Daily Bread

Do Not Forget the Lord

8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live^(A) and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.^{(B) 2} Remember how the Lord your God led^(C) you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test^(D) you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled^(E) you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,^(F) which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach^(G) you that man does not live on bread^(H) alone but on every word that comes from the mouth^(I) of the Lord.^{(J) 4} Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.^{(K) 5} Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.^(L)

⁶ Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him^(M) and revering him.^{(N) 7} For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land^(O)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;^{(P) 8} a land with wheat and barley,^(Q) vines^(R) and fig trees,^(S) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;^{(T) 9} a land where bread^(U) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;^(V) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.^(W)

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied,^(X) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget^(Y) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,^{(Z) 13} and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget^(AA) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,^(AB) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes^(AC) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.^{(AD) 16} He gave you manna^(AE) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,^(AF) to humble and test^(AG) you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself,^(AH) “My power and the strength of my hands^(AI) have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,^(AJ) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^(AK) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^{(AL) 20} Like the nations^(AM) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.^(AN)