The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

“All the commandments which I am entrusting to you this day, take care to observe them diligently, so that you may live and be multiplied, and so that, upon entering, you may possess the land, about which the Lord swore to your fathers.

And you shall remember the entire journey along which the Lord your God led you, for forty years through the desert, to afflict you, and to test you, and to make known the things that were turning in your soul, whether or not you would keep his commandments.

He afflicted you with need, and he gave you Manna as your food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, so as to reveal to you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by every word that goes forth from the mouth of God.(a)

Your garment, with which you were covered, has by no means decayed due to age, and your foot has not been worn down, even to this fortieth year,

so that you would recognize in your heart that, just as a man educates his son, so has the Lord your God educated you.

So may you keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and fear him.

For the Lord your God will lead you into a good land: a land of brooks and waters and fountains, in which deep rivers burst forth from its plains and mountains,

a land of crops, barley, and vineyards, in which fig and pomegranate and olive trees spring up, a land of oil and honey.

In that place, without any need, you shall eat your bread and enjoy an abundance of all things: where the stones are like iron, and where ore for brass is dug out of its mountains.

So then, when you have eaten and been satisfied, you should bless the Lord your God for the excellent land which he has given to you.

Be observant and cautious, lest at some time you may forget the Lord your God, and neglect his commandments, as well as the judgments and ceremonies, which I instruct to you this day.

Otherwise, after you have eaten and been satisfied, and have built beautiful houses and have lived in them,

and have obtained herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and a plentitude of gold and silver and all things,

your heart might be lifted up, and you might not remember the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude,

and who was your leader in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there was the serpent with a burning breath, and the scorpion, and the snake of thirst, and no waters at all. He led streams out of the hardest rock,(b)

and he nourished you in the wilderness with Manna, which your fathers had not known. And after he had afflicted and tested you, in the very end, he took pity on you.

Otherwise, you might say in your heart: ‘My own strength, and the power of my own hand, have brought forth all these things for me.’

But remember the Lord your God, that he himself has provided you with strength, so that he may fulfill his covenant, about which he swore to your fathers, just as the present day reveals.

But if you forget the Lord your God, so that you follow foreign gods, and serve and adore them: behold, I now foretell to you that you shall utterly perish.

Just like the nations, which the Lord destroyed upon your arrival, so shall you also perish, if you have been disobedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

(a)8:3 Not in bread alone, etc:That is, that God is able to make food of what he pleases for the support of man.(Challoner)

(b)8:15 The Dipsas:A serpent whose bite causes a violent thirst; from whence it has its name, for in Greek dipsa signifies thirst.(Challoner)

You shall observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers.

You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the LORD’s mouth.

Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.

You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

You shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;

a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;

a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.

You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which he has given you.

Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today;

lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them;

and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint;

who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end;

and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”

But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

It shall be, if you shall forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish.

As the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish, because you wouldn’t listen to the LORD your God’s voice.