Holy Bible Audio: DEUTERONOMY 1 to 34 - With Text (Contemporary English)

[Music] deuteronomy deuteronomy 1 this book contains the speeches that moses made while israel was in the land of moab camped near the town of suff in the desert east of the jordan river the town of payron was in one direction from their camp and the towns of toefl laban hazerath and disahab were in the opposite direction earlier moses had defeated the amorite king saihan of heshban moses had also defeated king ogg of basian who used to live in ashtaroth for part of the year and in edriye for the rest of the year although it takes only 11 days to walk from mount sinai to kadesh barnia by way of the mount seer road these speeches were not made until forty years after israel left egypt the lord had given moses his laws for the people of israel and on the first day of the eleventh month moses began explaining those laws by saying people of israel when we were in our camp at mount sinai the lord our god told us you have stayed here long enough leave this place and go into the land that belongs to the amorites and their neighbors the canaanites this land includes the jordan river valley the hill country the western foothills the southern desert the mediterranean sea coast the lebanon mountains and all the territory as far as the euphrates river i give you this land just as i promised your ancestors abraham isaac and jacob now you must go and take the land right after the lord commanded us to leave mount sinai i told you israel being your leader is too big a job for one person the lord our god has blessed us and so now there are as many of us as there are stars in the sky god has even promised to bless us a thousand times more and i pray that he will but i cannot take care of all your problems and settle all your arguments alone each tribe must choose some experienced men who are known for their wisdom and understanding and i will make those men the official leaders of their tribes you answered that's a good idea then i took these men who were already wise and respected leaders and i appointed them as your official leaders some of them became military officers in charge of groups of a thousand or a hundred or fifty or ten and others became judges i gave these judges the following instructions when you settle legal cases your decisions must be fair it doesn't matter if the case is between two israelites or between an israelite and a foreigner living in your community and it doesn't matter if one is helpless and the other is powerful don't be afraid of anyone no matter who shows up in your court god will help you make a fair decision if any case is too hard for you bring the people to me and i will make the decision after i gave these instructions to the judges i taught you the lord's commands the lord had commanded us to leave mount sinai and go to the hill country that belonged to the amorites so we started out into the huge desert you remember how frightening it was but soon we were at kiddish barney and i told you we have reached the hill country it belongs to the amorites now but the lord our god is giving it to us he is the same god our ancestors worshiped and he has told us to go in and take this land so don't hesitate and be afraid then all of you came to me and said before we go into the land let's send some men to explore it when they come back they can tell us about the towns we will find and what roads we should take to get there it seemed like a good idea so i chose 12 men one from each tribe they explored the hill country as far as bunch valley and even brought back some of the fruit they said the lord our god is giving us good land you did not want to go into the land and you refused to obey the lord your god you stayed in your tents and grumbled the lord must hate us he brought us out of egypt just so he could hand us over to the amorites and get rid of us we are afraid because the men who explored the land told us that the cities are large with walls that reach to the sky the people who live there are taller and stronger than we are and some of them are anakin we have nowhere to go then i said don't worry the lord our god will lead the way he will fight on our side just as he did when we saw him do all those things to the egyptians and you know that the lord has taken care of us the whole time we've been in the desert just as you might carry one of your children but you still would not trust the lord even though he had always been with us in the desert during the daytime the lord was in the cloud leading us in the right direction and showing us where to camp and at night he was there in the fire you had made the lord angry and he said you people of this generation are evil and i refuse to let you go into the good land that i promised your ancestors caleb son of jafanna is the only one of your generation that i will allow to go in he obeyed me completely so i will give him and his descendants the land he explored the lord was even angry with me because of you people and he said moses i won't let you go into the land either instead i will let joshua your assistant lead israel to conquer the land so encourage him then the lord spoke to you again people of israel you said that your innocent young children would be taken prisoner in the battle for the land but someday i will let them go into the land and with my help they will conquer it and live there now turn around and go back into the desert by way of red sea road then you told me we disobeyed the lord our god but now we want to obey him we will go into the hill country and fight just as he told us to do so you picked up your weapons thinking it would be easy to take over the hill country but the lord said moses warn them not to go into the hill country i won't help them fight and their enemies will defeat them i told you what the lord had said but you paid no attention you disobeyed him and went into the hill country anyway you thought you were so great but when the amorites in the hill country attacked from their towns you ran from them as you would run from a swarm of bees the amorites chased your troops into steer as far as horma killing them as they went then you came back to the place of worship that kadish barnia and wept but the lord would not listen to your prayers after we had been in kedesh for a few months we obeyed the lord and headed back into the desert by way of red sea road deuteronomy 2. we spent many years wandering around outside the hill country of seer until the lord said moses israel has wandered in these hills long enough turn and go north and give the people these orders be very careful because you will soon go through the land that belongs to your relatives the descendants of esau they are afraid of you but don't start a war with them i have given them the hill country of seer so i won't give any of it to you not even enough to set a foot on and as you go through their land you will have to buy food and water from them the lord has helped us and taken care of us during the past 40 years that we have been in this huge desert we've had everything we needed and the lord has blessed us and made us successful in whatever we have done we went past the territory that belonged to our relatives the descendants of esau we followed arabar road that starts in the south at elath and ezion giba then we turned onto the desert road that leads to moab the lord told me don't try to start a war with moab leave them alone because i gave the land of our to them and i will not let you have any of it before the lord gave the moabites their land a large and powerful tribe lived there they were the eemim and they were as tall as the anakim the moabites call them though others sometimes use the name rephaim for both the anakim and the emem the horites used to live in seer but the took over that region they killed many of the whoreites and forced the rest of them to leave just as israel did to the people in the land that the lord gave them when we came to the zired gorge along the southern border of moab the lord told us to cross the gorge into moab and we did this was 38 years after we left kedish barnia by that time all the men who had been in the army at kadesh barney had died just as the lord had said they would the lord kept getting rid of them until finally none of them were left then the lord told me moses now go past the town of our and cross moab's northern border into ammon but don't start a war with the ammonites i gave them their land and i won't give any of it to israel before the ammonites conquered the land that the lord had given them some of the refame used to live there although the ammonites called them zamzumim were a large and powerful tribe and they were as tall as the anakim but the lord helped the ammonites and they killed many of the samsung and forced the rest to leave then the ammonites settled there the lord helped them as he had helped the who killed many of the whoreites sincere and forced the rest to leave before settling there themselves a group called the avim used to live in villages as far south as gaza but the philistines killed them and settled on their land after we went through ammon the lord told us israel pack up your possessions take down your tents and cross the anan river gorge the territory of the amorite king saihon of heshbon lies on the other side of the river but i now give you his land so attack and take it today i will start making all other nations afraid of you they will tremble with fear when anyone mentions you and they will be terrified when you show up after we had crossed the arnon and it set up camp in the kedemoth desert i sent messengers to king sihon of heshman telling him that his nation and ours could be at peace i said please let israel go across your country we will walk straight through without turning off the road you can even sell us food and water and we'll pay with silver we need to reach the jordan river and cross it because the lord our god is giving us the land on the west side the and moabites have already let us cross their land please let us cross your land as well but sihon refused to let us go across his country because the lord made him stubborn and eager to fight us the lord told me i am going to help you defeat sihon and take his land so attack him we met saihon and his army in battle at jahaz and the lord our god helped us to defeat them we killed saihong his sons and everyone else in his army then we captured and destroyed every town in saihon's kingdom killing everyone but keeping the livestock and everything else of value the lord helped us capture every town from the arnon river gorge north to the boundary of gilead including the town of arowa on the edge of the gorge and the town in the middle of the gorge however we stayed away from all the ammonite towns both in the hill country and near the jabock river just as the lord had commanded deuteronomy 3 when we turned onto the road that leads to basin king argh of basin led out his whole army to fight us at edriye but the lord told me moses don't be afraid of king ogg i am going to help you defeat him and his army and take over his land destroy him and his people just as you did with the amorite king sihon of heshbon the lord our god helped us destroy argan his army and conquer his entire kingdom of basian including the argob region his kingdom had lots of villages and sixty towns with high walls and gates that locked with bars we completely destroyed them all killing everyone but keeping the livestock and everything else of value saihon and og had ruled amorite kingdoms east of the jordan river their land stretched from the arnon river gorge in the south to mount hermon in the north and we captured it all mount hermon is called mount syrian by the people of sidon and it is called mount sinai by the amorites we captured all the towns in the highlands all of gilead and all of basian as far as salaka and edriye two of the towns that og had ruled king ogg was the last of the rephaim and his coffin is in the town of rabba in ammon it is made of hard black rock and is thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide i gave some of the land and towns we captured to the tribes of reuben and gad their share started at the arnon river gorge in the south took in the town of arrowa at the edge of the gorge and went far enough north to include the southern half of the gilead region the northern part of their land went as far east as the upper jabock river gorge which formed their border with the ammonites i also gave them the eastern side of the jordan river valley from lake galilee south to the dead sea below the slopes of mount pisgah i gave the northern half of gilead and all the bayesian region to half the tribe of manasseh basian had belonged to king og and the argob region in basin used to be called the land of the rephaim jair from manasseh tribe conquered the argob region as far west as the kingdoms of geshe and mekka the israelites even started calling basian by the name villagers of jaya and that is still its name i gave the northern half of gilead to the maker clan at that time i told the men of reuben gad and east manasseh the lord our god told me to give you this land with its towns and that's what i've done now your wives and children can stay here with your large flocks of sheep and goats and your large herds of cattle but all of you men that can serve in our army must cross the jordan river and help the other tribes because they are your relatives the lord will let them defeat the enemy nations on the west side of the jordan and take their land afterwards you can come back here to the land i gave you then i told joshua you saw how the lord our god helped us destroy king sihon and king ogg so don't be afraid wherever you go the lord will fight on your side and help you destroy your enemies at that time i prayed and begged our lord it seems that you have just begun to show me your great power no other god in the sky or on earth is able to do the mighty things that you do the land west of the jordan is such good land please let me cross the jordan and see the hills and the lebanon mountains but the lord was angry with me because of you people and he refused to listen that's enough he said i don't want to hear any more climb to the top of mount pisgah and look north south east and west take a good look but you are not going to cross the jordan river joshua will lead israel across the jordan to take the land so help him be strong and brave and tell him what he must do after this we stayed [Music] deuteronomy 4 israel listen to these laws and teachings if you obey them you will live and you will go in and take the land that the lord is giving you he is the god your ancestors worshiped and now he is your god i am telling you everything he has commanded so don't add anything or take anything away you saw how he killed everyone who worshipped the god baal peor but all of you that were faithful to the lord your god are still alive today no other nation has laws that are as fair as the ones the lord my god told me to give you if you faithfully obey them when you enter the land you will show other nations how wise you are in fact everyone that hears about your laws will say that great nation certainly is wise and what makes us greater than other nations we have a god who is close to us and answers our prayers you must be very careful not to forget the things you have seen god do for you keep reminding yourselves and tell your children and grandchildren as well do you remember the day you stood in the lord's presence at mount sinai the lord said moses bring the people of israel here i want to speak to them so they will obey me as long as they live and so they will teach their children to obey me too mount sinai was surrounded by deep dark clouds and fire went up to the sky you came to the foot of the mountain and the lord spoke to you from the fire you could hear him and understand what he was saying but you couldn't see him the lord said he was making an agreement with you and he told you that your part of the agreement is to obey the ten commandments then the lord wrote these commandments on two flat stones that's when the lord commanded me to give you the laws and teachings you must obey in the land that you will conquer west of the jordan river when god spoke to you from the fire he was invisible so be careful not to commit the sin of worshiping idols don't make idols to be worshiped whether they are shaped like men women animals birds reptiles or fish and when you see the sun or moon or stars don't be tempted to bow down and worship them the lord put them there for all the other nations to worship but you are the lord's people because he led you through fiery trials and rescued you from egypt the lord was angry at me because of what you said and he told me that he would not let me cross the jordan river into the good land that he is giving you so i must stay here and die on this side of the jordan but you will cross the river and take the land always remember the agreement that the lord your god made with you and don't make an idol in any shape or form the lord will be angry if you worship other gods and he can be like a fire destroying everything in its path [Music] soon you will cross the jordan river and settle down in the land then in the years to come you will have children and they will give your grandchildren after many years you might lose your sense of right and wrong and make idols even though the lord your god hates them so i am giving you fair warning today and i call the earth and the sky as witnesses if you ever make idols the lord will be angry and you won't have long to live because the lord will let you be wiped out only a few of you will survive and the lord will force you to leave the land and will scatter you among the nations there you will have to worship gods made of wood and stone and these are nothing but idols that can't see or hear or eat or smell in all of your troubles you may finally decide that you want to worship only the lord and if you turn back to him and obey him completely he will again be your god the lord your god will have mercy he won't destroy you or desert you the lord will remember his promise and he will keep the agreement he made with your ancestors [Music] when the lord your god brought you out of egypt you saw how he fought for you and showed his great power by performing terrifying miracles you became his people and at mount sinai you heard him talking to you out of fiery flames and yet you were still alive has anything like this ever happened since the time god created humans no matter where you go or who you ask you will get the same answer no one has ever heard of another god even trying to do such things as the lord your god has done for you the lord wants you to know he is the only true god and he wants you to obey him that's why he let you see his mighty miracles and his fierce fire on earth and why you heard his voice from that fire and from the sky the lord loved your ancestors and decided that you would be his people so the lord used his great power to bring you out of egypt now you face other nations more powerful than you are but the lord has already started forcing them out of their land and giving it to you so remember that the lord is the only true god whether in the sky above or on the earth below today i am explaining his laws and teachings and if you always obey them you and your descendants will live long and be successful in the land the lord is giving you moses said people of israel you must set aside the following three towns east of the jordan river as safe towns visa in the desert highlands belonging to the reuben tribe ramoth in gilead belonging to the gad tribe and golan invasion belonging to the manasseh tribe if you kill a neighbor without meaning to and if you had not been angry with that person you can run to one of these towns and find safety the israelites had come from egypt and were camped east of the jordan river near beth pior when moses gave these laws and teachings the land around their camp had once belonged to king sihon of heshban but moses and the israelites defeated him and king ogg of basian and took their lands these two amorite kings had ruled the territory east of the jordan river from the town of aurora on the edge of the arnon river gorge north to mount hermon their land included the eastern side of the jordan river valley as far south as the dead sea below the slopes of mount pisgah deuteronomy 5 moses called together the people of israel and said today i am telling you the laws and teachings that you must follow so listen carefully the lord our god made an agreement with our nation at mount sinai that agreement wasn't only with our ancestors but with us who are here today the lord himself spoke to you out of the fire but you were afraid of the fire and refused to go up the mountain so i spoke with the lord for you then i told you that he had said i am the lord your god the one who brought you out of egypt where you were slaves do not worship any god except me [Music] do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth don't bow down and worship idols i am the lord your god and i demand all your love if you reject me and worship idols i will punish your families for three or four generations but if you love me and obey my laws i will be kind to your families for thousands of generations do not misuse my name i am the lord your god and i will punish anyone who misuses my name show respect for the sabbath day it belongs to me you have six days when you can do your work but the seventh day of the week belongs to me your god no one is to work on that day not you your children your oxen or donkeys or any other animal not even those foreigners who live in your towns and don't make your slaves do any work this special day of rest will remind you that i reached out my mighty arm and rescued you from slavery in egypt respect your father and mother and you will live a long and successful life in the land i am giving you do not murder be faithful in marriage do not steal do not tell lies about others do not want anything that belongs to someone else don't want anyone's wife or husband house land slaves oxen donkeys or anything else when we were gathered on the mountain the lord spoke to us in a loud voice from the dark fiery cloud the lord gave us these commands and only these then he wrote them on two flat stones and gave them to me moses said to israel when fire blazed from the mountain and you heard the voice coming from the darkness your tribal leaders came to me and said today the lord our god has shown us how powerful and glorious he is he spoke to us from the fire and we learned that people can live even though god speaks to them but we don't want to take a chance on being killed by that terrible fire and if we keep on hearing the lord's voice we will die has anyone else ever heard the only true god speaking from fire as we have and even if they have would they live to tell about it moses go up close and listen to the lord then come back and tell us and we will do everything he says the lord heard you and said moses i heard what the people said to you and i approve i wish they would always worship me with fear and trembling and be this willing to obey me then they and their children would always enjoy a successful life now tell them to return to their tents but you come back here to me after i tell you my laws and teachings you will repeat them to the people so they can obey these laws in the land i am giving them israel you must carefully obey the lord's commands follow them because they make a path that will lead to a long successful life in the land the lord your god is giving you deuteronomy 6 the lord told me to give you these laws and teachings so you can obey them in the land he is giving you soon you will cross the jordan river and take that land and if you and your descendants want to live a long time you must always worship the lord and obey his laws pay attention israel our ancestors worshiped the lord and he promised to give us this land that is rich with milk and honey be careful to obey him and you will become a successful and powerful nation listen israel the lord our god is the only true god so love the lord your god with all your heart soul and strength memorize his laws and tell them to your children over and over again talk about them all the time whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night or getting up in the morning write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates the lord promised your ancestors abraham isaac and jacob that he would give you this land now he will take you there and give you large towns with good buildings that you didn't build and houses full of good things that you didn't put there the lord will give you wells that you didn't have to dig and vineyards and olive orchards that you didn't have to plant but when you have eaten so much that you can't eat anymore don't forget it was the lord who set you free from slavery and brought you out of egypt worship and obey the lord your god with fear and trembling and promise that you will be loyal to him don't have anything to do with gods that are worshiped by the nations around you if you worship other gods the lord will be furious and wipe you off the face of the earth the lord your god is with you so don't try to make him prove that he can help you as you did at massive always obey the laws that the lord has given you and live in a way that pleases him then you will be able to go in and take this good land from your enemies just as he promised your ancestors someday your children will ask why did the lord give us these laws and teachings then you will answer we were slaves of the king of egypt but the lord used his great power and set us free we saw him perform miracles and make horrible things happen to the king his officials and everyone else the lord rescued us from egypt so he could bring us into this land as he had promised our ancestors that's why the lord our god demands that we obey his laws and worship him with fear and trembling and if we do he will protect us and help us be successful deuteronomy 7 people of israel the lord your god will help you take the land of the hittites the girgashites the amorites the canaanites the perizzites the hivites and the jebusites these seven nations have more people and are stronger than israel but when you attack them the lord will force them out of the land then you must destroy them without mercy don't make any peace treaties with them and don't let your sons and daughters marry any of them if you do those people will lead your descendants to worship other gods and to turn their backs on the lord that will make him very angry and he will quickly destroy israel so when you conquer these nations tear down the altars where they worship their gods break up their sacred stones cut down the poles that they use in worshiping the goddess ashira and throw their idols in the fire israel you are the chosen people of the lord your god there are many nations on this earth but he chose only israel to be his very own you were the weakest of all nations but the lord chose you because he loves you and because he had made a promise to your ancestors then with his mighty arm he rescued you from the king of egypt who had made you his slaves you know that the lord your god is the only true god so love him and obey his commands and he will faithfully keep his agreement with you and your descendants for a thousand generations but if you turn against the lord he will quickly destroy you so be sure to obey his laws and teachings i am giving you today if you completely obey these laws the lord your god will be loyal and keep the agreement he made with you just as he promised our ancestors the lord will love you and bless you by giving you many children and plenty of food wine and olive oil your herds of cattle will have many calves and your flocks of sheep will have many lambs god will bless you more than any other nation your families will grow and your livestock increase you will no longer suffer with the same horrible diseases that you sometimes had in egypt you will be healthy but the lord will make your enemies suffer from those diseases when the lord helps you defeat your enemies you must destroy them without pity and don't get trapped into worshipping their gods you may be thinking how can we destroy these nations they are more powerful than we are but stop worrying just remember what the lord your god did to egypt and its king you saw how the lord used his tremendous power to work great miracles and bring you out of egypt and he would again work miracles for you when you face these enemies you fear so much some of them may try to survive by hiding from you but the lord will make them panic and soon they will be dead so don't be frightened when you meet them in battle the lord your god is great and fearsome and he will fight at your side as you attack these nations the lord will force them out little by little he won't let you get rid of them all at once if he did there wouldn't be enough people living in the land to keep down the number of wild animals but when you attack your enemies the lord will make them panic and you will easily destroy them you will defeat them one after another until they are gone and no one will remember they ever lived after you conquer a nation burn their idols don't get trapped into wanting the silver or gold on an idol even the metal on an idol is disgusting to the lord so destroy it if you bring it home with you both you and your house will be destroyed stay away from those disgusting idols deuteronomy 8 israel do you want to go into the land the lord promised your ancestors do you want to capture it live there and become a powerful nation then be sure to obey every command i am giving you don't forget how the lord your god has led you through the desert for the past forty years he wanted to find out if you were truly willing to obey him and depend on him so he made you go hungry then he gave you manner a kind of food that you and your ancestors had never even heard about the lord was teaching you that people need more than food to live they need every word that the lord has spoken over the past 40 years your clothing hasn't worn out and your feet haven't swollen so keep in mind that the lord has been correcting you just as parents correct their children obey the commands the lord your god has given you and worship him with fear and trembling the lord your god is bringing you into a good land with streams that flow from springs in the valleys and hills you can dig for copper in those hills and the stones are made of iron ore and you won't go hungry wheat and barley fields are everywhere and so are vineyards and orchards full of fig pomegranate and olive trees and there is plenty of honey after you eat and are full give praise to the lord your god for the good land he gave you make sure that you never forget the lord or disobey his laws and teachings that i am giving you today if you always obey them you will have plenty to eat and you will build good houses to live in you will get more and more cattle sheep silver gold and other possessions but when all this happens don't be proud don't forget that you are once slaves in egypt and that it was the lord who set you free remember how he led you in that huge and frightening desert where poisonous snakes and scorpions live there was no water but the lord split open a rock and water poured out so you could drink he also gave you manna a kind of food your ancestors had never even heard about the lord was testing you to make you trust him so that later on he could be good to you when you become successful don't say i'm rich and i've earned it all myself instead remember that the lord your god gives you the strength to make a living that's how he keeps the promise he made to your ancestors but i'm warning you if you forget the lord your god and worship other gods the lord will destroy you just as he destroyed the nations you fought deuteronomy 9 israel listen to me you will soon cross the jordan river and go into the land to force out the nations that live there they are more powerful than you are and the walls around their cities reach to the sky some of these nations are descendants of the anakim you know how tall and strong they are and you've heard that no one can defeat them in battle for the lord your god has promised to go ahead of you like a raging fire burning everything in its path so when you attack your enemies it will be easy for you to destroy them and take their land after the lord helps you wipe out these nations and conquer their land don't think he did it because you are such good people you aren't good you are stubborn no the lord is going to help you because the nations that live there are evil and because he wants to keep the promise he made your ancestors abraham isaac and jacob don't ever forget how you kept rebelling and making the lord angry the whole time you were in the desert you rebelled from the day you left egypt until the day you arrived here at mount sinai you made the lord so angry that he was going to destroy you it happened during those 40 days and nights that i was on the mountain without anything to eat or drink he had told me to come up there so he could give me the agreement he made with us and this agreement was actually the same ten commandments he had announced to you when he spoke from the fire on the mountain the lord had written them on two flat stones with his own hand but after giving me the two stones he said moses hurry down the mountain to those people you led out of egypt they have already disobeyed me and committed the terrible sin of making an idol i've been watching the israelites and i've seen how stubborn and rebellious they are so don't try to stop me i am going to wipe them out and no one on earth would remember they ever lived then i will let your descendants become an even bigger and more powerful nation than israel [Music] fire was raging on the mountain top as i went back down carrying the two stones with the commandments on them i saw how quickly you had sinned and disobeyed the lord your god there you were worshiping the metal idol you had made in the shape of a calf so i threw down the two stones and smashed them before your very eyes i bowed down at the place of worship and prayed to the lord without eating or drinking for forty days and nights you had committed a terrible sin by making that idol and the lord hated what you had done he was angry enough to destroy all of you and aaron as well so i prayed for you and aaron as i had done before and this time the lord answered my prayers it was a sin for you to make that idol so i threw it into the fire to melt it down then i took the lump of gold ground it into powder and threw the powder into the stream flowing down the mountain you also made the lord angry when you were staying at tabarra at massa and at kibroth hatava then at kiddish barnier the lord said i am giving you the land so go ahead and take it but since you didn't trust the lord you rebelled and disobeyed his command in fact you've rebelled against the lord for as long as he has known you after you had made the idol in the shape of a calf the lord said he was going to destroy you so i bow down in front of the sacred tent for forty days and nights and i prayed our lord please don't wipe out your people you used your great power to rescue them from egypt and to make them your very own israel's ancestors abraham isaac and jacob obeyed you faithfully think about them and not about israel's stubbornness evil and sin if you destroy your people the egyptians will say the lord promised to give israel land but he wasn't powerful enough to keep his promise in fact he hated them so much that he took them into the desert and killed them but you our lord chose the people of israel to be your own and with your mighty power you rescued them from egypt deuteronomy 10 the lord told me to chisel out two flat stones just like the ones he had given me earlier he also commanded me to make a wooden chest then come up the mountain and meet with him he told me that he would write the same words on the new stones that he had written on the old ones i broke and that i could put these stones in the sacred chest so i made a chest out of a casio wood and i chiseled two flat stones like the ones i broke then i carried the stones up the mountain where the lord wrote the ten commandments on them just as he had done the first time the commandments were exactly what he had announced from the fire when you were gathered at the mountain after the lord returned the stones to me i took them down the mountainside and put them in the chest just as he had commanded and they are still there later we set up camp at the wells belonging to the descendants of jacon then we moved on and camped at mussira where aaron died and was buried and his son eliezer became the priest next we camped at good goda and then at jaatpatha where there are flowing streams after i put the two stones in the sacred chest the lord chose the tribe of levi not only to carry the chest but also to serve as his priests at the place of worship and to bless the other tribes in his name and they still do these things the lord promised that he would always provide for the tribe of levi and that's why he won't give them any land when he divides it among the other tribes when i had taken the second set of stones up the mountain i spent forty days and nights there just as i had done before once again the lord answered my prayer and did not destroy you instead he told me moses get ready to lead the people into the land that i promised their ancestors people of israel what does the lord your god want from you the lord wants you to respect and follow him to love and serve him with all your heart and soul and to obey his laws and teachings that i am giving you today do this and all will go well for you everything belongs to the lord your god not only the earth and everything on it but also the sky and the highest heavens yet the lord loved your ancestors and wanted them to belong to him so he chose them and their descendants rather than any other nation and today you are still his people remember your agreement with the lord and stop being so stubborn the lord your god is more powerful than all other gods and lords and his tremendous power is to be feared his decisions are always fair and you cannot bribe him to change his mind the law defends the rights of orphans and widows he cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing and you should also care for them because you were foreigners in egypt respect the lord your god serve only him and make promises in his name alone offer your praises to him because you have seen him work such terrifying miracles for you when your ancestors went to live in egypt there were only 70 of them but the lord has blessed you and now there are more of you than there are stars in the sky deuteronomy 11 the lord is your god so you must always love him and obey his laws and teachings remember he corrected you and not your children you are the ones who saw the lord use his great power when he worked miracles in egypt making terrible things happen to the king and all his people and when the egyptian army chased you in their chariots you saw the lord drown them and their horses in the red sea egypt still suffers from that defeat you saw what the lord did for you while you were in the desert right up to the time you arrived here and you saw how the lord made the ground open up in the middle of our camp underneath the tents of dathan and abaram it was swallowed up along with their families their animals and their tents with your own eyes you saw the lord's mighty power do all these things soon you will cross the jordan river and if you obey the laws and teachings i am giving you today you will be strong enough to conquer the land that the lord promised your ancestors and their descendants it's rich with milk and honey and you will live there and enjoy it for a long time it's better land than you had in egypt where you had to struggle just to water your crops but the hills and valleys in the promised land are watered by rain from heaven because the lord your god keeps his eye on this land and takes care of it all year long the lord your god commands you to love him and to serve him with all your heart and soul if you obey him he will send rain at the right seasons so you will have more than enough food wine and olive oil and there will be plenty of grass for your cattle but watch out you will be tempted to turn your backs on the lord and if you worship other gods the lord will become angry and keep the rain from falling nothing will grow in your fields and you will die and disappear from the good land that the lord is giving you memorize these laws and think about them write down copies and tie them to your wrists and your foreheads to help you obey them teach them to your children talk about them all the time whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night or getting up in the morning write them on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates then you and your descendants will live a long time in the land of the lord promised your ancestors your families will live there as long as the sky is above the earth love the lord your god and obey all the laws and teachings that i'm giving you today [Music] if you live the way the lord wants he will help you take the land and even though the nations there are more powerful than you the lord will force them to leave when you attack you will capture the land everywhere you go from the southern desert to the lebanon mountains and from the euphrates river west to the mediterranean sea no one will be able to stand up to you the lord will make everyone terrified of you just as he promised you have a choice do you want the lord to bless you or do you want him to put a curse on you today i am giving you his laws and if you obey him he will bless you but if you disobey him and worship those gods that have never done anything for you the lord will put a curse on you [Music] after the lord your god helps you take the land you must have a ceremony where you announce his blessings from mount gerizim and his curses from mount ebal you know that these two mountains are west of the jordan river in land now controlled by the canaanites living in the jordan river valley the mountains are west of the road near the sacred trees of mori on the other side of gilgal soon you will cross the jordan river to conquer the land that the lord your god is giving you and when you have settled there be careful to obey his laws and teachings that i am giving you today [Music] deuteronomy 12 now i'll tell you the laws and teachings that you have to obey as long as you live your ancestors worship the lord and he is giving you this land but the nations that live there worship other gods so after you capture the land you must completely destroy their places of worship on mountains and hills or in the shade of large trees whatever these nations worship their gods you must tear down their altars break their sacred stones burn the sacred poles used in worshiping the goddess asherah and smash their idols to pieces destroy these places of worship so completely that no one will remember they were ever there don't worship the lord your god in the way those nations worship their gods soon you will cross the jordan and the lord will help you conquer your enemies and let you live in peace there in the land he has given you but after you are settled life will be different you must not offer sacrifices just anywhere you want to instead the lord will choose a place somewhere in israel where you must go to worship him all of your sacrifices and offerings must be taken there including sacrifices to please the lord and any gift you promise or voluntarily give him that's where you must also take one tenth of your grain wine and olive oil as well as the first born of your cattle sheep and goats you and your family and servants will eat your gifts and sacrifices and celebrate there at the place of worship because the lord your god has made you successful in everything you have done and since levites will not have any land of their own you must ask some of them to come along and celebrate with you sometimes you may want to kill an animal for food and not as a sacrifice if the lord has blessed you and given you enough cows or sheep or goats then you can butcher one of them where you live you can eat it just like the meat from a deer or gazelle that you kill when you go hunting and even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat but you must not eat the blood of any animal let the blood drain out on the ground the lord has promised that later on he will give israel more land and some of you may not be able to travel all the way from your homes to the place of worship each time you are hungry for meat but the lord will give you cattle sheep and goats and you can butcher any of those animals at home and eat as much as you want it is the same as eating the meat from a deer or a gazelle that you kill when you go hunting and in this way anyone who is unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat but don't eat the blood it is the life of the animal so let it drain out on the ground before you eat the meat do you want the lord to make you successful do you want your children to be successful even after you are gone then do what pleases the lord and don't eat blood all sacrifices and offerings to the lord must be taken to the place where he chooses to be worshipped if you offer a sacrifice to please the lord all of its meat must be burned on the altar you can eat the meat from certain kinds of sacrifices but you must always pour out the animal's blood on the altar if you obey these laws you will be doing what the lord your god says is right and good then he will help you and your descendants be successful israel as you go into the land and attack the nations that are there the lord will get rid of them and you can have their land but that's when you must be especially careful not to ask how did these nations worship their gods shouldn't we worship the lord in the same way no you should not the lord hates the disgusting way those nations worship their gods because they even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices obey all the laws and teachings i am giving you don't add any and don't take any away deuteronomy 13. someday a prophet may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future then the prophet may say let's start worshipping some new gods some gods that we know nothing about if the prophet says this don't listen the lord your god will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul you must be completely faithful to the lord worship and obey only the lord and do this with fear and trembling because he rescued you from slavery in egypt if a prophet tells you to disobey the lord your god and to stop worshiping him then that prophet is evil and must be put to death someone else may say to you let's worship other gods that person may be your best friend your brother or sister your son or daughter or your own dear wife or husband but you must not listen to people who say such things instead you must stone them to death you must be the first to throw the stones then others from the community will finish the job don't show any pity the gods worshipped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors people who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the lord who rescued you from slavery in egypt so put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god and when the rest of israel hears about it they will be afraid and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again after the lord your god gives you towns to live in you may hear a rumor about one of the towns you may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshiping other gods even though these gods have never done anything for them you must carefully find out if the rumor is true then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country you must take your swords and kill every one of them and their livestock too gather all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the marketplace without keeping anything for yourself set the pile on the whole town on fire and don't ever rebuild the town the whole town will be a sacrifice to the lord your god then he won't be angry anymore and he will have mercy on you and make you successful just as he promised your ancestors that's why you must do what the lord your god says is right i am giving you his laws and teachings today and you must obey them deuteronomy 14 people of israel you are the lord's children so when you mourn for the dead you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead out of all the nations on this earth the lord your god chose you to be his own you belong to the lord so don't behave like those who worship other gods don't eat any disgusting animals you may eat the meat of cattle sheep and goats wild sheep and goats and gazelles antelopes and all kinds of deer it is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hooves and also chew the cud but don't eat camels rabbits and rock badgers these animals chew the cud but do not have divided hooves you must treat them as unclean and don't eat pork since pigs have divided hooves but they do not chew their cud don't even touch a dead pig you can eat any fish that has fins and scales but there are other creatures that live in the water and if they do not have fins and scales you must not eat them treat them as unclean you can eat any clean bird but don't eat the meat of any of the following birds eagles vultures falcons kites ravens ostriches owls seagulls hawks pelicans ospreys cormorants stalks herons and huppoos you must not eat bats swarming insects are unclean so don't eat them however you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects you belong to the lord your god so if you happen to find a dead animal don't eat its meat you may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town don't boil the young goat in its mother's milk people of israel every year you must set aside 10 percent of your grain harvest also set aside 10 of your wine and olive oil and the firstborn of every cow sheep and goat take these to the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped and eat them there this will teach you to always respect the lord your god but suppose you can't carry that 10 percent of your harvest to the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped if you live too far away or if the lord gives you a big harvest then sell this part and take the money there instead when you and your family arrive spend the money on food for a big celebration buy cattle sheep goats wine beer and if there are any other kinds of food that you want buy those two and since people of the levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops remember to ask the levites to celebrate with you every third year instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse the levites have no land of their own so you must give them food from the storehouse you must also give food to the poor who live in your town including orphans widows and foreigners if they have enough to eat then the lord your god will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do deuteronomy 15. every seven years you must announce the lord says loans do not need to be paid back then if you have loaned money to another israelite you can no longer ask for payment this law applies only to loans you have made to other israelites foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them no one in israel should ever be poor the lord your god is giving you this land and he has promised to make you very successful if you obey his laws and teachings that i'm giving you today you will lend money to many nations but you won't have to borrow you will rule many nations but they won't rule you after the lord your god gives land to each of you there may be poor israelites in the town where you live if there are then don't be mean and selfish with your money instead be kind and lend them what they need be careful don't say to yourself soon it'll be the seventh year and then i won't be able to get my money back it would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor they are your relatives and if you don't help them they may ask the lord to decide whether you have done wrong and he will say that you are guilty you should be happy to give the poor what they need because then the lord will make you successful in everything you do there will always be some israelites who are poor and needy that's why i am commanding you to be generous with them if any of you by israelites are slaves you must set them free after six years and don't just tell them they are free to leave give them sheep and goats and a good supply of grain and wine the more the lord has given you the more you should give them i am commanding you to obey the lord as a reminder that you were slaves in egypt before he set you free but one of your slaves may say i love you and your family and i will be better off staying with you so please don't make me leave take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one earlobe and into the door such slaves who belong to you for life whether they are men or women don't complain when you have to set a slave free after all you got six years of service at half the cost of hiring someone to do the work if the first born animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male it must be given to the lord don't put first born cattle to work or cut wool from first-born sheep instead each year you must take the firstborn of these animals to the place where the lord your god chooses to be worshipped you and your family will sacrifice them to the lord and then eat them as part of a sacred meal but if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it you must not sacrifice it to the lord your god you can butcher it where you live and eat it just like the meat of a deer or gazelle that you kill while hunting even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some but you must never eat the blood of an animal let it drain out on the ground deuteronomy 16 people of israel you must celebrate passover in the month of abib because one night in that month years ago the lord your god rescued you from egypt the passover sacrifice must be a cow a sheep or a goat and you must offer it at the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped eat all of the meat of the passover sacrifice that same night but don't serve bread made with yeast the passover meal serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in egypt and when you had to leave egypt quickly as long as you live this thin bread will remind you of the day you left egypt for seven days following passover don't make any bread with yeast in fact there should be no yeast anywhere in israel don't offer the passover sacrifice in just any town where you happen to live it must be offered at the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped kill the sacrifice at sunset the time of day when you left egypt then cook it and eat it there at the place of worship returning to your tents the next morning eat thin bread for the next six days then on the seventh day don't do any work instead come together and worship the lord [Music] seven weeks after you start your grain harvest go to the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped and celebrate the harvest festival in honor of the lord your god bring him an offering as large as you can afford depending on how big a harvest he has given you be sure to take along your sons and daughters and all your servants also invite the poor including levites foreigners orphans and widows remember that you used to be slaves in egypt so obey these laws after you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped celebrate the festival of shelters for seven days also invite the poor including levites foreigners orphans and widows the lord will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do you will be completely happy so celebrate this festival in honor of the lord your god each year there are three festivals when all israelite men must go to the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped these are the festival of thin bread the harvest festival and the festival of shelters and don't forget to take a longer gift for the lord the bigger the harvest the lord gives you the bigger your gift should be after you are settled in the towns that you will receive from the lord your god the people in each town must appoint judges and other officers those of you that become judges must be completely fair when you make legal decisions even if someone important is involved don't take bribes to give unfair decisions bribes keep people who are wise from seeing the truth and turn honest people into liars people of israel if you want to enjoy a long and successful life make sure that everyone is treated with justice in the land that the lord is giving you when you build the altar for offering sacrifices to the lord your god don't set up a sacred pole for the worship of the goddess asherah and don't set up a sacred stone the lord hates these things deuteronomy 17 if an ox or a sheep has something wrong with it don't offer it as a sacrifice to the lord your god he will be disgusted the lord your god is giving you towns to live in but later a man or a woman in your town may start worshiping other gods or even the sun moon or stars i have warned you not to worship other gods because whoever worships them is disobeying the lord and breaking the agreement he made with you so when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty but you will need two or three witnesses one witness isn't enough to prove a person guilty get rid of those who are guilty of such evil take them outside your town gates and have everyone stone them to death but the witnesses must be the first to throw stones it may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town you may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose if the case is too difficult take it to the court at the place where the lord your god chooses to be worshipped this court will be made up of one judge and several priests who serve at the lord's altar they will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case do exactly what they tell you or you will be put to death when other israelites hear about it they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court [Music] people of israel after you capture the land the lord your god is giving you and after you settle on it you will say we want a king just like the nations around us go ahead and appoint a king but make sure that he is an israelite and that he is the one the lord has chosen the king should not have many horses especially those from egypt the lord has said never to go back there again and the king must not have a lot of wives they might tempt him to be unfaithful to the lord finally the king must not try to get huge amounts of silver and gold official copy of god's laws will be kept by the priests of the levi tribe so as soon as anyone becomes king he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch each day the king must read and obey these laws so that he will learn to worship the lord with fear and trembling and not think that he's better than everyone else if the king completely obeys the lord's commands he and his descendants will rule israel for many years deuteronomy 18 the people of the levi tribe including the priests will not receive any land instead they will receive part of the sacrifices that are offered to the lord because he has promised to provide for them in this way when you sacrifice a bull or sheep the priests will be given the shoulder the jaws and the stomach in addition they will receive the first part of your grain harvest and part of your first batches of wine and olive oil you must also give them the first wool that is cut from your sheep each year give these gifts to the priests because the lord has chosen them and their descendants out of all the tribes of israel to be his special servants at the place of worship any levite can leave his hometown and go to the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped and then be a special servant of the lord there just like all the other levites some levites may have money from selling family possessions and others may not but all the levites serving at the place of worship will receive the same amount of food from the sacrifices and gifts brought by the people soon you will go into the land that the lord your god is giving you the nations that live there do things that are disgusting to the lord and you must not follow their example don't sacrifice your son or daughter and don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead the lord is disgusted with anyone who does these things and that's why he will help you to destroy the nations that are in the land never be guilty of doing any of these disgusting things you will go in and take the land from nations that practice magic and witchcraft but the lord your god won't allow you to do these things instead he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me and you must do what that prophet says you were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at mount sinai and said to the lord please don't let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again if we do we will die then the lord told me moses they have said the right thing so when i want to speak to them i will choose one of them to be a prophet like you i will give my message to that prophet who will tell the people exactly what i have said since the message comes from me anyone who doesn't obey the message will have to answer to me but if i haven't spoken and a prophet claims to have a message from me you must kill that prophet and you must also kill any prophet who claims to have a message from another god you may be asking yourselves how can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the lord you will know because if the lord says something will happen it will happen and if it doesn't you will know that the prophet was falsely claiming to speak for the lord don't be afraid of any prophet whose message doesn't come from the lord deuteronomy 19 soon you will go into the land and attack the nations the lord your god will destroy them and give you their lands towns and homes then after you are settled you must choose three of your towns to be safe towns divide the land into three regions with one safe town near the middle of each so that a safe town can be easily reached from anywhere in your land then if one of you accidentally kills someone you can run to a safe town and find protection from being put to death but you must not have been angry with the person you killed for example suppose you and a friend go into the forest to cut wood you are chopping down a tree with an axe when the axe head slips off the handle hits your friend and kills him you can run to one of the safe towns and save your life you don't deserve to die since you did not mean to harm your friend but he did get killed and his relatives might be very angry they might even choose one of the men from their family to track you down and kill you if it is too far to one of the safe towns the victim's relative might be able to catch you and kill you that's why i said there must be three safe towns israel the lord your god has promised that if you obey his laws and teachings i'm giving you and if you always love him then he will give you the land he promised your ancestors when that happens you must name three more safe towns in the new territory you will need them so innocent people won't be killed on your land while they are trying to reach a safe town that is too far away you will be guilty of murder if innocent people lose their lives because you didn't name enough safe towns in the land the lord your god will give you but what if you really do commit murder suppose one of you hates a neighbor so you wait in a deserted place kill the neighbor and run to a safe town if that happens the leaders of your town must send messengers to bring you back from the safe town they will hand you over to one of the victims relatives who will put you to death israel for the good of the whole country you must kill anyone who murders an innocent person never show mercy to a murderer in the land the lord is giving you there are already stones set up to mark the property lines between fields so don't move those stones before you were convicted of a crime at least two witnesses must be able to testify that you did it if you accuse someone of a crime but seem to be lying then both you and the accused must be taken to the court at the place where the lord is worshipped there the priests and judges will find out if you are lying or telling the truth if you are lying and the accused is innocent then you will be punished without mercy you will receive the same punishment the accused would have received if found guilty whether it means losing an eye a tooth a hand a foot or even your life israel the crime of telling lies in court must be punished and when people hear what happens to witnesses that lie everyone else who testifies in court will tell the truth deuteronomy 20 if you have to go to war you may find yourselves facing an enemy army that is bigger than yours and that has horses and chariots but don't be afraid the lord your god rescued you from egypt and he will help you fight before you march into battle a priest will go to the front of the army and say soldiers of israel listen to me today when you go into battle don't be afraid of the enemy and when you see them don't panic the lord your god will fight alongside you and help you win the battle then the tribal officials will say to the troops if any of you have built a new house but haven't yet moved in you may go home it isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to live in your new house if any of you have planted a vineyard but haven't had your first grape harvest you may go home it isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to enjoy your grapes if any of you are engaged to be married you may go back home and get married it isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to marry the woman you are engaged to finally if any of you are afraid you may go home we don't want you to discourage the other soldiers when the officials are finished giving these orders they will appoint officers to be in command of the army before you attack a town that is far from your land offer peace to the people who live there if they surrender and open their town gates they will become your slaves but if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight surround their town and attack then after the lord helps you capture it kill all the men take the women and children of slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value whenever you capture towns in the land the lord your god is giving you be sure to kill all the people and animals he has commanded you to completely wipe out the hittites the amorites the canaanites the perizzites the hivites and the jebusites if you allow them to live they will persuade you to worship their disgusting gods and you will be unfaithful to the lord when you are attacking a town don't chop down its fruit trees not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time fruit trees aren't your enemies and they produce food that you can eat so don't cut them down you may need wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the town but use only trees that you know are not fruit trees deuteronomy 21 suppose the body of a murder victim is found in a field in the land the lord your god is giving you and no one knows who the murderer is the judges and other leaders from the towns around there must find out what town is the closest to where the body was found the leaders from that town will go to their cattle herds and choose a young cow that has never been put to work they and some of the priests will take this cow to a nearby valley where there is a stream but no crops once they reach the valley the leaders will break the cow's neck the priests must be there because the lord your god has chosen them to be his special servants at the place of worship the lord has chosen them to bless the people in his name and to be judges in all legal cases where the property or injury is involved the town leaders will wash their hands over the body of the dead cow and say we had no part in this murder and we don't know who did it but since an innocent person was murdered we beg you our lord to accept this sacrifice and forgive israel we are your people and you rescued us please don't hold this crime against us if you obey the lord and do these things he will forgive israel from time to time you men will serve as soldiers and go off to war the lord your god will help you defeat your enemies and you will take many prisoners one of these prisoners may be a beautiful woman and you may want to marry her but first you must bring her into your home and have her shave her head cut her nails get rid of her foreign clothes and start wearing israelite clothes she will mourn a month for her father and mother then you can marry her later on if you are not happy with the woman you can divorce her and she can go free but you have slept with her as your wife so you cannot sell her as a slave or make her into your own slave suppose a man has two wives and loves one more than the other the first son of either wife is the man's firstborn son even if the boy's mother is the wife the man doesn't love later when the man is near death and is dividing up his property he must give a double share to his firstborn son simply because he was the first to be born a father and a mother may have a stubborn and rebellious son refuses to obey them even after he has been punished if a son is like that his parents must drag him to the town gate where the leaders of the town hold their meetings the parents will tell the leaders this son of ours is stubborn and never obeys he spends all his time drinking and partying the men of the town will stone that son to death because they must get rid of the evil he brought into the community everyone in israel will be afraid when they hear how he was punished if a criminal is put to death and you hang the dead body on a tree you must not let it hang there overnight bury it the same day because the dead body of a criminal will bring god's curse on the land the lord your god is giving this land to you so don't make it unclean by leaving the bodies of executed criminals on display deuteronomy 22 if you see a cow or sheep wandering around lost take the animal back to its owner if the owner lives too far away or if you don't know who the owner is take the animal home with you and take care of it the owner will come looking for the animal and then you can give it back that's what you should do if you find anything that belongs to someone else do whatever you can to help whether you find a cow or sheep or donkey or some clothing oxen and donkeys that carry heavy loads can stumble and fall and be unable to get up by themselves so as you walk along the road help anyone who is trying to get an ox or donkey back on its feet women must not pretend to be men and men must not pretend to be women the lord your god is disgusted with people who do that [Music] as you walk along the road you might see a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground if the mother bird is in the nest with either her eggs or her baby birds you are allowed to take the baby birds or the eggs but not the mother bird let her go free and the lord will bless you with a long and successful life if you build a house make sure to put a low wall around the edge of the flat roof then if someone falls off the roof and is killed it won't be your fault if you plant a vineyard don't plant any other fruit tree or crop in it if you do plant something else there you must bring to the place of worship everything you harvest from the vineyard don't hitch an oxen a donkey to your plow at the same time when you weave cloth for clothing you can use thread made of flax or wool but not both together and when you make a coat sew a tassel on each of the four corners [Music] suppose a man starts hating his wife soon after they are married he might tell ugly lies about her and say i'm mad at this woman but when we slept together i found out she wasn't a virgin if this happens the bride's father and mother must go to the town gate to show the town leaders the proof that the woman was a virgin her father will say i let my daughter marry this man but he started hating her and accusing her of not being a virgin but he is wrong because here is proof that she was a virgin then the bride's parents will show them the bed sheet from the woman's wedding night the town leaders will beat the man with a whip because he accused his bride of not being a virgin he will have to pay her father 100 pieces of silver and will never be allowed to divorce her but if the man was right and there is no proof that his bride was a virgin the men of the town will take the woman to the door of her father's house and stone her to death this woman brought evil into your community by sleeping with someone before she got married and you must get rid of that evil by killing her people of israel if a man is caught having sex with someone else's wife you must put them both to death that way you will get rid of the evil they have done in israel if a man is caught in town having sex with an engaged woman who isn't screaming for help they both must be put to death the man is guilty of having sex with a married woman and the woman is guilty because she didn't call for help even though she was inside a town and people were nearby take both of them to the town gate and stone them to death you must get rid of the evil they brought into your community [Music] if an engaged woman is raped out in the country only the man will be put to death do not punish the woman at all she has done nothing wrong and certainly nothing deserving death this crime is like murder because the woman was alone out in the country when the man attacked her she screamed but there was no one to help her suppose a woman isn't engaged to be married and a man talks her into sleeping with him if they are caught they will be forced to get married he must give her father 50 pieces of silver as a bride price and can never divorce her a man must not marry a woman who was married to his father this would be a disgrace to his father deuteronomy 23 if a man's private parts have been crushed or cut off he cannot fully belong to the lord's people no one born outside of a legal marriage or any of their descendants for ten generations can fully belong to the lord's people no ammonites or moabites or any of their descendants for ten generations can become part of israel the lord's people this is because when you came out of egypt they refused to provide you with food and water and besides they hired balaam to put a curse on you but the lord your god loves you so he refused to listen to balaam and turn balaam's curse into a blessing don't even think of signing a peace treaty with moab or ammon but are your relatives and you lived as foreigners in the country of egypt now you must be kind to and egyptians and let their great grandchildren become part of israel the lord's people when you men go off to fight your enemies make sure your camp is acceptable to the lord for example if something happens at night that makes a man unclean and unfit for worship he must go outside the camp and stay there until late afternoon then he must take a bath and at sunset he can go back into camp set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area and make sure that you have a small shovel in your equipment when you go out to the toilet area use the shovel to dig a hole then after you relieve yourself bury the waste in the hole you must keep your camp clean of filthy and disgusting things the lord is always present in your camp ready to rescue you and give you victory over your enemies but if he sees something disgusting in your camp he may turn around and leave when runaway slaves from other countries come to israel and ask for protection you must not hand them back to their owners instead you must let them choose which one of your towns they want to live in don't be cruel to runaway slaves people of israel don't any of you ever be temple prostitutes lord your god is disgusted with men and women who are prostitutes of any kind and he will not accept a gift from them even if it had been promised to him when you lend money food or anything else to another israelite you are not allowed to charge interest you can charge a foreigner interest but if you charge other israelites interest the lord your god will not let you be successful in the land you are about to take people of israel if you make a sacred promise to give a gift to the lord then do it as soon as you can if the lord has to come looking for the gift you promised you will be guilty of breaking that promise on the other hand if you never make a sacred promise you can't be guilty of breaking it you must keep whatever promises you make to the lord after all you are the one who chose to make the promises [Music] if you go into a vineyard that belongs to someone else you are allowed to eat as many grapes as you want while you are there but don't take any with you when you leave in the same way if you were in a grain field that belongs to someone else you can pick heads of grain and eat the kernels but don't cut down the stalks of grain and take them with you deuteronomy 24 suppose a woman was divorced by her first husband because he found something disgraceful about her he wrote out divorce papers gave them to her and sent her away later she married another man who then either divorced her in the same way or died since she has slept with her second husband she cannot marry her first husband again their marriage would pollute the land that the lord your god is giving you and he will be disgusted if a man and a woman have been married less than one year he must not be sent off to war or sent away to do forced labor he must be allowed to stay home for a year and be happy with his wife when you lend money to people you are allowed to keep something of theirs as a guarantee that they will pay back the loan but don't take one or both of their millstones or else they may starve they need these stones for grinding grain into flour to make bread if you are guilty of kidnapping israelites and forcing them into slavery you will be put to death to remove this evil from the community i have told the priests what to do if any of you have leprosy so do exactly what they say and remember what the lord your god did to miriam after you left egypt when you lend money to people you are allowed to keep something of theirs as a guarantee that the money will be paid back but you must not go into their house to get it wait outside and they will bring out the item you have agreed on suppose someone is so poor that a coat is the only thing that can be offered as a guarantee on alone don't keep the coat overnight instead give it back before sunset so the owner can keep warm and sleep and ask the lord to bless you then the lord your god will notice that you have done the right thing if you hire poor people to work for you don't hold back their pay whether they are israelites or foreigners who live in your town pay them their wages at the end of each day because they live in poverty and need the money to survive if you don't pay them on time they will complain about you to the lord and he will punish you parents must not be put to death for crimes committed by their children and children must not be put to death for crimes committed by their parents don't put anyone to death for someone else's crime [Music] make sure that orphans and foreigners are treated fairly and if you lend money to a widow and want to keep something of hers to guarantee that she will pay you back don't take any of her clothes you were slaves in egypt until the lord your god rescued you that's why i am giving you these laws if you forget to bring in a stack of harvested grain don't go back into the field to get it leave it for the poor including foreigners orphans and widows and the lord will make you successful in everything you do when you harvest your olives don't try to get them all for yourself but leave some for the poor and when you pick your grapes go over the vines only once then let the poor have what is left you lived in poverty as slaves in egypt until the lord your god rescued you that's why i am giving you these laws deuteronomy 25 suppose you and someone else each accuse the other of doing something wrong and you go to court where the judges decide you are guilty if your punishment is to be beaten with a whip one of the judges will order you to lie down and you will receive the number of lashes you deserve 40 lashes is the most that you can be given because more than that might make other israelites think you are worthless don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain suppose two brothers are living on the same property when one of them dies without having a son to carry on his name if this happens his widow must not marry anyone outside the family instead she must marry her late husband's brother and their first son will be the legal son of the dead man but suppose the brother refuses to marry the widow she must go to a meeting of the town leaders at the town gate and say my husband died without having a son to carry on his name and my husband's brother refuses to marry me so i can have a son the leaders will call the living brother to the town gate and try to persuade him to marry the widow but if he doesn't change his mind and marry her she must go over to him while the town leaders watch she will pull off one of his sandals and spit in his face while saying that's what happens to a man who won't help provide descendants for his dead brother from then on that man's family will be known as the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off if two men are fighting and the wife of one man tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the other man's private parts you must cut off her hand don't have any mercy don't try to cheat people by having two sets of weights or measures one to get more when you are buying and the other to give less when you are selling if you weigh and measure things honestly the lord your god will let you enjoy a long life in the land he is giving you but the lord is disgusted with anyone who cheats or is dishonest people of israel do you remember what the amalekites did to you after you came out of egypt you were tired and they followed along behind attacking those who could not keep up with the others this showed that the amalekites have no respect for god the lord your god will help you capture the land and he will give you peace but when that day comes you must wipe out amalek so completely that no one will remember they ever lived deuteronomy 26 the lord is giving you the land and soon you will conquer it settle down and plant crops and when you begin harvesting each of your crops the very first things you pick must be put in a basket take them to the place where the lord your god chooses to be worshipped and tell the priest long ago the lord our god promised our ancestors that he would give us this land and today i thank him for keeping his promise and giving me a share of the land the priest will take the basket and set it in front of the lord's altar then standing there in front of the place of worship you must pray my ancestor was homeless an aramian who went to live in egypt there were only a few in his family then but they became great and powerful a nation of many people the egyptians were cruel and had no pity on us they mistreated our people and forced us into slavery we called out for help to you the lord god of our ancestors you heard our cries you knew we were in trouble and abused then you terrified the egyptians with your mighty miracles and rescued us from egypt you brought us here and gave us this land rich with milk and honey now lord i bring to you the best of the crops that you have given me [Music] after you say these things place the basket in front of the lord's altar and bow down to worship him then you and your family must celebrate by eating a meal at the place of worship to thank the lord your god for giving you such a good harvest and remember to invite the levites and the foreigners who live in your town every year you are to give 10 of your harvest to the lord but every third year this 10 must be given to the poor who live in your town including levites foreigners orphans and widows that way they will have enough to eat then you must pray our lord and our god you have said that ten percent of my harvest is sacred i have obeyed your command and given this to the poor including the levites foreigners orphans and widows i've not eaten any of this sacred food while i was in mourning in fact i never touched it when i was unclean and none of it has been offered as a sacrifice to the spirits of the dead i have done everything exactly as you commanded our lord look down from your temple in heaven and bless your people israel you promised our ancestors that you would give us this land rich with milk and honey and you have kept your promise today the lord your god has commanded you to obey these laws and teachings with all your heart and soul [Music] in response you have agreed that the lord will be your god that you will obey all his laws and teachings and that you will listen when he speaks to you [Music] since you have agreed to obey the lord he has agreed that you will be his people and that you will belong to him just as he promised the lord created all nations but he will make you more famous than any of them and you will receive more praise and honor you will belong only to the lord your god just as he promised deuteronomy 27 moses stood together with the leaders and told the people of israel obey all the laws and teachings that i am giving you today soon you will enter the land that the lord your god is giving to you he is the god your ancestors worshiped and he has promised that this land is rich with milk and honey after you cross the jordan river go to mount evil set up large slabs of stone then cover them with white plaster and write on them a copy of these laws at this same place build an altar for offering sacrifices to the lord your god but don't use stones that have been cut with iron tools look for stones that can be used without being cut then offer sacrifices to please the lord burning them completely on the altar next offer sacrifices to ask the lord's blessing and serve the meat at a sacred meal where you will celebrate in honor of the lord don't forget to write out a copy of these laws on the stone slabs that you are going to set up make sure that the writing is easy to read moses stood together with the priests and said israel be quiet and listen to me today you have become the people of the lord your god so you must obey his laws and teachings that i am giving you that same day moses gave them the following instructions after you cross the jordan river you will go to mount gerasim and mount ebel the tribes of simeon levi judah issachar ephraim manasseh and benjamin will go up on mount gerisim where they will bless the people of israel the tribes of reuben gad asher zebulun dan and naphtali will go up on mount evil where they will agree to the curses the people of the levi tribe will speak each curse in a loud voice then the rest of the people will agree to that curse by saying amen here are the curses we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who makes an idol or worships idols even secretly the lord is disgusted with idols we ask the lord to put a curse on all who do not show respect for their father and mother we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who moves the rocks that mark property lines we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who tells blind people to go the wrong way we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who keeps the poor from getting justice whether these poor are foreigners widows or orphans we ask the lord to put a curse on any man who sleeps with his father's wife that man has shown no respect for his father's marriage we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who has sex with an animal we ask the lord to put a curse on any man who sleeps with his sister or his half sister or his mother-in-law we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who commits murder even when there are no witnesses to the crime we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent victim we ask the lord to put a curse on anyone who refuses to obey his laws and so to each of these curses the people will answer amen deuteronomy 28 today i am giving you the laws and teachings of the lord your god always obey them and the lord will make israel the most famous and important nation on earth and he will bless you in many ways the lord will make your businesses and your farms successful you will have many children you will harvest large crops and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats will produce many young you will have plenty of bread to eat the lord will make you successful in your daily work the lord will help you defeat your enemies and make them scatter in all directions the lord your god is giving you the land and he will make sure you are successful in everything you do your harvests will be so large that your storehouses will be full if you follow and obey the lord he will make you his own special people just as he promised then everyone on earth will know that you belong to the lord and they will be afraid of you the lord will give you a lot of children and make sure that your animals give birth to many young the lord promised your ancestors that this land would be yours and he will make it produce large crops for you the lord will open the storehouses of the skies where he keeps the rain and he will send rain on your land at just the right times he will make you successful in everything you do you will have plenty of money to lend to other nations but you won't need to borrow any yourself obey the laws and teachings that i'm giving you today and the lord your god will make israel a leader among the nations and not a follower israel will be wealthy and powerful not poor and weak but you must not reject any of his laws and teachings or worship other gods israel today i am giving you the laws and teachings of the lord your god and if you don't obey them all he will put many curses on you your businesses and farms will fail you won't have enough bread to eat you'll have only a few children your crops will be small and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats won't produce many young the lord will make you fail in everything you do no matter what you try to accomplish the lord will confuse you and you will feel his anger you won't last long and you may even meet with disaster all because you rejected the lord the lord will send terrible diseases to attack you and you will never be well again you will suffer with burning fever and swelling and pain until you die somewhere in the land that you captured the lord will make the sky overhead seem like a bronze roof that keeps out the rain and the ground under your feet will become as hard as iron your crops will be scorched by the hot east wind or ruined by mildew he will send dust and sandstorms instead of rain and you will be wiped out the lord will let you be defeated by your enemies and you will scatter in all directions you will be a horrible sight for the other nations to see and no one will disturb the birds and wild animals while they eat your dead bodies the lord will make you suffer with diseases that will cause oozing sores or crusty itchy patches on your skin or boils like the ones that are common in egypt and there will be no cure for you you will become insane and go blind the lord will make you so confused that even in bright sunshine you will have to feel your way around like a blind person who cannot tell day from night for the rest of your life people will beat and rob you and no one will be able to stop them a man will be engaged to a woman but before they can get married she will be raped by enemy soldiers some of you will build houses but never get to live in them if you plant a vineyard you won't be around long enough to enjoy the first harvest your cattle will be killed while you watch but you won't get to eat any of the meat your donkeys and sheep will be stolen from you and no one will be around to force your enemies to give them back your sons and daughters will be dragged off to a foreign country while you stand there helpless and even if you watch for them until you go blind you will never see them again you will work hard on your farms but everything you harvest will be eaten by foreigners who will mistreat you and abuse you for the rest of your life what you see will be so horrible that you will go insane and the lord will punish you from head to toe with boils that never heal the lord will let you and your king be taken captive to a country that you and your ancestors have never heard of and there you will have to worship idols made of wood and stone people of nearby countries will shudder when they see your terrible troubles but they will still make fun of you you will plant a lot of seed but gather a small harvest because the locusts will eat your crops you will plant vineyards and work hard at taking care of them but you won't gather any grapes much less get any wine and the vines themselves will be eaten by worms even if your olive trees grow everywhere in your country the olives will fall off before they are ready and there won't be enough olive oil for combing your hair even your infant sons and daughters will be taken as prisoners of war locusts will eat your crops and strip your trees of leaves and fruit foreigners in your towns will become wealthy and powerful while you become poor and powerless you will be so short of money that you will have to borrow from those foreigners they will be the leaders in the community and you will be the followers israel if you don't obey the laws and teachings that the lord your god is giving you he will send these curses to chase attack and destroy you then everyone will look at you and your descendants and realize that the lord has placed you under a curse if the lord makes you wealthy but you don't joyfully worship and honor him he will send enemies to attack you and make you their slaves then you will live in poverty with nothing to eat drink or wear and your owners will work you to death foreigners who speak a strange language will be sent to attack you without warning just like an eagle swooping down they won't show any mercy and they will have no respect for old people or pity for children they will take your cattle sheep goats grain wine and olive oil then leave you to starve all over the land that the lord your god gave you the enemy army will surround your towns you may feel safe inside your town walls but the enemy will tear them down while you wait in horror finally you will get so hungry that you will eat the sons and daughters that the lord gave you because of hunger a man who had been gentle and kind will eat his own children and refuse to share the meal with his brother or wife or with his other children a woman may have grown up in such luxury that she never had to put a foot on the ground but times will be so bad that she will secretly eat both her newborn baby and the afterbirth without sharing any with her husband or her other children you must obey everything in the book of god's law because if you don't respect the lord he will punish you and your descendants with incurable diseases like those you were so afraid of in egypt remember if the lord decides to destroy your nation he can use any disease or disaster not just the ones written in the book of god's law there are as many of you now as the stars in the sky but if you disobey the lord your god only a few of you will be left the lord is happy to make you successful and to make your nation grow while you conquer the land but if you disobey him he will be just as happy to pull you up by your roots [Music] those of you that survive will be scattered to every nation on earth and you will have to worship stone and wood idols that never helped you or your ancestors you will be restless always longing for home but never able to return you will live in constant fear of death each morning you will wake up to such terrible sights that you will say i wish it were night but at night you will be terrified and say i wish it would day i told you never to go back to egypt but now the lord himself will load you on ships and send you back then you will even try to sell yourselves as slaves but no one will be interested deuteronomy 29 so moses finished telling the israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the lord was making with them in moab which was in addition to the one the lord had made with them at mount sinai moses called the nation of israel together and told them when you were in egypt you saw the lord perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king his officials and everyone else in the country he has even told you for forty years i the lord led you through the desert but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out and i gave you special food i did these things so you would realize that i am your god but the lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard when we first camped here king saihon of heshbon and king argh of basian attacked but we defeated them then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of reuben gad and east manasseh israel the lord has made an agreement with you and if you keep your part you will be successful in everything you do today everyone in our nation is standing here in the lord's presence including leaders and officials parents and children and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us we are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the lord our god in this agreement the lord promised that you would be his people and that he would be your god he first made this promise to your ancestors abraham isaac and jacob and today the lord is making this same promise to you but it isn't just for you it is also for your descendants when we lived in egypt you saw the egyptians worship disgusting idols of wood stone silver and gold then as we travel through other nations you saw those people worship other disgusting idols so make sure that everyone in your tribe remains faithful to the lord and never starts worshiping gods of other nations if even one of you worships idols you will be like the root of a plant that produces bitter poisonous fruit you may be an israelite and know all about the lord's agreement with us but he won't bless you if you rebel against him you may think you can get away with it but you will cause the rest of israel to be punished along with you the lord will be furious and instead of forgiving you he will separate you from the other tribes then he will destroy you by piling on you all the curses in the book of god's law and you will be forgotten forever the lord will strike your country with diseases and disasters your descendants and foreigners from distant countries will see that your land has become a scorching desert of salt and sulfur where nothing is planted nothing sprouts and nothing grows it will be as lifeless as the land around the cities of sodom gomorrah admira and seboyem after the lord became angry and destroyed them people from other nations will ask why did the lord destroy this country why was he so furious and they will be given this answer our ancestors worshiped the lord but after he brought them out of egypt and made an agreement with them they rejected the agreement and decided to worship gods that had never helped them the lord had forbidden israel to worship these gods and so he became furious and punished the land with all the curses in the book of god's law then he pulled up israel by the roots and toss them into a foreign country where they still are today the lord our god hasn't explained the present or the future but he has commanded us to obey the laws he gave to us and our descendants deuteronomy 30 i have told you everything the lord your god will do for you and i've also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him he will scatter you in far away countries but when you realize that he is punishing you return to him with all your heart and soul and start obeying the commands i have given to you today then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness he may have scattered you to the farthest countries on earth but he will bring you back to the land that had belonged to your ancestors and make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were you and your descendants are stubborn but the lord will make you willing to obey him and love him with all your heart and soul and you will enjoy a long life then the lord your god will remove the curses from you and put them on those enemies who hate and attack you you will again obey the laws and teachings of the lord and he will bless you with many children large herds and flocks and abundant crops the lord will be happy to do good things for you just as he did for your ancestors but you must decide once and for all to worship him with all your heart and soul and to obey everything in the book of god's law [Music] you know god's laws and it isn't impossible to obey them his commands aren't in heaven so you can't excuse yourselves by saying how can we obey the lord's commands they're in heaven and no one can go up to get them then bring them down and explain them to us and you can't say how can we obey the lord's commands they're across the sea and someone must go across then bring them back and explain them to us no these commands are nearby and you know them by heart all you have to do is obey today i am giving you a choice you can choose life and success [Music] you were about to cross the jordan river and take the land that he is giving you if you obey him you will live and become successful and powerful on the other hand you might choose to disobey the lord and reject him so i'm warning you that if you bow down and worship other gods you won't have long to live right now i call the sky and the earth to be witnesses that i am offering you this choice will you choose for the lord to make you prosperous and give you a long life or will he put you under a curse and kill you life be completely faithful to the lord your god love him and do whatever he tells you the lord is the only one who can give life and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors abraham isaac and jacob [Music] deuteronomy 31 moses again spoke to the whole nation of israel i am 120 years old and i am no longer able to be your leader and besides that the lord your god has told me that he won't let me cross the jordan river but he has promised that he and joshua will lead you across the jordan to attack the nations that live on the other side the lord will destroy those nations just as he destroyed psychon and og those two amorite kings just remember whenever you capture a place kill everyone who lives there be brave and strong don't be afraid of the nations on the other side of the jordan the lord your god will always be at your side and he will never abandon you then moses called joshua up in front of the crowd and said joshua be brave and strong as you lead these people into their land the lord made a promise long ago to israel's ancestors that this land would someday belong to israel that time has now come and you must divide up the land among the people the lord will lead you into the land he will always be with you and help you so don't ever be afraid of your enemies moses wrote down all of these laws and teachings and gave them to the priests and the leaders of israel the priests were from the levi tribe and they carried the sacred chest that belonged to the lord moses told these priests and leaders each year the israelites must come together to celebrate the festival of shelters at the place where the lord chooses to be worshipped you must read these laws and teachings to the people at the festival every seventh year the year when loans do not need to be repaid everyone must come men women children and even the foreigners who live in your towns and each new generation will listen and learn to worship the lord their god with fear and trembling and to do exactly what is said in god's law the lord told moses you will soon die so bring joshua to the sacred tent and i will appoint him the leader of israel [Music] moses and joshua went to the sacred tent and the lord appeared in a thick cloud right over the entrance to the tent the lord said moses you will soon die but israel is going into a land where other gods are worshipped and israel will reject me and start worshipping these gods the people will break the agreement i made with them and i will be so furious that i will abandon them and ignore their prayers i will send disasters and suffering that will nearly wipe them out finally they will realize that the disasters happened because i abandoned them they will pray to me but i will ignore them because they were evil and started worshiping other gods moses and joshua i am going to give you the words to a new song write them down and teach the song to the israelites if they learn it they will know what i want them to do and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me i am bringing them into the land that i promise their ancestors it is a land rich with milk and honey and the israelites will have more than enough food to eat but they will get fat and turn their backs on me and start worshipping other gods the israelites will reject me and break the agreement that i made with them when i punish the israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters i will remind them that they know the words to this song so they have no excuse for not obeying me i will give them the land that i promised but i know the way they are going to live later on moses wrote down the words to the song right away and he taught it to the israelites the lord told joshua be brave and strong i will help you lead the people of israel into the land that i have promised them moses wrote down all these laws and teachings in a book then he went to the levites who carried the sacred chest and said this is the book of god's law keep it beside the sacred chest that holds the agreement the lord your god made with israel this book is proof that you know what the lord wants you to do i know how stubborn and rebellious you and the rest of the israelites are you have rebelled against the lord while i have been alive and it will only get worse after i am gone so call together the leaders and officials of the tribes of israel i will bring this book and read every word of it to you and i will call the sky and the earth as witnesses that all of you know what you are supposed to do i am going to die soon and i know that in the future you will stop caring about what is right and what is wrong and so you will disobey the lord and stop living the way i told you to live [Music] the lord who will be angry and terrible things will happen to you moses called a meeting of all the people of israel so he could teach them the words to the song that the lord had given him and here are the words deuteronomy 32 earth and sky listen to what i say israel i will teach you my words will be like gentle rain on tender young plants or like dew on the grass join with me in praising the wonderful name of the lord our god the lord is a mighty rock and he never does wrong god can always be trusted to bring justice but you lie and cheat and are unfaithful to him you have disgraced yourselves and are no longer worthy to be his children israel the lord is your father the one who created you but you repaid him by being foolish think about past generations ask your parents or any of your elders they will tell you that god most high gave land to every nation he assigned a guardian angel to each of them but the lord himself takes care of israel israel the lord discovered you in a barren desert filled with howling winds god became your fortress protecting you as though you were his own eyes the lord was like an eagle teaching its young to fly always ready to swoop down and catch them on its back israel the lord led you and without the aid of a foreign god he helped you capture the land your fields were rich with grain olive trees grew in your stony soil and honey was found among the rocks your flocks and herds produced milk and yogurt and you got choice meat from your sheep and goats that grazed in basin your wheat was the finest and you drank the best wine israel you grew fat and rebelled against god your creator you rejected the mighty rock your only place of safety you made god jealous and angry by worshiping disgusting idols and foreign gods you offered sacrifices to demons those useless gods that never helped you new gods that your ancestors never worshipped you turned away from god your creator you forgot the mighty rock the source of your life you were the lord's children but you made him angry then he rejected you and said you are unfaithful and can't be trusted so i won't answer your prayers i'll just watch and see what happens to you you worship worthless idols and made me jealous and angry now i will send a cruel and worthless nation to make you jealous and angry my people i will breathe out fire that sends you down to the world of the dead it will scorch your farmlands and burn deep down under the mountains i'll send disaster after disaster to strike you like arrows you'll be struck by starvation and deadly diseases by the fangs of wild animals and poisonous snakes young and old alike will be killed in the streets and terrified at home i wanted to scatter you so no one would remember that you had ever lived but i dreaded the sound of your enemies saying we defeated israel with no help from the lord people of israel that's what the lord has said to you but you don't have good sense and you never listen to advice if you did you could see where you are headed how could one enemy soldier chase a thousand of israel's troops or how could two of theirs pursue ten thousand of hours it can only happen if the lord stops protecting israel and lets the enemy win even our enemies know that only our god is a mighty rock our enemies are grapevines rooted in the fields of sodom and gomorrah the grapes they produce are full of bitter poison their wine is more deadly than cobra venom but the lord has written a list of their sins and locked it in his vault soon our enemies will get what they deserve suddenly they will slip and total disaster will quickly follow when only a few of the lord's people remain when their strength is gone and some of them are slaves the lord will feel sorry for them and give them justice but first the lord will say you ran for safety to other gods couldn't they help you you offered them wine and your best sacrifices can't those gods help you now or give you protection don't you understand i am the only god there are no others i am the one who takes life and gives it again i punished you with suffering but now i will heal you and nothing can stop me i make this solemn promise just as i live forever i will take revenge on my hateful enemies i will sharpen my sword and let it flash like lightning my arrows will get drunk on enemy blood my sword will taste the flesh and the blood of the enemy it will kill prisoners and cut off the heads of their leaders tell the heavens to celebrate and all gods to bow down to the lord because he will take revenge on those hateful enemies who killed his people he will forgive the sins of israel and purify their land moses spoke the words of the song so that all the israelites could hear and joshua helped him when moses had finished he said always remember this song i have taught you today and let it be a warning that you must teach your children to obey everything written in the book of god's law the law isn't empty words it can give you a long life in the land that you are going to take later that day the lord said to moses go up into the abarim mountain range here in moab across the jordan river valley from jericho and when you reach the top of mount nebo you will be able to see the land of canaan which i am giving to israel then you will die and be buried on the mountaintop just as your brother aaron died and was buried on mount hall both of you were unfaithful to me at meribah spring near kadish in the zinn desert i am god but there in front of the israelites you did not treat me with the honor and respect i deserve so i will give the land to the people of israel but you will only get to see it from a distance deuteronomy 33 moses was a prophet and before he died he blessed the tribes of israel by saying the lord came from mount sinai from edom he gave light to his people and his glory was shining from mount payron thousands of his warriors were with him and fire was at his right hand the lord loves the tribes of israel and he protects his people they listen to his words and worship at his feet i called a meeting of the tribes of israel and gave you god's law then you and your leaders made the lord your king tribe of reuben you will live even though your tribe will always be small [Music] the lord will listen to you tribe of judah as you beg to come safely home you fought your enemies alone now the lord will help you at marsa and meribah spring the lord tested you tribe of levi you are faithful and so the priesthood belongs to the levi tribe protecting israel's agreement with the lord was more important to you than the life of your father or mother or brothers or sisters or your own children you teach god's laws to israel and at the place of worship you offer sacrifices and burn incense i pray that the lord will bless everything you do and make you strong enough to crush your enemies the lord most high loves you tribe of benjamin he will live among your hills and protect you [Music] descendants of joseph the lord will bless you with precious water from deep wells and with dew from the sky month by month your fruit will ripen in the sunshine you will have a rich harvest from the slopes of the ancient hills the lord who appeared in the burning bush wants to give you the best the land can produce and it will be a princely crown on joseph's head the armies of ephraim and manasseh are majestic and fierce like a bull or a wild ox they will run their spears through far away nations [Music] be happy zebulun as your boat set sail be happy issachar in your tent the sea will make you wealthy and from the sandy beach you will get treasure so invite the other tribes to celebrate with you and offer sacrifices to god tribe of god the lord will bless you with more land so shout his praises your tribe is like a lion ripping up its victim your leaders met together and chose the best land for your tribe but you obeyed the lord and helped the other tribes tribe of dan you are like a lion cub startled by a snake the lord is pleased with you people of naphthalia he will bless you and give you the land to the west and the south the lord's greatest blessing is for you tribe of asher you will be the favorite of all the other tribes you will be rich with olive oil and have strong town gates with bronze and iron boats your people will be powerful for as long as they live israel no other god is like ours the clouds are his chariot as he rides across the skies to come and help us the eternal god is our hiding place he carries us in his arms when god tells you to destroy your enemies he will make them run israel you will live in safety your enemies will be gone the dew will fall from the sky and you will have plenty of grain and wine the lord has rescued you and given you more blessings than any other nation he protects you like a shield and is your majestic sword your enemies will bow in fear and you will trample on their backs deuteronomy 34 sometime later moses left the lowlands of moab he went up mount pisgah to the peak of mount nebo which is across the jordan river from jericho the lord showed him all the land as far north as gilead and the town of dan he let moses see the territories that would soon belong to the tribes of naphtali ephraim manasseh and judah as far west as the mediterranean sea the lord also showed him the land in the south from the valley near the town of jericho known as the city of palm trees down to the town of zoar the lord said moses this is the land i was talking about when i solemnly promised abraham isaac and jacob that i would give land to their descendants i have let you see it but you will not cross the jordan and go in and so moses the lord's servant died there in moab just as the lord had said the lord buried him in a valley near the town of beth pior but even today no one knows exactly where moses was 120 years old when he died yet his eyesight was still good and his body was strong the people of israel stayed in the lowlands of moab where they mourned and grieved 30 days for moses as was their custom before moses died he had placed his hands on joshua and the lord had given joshua wisdom the israelites paid attention to what joshua said and obeyed the commands that the lord had given moses there has never again been a prophet in israel like moses the lord spoke face to face with him and sent him to perform powerful miracles in the presence of the king of egypt and his entire nation no one else has ever had the power to do such great things as moses did for everyone to see [Music] you

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Id: nCUF23VOfQk

Length: 147min 45sec (8865 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 20 2021