Deuteronomy 11

1 Therefore love thy Lord God, and keep thou his commandments, and ceremonies, and dooms, and his behests, in all time. (And so love the Lord thy God, and obey thou his commandments, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, and his orders, or his charges, for all time.)

2 Know ye today those things which your sons know not, which sons have not seen the doctrine, (or discipline,) of your Lord God, nor his great works, and his strong hand, and his stretched (out) arm, (Know ye today those things which your children know not, for they have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God, nor his greatness, and his strong hand, and his outstretched arm,)

3 his miracles, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, [the] king, and to all his land,

4 and to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses, and cars; how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued you, and the Lord did away them till into present day; (and to all the army of the Egyptians, and to their horses, and chariots; how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued you, and the Lord did them away, and so things remain unto this present day;)

5 and which things the Lord did to you in (the) wilderness, till ye came to this place; (and what the Lord did for you in the wilderness, until ye came to this place;)

6 and to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, that was the son of Reuben, which the earth swallowed, when his mouth was opened, with their house(hold)s, and tabernacles, and all the chattel that they had, in the midst of Israel. (and to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, who was Reuben's son, who, when the earth opened its mouth, were swallowed up with their families, and their tents, and all their substance, in the midst of all Israel.)

7 Your eyes saw all the great works of the Lord, which he did,

8 that ye keep all his behests which I command today to you, and that ye may enter, and wield the land, (and so obey ye all his commandments which I command to you today, so that ye can enter, and take the land,)

9 to which ye shall enter, and ye live therein much time; which land, flowing with milk and honey, the Lord promised under an oath to your fathers and their seed. (to which ye shall enter; and so that ye can live a long time in the land, which the Lord promised by an oath to your fathers and their descendants, yea, a land flowing with milk and honey.)

10 For the land, to which thou shalt enter to wield, is not as the land of Egypt, out of which thou wentest, where when the seed is sown in the manner of gardens, moist waters be led thereto (where when the seed is sown, water must be brought to it, like in a garden);

11 but the land that Israel shall wield is hills, and fields, and it abideth rains from heaven, (but the land which Israel shall possess is a land of mountains, and valleys, and it receiveth rain from the heavens,)

12 which land thy Lord God beholdeth, and his eyes be therein (and his eyes be upon it), from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof.

13 Therefore if ye shall obey to my behests which I command today to you, that ye love your Lord God, and serve him in all your heart, and in all your soul; (And so if ye will obey my commandments which I command to you today, that ye love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul;)

14 he shall give to your land rain timely and late, that ye gather wheat, and wine, and oil, (he shall give rain on your land, timely and late, so that ye can gather corn, and wine, and oil,)

15 (and) hay of the fields to feed beasts, that ye both eat and be full-filled. (and hay from the fields to feed your beasts, so that ye shall eat and be filled full.)

16 Be ye ware, lest peradventure your heart be deceived, and ye go away from the Lord, and serve alien gods, and worship them; (Be ye careful, lest your heart be deceived, and ye go away from the Lord, and serve foreign, or other, gods, and worship them;)

17 and the Lord therefore be wroth, and close heaven, and rain come not down, neither the earth give his fruit, and ye perish swiftly from the full good land that the Lord shall give to you. (and so the Lord be angry, and close up the heavens, and the rain come not down, nor the earth give its fruit, and ye swiftly perish from the very good land which the Lord shall give you.)

18 Put ye these my words in your hearts and in your souls, and hang ye them up for a token, or a sign, in your hands, and set ye them betwixt your eyes. (Put ye these my words in your hearts and in your souls, and bind ye them for a sign upon your hands, and set ye them before your eyes forevermore.)

19 Teach ye your sons, (so) that they think upon those words, when thou sittest in thine house, and goest in the way (and goest on the way), and liest down, and risest up.

20 Thou shalt write those words upon the (door-)posts, and the gates of thine house(s),

21 that the days of thee and of thy sons be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he should give to them, as long as heaven is above (the) earth. (so that the days of thee and of thy sons, can be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers to give them, for as long as the heavens be above the earth.)

22 For if ye keep the behests which I command to you, and do those (For if ye obey all these commandments which I command to you, and do them), that ye love your Lord God, and go in all his ways, and cleave to him,

23 the Lord shall destroy all these heathen men before your face, and ye shall wield those folks that be greater and stronger than ye.

24 Each place which your foot shall tread, shall be yours; from the desert, and from Lebanon, and from the great flood Euphrates unto the west sea, shall be your terms. (Every place where your feet shall tread, shall be yours; from the wilderness to the mountains of Lebanon, and from the great Euphrates River unto the Great Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea, shall be yours.)

25 None shall stand against you; your Lord God shall give your outward dread and your inward dread upon each land that ye shall tread, as he spake to you. (No one shall stand against you; the Lord your God shall put the fear of you and the dread of you upon every land where ye shall tread, as he promised you.)

26 Lo! I set forth in your sight today blessing and cursing; (Lo! I set before you today the choice of a blessing and a curse;)

27 blessing, if ye obey to the behests of your Lord God, which I command to you today; (a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command to you today;)

28 cursing, if ye hear not the behests of your Lord God, but go away from the way which I show now to you, and go after alien gods, which ye know not. (and a curse, if ye hear not the commandments of the Lord your God, and ye go away from the way which I now show to you, and follow foreign, or other, gods, which ye do not know.)

29 Soothly when thy Lord God hath brought thee into the land, to which to inhabit thou goest, thou shalt set (the) blessing upon the hill Gerizim, (and the) cursing upon the hill Ebal, (And when the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the land, to which thou goest to inhabit, thou shalt proclaim the blessing from Mount Gerizim, and the curse from Mount Ebal,)

30 which hills be beyond (the) Jordan, after the way that goeth to the going down of the sun, in the land of Canaanites, that dwell in the field places against Gilgal, which is beside the valley going and entering far. (which mountains be on the western side of the Jordan River, on the way that leadeth to the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites, who live on the plains near Gilgal, which is close to the sacred trees of Moreh.)

31 For ye shall pass (the) Jordan, that ye wield the land which your Lord God shall give to you, and that ye have and wield that land. (For ye shall cross over the Jordan River to possess the land which the Lord your God shall give to you, and ye shall take that land and have it.)

32 Therefore see ye, that ye fulfill the ceremonies and dooms, which I shall set today in your sight. (And so see ye, that ye fulfill the statutes and laws, or judgements, which I shall set before you today.)

Deuteronomy 11 Commentary

Chapter 11

The great work God wrought for Israel. (1-7) Promises and threatenings. (8-17) Careful study of God's word requisite. (18-25) The blessings and the curse set forth. (26-32)

Verses 1-7 Observe the connexion of these two; Thou shalt love the Lord, and keep his charge. Love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable obedience which flows from a principle of ( 1 John. 5:3 ) works of God which their eyes had seen. What our eyes have seen, especially in our early days, should affect us, and make us better long afterwards.

Verses 8-17 Moses sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did or did not keep God's commandment. Sin tends to shorten the days of all men, and to shorten the days of a people's prosperity. God will bless them with an abundance of all good things, if they would love him and serve him. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. Revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin. Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All who forsake God to set their affection upon any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived, to their own destruction; and this will make it worse, that it was for want of taking heed.

Verses 18-25 Let all be directed by the three rules here given. 1. Let our hearts be filled with the word of God. There will not be good practices in the life, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God, having constant regard to it as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, ( Psalms 119:30 ) . 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Nor will any thing do more to cause prosperity, and keeping up religion in a nation, than the good education of children.

Verses 26-32 Moses sums up all the arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse. He charged the people to choose which they would have. Moses then appointed a public and solemn proclamation of the blessing and curse, to be made upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. We have broken the law, and are under its curse, without remedy from ourselves. In mercy, the gospel again sets before us a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if we obey the call to repentance, to faith in Christ, and newness of heart and life through him; an awful curse, if we neglect so great salvation. Let us thankfully welcome these glad tidings of great joy; and let us not harden our hearts, but hear this voice of God while it is called to-day, and while he invites us to come to him upon a mercy-seat. Let us be diligent to make our calling and election sure.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 11

In this chapter, the exhortation to love the Lord, and keep his commands, is repeated and urged again and again from various considerations; as not only from the chastisement of Pharaoh and the wicked Egyptians, but of such Israelites who offended the Lord, and transgressed his law, De 12:1-7, from the goodness and excellency of the land they were going to inherit, De 11:8-11, from the blessing of rain that would come upon it, and be productive of all good things for man and beast, in case of obedience, and a restraint of it in case of disobedience, De 11:12-17, from the continuance of them and their offspring in the land, should they be careful to observe the commands themselves, and teach them their children, De 11:18-21, and from the extensiveness of their conquests and dominions, De 11:22-25 and from the different issue and effects of their conduct and behaviour, a blessing upon them if obedient, but a curse if disobedient, De 11:26-28 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal; the situation of which places is described when they should come into the land of Canaan, of which they are assured, De 11:29-32.