Deuteronomy 1:21

1:21 Look, he¹ has placed the land in front of you!² Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances³ I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors,⁴ is giving you.

Deuteronomy 6:3

6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number⁵ – as the Lord, God of your ancestors,⁶ said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 10:17

10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

Deuteronomy 12:1

The Central Sanctuary

12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors,⁷ has given you to possess.⁸

Deuteronomy 18:16

18:16 This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: “Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our⁹ God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die.”

Deuteronomy 26:14

26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead;¹⁰ I have obeyed you¹¹ and have done everything you have commanded me.

Deuteronomy 27:3

27:3 Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors,¹² said to you.

Deuteronomy 31:16-17

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die,¹³ and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they¹⁴ are going. They¹⁵ will reject¹⁶ me and break my covenant that I have made with them.¹⁷ 31:17 At that time¹⁸ my anger will erupt against them¹⁹ and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome²⁰ them²¹ so that they²² will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters²³ overcome us²⁴ because our²⁵ God is not among us²⁶?’

¹tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid repetition.

²tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).

³tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

⁴tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

⁵tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁶tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).

⁷tn Heb “fathers.”

⁸tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days which you live in the land.” This adverbial statement modifies “to obey,” not “to possess,” so the order in the translation has been rearranged to make this clear.

⁹tn The Hebrew text uses the collective singular in this verse: “my God…lest I die.”

¹¹sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.

¹²tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.

¹³tn Heb “fathers.”

¹⁵tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

¹⁶tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

¹⁷tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

¹⁸tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

¹⁹tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

¹⁷tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.

¹⁸tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

¹⁹tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”

²⁰tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

²¹tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

²²tn Heb “evils.”

²³tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

²⁴tn Heb “my.”

²⁵tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.