The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Kapitel 29 -

These are the words of the covenant which the Lord instructed Moses to form with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, beside that covenant which he struck with them at Horeb.

And Moses called all of Israel, and he said to them: “You have seen all the things that the Lord has done in your sight in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to his entire land:

the great trials, which your eyes have seen, those immense signs and wonders.

But the Lord has not given you an understanding heart, and seeing eyes, and ears that are able to hear, even to this present day.(a)

He led you for forty years through the desert. Your garments have not been worn out, nor have the shoes on your feet been consumed by age.

You did not eat bread, nor did you drink wine or liquor, so that you would know that I am the Lord your God.

And you arrived at this place. And Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, went out to meet us in battle. And we struck them down.

And we took their land and delivered it as a possession to Ruben and to Gad, and to half of the tribe of Manasseh.

Therefore, keep the words of this covenant, and fulfill them, so that you may understand all that you are doing.

Today, you all stand in the sight of the Lord your God: your leaders, and tribes, and those greater by birth, and teachers, all the people of Israel,

your children and wives, and the new arrival who dwells with you in the camp, aside from those who cut wood, and those who bring water,

so that you may cross into the covenant of the Lord your God, and into the oath which the Lord your God strikes with you today.

So shall he raise you up as a people to himself, and so shall he be your God, just as he has spoken to you, and just as he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And I am not forming this covenant and confirm these oaths with you alone,

but with all those who are present as well as those who are absent.

For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the midst of nations. And when passing through them,

you saw their abominations and filth, that is, their idols of wood and of stone, of silver and of gold, which they worshipped,

so that there would not be among you man or woman, family or tribe, whose heart has been turned away this day from the Lord our God, so as to go and serve the gods of those nations. For then there would be among you a root springing forth gall and bitterness.

And if he were to hear the words of this oath, he would bless himself in his own heart saying: ‘There will be peace for me, and I will walk in the depravity of my heart.’ And so, the one who is inebriated would consume the one who is thirsty.(b)

But the Lord would not ignore him. Instead, at that time, his fury and zealousness would be very greatly enflamed against that man, and all the curses which have been written in this volume would settle upon him. And the Lord would abolish his name from under heaven,

and consume him unto perdition out of all the tribes of Israel, according to the curses which are contained in the book of this law and in the covenant.

And the subsequent generation would speak out, along with the sons who will be born afterward. And the sojourners, who will arrive from far away, will see the plagues of that land and the infirmities with which the Lord will have afflicted it,

having burned it with sulphur and molten salt, so that it can no longer be sown. And certainly no greenery would spring up, as in the example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overturned with his wrath and fury.

And so, all the nations would say: ‘Why has the Lord acted this way toward this land? What is this immense wrath of his fury?’

And they will respond: ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, which he formed with their fathers, when he led them away from the land of Egypt.

And they have served foreign gods, and adored them, though they did not know them, and though they had not been allotted to them.

For this reason, the fury of the Lord was enraged against this land, so as to lead over it all the curses which have been written in this volume.

And he has cast them out of their own land, with anger and fury, and with a very great indignation, and he has thrown them into a strange land, just as has been proven this day.’

These hidden things of the Lord our God have been revealed to us and to our sons in perpetuity, so that we may accomplish all the words of this law.”(c)

Fußnoten

(a)29:4 has not given you, etc:Through your own fault and because you resisted his grace.(Challoner)

(b)29:19 The drunken, etc., absumat ebria sitientem:It is a proverbial expression, which may either be understood, as spoken by the sinner, blessing, that is, flattering himself in his sins with the imagination of peace, and so great an abundance as may satisfy, and as it were, consume all thirst and want: or it may be referred to the root of bitterness, spoken of before, which being drunken with sin may attract, and by that means consume, such as thirst after the like evils.(Challoner)

(c)29:29 Secret things, etc:As much as to say, secret things belong to, and are known to, God alone; our business must be to observe what he has revealed and manifested to us, and to direct our lives accordingly.(Challoner)

These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;

the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders.

But the LORD has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet.

You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them.

We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.

Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

All of you stand today in the presence of the LORD your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,

your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water,

that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today,

that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only,

but with those who stand here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with those who are not here with us today

(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed;

and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them);

lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison;

and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry.

The LORD will not pardon him, but then the LORD’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under the sky.

The LORD will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

The generation to come—your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick,

that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath.

Even all the nations will say, “Why has the LORD done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”

Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,

and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them.

Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book.

The LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”

The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.