Deuteronomy 30:3-13

3 thy Lord God shall lead thee again from thy captivity, and shall have mercy on thee, and again he shall gather thee from all peoples, into which he hath scattered thee before. (then the Lord thy God shall have mercy on thee, and he shall bring thee back from thy captivity, yea, he shall gather thee again from all the peoples into whom he hath scattered thee.)
4 If thou art scattered to the ends of heaven, from thence thy Lord God shall draw thee; (Even if thou art scattered unto the ends of the heavens, the Lord thy God shall gather thee back from there;)
5 and he shall take thee, and bring thee into the land which thy fathers wielded (and he shall bring thee back to the land which thy fathers possessed); and thou shalt hold it, (or possess it,) and he shall bless thee, and shall make thee to be of more number than thy fathers were.
6 Thy Lord God shall circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, that thou love thy Lord God in all thine heart, and in all thy soul, and thou mayest live. (The Lord thy God shall circumcise thy hearts, and the hearts of thy descendants, so that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and that thou mayest live.)
7 Forsooth the Lord shall turn all these cursings on thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, and pursue thee.
8 Soothly thou shalt turn again, and shalt hear the voice of thy Lord God, and shalt do all the behests which I command to thee today; (And thou shalt return, and hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and shalt do all the commands which I command to thee today;)
9 and thy Lord God shall make thee to be plenteous, in all the works of thine hands, in the children of thy womb, and in the fruit of thy beasts, and in (the) abundance of thy land, and in (the) largeness of all things. For the Lord shall turn again, that he have joy upon thee in all goods, as he joyed in thy fathers (For the Lord shall again have joy over thee, and shall be good to thee, as he had joy over thy fathers);
10 if nevertheless thou hearest the voice of thy Lord God, and keepest his behests and his ceremonies, that be written in this (book of the) law, and if thou turn again to thy Lord God in all thine heart, and in all thy soul. (if nevertheless thou hearest the voice of the Lord thy God, and obey his commandments and his statutes, that be written in this Book of the Law, and if thou return to the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.)
11 This commandment which I command to thee today, is not (too far) above thee, neither it is set far from thee (nor is it set too far away from thee),
12 neither it is set in heaven, that thou say, Who of us may go up to heaven, that he bring it to us, and we hear it, and fulfill it in work? (nor is it set in the heavens, so that thou sayest, Who shall go up to the heavens for us, and bring it down, so that we can hear it, and fulfill it with our deeds?)
13 neither it is set beyond the sea, that thou complain, and say, Who of us may pass over the sea, and bring it hither to us, that we may hear, and do that that is commanded to us? (nor is it set beyond the sea, so that thou can complain, and say, Who of us shall cross over the sea, and bring it back here to us, so that we can hear it, and do what is commanded to us?)

Deuteronomy 30:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 30

This chapter contains some gracious promises of the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, of their calling things to mind that have befallen them, of their repentance, and the circumcision of their hearts to love the Lord, of the return of them to their own land, and of the great increase of them, and of their enjoyment of plenty of good things, De 30:1-10; in it is an account of the Gospel, or word of faith, which at this time should be brought near to the Jews, and be received by them, De 30:11-14; and for the present Moses desires them to consider what he now set before them, and what would be the consequences of receiving or rejecting it, and so what it would be most proper for them to make choice of, De 30:15-20.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.