Pgs. 650-655
Ch.29-30

SECTION LI.

NITSTSABIM.

MOSHEH the prophet said: I have called you not in secret, but while standing this day all of you before the Lord your God; the princes of your sanhedrin, the chiefs of your tribes, your elders and your officers, all men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and your sojourners who are in your camps, from the hewer of your wood to the filler of your water, that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, and may have in remembrance the oath which the Lord your God doth ratify with you this day: [JERUSALEM. Your little ones, wives, and sojourners within your camps, from the hewer of your wood to the filler of your water, that you may not transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, nor the oath which He confirmeth with you this day:] that you may stand to‑day before Him a purified people; and that He may be a God to you, as He hath spoken to you, and as He did swear unto Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob.

And not with you only do I ratify this covenant, and attest this adjuration; but all the generations which have arisen from the days of old stand with us to‑day before the Lord our God, and all the generations which are to arise unto the end of the world, all of them stand with us here this day. [JERUSALEM. All the generations which have arisen from the days of old until now stand with thee to‑day before the Lord your God, and all the generations which are to arise after us stand also here with us to‑day.] For you know the number of the years that we dwelt in the land of Mizraim, and the mighty works which were wrought for us among the nations through which you have passed. You have seen their abominations, and their idols of wood and stone which they have set forth in the streets, and the idols of silver and gold that they have placed with themselves in the houses, shutting the doors after them lest they should be stolen. Beware, then, lest there be among you now or hereafter a man, woman, family, or tribe, whose heart may be turned away to wander any day from the service of the Lord our God to worship the idols of those nations; or lest there be among you the error which striketh root (in them) whose heart wandereth after his sin; for the beginning of sin may be sweet, but its end is bitter as the deadly wormwood; [JERUSALEM. You have seen their hateful things and their abominations, the idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold; idols of wood and stone set forth in the streets, but those of silver and gold kept with themselves in the house because they were afraid they would be stolen. . . . . . . Lest there be among you man or woman, family or tribe, whose heart is turned away this day from the Lord our God to go and worship the idols of these people, or there be a man among you whose heart pondereth upon sin, which is like a root struck into the earth; for its beginning may be sweet as honey, but its end will be bitter as the deadly wormwood;] or it be that when he heareth the words of this curse he become reprobate in his heart, saying: I shall have peace, though I go on in the strength of the evil desires of my heart: so that he will add presumption to the sins of ignorance. It will not be pleasing to the Lord to forgive him; for the Lord's anger and indignation will wax hot against that man, and all the words of the curses written in this book will rest upon him, and the Lord will blot out the memorial of his name from under the heavens. And the Lord will separate him unto evil, from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the maledictions of the covenant which are written in this book. And the generations of your children who will arise after you, and the stranger who will come from a far‑off land, when they see the plagues of that land, and the afflictions which the Lord will have sent upon it, the whole land burnt with brimstone, salt, and fierce heat, no longer fit for sowing, nor productive of a blade of any springing herbage; ruined, as Sedom and Amorah, Admah and Zeboim, were overthrown by the Word of the Lord in His wrath and indignation; then all people will say, Why hath the Lord done so unto this land? What meaneth the strength of this great anger? And they will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Mizraim. But they went after their evil desires, and served the gods of the Gentiles, and worshipped gods which they had not known nor had any part with. And the anger of the Lord waxed strong against this land, to bring upon it all the curses written in this book. And the Lord hath made them to wander forth from their country with anger, indignation, and wrath, and hath cast them into captivity in another land until this day.

The secret things are manifest before the Lord our God, and He will take vengeance for them; but the things that are revealed are delivered unto us and to our children for ever, to perform by them the thing that is right, for the confirmation of all the words of this law.

XXX. And it will be, when all these words of blessings, or their contraries, which I have set in order before you shall have come upon you, you will be converted in your hearts to return unto My fear, in all the dispersions (among) the nations where the Lord will have scattered you. The upright of you will be favoured with a blessed repentance; and though you have sinned, yet shall your repentance come up unto the glorious throne of the Lord your God, if you will hearken to His Word according to all that I have commanded you this day, you, and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul. And His Word will accept your repentance with favour, and will have mercy upon you, and He will gather you again from all the nations whither the Lord your God had scattered you. Though you may be dispersed unto the ends of the heavens, from thence will the Word of the Lord gather you together by the hand of Elijah the great priest, and from thence will He bring you by the hand of the King Meshiha. And the Word of the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed by inheritance, and you shall possess it, and He will bless you and increase you more than your fathers. And the Lord your God will take away the foolishness of your heart, and of your children's heart; for He will abolish evil desire from the world, and create good desire, which will give you the dictate to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, that your lives may flow on for evermore. And the Word of the Lord your God will send these curses upon your enemies who have oppressed you in your captivities, and such as have hated and persecuted, to destroy you. But you shall return, and be obedient to the Word of the Lord, and do all His commandments that I command you this day. And the Lord your God will make you to abound in good; for you shall prosper in all the works of your hands, in the offspring of thy womb, the increase of thy cattle, and the produce of your land, for good; for the Word of the Lord will return, to rejoice over you, to bless you, as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you will hearken to the Word of the Lord your God in keeping His commandments and statutes which are written in the book of this law, when you have returned to the fear of the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

For this commandment which I command you to‑day is not hidden from you, nor afar off. It is not in the heavens, that thou shouldst say, Who will ascend for us into heaven, and bring it to us to make us hear, that we may do it? Neither is it beyond the great sea, that thou shouldst say, Who will go beyond the sea for us, and fetch it for us to make us hear, that we may do it? For the Word is nigh you, in your schools;[1] open your mouth, that you may meditate on it; purify your hearts, that you may perform it. Behold, I have set before you this day the way of life, wherein is the recompense of the reward of good unto the righteous, and the way of death, wherein is the retribution of the wages of evil unto the wicked. [JERUSALEM. The law is not in the heavens, that thou shouldst say, O that we had one like Mosheh the prophet to ascend into heaven, and bring it to us, and make us hear its commands, that we may do them! Neither is the law beyond the great sea, that thou shouldst say, O that we had one like Jonah the prophet, who could descend into the depths of the sea, and bring it to us, and make us hear its commands, that we may do them! For the word is very nigh you, in your mouth, that you may meditate upon it, and in your hearts, that you may perform it. See, behold, I have set before you this day the way of life, which is the path of the good, and the way of death, which is the path of the evil.] For I teach you to‑day to love the Lord your God, and to walk in the ways that are right before Him, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and judgments, and live and multiply; that the Lord your God may bless you in the land into which you are entering to possess it. But if you think in your heart that you will not obey, but will go astray to worship the idols of the nations, and serve them, I proclaim to you this day, that you will perish, and will not prolong your days on the land to which you are to pass over the Jordan to possess it. I attest this day, not only you, who are to pass away from this world, but the heavens and the earth, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and its reverse. Choose therefore the way of life, even the law, that you and your children may live the life of the world to come; that you may love the Lord thy God, to obey His Word, and keep close unto His fear; for the law in which you occupy yourselves will be your life in this world,[2] and the prolongment of your days in the world that cometh; and you shall be gathered together at the end of the scattering,[3] and dwell upon the land which the Lord sware to your fathers, to Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, to give it unto them.