These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

The Lord your God has so multiplied you that today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky.

Where can we go? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’

But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.’

Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

‘Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

“At that time we took possession of this land. I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Aroer by the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead along with its cities.

and I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.

The Arabah and Jordan are also borders from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

“I commanded Joshua at that time: Your own eyes have seen everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter.

But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess.

At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today.

I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.

When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him.

These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,

He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

You are to labor six days and do all your work,

But you stand here with Me, and I will tell you every command—the statutes and ordinances—you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.’

“Be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left.

“This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.

houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,

Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and He drives out many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you—

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn up their carved images.

For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

“If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep His covenant loyalty with you, as He swore to your fathers.

“If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out?’

The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.

When you eat and are full, you will praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.

When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in,

“Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.

The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them and you have heard it said about them, ‘Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?’

You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.

The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people.

But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.

I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.’

You are to fear Yahweh your God and worship Him. Remain faithful to Him and take oaths in His name.

“Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit,

For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand as in a vegetable garden.

But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.

Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods.

so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your fathers.

the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.

Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh?

For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it,

Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods—on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

“You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own eyes.

“But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer,

Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it.

“But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place the Lord chooses.

“When the Lord your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land,

you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened among you,

You are to gather all its spoil in the middle of the city square and completely burn up the city and all its spoil for the Lord your God. The city must remain a mound of ruins forever; it is not to be rebuilt.

“You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead,

for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

These are the animals you may eat:

the ox, the sheep, the goat,

But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

the camel, the hare, and the hyrax,
though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves—
they are unclean for you;

but these are the ones you may not eat:

the eagle, the bearded vulture,
the black vulture,

All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.

“You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a temporary resident living within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

“Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields.

You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, in the presence of Yahweh your God at the place where He chooses to have His name dwell, so that you will always learn to fear the Lord your God.

You may spend the money on anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your family.

if only you obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today.

Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty.

Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with.

“You must consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.

Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses.

You must not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship—because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns the Lord your God is giving you.

You are to cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses, and you are to return to your tents in the morning.

“You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.

You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you.

“You are to celebrate the Festival of Booths for seven days when you have gathered in everything from your threshing floor and winepress.

You are to hold a seven-day festival for the Lord your God in the place He chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will have abundant joy.

“All your males are to appear three times a year before the Lord your God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed.

“Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

and if you are told or hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,

The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.

You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.

However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.

You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first sheared wool of your flock.

Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.

you are to set apart three cities for yourselves within the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

You are to determine the distances and divide the land the Lord your God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions, so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.

provided you keep every one of these commands I am giving you today and follow them, loving the Lord your God and walking in His ways at all times—you are to add three more cities to these three.

The judges are to make a careful investigation, and if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,

When you are about to engage in battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army.