- Moses recounts the journey of the Israelites from Horeb (Mt. Sinai) to Ammon, where they slayed many kings. He recalls how he had appointed leaders, sent out spies & dealt with their fears of the Amorites, who had killed many of them, saying the Lord God shall fight for you. #Dt1
- Moses recalls how the Israelites passed through Edom (descendants of Esau) and Moab & Ammon (descendants of Lot), but were refused passage by Sihon, king of Heshbon, & the Amorites, who they then destroyed. He recalls why they were made to stay 40 years in the wilderness. #Dt2
- Moses recalls how Israel killed Og, king of Bashan, took their cities & killed their people. They took all of Gilead & Bashan, Sihon (the Amorites’s land) & Ammon. They divided the land between Reuben, Gad, & Manasseh. Joshua surveys the land God promised Israel. #Dt3
- To take possession of the promised land, the Lord demands obedience to the Law. He tells of his greatness & his anger against sinful Israel. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, jealous & merciful, a God to be feared. There is none else. Idolatry is condemned. #Dt4
- Moses restates the Ten Commandments & tells Israel that the iniquity of the father is visited on the children to the 3rd & 4th generation. Mercy is shown to thousands of generations for those who love the Lord. Those obedient to the Lord may live long & prosper. #Dt5
- The Lord commands Israel to observe his laws if they are to possess the land of milk and honey and its wealth, and prolong their lives. Love the Lord thy God. Bind your hands as a sign; write a post on your house. Fear God lest you kindle his anger. The Lord our God is one. #Dt6
- The Lord commands Israel to destroy 7 nations without mercy—drive them out, forbid intermarriage, and smash their idols. Because you are a holy people God has chosen, if you keep the covenant, you will be fruitful, have abundance, & your foe will be delivered unto you. #Dt7
- Be obedient before the Lord, and you shall attain great riches; forget the Lord & you shall perish. For man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Verses 7-10 beautifully describe the promised land. Thou shalt not lack anything. #Dt8
- Not because of your righteousness but due to these nations’ wickedness does the Lord give this land for you. Moses retells the story of Mt. Sinai, the golden calf, and how he protected his stiff-necked people who the Lord, because of their rebelliousness, wished to destroy. #Dt9
- Moses recounts his second 40-day ascension to Horeb to receive the Ten Commandments anew after destroying the first pair of stone tablets. Fear the Lord, defender of orphans, widows, and foreigners, and he will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. #Dt10
- Moses tells Israel that the Lord your God has set a blessing & a curse for you. Obey the commandments, love the Lord, & the harvest will be great & blessings yours. Turn away from the Lord, worship other idols, and you shall perish. Outward signs (cf. #Dt6) are instructed. #Dt11
- Laws and decrees told to Moses by the Lord thy God include: destroy completely the altars, Asherah poles, & sacred stones of your enemies; reject their gods; fulfill your tithes & heave offerings; sacrifice burnt offerings. Rejoice before the Lord. Eat meat but not blood. #Dt12
- The penalty is death by stoning for family, friends, or prophets that worship other gods, says the Lord thy God who brought you out of Egypt. Completely destroy the towns and all its plunder in the land God has given you. Put its people who lead you astray to the sword. #Dt13
- Dietary restrictions are specified, echoing #Lv11. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. When & how to deliver tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and firstborns of the herds and flocks are spelled out. The Levites, lacking inheritance, distribute the offerings. #Dt14
- Every 7 years, Israelites are to cancel the debts of & to be generous to fellow Israelites. There will always be poor people in the land. Free your Hebrew slaves after 7 years. Put an awl through their earlobes if they won’t leave. Set apart firstborn males of the herd. #Dt15
- Instructions are repeated for celebrating Passover, the Festival of Weeks (7 weeks after harvest begins), and the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles. They take place where the Lord has chosen, presumably the temple. Do not show up empty-handed. Seek justice. Do not worship idols. #Dt16
- Any person among you who worships other gods is to be stoned to death on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses. Establish law courts to try lawsuits or assaults: contempt for the judge is to be punished by death. Choose a king from among fellow Israelites who follow the law. #Dt17
- The Levites, having no inheritance (the Lord is their inheritance), shall live on the food offerings. Diviners, spiritualists, & sorcerers are detestable to the Lord. The Lord will raise up a prophet from the Israelites, who will be tested by the things he says coming true. #Dt18
- In the promised land, establish three cities of refuge where someone who accidentally kills another can flee. For premeditated murder, send back the murderer. Make courts of priests and judges for other offenses. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,… #Dt19
- Admonition to war is made. The faint of heart may go home. Lay siege and allow the people to surrender and be made slaves. Otherwise, thou shalt utterly destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Do not cut down fruit trees. #Dt20
- Atonement for the murder of a slain man is made by sacrificing a heifer. A married captive woman may grieve for one month. Rights of a firstborn son remain even if he is from a less-favored wife. A rebellious son is to be stoned. A hanged man is to be buried the same day. #Dt21
- Return lost items to their owner. No cross-dressing. Do not take the dam from the nest. Wear clothes with tassels but not with both linen & wool. The penalty to rapists, women deflowered before marriage & adulterers is death by stoning. Do not sleep with your father’s wife. #Dt22
- Eunuchs & bastards shall not enter the assembly of the Lord. Same for Amorites & Moabites but not Edomites. Rules are given for relieving oneself, nocturnal emissions, and escaped slaves. Male & female prostitutes and usury with Israelites are condemned. Honor your vows. #Dt23
- A divorced wife may not remarry her first husband if she marries another man who then divorces her or dies. A newly married man is free of wartime duties for a year. Rules for security on loans, kidnapping, treatment of skin diseases, workers & the poor are given. #Dt24
- Disputes will be decided by judges, with the guilty party receiving no more than 40 lashes. Do not muzzle an ox treading grain. A widowed wife should marry her husband’s brother. If he refuses, she shall take off a sandal & spit on him. Keep honest measures. Forget Amalek. #Dt25
- Give the firstfruits of the produce to the Lord your God, who brought his holy people out of Egypt. He will make thee high above all nations in praise and name. In every third year of the 7 year tithe cycle, the tithe goes to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and widow. #Dt26
- Moses and the 70 elders command that a stone altar be built on Mt. Ebal, and for tribes to bless and curse the people. “Cursed be he that builds idols, dishonors parents, commits incest, has sex with animals, moves property stones, etc. And all the people shall say, Amen.” #Dt27
- If you obey the Lord your God, your blessings will be great, including fertility, abundant harvest, and defeat of enemies. For disobedience, he will ruin and destroy you, curse you with a barren womb, plague, famine, defeat. Your children will be sold, or you will eat them. #Dt28
- Moses tells Israel to honor the covenant with the Lord. He reminds them how the Lord rescued them from Egypt, ensured their survival in the Wilderness, and defeated the kings of Heshbon and Bashan. Rewards for obedience and curses for worshipping other gods are foretold. #Dt29
- Call to mind these blessings and curses when you are scattered to all nations, or returned to the land your fathers possessed. Hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. I set before thee life and good, and death and evil. For he is thy life. #Dt30
- The Lord says to Moses that he will not cross the Jordan, & that Joshua, son of Nun, will lead Israel to defeat the Amorite kings. Moses writes down the law to be read every 7th debt-cancelling year, & places it in the ark of the Covenant. Israel’s wickedness is foretold. #Dt31
- The Lord has Moses teach a song to Israel. Though I chose and lifted them—a warped and crooked generation—they worshipped other gods, so on them I will heap calamities. There is no god but me. These are not idle words, but your life. Moses shall go up to Mt. Nebo to die. #Dt32
- Moses blesses the Yeshurun of each tribe, including Joseph, Ephraim & Manasseh but not Simeon (cf. #Gn49). Levi watches over your word & guards your covenant. May the Lord bless Joseph’s land with fruitfulness & the choicest gifts. Gad dwells as a lion; Dan is a lion’s cub. #Dt33
- Moses climbs to the Pisgah peak on Mt. Nebo to view the promised land, which he is fated not to enter. He dies at 120 years of age, is buried in an unmarked grave in Moab, and is mourned for 30 days. Joshua, son of Nun, who Moses had laid hands upon, is to lead Israel. #Dt34