HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 556
D EU T ERO N O MY 3 0
confirm that he is your God, just as he promised
you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 “But you are not the only ones with whom I
am making this covenant with its curses. 15 I am
making this covenant both with you who stand
here today in the presence of the Lord our God,
and also with the future generations who are
not standing here today.
16 “You remember how we lived in the land of
Egypt and how we traveled through the lands of
enemy nations as we left. 17 You have seen their
detestable practices and their idols* made of
wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 I am making this
covenant with you so that no one among you—
no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away
from the Lord our God to worship these gods of
other nations, and so that no root among you
bears bitter and poisonous fruit.
19 “Those who hear the warnings of this
curse should not congratulate themselves,
thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This
would lead to utter ruin! 20 The Lord will never
pardon such people. Instead his anger and
jealousy will burn against them. All the curses
written in this book will come down on them,
and the Lord will erase their names from under
heaven. 21 The Lord will separate them from all
the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the
curses of the covenant recorded in this Book
of Instruction.
22 “Then the generations to come, both your
own descendants and the foreigners who come
from distant lands, will see the devastation of
the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on
it. 23 They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with
nothing planted and nothing growing, not even
a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and
• Desires
D E U T E R O NO MY 2 9 :1 8
Walking with God is the best way
to cultivate godly desires. Walking
away from him allows the weeds of
ungodliness to grow unchecked. Our
hearts are fertile ground for desires.
When we spend our days in God’s
presence, the desires that grow in us
will be things of beauty. But alienation
from God will invite poisonous fruit to
spring up in our lives. Don’t assume that
good things will spring out of your life
naturally apart from the sustenance of
God’s presence and power.
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Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord
destroyed in his intense anger.’
24 “And all the surrounding nations will ask,
‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why
was he so angry?’
25 “And the answer will be, ‘This happened
because the people of the land abandoned the
covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out
of the land of Egypt. 26 Instead, they turned away
to serve and worship gods they had not known
before, gods that were not from the Lord. 27 That
is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this
land, bringing down on it every curse recorded
in this book. 28 In great anger and fury the Lord
uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still
live today!’
29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no
one. We are not accountable for them, but we
and our children are accountable forever for all
that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey
all the terms of these instructions.
A Call to Return to the LORD
“In the future, when you experience all
these blessings and curses I have listed
for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled
you, take to heart all these instructions. 2 If at
that time you and your children return to the
Lord your God, and if you obey with all your
heart and all your soul all the commands I have
given you today, 3 then the Lord your God will
restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you
and gather you back from all the nations where
he has scattered you. 4 Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth,* the Lord your
God will gather you from there and bring you
back again. 5 The Lord your God will return
you to the land that belonged to your ancestors,
and you will possess that land again. Then he
will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!
6 “The Lord your God will change your heart*
and the hearts of all your descendants, so that
you will love him with all your heart and soul
and so you may live! 7 The Lord your God will
inflict all these curses on your enemies and on
those who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you
will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.
9 “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you
many children and numerous livestock, and he
will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being
good to you as he was to your ancestors. 10 The
30
29:17 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably
alludes to dung. 30:4 Hebrew of the heavens. 30:6 Hebrew
circumcise your heart.