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29 These are the devarei HaBrit, which Hashem commanded Moshe to cut with the Bnei Yisroel in Eretz Moav, besides the Brit which He cut with them in Chorev.

(1) And Moshe called unto kol Yisroel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Hashem did before your eyes in Eretz Mitzrayim unto Pharaoh, and unto all his avadim, and unto all his land;

(2) The massot hagedolot (great trials) which thine eyes have seen, the otot, and those mofetim hagedolim;

(3) V’lo natan Hashem lakhem lev lada’at v’einayim lirot v’ozna’im lishmoa ad hayom hazeh (Yet Hashem hath not given you a lev for da’as, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.)

(4) And I have led you arba’im shanim in the midbar; your clothes are not worn out upon you, and thy sandal is not worn out upon thy foot.

(5) Ye have not eaten lechem, neither have ye drunk yayin or shekhar; that ye might have da’as that Ani Hashem Eloheicha.

(6) And when ye came unto this place, Sichon Melech Cheshbon, and Og Melech HaBashan, came out against us unto milchamah, and we defeated them:

(7) And we took their land, and gave it for a nachalah unto the Reuveni, and to the Gadi, and to the half tribe of Menasheh.

[NITZAVIM]

(8) Therefore be shomer over the divrei HaBrit hazot, and do them, lema’an (in order that) ye may prosper in all that ye do.

10 (9) Ye stand today all of you before Hashem Eloheichem; your rashei shvatim (heads of tribes), your zekenim, and your shoterim, with kol Ish Yisroel,

11 (10) Your little ones, your nashim, and the ger that is in thy machaneh, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy mayim;

12 (11) That thou shouldest enter into Brit with Hashem Eloheicha, and into His alah (oath, imprecation) which Hashem Eloheicha cuts with thee today:

13 (12) In order that He may establish thee today for a people unto Himself, and that He may be unto thee Elohim, as He hath said unto thee, and as He hath sworn unto Avoteicha, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov.

14 (13) Neither with you only do I cut this Brit and this alah (oath, imprecation);

15 (14) But with him that standeth here with us today before Hashem Eloheinu, and also with him that is not here with us today;

16 (15) For ye know how we have dwelt in Eretz Mitzrayim; and how we came through the Goyim which ye passed by;

17 (16) And ye have seen their shikkutzim (abominations), and their gillulim (idols), etz va’even, kesef and zahav, which were among them:

18 (17) Lest there should be among you ish, or isha, or mishpochah, or shevet, whose lev turneth away today from Hashem Eloheinu to go and serve the elohei hagoyim hahem (the g-ds of these Goyim); lest there should be among you a shoresh that beareth bitter poison and wormwood [MJ 12:15];

19 (18) And it come to pass, when he heareth the divrei haalah (words of this oath, imprecation) that he bless himself in his lev, saying, Shalom be with me, though I walk in the stubbornness of mine lev—thus bringing disaster on both the watered and the thirsty.

20 (19) Hashem will not spare him, but then the wrath of Hashem and His kina (jealousy) shall burn against that ish, and kol haalah (all the curses) that are written in this sefer shall fall upon him, and Hashem shall blot out shmo from under Shomayim.

21 (20) And Hashem shall him separate out for disaster from all the Shivtei Yisroel, according to all the curses of HaBrit that are written in Sefer HaTorah Hazeh;

22 (21) So that the dor ha’acharon (later generation) to come of your banim that shall rise up after you, and the ger that shall come from an eretz rechokah (a far land), shall say, when they see the makkot of that land, and the diseases which Hashem hath laid upon it;

23 (22) And that the whole land thereof is gofrit (sulfur), and melach (salt), and serefah (burning), that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any esev groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Amora, Admah, and Tzvoyim, which Hashem overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath:

24 (23) Even Kol HaGoyim shall say, Why hath Hashem done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this af hagadol (great anger)?

25 (24) Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the Brit Hashem Elohei Avotam, which He cut with them when He brought them forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim;

26 (25) For they went and served elohim acherim, and worshiped them, elohim whom they knew not, and whom He had not allotted unto them;

27 (26) And the Af Hashem was kindled against this land, to bring upon it kol hakelalah that are written in this sefer;

28 (27) And Hashem uprooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is yom hazeh.

29 (28) The nistarot (secret things) belong unto Hashem Eloheinu: but the niglot (those things which are revealed) belong unto us and to baneinu ad olam, that we may do all the divrei haTorah hazot.

Renewal of the Covenant

29 [a]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab,(A) in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.(B)

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.(C) With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.(D) But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.(E) Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led(F) you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.(G) You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.(H) I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”(I)

When you reached this place, Sihon(J) king of Heshbon(K) and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.(L) We took their land and gave it as an inheritance(M) to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.(N)

Carefully follow(O) the terms of this covenant,(P) so that you may prosper in everything you do.(Q) 10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, 11 together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.(R) 12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people,(S) that he may be your God(T) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant,(U) with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.(V)

16 You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. 17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.(W) 18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns(X) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.(Y)

19 When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing(Z) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”(AA) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive(AB) them; his wrath and zeal(AC) will burn(AD) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot(AE) out their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,(AF) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.(AG)

22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.(AH) 23 The whole land will be a burning waste(AI) of salt(AJ) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,(AK) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.(AL) 24 All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?(AM) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

25 And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.(AN) 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.(AO) 28 In furious anger and in great wrath(AP) the Lord uprooted(AQ) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God,(AR) but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:1 In Hebrew texts 29:1 is numbered 28:69, and 29:2-29 is numbered 29:1-28.