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God’s Fidelity Assured

When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, if you call them to mind among all the nations where the L ord your God has driven you, ²and return to the L ord your God, and you and your children obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today, ³then the L ord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the L ord your God has scattered you. ⁴Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there the L ord your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. ⁵The L ord your God will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.

⁶ Moreover, the L ord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the L ord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. ⁷The L ord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on the adversaries who took advantage of you. ⁸Then you shall again obey the L ord, observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, ⁹and the L ord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the L ord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, ¹⁰when you obey the L ord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the L ord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Exhortation to Choose Life

¹¹ Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. ¹²It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” ¹³Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” ¹⁴No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

¹⁵ See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. ¹⁶If you obey the commandments of the L ord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the L ord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the L ord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰loving the L ord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the L ord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

8. And thou shalt return ²⁸⁶²⁸⁶ “Return thou therefore,” etc. — Lat. and obey the voice of the Lord. The copula which Moses here employs is equivalent to the illative particle; for he argues from their certainty of obtaining pardon, that they should not hesitate to return to God, nay, rather that they should set about it with a cheerful and ready mind; and then that they should constantly proceed in the course of obedience. But, when he now requires of the people the perseverance which he had just before declared to be given by God alone, we may at once infer that they deal foolishly who estimate the powers of man by the commands of God. Meanwhile, let us bear in mind this main point, that true conversion is proved by the constant tenor of the life; because we are redeemed, as Zecharias testifies, to this end that we should serve God, our Deliverer, “in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:74, 75.)

²⁸⁶ “Return thou therefore,” etc. — Lat.