Deuteronomy 28:13

28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his ¹  commandments which I am urging ²  you today to be careful to do.

Deuteronomy 28:1

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ³  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ⁴  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 4:21

4:21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he ⁵  is about to give you. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 4:24

4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 4:2

4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to ⁸  you.

Deuteronomy 9:26

9:26 I prayed to him: ⁹  O, Lord God, ¹⁰  do not destroy your people, your valued property ¹¹  that you have powerfully redeemed, ¹²  whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength. ¹³ 

Ezra 4:20

4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates ¹⁴  and who were the beneficiaries of ¹⁵  tribute, custom, and toll.

Nehemiah 9:27

9:27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from ¹⁶  their adversaries.

[28:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:13]  ² tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”

[28:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

[28:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

[4:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:21]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text includes “(as) an inheritance,” or “(as) a possession.”

[4:24]  ⁷ tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the Lord is seen as a jealous God whose anger bursts into a destructive fire. For God to be “jealous” means that his holiness and uniqueness cannot tolerate pretended or imaginary rivals. It is not petty envy but response to an act of insubordination that must be severely judged (see H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:937-40).

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “commanding.”

[9:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

[9:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

[9:26]  ¹² tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

[9:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

[4:20]  ¹⁴ sn The statement that prior Jewish kings ruled over the entire Trans-Euphrates is an overstatement. Not even in the days of David and Solomon did the kingdom of Israel extend its borders to such an extent.

[4:20]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “were being given to them.”

[9:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from the hand of” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “from the power of.”