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The Israelites Will Return

¹ When all these blessings and curses I have described happen to you, and the Lord your God has sent you away to other nations, think about these things. ² Then you and your children will return to the Lord your God, and you will obey him with your whole being in everything I am commanding you today. ³ Then the Lord your God will give you back your freedom. He will feel sorry for you, and he will bring you back again from the nations where he scattered you. ⁴ He may send you to the ends of the earth, but he will gather you and bring you back from there, ⁵ back to the land that belonged to your ancestors. It will be yours. He will give you success, and there will be more of you than there were of your ancestors. ⁶ The Lord your God will prepare you and your descendants to love him with your whole being so that you will live. ⁷ The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, who hate you and are cruel to you. ⁸ And you will again obey the Lord, keeping all his commands that I give you today. ⁹ The Lord your God will make you successful in everything you do. You will have many children, your cattle will have many calves, and your fields will produce good crops, because the Lord will again be happy with you, just as he was with your ancestors. ¹⁰ But you must obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands and rules that are written in this Book of the Teachings. You must return to the Lord your God with your whole being.

Choose Life or Death

¹¹ This command I give you today is not too hard for you; it is not beyond what you can do. ¹² It is not up in heaven. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up to heaven and get it for us so we can obey it and keep it?" ¹³ It is not on the other side of the sea. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the sea and get it? Who will tell it to us so we can keep it?" ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

¹⁵ Look, today I offer you life and success, death and destruction. ¹⁶ I command you today to love the Lord your God, to do what he wants you to do, and to keep his commands, his rules, and his laws. Then you will live and grow in number, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.

¹⁷ But if you turn away from the Lord and do not obey him, if you are led to bow and serve other gods, ¹⁸ I tell you today that you will surely be destroyed. And you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and take as your own.

¹⁹ Today I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses. I am offering you life or death, blessings or curses. Now, choose life! Then you and your children may live. ²⁰ To choose life is to love the Lord your God, obey him, and stay close to him. He is your life, and he will let you live many years in the land, the land he promised to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.