Deuteronomy 29:1-21

The Covenant in Moab

1 1These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides * the 2covenant which He had made with them at Horeb.
2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land;
3 3the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.
4 "Yet to this day 4the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.
5 "I have led you forty years in the wilderness; 5your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.
6 "6You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am the LORD your God.
7 "7When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us for battle, but we defeated them;
8 and we took their land and 8gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe * of the Manassites.
9 "9So keep the words of this covenant to do them, 10that you may prosper in all that you do.
10 "You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel,
11 your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from 11the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water,
12 that you may enter into the covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath which the LORD your God is making with you today,
13 in order that He may establish you today as His people and that 12He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 "Now not with you alone am I 13making this covenant and this oath,
15 14but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here today
16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;
17 moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of 15wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them);
18 16so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you 17a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.
19 "It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, 'I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.'
20 "The LORD shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather * the anger of the LORD and 18His jealousy will 19burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the LORD will 20blot out his name from under heaven.
21 "Then the LORD will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant 21which are written in this book of the law.

Deuteronomy 29:1-21 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.

Cross References 21

  • 1. Leviticus 26:46; Leviticus 27:34
  • 2. Deuteronomy 5:2, 3
  • 3. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 7:19
  • 4. Isaiah 6:9, 10; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:14; Acts 28:26, 27; Romans 11:8
  • 5. Deuteronomy 8:4
  • 6. Deuteronomy 8:3
  • 7. Num 21:21-24, 33, 35; Deut 2:26-3:17
  • 8. Numbers 32:32, 33; Deuteronomy 3:12, 13
  • 9. Deuteronomy 4:6; 1 Kings 2:3
  • 10. Joshua 1:7
  • 11. Josh 9:21, 23, 27
  • 12. Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7
  • 13. Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:7, 8
  • 14. Acts 2:39
  • 15. Exodus 20:23; Deuteronomy 4:28; Deuteronomy 28:36
  • 16. Deuteronomy 13:6
  • 17. Deuteronomy 32:32; Hebrews 12:15
  • 18. Psalms 79:5; Ezekiel 23:25
  • 19. Psalms 74:1; Psalms 80:4
  • 20. Exodus 32:33; Deuteronomy 9:14; 2 Kings 14:27
  • 21. Deuteronomy 30:10

Footnotes 9

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