1 When these things come upon you according to this blessing and this curse that I have set before you, you will recall them among the nations where Yahweh, your God, has driven you.
2 Then you will return to him, you and your children; you will listen to his voice with all your heart and with all your soul, obeying all that I command you today.
3 So Yahweh, your God, will bring back the captives of your people, he will have pity on you, and will gather you again from all the nations where Yahweh has scattered you.
4 Though you are driven out at the other end of the earth,
5 Yahweh will gather you even from there, and will take you once again to the land which your ancestors possessed so that it may also be yours. He will make you happy and make you more numerous than your ancestors.
My commands are not beyond your reach
6 Yahweh, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants that you may love Yahweh with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.
7 So Yahweh, your God, will inflict all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you.
8 You shall again listen to Yahweh and put into practice all his commandments that I give you today.
9 Yahweh, your God, will make you succeed in everything you do. He will multiply for your good your children, the offspring of your livestock and the fruits of your land. For Yahweh will again be pleased to treat you well, as he did your ancestors.
10 For you shall turn to Yahweh, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and observe his commandments and norms, in a word, everything written in this book of the Law.
11 These commandments that I give you today are neither too high nor too far for you.
12 They are not in heaven that you should say: “Who will go up to heaven to get these command ments that we may hear them and put them into practice.”
13 Neither are they at the other side of the sea for you to say: “Who will cross to the other side and bring them to us, that we may hear them and put them into practice.”
14 On the contrary, my word is very near you; it is already in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can put it into practice.
Choose life
15 See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death.
16 I command you to love Yahweh, your God and follow his ways. Observe his commandments, his norms and his laws, and you will live and increase, and Yahweh will give you his blessing in the land you are going to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them,
18 I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan.
19 Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live,
20 loving Yahweh, listening to his voice, and being one with him. In this is life for you and length of days in the land which Yahweh swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isa ac and Jacob.”
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Comments Deuteronomy, Chapter 30
• 30.6 These commands are not beyond your strength (v. 11): obedience to the will of God is the most natural way for those who are sincere. My word is very near you so that you can put it into practice (30:14); yet, no one will do so until he has received the “circumcision of the heart.”
Yahweh will circumcise your heart (v. 6), that is, he will make you pure and holy. See Ezekiel 36:26-27.
Few pages in the Bible emphasize so much and in such a persuasive way, the love of the Lord, a jealous love coming from his desire to make us happy: Yahweh your God will cir cumcise your heart so that you may love him and live happily. Yahweh will again be pleased to treat you well.
It is in your mouth (v. 14). This means: You know it by heart.
• 15. This text about the two ways is very famous, reminding us of the importance of our free decisions and God’s respect for human freedom (see also Sir 15:11).
Throughout Deuteronomy faithfulness to God is spoken of together with the remembrance of his promises and rewards here on earth. This should not surprise us. In those distant times the people of God had no understanding of another life nor of the resurrection and the vision of God after death. They only focused on the present life and their na tional destiny which, in their view, were more impor tant than the destiny of the individual. For them, God’s justice had to be seen on earth in the present.
Later, the Gospel will not promise lands or houses, except in a figurative way (Mk 10:28). Prosperity will not be mentioned except for the final day when God will create the world anew (Acts 3:21 and Rev 21:3).