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This is the word of the covenant that Moses made with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, according to the command of the LORD, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Mount Horeb.
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Moses summoned all the people of Israel and said to them:
“You have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt before your eyes against Pharaoh and against all his servants and against all his land:
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the great trials that your own eyes saw, those great signs and wonders.
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But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.
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For forty years I led you through the wilderness; your clothes did not wear out on you, and your sandals did not wear out on your feet.
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You did not eat bread, and you did not drink wine or strong drink — so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.
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When you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to fight, and we defeated them,
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and took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
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Therefore keep the words of this covenant faithfully, so that you may prosper in all that you do.
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All of you are standing today before the LORD your God: your chiefs, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,
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your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners in your camp, even your woodcutters and your water carriers among you,
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to enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, that is, into his sworn oath, which the LORD your God is making with you today,
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so that he may establish you today as his people and be your God, as he has spoken to you and as he has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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I am making this covenant and this sworn oath not only with you,
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but with everyone who is here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with everyone who is not here with us today.
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For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the midst of the nations through which you traveled,
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and you have seen their detestable idols and their idols of wood and stone, of gold and silver, which were among them.
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Therefore let there not be among you man or woman, family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations; let there not be among you a root bearing poison or bitter fruit.
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But if anyone, when hearing the words of this oath, flatters himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart’—thus sweeping away both the watered land and the dry—
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the LORD will not be willing to forgive that person, but the anger and jealousy of the LORD will burn against him at that time; every curse written in this book will come upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.
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The LORD will set that person apart from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.
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Then the coming generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a distant land will say—when they see the afflictions and diseases that the LORD has brought upon that land,
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all its soil burned with sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, and no plant springing up from it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in the heat of His wrath—
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even all the nations will say: Why has the LORD done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?
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Then people will answer: Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt,
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and because they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods they had not known and that the LORD had not given them as their portion.
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That is why the anger of the LORD burned against this land, bringing upon it every curse written in this book:
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The LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in the heat of His wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is today.
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The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
📜🧠💔 Summary of Deuteronomy 29 – Covenant Renewal and a Serious Warning
Deuteronomy 29 (in the LAI TB version, also known as the beginning of chapter 30) contains the renewal of the covenant between God and the new generation of Israel, as they were about to enter the Promised Land. Moses calls the people to remember God’s care, renew their commitment, and understand the consequences of betraying the LORD.
📌 1. Past Experiences & Signs from God (verses 1–9)
- Moses reminds the Israelites about:
Signs and wonders in Egypt
God’s care in the wilderness for 40 years
Sandals and clothing that did not wear out
Victory over Sihon and Og
- The purpose: that they may understand, see, and know in their hearts who the LORD is.
🎯 Remember the LORD’s works in your life as the basis of faith and obedience.
📌 2. Renewal of the Covenant (verses 10–15)
- The whole people, from leaders to slaves, even the foreigners, stood before the LORD to:
Enter into the new covenant
Become God’s people and receive Him as their LORD
- This covenant was also not only for those present, but for their descendants as well.
🎯 The responsibility of faith and obedience spans generations.
📌 3. Warning against Apostasy (verses 16–28)
- Moses warned: let no one keep an idol in the heart or say, “I will be fine, even if I follow my own heart.”
- Such an attitude will bring a great curse and the LORD’s anger.
- The land of Israel will become dry and ruined, and other nations will ask, “Why is the LORD angry?”
The answer: because the people abandoned the LORD and worshiped other gods.
🎯 Apostasy does not begin with outward actions, but with a stubborn heart.
📌 4. Closing: The Secret Things of God and Obedience (verse 29)
“The hidden things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children…” – Deuteronomy 29:29
🎯 We do not need to know all of God’s secrets — but we are responsible for what has been revealed, namely His Word.
📖 Main Teaching
- Remember God’s experiences and presence — that is the foundation of faith.
- The covenant with God needs to be renewed in awareness and commitment.
- Do not keep a rebellious attitude in the heart — God knows it.
- *The curse comes not because of ignorance, but because of deliberately rejecting God’s law.
- We do not know everything, but we know enough to live rightly.
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
“Take care, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief…”
“They knew God, but did not glorify Him… they worshiped the creature rather than the Creator.”
“Whoever knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
🎯 God desires sincere faith and conscious obedience, not merely ritual or religious formality.
“Pay attention to the words of this covenant and do them, so that you may prosper in all that you do.” – Deuteronomy 29:9
“The LORD will not be willing to forgive that person…” – Deuteronomy 29:20
“The hidden things belong to the LORD…” – Deuteronomy 29:29
