Obedience and Discipline
(Deuteronomy 4:1–14)

1“And so, love the Lord your God, and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments, at all times. 2Acknowledge, on this day, the things that your sons did not know. For they did not see the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great acts, and powerful hand, and outstretched arm, 3the signs and works that he did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king, and to his entire land, 4and to the entire army of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord wiped them away, even to the present day; 5and the things that he accomplished for you in the wilderness, until you arrived at this place; 6and to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, who was the son of Reuben, those whom the earth, opening its mouth, engulfed with their households and tents, and with their entire substance which they had in the midst of Israel. 7Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, which he has accomplished,

God’s Great Blessings
(Joshua 1:1–9)

8so that you would keep all his commandments, which I entrust to you this day, and so that you would be able to enter and possess the land, toward which you are advancing, 9and so that you may live, for a long time, in the land which the Lord promised under oath to your fathers, and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10For the land, which you shall enter and possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from which you departed, where, when seed has been sown, waters are brought in by irrigation, in the manner of gardens. 11Rather, it has mountainous regions and plains, which lay waiting for rain from heaven. 12And the Lord your God always visits it, and his eyes are upon it, from the beginning of the year, all the way to its end.

13So then, if you obey my commandments, which I am instructing to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole soul, 14he will give to your land the early rain and the late rain, so that you may gather your grain, and your wine, and your oil, 15and your hay from the fields in order to feed your cattle, and so that you yourselves may eat and be satisfied. 16Be careful, lest perhaps your heart may be deceived, and you might withdraw from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them. 17And the Lord, becoming angry, might close up heaven, so that the rain would not descend, nor would the earth produce her seedlings, and then you would quickly perish from the excellent land, which the Lord will give to you.

Remember God’s Words

18Place these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between your eyes. 19Teach your sons to meditate on them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down or rise up. 20You shall write them upon the doorposts and the gates of your house, 21so that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your sons, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, that he would give it to them for as long as heaven is suspended above the earth. 22For if you keep the commandments which I am entrusting to you, and if you do them, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, clinging to him, 23the Lord will scatter all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, though they are greater and stronger than you. 24Every place upon which your foot shall tread will be yours. From the desert, and from Lebanon, from the great river Euphrates, as far as the western sea, shall be your borders. 25No one will stand against you. The Lord your God will spread the terror and dread of you over all the land upon which you shall tread, just as he has spoken to you.

A Blessing and a Curse

26Behold, I am setting forth in your sight today a blessing and a curse. 27It will be a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am instructing to you this day. 28It will be a curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but instead you withdraw from the way, which I am revealing to you now, and you walk after foreign gods that you have not known.

29Yet truly, when the Lord your God will have led you into the land, to which you are traveling for a habitation, you shall place the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, the curse upon Mount Ebal, 30which are across the Jordan, behind the way which slopes toward the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite, who lives in the plains opposite Gilgal, which is near the valley extending toward and entering a distant place. 31For you shall cross over the Jordan, so that you may possess the land which the Lord your God will give you, so that you may have it and possess it. 32Therefore, see to it that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I am placing in your sight this day.”