FocusBlessing, curse, and return
Connection to the wholeThe speeches set out covenant consequences and call Israel to choose life through love and obedience rather than presume upon privilege.
interpretation Deuteronomy 29:10
KJVYe stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
Read it in context
The Covenant in Moab
Start reading at Deuteronomy 29:1 (Deuteronomy 29:1 to Deuteronomy 29:29).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The speeches set out covenant consequences and call Israel to choose life through love and obedience rather than presume upon privilege.
- 29:1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
- 29:2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
- 29:3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
- 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
- 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
- 29:6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.
- 29:7 And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
- 29:8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
- 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
- 29:10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
- 29:11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
- 29:12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
- 29:13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
- 29:14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
- 29:15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
- 29:16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
- 29:17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
- 29:18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
- 29:19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
- 29:20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
- 29:21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
- 29:22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;
- 29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
- 29:24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
- 29:25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
- 29:26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
- 29:27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
- 29:28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
- 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Who
- Who wrote the book? Moses is the principal speaker and is expressly credited with writing the law. The account of his death was supplied by a later hand; identifying that final writer as Joshua is traditional, not certain. Biblical references: Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:24; Deuteronomy 34:5. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). stated in the text
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Deuteronomy 27:1–30:20): Moses addresses the assembled covenant community, including leaders, women, children, and resident strangers, concerning the covenant, its consequences, and the call to choose life. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Israel assembled in Moab before entering Canaan, and their children and later generations who were to hear the law read. Biblical references: Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 29:10; Deuteronomy 31:12. stated in the text
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? The Covenant in Moab. Read Deuteronomy 29:1 through Deuteronomy 29:29 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The speeches set out covenant consequences and call Israel to choose life through love and obedience rather than presume upon privilege. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? Moses speaks at the end of the wilderness period, before Israel crosses the Jordan. Deuteronomy 1:3 identifies the fortieth year and gives a month and day. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? The speeches are set in Moab east of the Jordan, recalling earlier places and anticipating life in Canaan. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in The Covenant in Moab (Deuteronomy 29:1 to Deuteronomy 29:29). Start reading at Deuteronomy 29:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? Acts applies Moses' promise of a prophet to Jesus, and Jesus uses Deuteronomy in His answers during temptation. These are explicit New Testament connections to the book. See Deuteronomy 18:15, Acts 3:22, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:7. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Remember what God has done and join hearing with obedience. Preserve the covenant audience and conditions when applying promises about land, blessing, judgment, and return. interpretation
Cited: Deuteronomy 29:1, Deuteronomy 29:29, Deuteronomy 18:15, Acts 3:22, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:7
Who wrote it, and how we know
Moses (traditional)
Named in Scripture
What Scripture saysThe book states plainly that Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests. Jesus and the apostles attribute the Law to Moses.
Deuteronomy 31:9Deuteronomy 31:24Mark 12:26John 5:46
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) and the early church name Moses.
What is debatedChapter 34 records the death of Moses, so even conservative scholars hold that a later hand, often identified as Joshua, added the closing account. Critical scholars date the book much later, to the seventh century B.C.
Related passages
- Ye stand this day all of you before the L… Deut 4:10 Deut 31:12-13 2 Chr 23:16 2 Chr 34:29-32 Neh 8:2 Neh 9:1-2,38 Neh 10:28 Joel 2:16-17
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Deuteronomy 29
Moses addresses Israel in Moab before the people cross the Jordan. The speeches recall the wilderness, expound covenant obligations, and confront the next generation with choices and consequences. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Deuteronomy 1:1 Deuteronomy 1:5 Deuteronomy 30:19
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Deuteronomy
Moses addresses Israel in Moab before the people cross the Jordan. The speeches recall the wilderness, expound covenant obligations, and confront the next generation with choices and consequences.
Deuteronomy 1:1 Deuteronomy 1:5 Deuteronomy 30:19
Remember the journey and hear the LORD
Deuteronomy 1:1–4:43FocusMemory and covenant faithfulness
Connection to the wholeMoses recounts the journey and urges Israel to remember God's acts and avoid idolatry as the people prepare to enter the land.
interpretation Love and obey the LORD
Deuteronomy 4:44–11:32FocusThe covenant's central demand
Connection to the wholeThe covenant commands and appeals join exclusive devotion to the LORD with hearing, remembering, teaching, and obeying His words.
interpretation Life in the land
Deuteronomy 12:1–26:19FocusWorship, justice, and community
Connection to the wholeDetailed commands apply covenant faithfulness to public worship, leadership, households, work, and the care of vulnerable people.
interpretation FocusBlessing, curse, and return
Connection to the wholeThe speeches set out covenant consequences and call Israel to choose life through love and obedience rather than presume upon privilege.
interpretation Moses' final acts and death
Deuteronomy 31:1–34:12FocusSuccession, witness, and blessing
Connection to the wholeJoshua is commissioned, the law and song are entrusted to the people, and Moses blesses Israel before his death.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.