Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Exhortation to Covenant Obedience

30:11 “This commandment I am giving ¹  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 ²  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 ³  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. ⁴  30:17 However, if you ⁵  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 ⁶  perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. ⁷  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 ⁸  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 ⁹  in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

[30:11]  ¹ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you.”

[30:14]  ² tn Heb “heart.”

[30:16]  ³ tc A number of LXX mss insert before this verse, “if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,” thus translating אֲשֶׁר (’asher) as “which” and the rest as “I am commanding you today, to love,” etc., “then you will live,” etc.

[30:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “your heart,” as a metonymy for the person.

[30:18]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”

[30:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “to go there to possess it.”

[30:20]  ⁸ 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.

[30:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”