Nitzavim

Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: You have seen all that יהוה did before your very eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his courtiers and to his whole country:
the wondrous feats that you saw with your own eyes, those prodigious signs and marvels.
Yet to this day יהוה has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
I led you through the wilderness forty years; the clothes on your back did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet;
you had no bread to eat and no wine or other intoxicant to drink—that you might know that I יהוה am your God.
When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to engage us in battle, but we defeated them.
We took their land and gave it to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as their heritage.
Therefore observe faithfully all the terms of this covenant, that you may succeed in all that you undertake.
You stand this day, all of you, before your God יהוה —your tribal heads, your elders, and your officials, every householder^*householder Lit. “participant whose involvement defines the depicted situation.” Moses’ description of those present treats their social station as more germane than their gender. Trad. “[all the] men.” See the first note at 1.31. in Israel,
your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to waterdrawer—
to enter into the covenant of your God יהוה, which your God יהוה is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions;^*its sanctions I.e., the curses that covenant violations will entail.
in order to establish you this day as God’s people and in order to be your God, as promised you and as sworn to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone,
but both with those who are standing here with us this day before our God יהוה and with those who are not with us here this day.
Well you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we passed through the midst of various other nations;
and you have seen the detestable things and the fetishes of wood and stone, silver and gold, that they keep.
Perchance there is among you some man or woman, or some clan or tribe, whose heart is even now turning away from our God יהוה to go and worship the gods of those nations—perchance there is among you a stock sprouting poison weed and wormwood.
^*In this verse and the next, grammatically masculine singular co-references with gender-inclusive force (cf. v. 17) are rendered in the plural. When hearing the words of these sanctions, they may imagine a special immunity, thinking, “I shall be safe, though I follow my own willful heart”—to the utter ruin of moist and dry alike.^*moist and dry alike I.e., everything.
יהוה will never forgive that party.^*that party Moved up from v. 19 for clarity. Rather, יהוה’s anger and passion will rage against them, till every sanction recorded in this book comes down upon them, and יהוה blots out their name from under heaven.
[As for such a clan or tribe,] יהוה will single it out from all the tribes of Israel for misfortune, in accordance with all the sanctions of the covenant recorded in this book of Teaching.
And later generations will ask—the children who succeed you, and foreigners who come from distant lands and see the plagues and diseases that יהוה has inflicted upon that land,
all its soil devastated by sulfur and salt, beyond sowing and producing, no grass growing in it, just like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which יהוה overthrew in fierce anger—
all nations will ask, “Why did יהוה do thus to this land? Wherefore that awful wrath?”
They will be told, “Because they forsook the covenant that יהוה, God of their ancestors, made with them upon freeing them from the land of Egypt;
they turned to the service of other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not experienced^*whom they had not experienced See note at 11.28. and whom [God] had not allotted^*allotted See 4.19–20. to them.
So יהוה was incensed at that land and brought upon it all the curses recorded in this book.
יהוה uprooted them from their soil in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as is still the case.”
Concealed acts concern our God יהוה; but with overt acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this Teaching.
When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which your God יהוה has banished you,
and you return to your God יהוה, and you and your children heed God’s command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day,
then your God יהוה will restore your fortunes^*fortunes Others “captivity.” and take you back in love.^*and take you back in love More precisely, “take you in; restore your standing.” The image is of a (typically male) householder, who has the authority to determine the standing of his household’s members, especially as heirs. Cf. Hos. 1.6; 2.6; 2.25; 14.4; Isa. 54.8; Ps. 103.13. See the Dictionary under “householder.” [God] will bring you together again from all the peoples where your God יהוה has scattered you.
Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world,^*world Lit. “sky.” from there your God יהוה will gather you, from there [God] will fetch you.
And your God יהוה will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and [God] will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors.
Then your God יהוה will open up^*open up Others “circumcise.” your heart and the hearts of your offspring—to love your God יהוה with all your heart and soul, in order that you may live.
Your God יהוה will inflict all those curses upon the enemies and foes who persecuted you.
You, however, will again heed יהוה and obey all the divine commandments that I enjoin upon you this day.
And your God יהוה will grant you abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in your issue from the womb, the offspring of your cattle, and your produce from the soil. For יהוה will again delight in your well-being as in that of your ancestors,
since you will be heeding your God יהוה and keeping the divine commandments and laws that are recorded in this book of the Teaching—once you return to your God יהוה with all your heart and soul.
Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach.
It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”
No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity.
For^*For Septuagint reads “If you obey the commandments of your God יהוה, which.” I command you this day, to love your God יהוה, to walk in God’s ways, and to keep God’s commandments, God’s laws, and God’s rules, that you may thrive and increase, and that your God יהוה may bless you in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
But if your heart turns away and you give no heed, and are lured into the worship and service of other gods,
I declare to you this day that you shall certainly perish; you shall not long endure on the soil that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—
by loving your God יהוה, heeding God’s commands, and holding fast to [God]. For thereby you shall have life and shall long endure upon the soil that יהוה swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them.