Deuteronomy 11 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

So love Yahweh your God and keep what he's charged you with — his firm rules, his fair judgments, and his commands — every single day.

Recognize today — I'm not talking to your children who didn't experience or witness it — I mean the discipline of Yahweh your God: his greatness, his powerful hand, his outstretched arm,

the signs and the actions he took right in the heart of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and against his whole land,

and what he did to Egypt's army, their horses and chariots — how he made the waters of the Red Sea surge over them as they chased you, and Yahweh destroyed them. That destruction stands to this day.

and what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place,

and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab from the tribe of Reuben — how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them, right in front of all Israel.

Because it's your own eyes that saw every great act Yahweh has done.

So guard every command I'm giving you today, so that you'll have the strength to go in and take possession of the land you're about to cross into,

and so that you'll live long in the land that Yahweh swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants — a land flowing with milk and honey.

Because the land you're going in to take possession of is nothing like Egypt, where you came from — where you planted your seed and had to irrigate it by foot like a vegetable garden.

But the land you're crossing into to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys that drinks water from the rain that falls from the sky.

It's a land that Yahweh your God personally looks after. The eyes of Yahweh your God are on it constantly, from the start of the year to the very end.

And here's what will happen if you genuinely listen to the commands I'm giving you today — to love Yahweh your God and to serve him with your whole heart and your whole being —

then I'll send rain on your land at just the right time — the early rain and the late rain — so you'll gather your grain, your new wine, and your olive oil.

I'll put grass in your fields for your livestock, and you'll eat and be satisfied.

But watch yourselves carefully — don't let your hearts be lured away to turn aside and serve other gods, bowing down to them.

Because then Yahweh's anger will burn against you, and he'll shut the sky so there's no rain. The ground won't produce its crops, and you'll quickly disappear from the good land Yahweh is giving you.

So fix these words of mine in your hearts and in your whole being. Tie them as a sign on your hands and let them be markers on your foreheads.

Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you're sitting at home and when you're walking down the road, when you lie down at night and when you get up in the morning.

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,

so that your days and your children's days will be as many in the land Yahweh swore to your ancestors as the days the sky sits above the earth.

Because if you carefully guard this entire command I'm laying out for you — to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to hold tight to him —

then Yahweh will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you'll dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours — from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the great river, the Euphrates, all the way to the western sea.

No one will be able to stand against you. Yahweh your God will spread the dread and fear of you over the entire face of the land wherever you go, exactly as he told you.

Look — today I'm setting before you a choice: a life of thriving or a curse.

The life of thriving — if you listen to the commands of Yahweh your God that I'm giving you today.

And the curse — if you don't listen to the commands of Yahweh your God and turn off the path I'm directing you on today to chase after other gods you've never known.

And when Yahweh your God brings you into the land you're going in to take possession of, you'll pronounce the life of thriving from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal.

Aren't they on the far side of the Jordan, beyond the west road, in the territory of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the great trees of Moreh?

Because you're about to cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land Yahweh your God is giving you. Once you've taken possession and settled in it,

be careful to follow every firm rule and fair judgment I'm setting before you today.