Deuteronomy 11:1-25

Remember and Obey

1 "Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep His mandate and His statutes, ordinances, and commands.
2 You must understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God: His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;
3 His signs and the works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;[a]
4 what He did to Egypt's army, its horses and chariots, when He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and He destroyed them[b] completely;[c]
5 what He did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place;
6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite [camp] the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.[d]
7 Your [own] eyes have seen every great work the Lord has done.
8 "Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit,
9 and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand[e] as in a vegetable garden.
11 But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.
12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it from the beginning to the end of the year.
13 "If you carefully obey My commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul,
14 I[f] will provide rain for your land in season, the early and late rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil.[g]
15 I[h] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.
16 Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods.
17 Then the Lord's anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the Lord is giving you.
18 "Impress these words of Mine on your hearts and souls, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol[i] on your foreheads.[j]
19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,[k]
21 so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your fathers.
22 For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow-to love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, and remain faithful[l] to Him-
23 the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.
24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon[m] and from the Euphrates River[n] to the Mediterranean Sea.[o]
25 No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as He has promised you.[p]

Deuteronomy 11:1-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 11

In this chapter, the exhortation to love the Lord, and keep his commands, is repeated and urged again and again from various considerations; as not only from the chastisement of Pharaoh and the wicked Egyptians, but of such Israelites who offended the Lord, and transgressed his law, De 12:1-7, from the goodness and excellency of the land they were going to inherit, De 11:8-11, from the blessing of rain that would come upon it, and be productive of all good things for man and beast, in case of obedience, and a restraint of it in case of disobedience, De 11:12-17, from the continuance of them and their offspring in the land, should they be careful to observe the commands themselves, and teach them their children, De 11:18-21, and from the extensiveness of their conquests and dominions, De 11:22-25 and from the different issue and effects of their conduct and behaviour, a blessing upon them if obedient, but a curse if disobedient, De 11:26-28 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal; the situation of which places is described when they should come into the land of Canaan, of which they are assured, De 11:29-32.

Footnotes 16

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