Deuteronomy 11:16-26

16 {Take care} so that your heart is not easily deceived, and you turn away, and you serve other gods, and you bow down to them.

17 And [then] {the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you}, and he will shut up the heavens, and there shall not be rain, and [so] the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land that Yahweh [is] giving to you.

18 "And you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your inner self, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be as an emblem between your eyes.

19 And you shall teach them to your children by talking about them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.

20 And you shall write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates,

21 so that [they] may multiply your days and the days of your children on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors to give [it] to them {as long as heaven endures over the earth}.

22 Yes, if you diligently keep all this commandment that I [am] commanding you {to observe it}, by loving Yahweh your God {by walking in} all his ways and by holding fast to him,

23 then Yahweh will drive out all [of] these nations {before you}, and you will dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you.

24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, it shall be yours; your boundary shall be from the desert and Lebanon from the river, the river Euphrates, on up to the western sea.

25 No one can take a stand {against you}; your dread and your fear Yahweh your God will put on the {surface} of all the land {where you tread}, [just] as he {promised} to you.

26 "See, I am setting {before you} {today} a blessing and a curse:

Deuteronomy 11:16-26 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

• [a]. Literally "Watch for yourself"
• [b]. Literally "the nose of Yahweh become hot against you"
• [c]. Or "sky"
• [d]. Or "soul"
• [e]. Or "sons"
• [f]. Or "fathers"
• [g]. Literally "like the days of heaven above the earth"
• [h]. Or "every one of"
• [i]. Literally "to do it"
• [j]. Literally "to walk in"
• [k]. Literally "to the face of you"
• [l]. That is, the Mediterranean Sea
• [m]. Literally "to your faces"
• [n]. Literally "faces"
• [o]. Literally "which you tread in it"
• [p]. Literally "spoke"
• [q]. Literally "to the face of you"
• [r]. Literally "the day"