not worship Yahweh your God like this.

{But only} to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all [of] your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go.

And you shall eat there {before} Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice {in all your endeavors}, you and your family [in] which Yahweh your God has blessed you.

For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you.

But you will cross the Jordan, and you will settle in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving you as an inheritance, and he will give rest to you from all your enemies from all around, and you will live securely,

{and then} [at] the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all [the things] I [am] commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and {your donations}, and all [of] the choice [things], your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh.

And you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.

{but only} at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all [the things] that I [am] commanding you.

"But {whenever you desire} you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all [of] your {towns}; the unclean and the clean may eat it [just] as [they would] the gazelle and as the deer.

But only {before} Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, and you must rejoice {before} your God {in all your undertakings}.

"When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory [just] as he has {promised} to you, and you say 'I want to eat [some] meat,' {because you want it}, {whenever you desire} you may eat meat.

If the place that Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is [too] far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you [just] as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your {towns}.

You shall not eat it, so that {it will go well} for you [and] your children after you, because [then] you will [be] doing what is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

Only your holy objects {that are yours} and your votive gifts you must carry and you must bring to the place that Yahweh will choose.