The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, page 93
27‘You go near and hear all that the LORD our God may say, and etell us all that the LORD our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28“Then the LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. fThey are right in all that they have spoken.
29g‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and halways keep all My commandments, ithat it might be well with them and with their children forever!
30‘Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”
31‘But as for you, stand here by Me, jand I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
32“Therefore you shall 8be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; kyou shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33“You shall walk in lall the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live mand that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
Deuteronomy 6
The Greatest Commandment
1“Now this is athe commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
2b“that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, cand that your days may be prolonged.
3“Therefore hear, O Israel, and 1be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may dmultiply greatly eas the LORD God of your fathers has promised you—f‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4g“Hear, O Israel: 2The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5h“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, iwith all your soul, and with all your strength.
6“And jthese words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7k“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8l“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9m“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Caution Against Disobedience
10“So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He 3swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities nwhich you did not build,
11“houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—owhen you have eaten and are full—
12“then beware, lest you forget the pLORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
13“You shall qfear the LORD your God and serve Him, and rshall take oaths in His name.
14“You shall not go after other gods, sthe gods of the peoples who are all around you
15“(for tthe LORD your God is a jealous God uamong you), lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16v“You shall not 4tempt the LORD your God was you 5tempted Him in Massah.
17“You shall xdiligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
18“And you yshall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers,
19z“to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.
20a“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’
21“then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt bwith a mighty hand;
22‘and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.
23‘Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He 6swore to our fathers.
24‘And the LORD commanded us to 7observe all these 8statutes, cto fear the LORD our God, dfor our good always, that eHe might preserve us alive, as it is 9this day.
25‘Then fit will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’
Deuteronomy 7
A Chosen People
(Ex. 34:10–16)
1“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to apossess, and has cast out many bnations before you, cthe Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
2“and when the LORD your God delivers dthem over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. eYou shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
3f“Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
4“For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; gso the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
5“But thus you shall deal with them: you shall hdestroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their 1wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
6“For you are a 2holy people to the LORD your God; ithe LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7“The LORD did not set His jlove on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were kthe least of all peoples;
8“but lbecause the LORD loves you, and because He would keep mthe oath which He swore to your fathers, nthe LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of 3bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, othe faithful God pwho keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
10“and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not 4be qslack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
11“Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.
Blessings of Obedience
(Lev. 26:1–13; Deut. 28:1–14)
12“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.
13“And He will rlove you and bless you and 5multiply you; sHe will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He 6swore to your fathers to give you.
14“You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female tbarren among you or among your livestock.
15“And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the uterrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.
16“Also you shall 7destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will vbe a snare to you.
17“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’—
18“you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall wremember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
19x“the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
20y“Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.
21“You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.
22“And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you zlittle by little; you will be unable to 8destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
23“But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.
24“And aHe will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; bno one shall be able to stand 9against you until you have destroyed them.
25“You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not ccovet10 the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.
26“Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, dfor it is an 11accursed thing.
Deuteronomy 8
Remember the LORD Your God
1“Every commandment which I command you today ayou must 1be careful to observe, that you may live and bmultiply,2 and go in and possess the land of which the LORD 3swore to your fathers.
2“And you shall remember that the LORD your God cled you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and dtest you, eto know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3“So He humbled you, fallowed you to hunger, and gfed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall hnot live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
4i“Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
5j“You should 4know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.
6“Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, kto walk in His ways and to fear Him.
7“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, la land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;
8“a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;
9“a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
10m“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.
11“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,
12n“lest—when you have eaten and are 5full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;
13“and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are 6multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
14o“when your heart 7is lifted up, and you pforget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15“who qled you through that great and terrible wilderness, rin which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; swho brought water for you out of the flinty rock;
16“who fed you in the wilderness with tmanna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, uto do you good in the end—
17“then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18“And you shall remember the LORD your God, vfor it is He who gives you power to get wealth, wthat He may 8establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19“Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, xI testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
20“As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, yso you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 9
Israel’s Rebellions Reviewed
(Ex. 32:1–35)
1“Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven,
2“a people great and tall, the adescendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’
3“Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who bgoes over before you as a cconsuming fire. dHe will destroy them and bring them down before you; eso you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.
4f“Do not think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is gbecause of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you.
5h“It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may 1fulfill the iword which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6“Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a jstiff-necked2 people.
7“Remember! Do not forget how you kprovoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. lFrom the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
8“Also min Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.
9n“When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and oforty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
10p“Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire qin3 the day of the assembly.
11“And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
12“Then the LORD said to me, r‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have squickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’
13“Furthermore tthe LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed uthey are a 4stiff-necked people.
14v‘Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and wblot out their name from under heaven; xand I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
15y“So I turned and came down from the mountain, and zthe mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
16“And aI looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you.
17“Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and bbroke them before your eyes.
18“And I cfell5 down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
19d“For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. eBut the LORD listened to me at that time also.
20“And the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
21“Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I fthrew its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.
22“Also at gTaberah and hMassah and iKibroth Hattaavah you 6provoked the LORD to wrath.
23“Likewise, jwhen the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and kyou did not believe Him nor obey His voice.
24l“You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.
25m“Thus I 7prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
26“Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and nYour inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27‘Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin,
28‘lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the LORD was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”
29‘Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’
Deuteronomy 10
The Second Pair of Tablets
(Ex. 34:1–9)
1“At that time the LORD said to me, 1‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an aark of wood.
2‘And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and byou shall put them in the ark.’
