30:11 “This commandment I am giving 6 you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind 7 so that you can do it.
30:15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 30:16 What 8 I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. 9 30:17 However, if you 10 turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 30:18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly 11 perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 12 30:19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! 30:20 I also call on you 13 to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually 14 in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
1 tc The MT reads “hand” (singular). Most versions read the plural.
2 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV); NRSV “of your body.”
3 tn Heb “return and.” The Hebrew verb is used idiomatically here to indicate the repetition of the following action.
4 tn The Hebrew text includes “for good.”
5 tn Heb “to the
6 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you.”
7 tn Heb “heart.”
8 tc A number of LXX
9 tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 tn Heb “your heart,” as a metonymy for the person.
11 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
12 tn Heb “to go there to possess it.”
13 tn The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.
14 tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”