The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Kapitel 30 -

(Nehemiah 1:1–11)

“Now when all these things will have fallen over you, the blessing or the curse that I have set forth in your sight, and you will have been led to repentance in your heart among all the nations to which the Lord your God will have dispersed you,

and when you will have returned to him, so as to obey his commandments, just as I have instructed you this day, with your sons, with your whole heart and with your whole soul,

then the Lord your God will lead you away from your captivity, and he will take pity on you, and he will gather you again from all the nations to which he had dispersed you before.

Even if you will have been scattered as far as the poles of the heavens, the Lord your God will retrieve you from there.

And he will take you up and lead you into the land which your fathers had possessed, and you shall obtain it. And in blessing you, he will make you greater in number than your fathers ever were.

The Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, so that you may love the Lord your God with your entire heart and with your entire soul, so that you may be able to live.

And he will turn all these curses upon your enemies, and upon those who hate and persecute you.

But you shall return, and you shall listen to the voice of the Lord your God. And you shall carry out all the commandments which I am entrusting to you this day.

And the Lord your God will cause you to abound in all the works of your hands, in the progeny of your womb, and in the fruit of your cattle, in the fertility of your land, and with an abundance of all things. For the Lord will return, so that he may rejoice over you in all good things, just as he rejoiced in your fathers:

but only if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep his precepts and ceremonies, which have been written in this law, and only if you return to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

This commandment, which I entrust to you today, is not high above you, nor has it been placed far away.

Nor is it in heaven, so that you would be able to say, ‘Which of us can ascend to heaven, so as to carry it back to us, and so that we may hear it and fulfill it in deed?’

Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you would excuse yourself by saying, ‘Which of us is able to cross the sea, and to carry it back to us, so that we may be able to hear and to do what has been instructed?’

Instead, the word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.

Consider what I have set forth in your sight this day, life and good, or, on the opposite side, death and evil,

so that you may love the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and so that you may live, and he may multiply you and bless you in the land, which you shall enter in order to possess.

But if your heart will have been turned aside, so that you are not willing to listen, and, having been deceived by error, you adore strange gods and serve them,

then I predict to you this day that you will perish, and you will remain for only a short time in the land, for which you shall cross the Jordan, and which you shall enter in order to possess.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your offspring may live,

and so that you may love the Lord your God, and obey his voice, and cling to him, (for he is your life and the length of your days) and so that you may live in the land, about which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them.”

(Nehemiah 1:1–11)

It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,

and return to the LORD your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,

that then the LORD your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.

If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.

The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers.

The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.

You shall return and obey the LORD’s voice, and do all his commandments which I command you today.

The LORD your God will make you prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good; for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers,

if you will obey the LORD your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

For this commandment which I command you today is not too hard for you or too distant.

It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?”

Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?”

But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.

For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them,

I declare to you today that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants,

to love the LORD your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.