Deuteronomy 29
Big idea: Moses gathers everyone — heads, elders, officers, little ones, wives, and the foreigners who cut the wood and draw the water — to enter into the covenant. And then he says something startling about a generation that has seen everything: your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in Egypt, the great trials, the signs, those great wonders — but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. Seeing is not the same as understanding, and the difference is a gift. The chapter's danger is the man who hears the curse and blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. And it ends with a boundary on curiosity: the secret things belong to Yahweh our God; the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.
Chapter 29 says God has not yet given them a heart to know. Chapter 30 says he will circumcise it.
29:1–9 — Not a heart to know, to this day
These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he made with them in Horeb. Moses called to all Israel and said: Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants and to all his land — the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God. When you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og 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, the Gadites and 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.
1 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh 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. 2 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5 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. 6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 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. 8 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. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
29:10–21 — I shall have peace, though I walk in stubbornness
All of you stand today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners 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 Yahweh your God and into his oath, which he makes with you today, that he may establish you as his people and that he may be your God, as he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And I make this covenant and this oath not with you only, but with those who stand here with us today and also with those who are not here with us today. For you know how we lived in Egypt and how we came through the nations you passed, and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold. Lest there be among you a man, woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away today to serve the gods of those nations; and lest, when he hears the words of this curse, he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. Yahweh will not pardon him; his anger and jealousy will smoke against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky, setting him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel.
10 All of you stand today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 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, 12 that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today, 13 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. 14 Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, 15 but with those who stand here with us today before Yahweh our God, and also with those who are not here with us today 16 (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; 17 and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them); 18 lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; 19 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. 20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’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 Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh 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.
29:22–29 — The secret things belong to Yahweh
The generation to come — your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land — will say, when they see the plagues of that land and its sicknesses, that all of its land is sulfur, salt and burning, not sown, producing nothing, no grass growing in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim. Even all the nations will say, why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean? Then men will say: because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them — gods they didn't know and that he had not given to them. Therefore Yahweh's anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses written in this book; and Yahweh 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 Yahweh 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.
22 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 Yahweh has made it sick, 23 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 Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. 24 Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” 25 Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. 27 Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28 Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.” 29 The secret things belong to Yahweh 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.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).