Deuteronomy Chapter 30 in Simple English

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 30

1When all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, you will call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you.

2You will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice, just as I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul.

3Then the LORD your God will turn back your captivity and have compassion on you. He will return and gather you from all the nations where the LORD your God scattered you.

4If any of your people have been driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.

5The LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers owned, and you will take it for your own. He will do you good, and make you more in number than your fathers.

6The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and so live.

7The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you and persecuted you.

8You will turn back and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command you today.

9The LORD your God will give you plenty in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the young of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, for good. For the LORD will again delight in you and do you good, as he delighted in your fathers.

10This is if you listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and keep his commandments and his laws which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

11This commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, and it is not far away.

12It is not in heaven, so that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it?"

13It is not beyond the sea, so that you should say, "Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it?"

14No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15See, today I have set before you life and good, and death and evil.

16For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his laws and his judgments, so that you may live and increase. Then the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are going in to take for your own.

17But if your heart turns away, so that you will not listen, and you are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

18I tell you plainly today that you will surely die. You will not live long in the land which you are crossing the Jordan to enter and take for your own.

19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. So choose life, so that both you and your descendants may live.

20Love the LORD your God, obey his voice, and hold fast to him. For he is your life and the length of your days. Then you will live in the land which the LORD promised on oath to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Explanation

Deuteronomy 30

In short

Moses tells the people that if they turn back to God with their whole heart after being scattered among nations, God will restore them, bring them home, and give them the desire to love him. He then sets before them a clear choice: obey God and live, or turn away and die.

Context

This is the final speech of Moses to Israel before they enter the promised land. Earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses has laid out God's laws and warned of curses that will come if the people disobey. This chapter follows those warnings and speaks to what will happen if the people fall away but then repent.

What the text says

Verses 1-10 describe a future scenario: when the curses have come upon Israel and they are scattered among nations, if they remember and return to the Lord with all their heart and obey his voice, then God will have compassion, gather them from all nations, and bring them back to the land their fathers possessed. God will even "circumcise thine heart" so they love him with all their heart and soul, and he will turn the curses onto their enemies instead. They will prosper in every work and multiply beyond their fathers if they keep his commandments.

Verses 11-14 emphasize that the commandment to obey is not hidden or far away, "but the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart." It is within reach and doable.

Verses 15-20 present the final choice starkly: Moses sets before them "life and good, and death and evil." If they love the Lord, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, they will live and be blessed in the land. But if their heart turns away to worship other gods, they will surely perish. Moses calls heaven and earth as witnesses and urges them: "choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."

Takeaways

Repentance and wholehearted return to God bring restoration, even after scattering and punishment.
Obedience to God's commands is not impossible or distant, but accessible to those who pursue it.
The choice between blessing and curse, life and death, rests with the people themselves.

Deuteronomy 30 - Simple English