Moses talks to the grownups
1So, love the LORD your God. Do what he says. Obey his laws. Keep the rules. When he tells you to do something, do it. 2Okay, I’m talking to the grownups now. I’m not talking to your children. They weren’t around to see how the LORD disciplined you when you needed it. They didn’t see the awesome displays of his power, either. 3They weren’t there in Egypt to see the miracles he did, and how they affected Pharaoh and all the Egyptians.4They didn’t see what he did to Egypt’s army when they were chasing us. He destroyed their entire army and swallowed their horses and chariots into the Reed Sea. [1] Egypt never threatened us again. 5Your children didn’t see what the LORD did to keep you alive during your time in the desert wasteland. 6They didn’t see how he punished Dathan and Abiram, [2] the sons of Eliab in Reuben’s tribe. The ground opened beneath their feet and swallowed them alive, with everything dear to them: tents, family, servants, and livestock. 7You grownups, however, have seen it all. You’ve seen the awesome power of the LORD.
How to survive in Canaan
8Here’s the point: you need to obey every one of the orders I’m giving you today. Do it so you’ll be strong enough to take the land you’re about to invade, across the river. 9And do it so you can live a long time in this land that the LORD promised to your ancestors. It’s a good land where milk and honey flow like rivers. 10This isn’t like the land you left behind in Egypt. There, you had to irrigate your crops like you have to water a vegetable garden.11But now you’re about to cross into a land of hills and valleys watered by the rains of heaven. 12God takes care of this land. He looks after it all year long, beginning to end. 13Here’s what’s going to happen. If you obey these laws I’m giving you today—if you love the LORD your God with everything you’ve got in you, heart and soul, and if you do what he says, 14he’ll send the rain when the time is right. Early enough to water springtime grain fields. And late enough to water vineyards and olive orchards for harvest at the end of summer. 15He’ll give you grass in the fields so your cattle can graze all they want. 16So, don’t get tricked into worshiping other gods. 17If you do, the LORD will get angry with you. He’ll turn off the rain and he’ll dry up the land. You won’t survive long under those punishing conditions. You’ll die in that land the LORD gave you.
Take the law seriously
18Take these words of mine seriously. Wear them like gloves on your hands and a hat on your head. [3] 19Teach them to your kids. Talk about these laws at home or traveling. Talk about them when you’re lying down or up and about. 20Attach them to gates or doorways that lead into and out of your house. Do it so you’ll remember them when you’re coming and going. 21If you do this, you and your children can live in this land that the LORD promised your ancestors. In fact, you can live there for as long as there’s a sky above the earth.22Obey all the laws I’m giving you. Love the LORD your God and stay close to him. 23If you do, the LORD will drive out all the nations living in the land. These nations are bigger and stronger than you are. 24Anywhere you step will become your land. You’ll own all the land from the deserts in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. [4] 25No one will be able to stop you. The LORD will put the fear of God in them; they’ll be terrified of you everywhere you go. That’s his promise.
