Deuteronomy 30

1 Therefore when all these come upon thee, blessing either cursing, which I have set forth in thy sight, and if thou art led by repentance of thine heart among all folks, into which thy Lord God hath scattered thee, (And so when all these things have come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set forth before thee, if thou art led by the repentance of thy heart, when thou be among all the nations into which the Lord thy God hath scattered thee,)

2 and if thou turnest again to him, and obeyest to his behests, as I have commanded to thee today, with thy sons, in all thine heart, and in all thy soul, (and if thou, and thy sons and thy daughters, turn back to him, and obey his commands, as I have commanded thee today, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,)

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?)

14 But the word is full nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thine heart, that thou do it. (But the word is very near to thee, yea, it is in thy mouth, and in thy heart, so that thou can do it.)

15 Behold thou, that today I have set forth in thy sight life and good, and, on the contrary, death and evil;

16 that thou love thy Lord God, and go in his ways, and keep his behests, and his ceremonies, and his dooms; and that thou live, and he multiply thee, and bless thee in the land to which thou shalt enter to wield. (so that thou can love the Lord thy God, and go in all his ways, and obey his commandments, and his statutes, and his laws, or his judgements; and so that thou shalt live, and that he multiply thee, and bless thee in the land to which thou shalt enter to take.)

17 But if thine heart is turned away, and thou wilt not hear, and thou art deceived by error, and worshippest alien gods, and servest them, (But if thy heart is turned away, and thou wilt not listen, and obey, and thou art deceived by error, and worshippest foreign, or other, gods, and servest them,)

18 I before-say to thee today, that thou shalt perish, and thou shalt dwell little time in the land, to which thou shalt enter to wield, when thou shalt pass (the) Jordan. (I say to thee today, before the time, or ahead of time, that thou shalt die, and thou shalt live only a short time in the land, which thou shalt enter to take, when thou shalt cross over the Jordan River.)

19 I call today heaven and earth to witness, that is, angels and men, that I have set forth to you life and death, good and evil, blessing and cursing; therefore choose thou life, that both thou live and thy seed, (I call heaven and earth, that is, the angels and men, to witness today, that I have set forth before you life and death, good and evil, blessing and curses; and so choose thou life, so that both thou and thy descendants shall live,)

20 and that thou love thy Lord God, and obey to his voice, and cleave to him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he should give it to them. (and that thou love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and cleave to him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; and so that thou can live in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give them.)

Deuteronomy 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

Mercies promised to the repentant. (1-10) The commandment manifest. (11-14) Death and life set before them. (15-20)

Verses 1-10 In this chapter is a plain intimation of the mercy God has in store for Israel in the latter days. This passage refers to the prophetic warnings of the last two chapters, which have been mainly fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and in their dispersion to the present day; and there can be no doubt that the prophetic promise contained in these verses yet remain to come to pass. The Jewish nation shall in some future period, perhaps not very distant, be converted to the faith of Christ; and, many think, again settled in the land of Canaan. The language here used is in a great measure absolute promises; not merely a conditional engagement, but declaring an event assuredly to take place. For the Lord himself here engages to "circumcise their hearts;" and when regenerating grace has removed corrupt nature, and Divine love has supplanted the love of sin, they certainly will reflect, repent, return to God, and obey him; and he will rejoice in doing them good. The change that will be wrought upon them will not be only outward, or consisting in mere opinions; it will reach to their souls. It will produce in them an utter hatred of all sin, and a fervent love to God, as their reconciled God in Christ Jesus; they will love him with all their hearts, and with all their soul. They are very far from this state of mind at present, but so were the murderers of the Lord Jesus, on the day of Pentecost; who yet in one hour were converted unto God. So shall it be in the day of God's power; a nation shall be born in a day; the Lord will hasten it in his time. As a conditional promise this passage belongs to all persons and all people, not to Israel only; it assures us that the greatest sinners, if they repent and are converted, shall have their sins pardoned, and be restored to God's favour.

Verses 11-14 The law is not too high for thee. It is not only known afar off; it is not confined to men of learning. It is written in thy books, made plain, so that he who runs may read it. It is in thy mouth, in the tongue commonly used by thee, in which thou mayest hear it read, and talk of it among thy children. It is delivered so that it is level to the understanding of the meanest. This is especially true of the gospel of Christ, to which the apostle applies it. But the word is nigh us, and Christ in that word; so that if we believe with the heart, that the promises of the Messiah are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus, and confess them with our mouth, we then have Christ with us.

Verses 15-20 What could be said more moving, and more likely to make deep and lasting impressions? Every man wishes to obtain life and good, and to escape death and evil; he desires happiness, and dreads misery. So great is the compassion of the Lord, that he has favoured men, by his word, with such a knowledge of good and evil as will make them for ever happy, if it be not their own fault. Let us hear the sum of the whole matter. If they and theirs would love God, and serve him, they should live and be happy. If they or theirs should turn from God, desert his service, and worship other gods, that would certainly be their ruin. There never was, since the fall of man, more than one way to heaven; which is marked out in both Testaments, though not with equal clearness. Moses meant that same way of acceptance, which Paul more plainly described; and Paul's words mean the same obedience, on which Moses more fully treated. In both Testaments the good and right way is brought near, and plainly revealed to us.

Chapter Summary

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.