Scrutatio

Venerdi, 29 marzo 2024 - Santi Simplicio e Costantino ( Letture di oggi)

Deuteronomy 11


font

1'You must love Yahweh your God and always keep his observances, his laws, his customs, hiscommandments.2You are the ones who have had the experience, not your children. They have not had the experience,they have not witnessed the lessons of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretchedarm,3the signs and the deeds which he performed in the heart of Egypt, against Pharaoh king of Egypt andhis entire country,4what he did to the armies of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, by overwhelming them with thewaters of the Sea of Reeds when they were pursuing you, and leaving no trace of them to this day;5what he did for you in the desert, until you arrived here;6what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when, with al Israel standinground, the earth opened its mouth and swal owed them, with their families, their tents and al their supporters.7Al these great deeds of Yahweh you have seen with your own eyes.8'You must keep al the commandments which I enjoin on you today, so that you may have the strengthto conquer the country into which you are about to cross, to take possession of it,9and so that you may live long in the country which Yahweh promised on oath to bestow on yourancestors and their descendants, a country flowing with milk and honey.10'For the country which you are about to enter and make your own is not like the country of Egyptfrom which you have come, where, having done your sowing, you had to water the seed by foot, as though in avegetable garden.11No, the country which you are about to enter and make your own, is a country of hills and val eyswatered by the rain of heaven.12Yahweh your God looks after this country, the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from thebeginning of the year to the end.13Depend on it: if you faithfully obey the commandments I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh yourGod and serving him with al your heart and al your soul,14I shal give your country rain at the right time, rain in autumn, rain in spring, so that you can harvestyour wheat, your new wine and your oil.15I shal provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat to your heart's content.16Beware of letting your heart be seduced: if you go astray, serve other gods and bow down to them,17Yahweh's anger wil be kindled against you, he wil shut the heavens, there wil be no more rain, thesoil wil not yield its produce and, in the fine country given you by Yahweh, you wil quickly perish.18'Let these words of mine remain in your heart and in your soul; fasten them on your hand as a signand on your forehead as a headband.19Teach them to your children, and keep on tel ing them, when you are sitting at home, when you areout and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up.20Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,21so that you and your children may live long in the country which Yahweh swore to your ancestorsthat he would give them for as long as there is a sky above the earth.22'For if you faithful y keep and observe al these commandments that I enjoin on you today, lovingYahweh your God, following all his ways and holding fast to him,23Yahweh wil dispossess al these nations before you, and you wil dispossess nations greater andmore powerful than yourselves.24Wherever the sole of your foot treads wil be yours; your territory will run from the desert al the wayto the Lebanon; and from the River, from the River Euphrates, as far as the Western Sea, wil be your territory.25No one wil be able to resist you; Yahweh your God will make you feared and dreaded throughout theterritory you tread, as he has promised you.26'Today, look, I am offering you a blessing and a curse:27a blessing, if you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God which I enjoin on you today;28a curse, if you disobey the commandments of Yahweh your God and leave the way which today Ihave marked out for you, by following other gods hitherto unknown to you.29And when Yahweh your God has brought you into the country which you are about to enter andmake your own, you must set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.30(These mountains, as everyone knows, are on the other side of the Jordan on the westward road, inthe territory of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the Oak of Moreh.)31For you are about to cross the Jordan, to enter and take possession of the country given you byYahweh your God. You wil possess it, you wil live in it,32and you must keep and observe al the laws and customs promulgated by me to you today.'