Deuteronomy 11:1-13

1 Love the LORD your God, and do what he wants you to do. Always obey his laws, rules, and commands.

2 Remember today the discipline you learned from the LORD your God. ([I'm not talking] to your children. They didn't see or experience any of this.) You saw and experienced his great power--his mighty hand and powerful arm.

3 You saw the miraculous signs and deeds he did in Egypt to Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) and to his whole country.

4 You saw what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots. He drowned them in the Red Sea when they pursued you. So the LORD destroyed them forever.

5 You saw what he did for you in the desert until you came here.

6 You also saw what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, from the tribe of Reuben. In the middle of all the Israelites the ground opened up and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and every living creature with them.

7 You saw with your own eyes all these spectacular things that the LORD did.

8 Obey all the commands I'm giving you today. Then you will have the strength to enter and take possession of the land once you've crossed [the Jordan River].

9 Then you will also live for a long time in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors and their descendants--a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 The land you're about to enter and take possession of isn't like the land you left in Egypt. There you used to plant your seed, and you had to water it like a vegetable garden.

11 The land you're about to enter is a land with hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.

12 It is a land the LORD your God cares about. He watches over it all year long.

13 If you faithfully obey the commands that I'm giving you today, love the LORD your God, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 11:1-13 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.