Deuteronomy 29:2-12

2 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them, Ye have seen all (the) things which the Lord did before you in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;

3 the great temptations which thine eyes have seen (the great plagues which thou hast seen), (and) those signs, and the great wonders.

4 And the Lord gave not to you an heart understanding, and eyes seeing, and ears that may hear, till into this present day. (But unto this present day, the Lord hath not given you a heart to understand with, or eyes to see with, or ears to hear with.)

5 He led you by forty years through desert; your clothes were not broken, neither the shoes of your feet were wasted by eldness; (He led you for forty years through the wilderness; yet your clothes did not wear out, nor were your shoes wasted with oldness;)

6 ye ate not bread, neither ye drank wine and cider, that ye should know that he is your Lord God. (ye ate no bread, and ye drank no wine or cider, but ye survived through his provision, so that ye would know that he is the Lord your God.)

7 And ye came to this place; and Sihon, the king of Heshbon went out, and Og, the king of Bashan, and they came to us to battle. And we smote them, (And ye came to this place; and Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out, and they went against us in battle. And we struck them down,)

8 and we took away their land, and we gave it to possession, to Reuben, and to Gad, and to the half lineage of Manasseh. (and we took away their land, and we gave it for a possession to Reuben, and to Gad, and to half of the tribe of Manasseh.)

9 Therefore keep ye the words of this covenant, and fulfill ye them, that ye understand all things which ye shall do. (And so keep ye the words of this covenant, and fulfill ye them, so that ye shall prosper in everything which ye shall do.)

10 All ye stand today before your Lord God, your princes, and lineages, and the greater men in birth, and your teachers or doctors, (with) all the people of Israel, (Ye all stand here today before the Lord your God, yea, the leaders of the tribes, and the men of great age, that is, the elders, and your officers, with all the people of Israel,)

11 your free children, and your wives, and the comelings that dwell with thee in the tents, besides the hewers of wood, and besides they that bear water; (yea, your children, and your wives, and the newcomers who live with thee in the tents, as well as the hewers of wood, and the bearers of water;)

12 that thou go into the bond of peace of thy Lord God, and in the oath which thy Lord God smiteth with thee, (that thou enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God, and accept the oath which the Lord thy God striketh with thee,)

Deuteronomy 29:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 29

This chapter begins with an intimation of another covenant the Lord was about to make with the people of Israel, De 29:1; and, to prepare their minds to an attention to it, various things which the Lord had done for them are recited, De 29:2-9; the persons are particularly mentioned with whom the covenant would now be made, the substance of which is, that they should be his people, and he their God, De 29:10-15; and since they had seen the idols in Egypt and other countries, with which they might have been ensnared, they are cautioned against idolatry and idolaters, as being most provoking to the Lord, De 29:16-21; which would bring destruction not only on particular persons, but upon their whole land, to the amazement of posterity; who, inquiring the reason of it, will be told, it was because they forsook the covenant of God, and particularly were guilty of idolatry, which, whether privately or openly committed, would be always punished, De 29:22-29.