Deuteronomy 11: A Blessing and a Curse

Moses tells Israel to love God and keep His commands, remembering His great works in Egypt and the wilderness. The land they are going to drinks rain from heaven, and God cares for it. They must put God's words on their hearts and teach their children. Moses sets before them a blessing if they obey and a curse if they turn to other gods.

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Read Deuteronomy 11

World English Bible · 32 verses

¹ Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
² Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
³ his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁴ and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁵ and what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁶ and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁷ but your eyes have seen all of Yahweh’s great work which he did.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁸ Therefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
⁹ and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁰ For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹¹ but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹² a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹³ It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁴ that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁵ I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁶ Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁷ and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁸ Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
¹⁹ You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁰ You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²¹ that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²² For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him—This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²³ then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁴ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁵ No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁶ Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁷ the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁸ and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
²⁹ It shall happen, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
³⁰ Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
³¹ For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
³² You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org

Worksheets

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Deuteronomy 11 · Preschool

God Gives Food

Name Date

Color the clouds and the grain! God makes food grow.

Can you find these in the picture? Circle each one!

Bible Verse

“I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.”

Deuteronomy 11:15 (WEB)

Prayer

Thank You, God, for making me!

Take It Home

Read the verse aloud. Say: God gives rain so food can grow. Thank You, God!

Open Grade 4 on its own page

Deuteronomy 11 · Grade 4

A Land God Cares For

Name Date

Read and Think

Moses reminds this generation that they personally saw God's mighty acts. He wants them to love God and keep His commands, not because of a story they heard, but because their own eyes saw His work in Egypt and the wilderness.

Canaan was different from Egypt. Egypt depended on the Nile, and fields were watered by foot. Canaan had hills and valleys and depended on rain from heaven. It was a land that the Lord cares for, with His eyes on it from the beginning of the year to the end. Israel would have to trust God for rain.

Moses repeats the call to bind God's words on hearts and homes and teach them to children. Then he sets before them a blessing and a curse. The blessing comes from listening to God; the curse comes from turning to other gods. The choice would be acted out on two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal.

Show What You Know

Why does Moses stress what their eyes saw?
How was Canaan different from Egypt?
What would Israel have to trust God for?
Where would the choice be acted out?

Word Bank Fill-In

Use the word bank to fill in each blank.

curserainGodblessing

Canaan had hills and valleys and depended on from heaven.
Israel would have to trust for rain.
Then he sets before them a and a curse.
The blessing comes from listening to God; the comes from turning to other gods.

Think About It

Israel had to trust God for rain every year. What do you have to trust God for?
How can your home show that God's words are important?

Memory Verse

“You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Deuteronomy 11:19 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for the rain. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

Why does God set a choice before His people?
How does depending on God help our faith grow?

Open Grade 5 on its own page

Deuteronomy 11 · Grade 5

Trusting God for Rain

Name Date

Read and Think

Moses speaks to people who saw God's works with their own eyes: the plagues on Egypt, the Red Sea closing over Pharaoh's army, and the judgment on Dathan and Abiram. Their faith was to rest on what God had actually done in history.

Moses contrasts Egypt and Canaan. Egypt was irrigated from the Nile, watered by foot like a vegetable garden. Canaan was a land of hills and valleys that drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land Yahweh your God cares for. Life in Canaan would require daily dependence. God promised the early and latter rain if they loved Him, but warned that turning to other gods would shut up the sky.

Moses again tells them to lay up God's words in heart and soul, teach them to children, and write them on door posts and gates. He then sets before Israel a blessing and a curse. This choice prepares for chapters 27 and 28, where the blessings and curses are proclaimed from Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

Show What You Know

What should Israel's faith rest on?
How was Egypt watered?
What would life in Canaan require?
What would turning to other gods do?
Which later chapters proclaim the blessings and curses?

Crossword

Across

Mount of curse.
God gives ____ in its season.

Down

____ them to your children.
Mount of blessing.
God gives ____ for your livestock.

Think About It

Why might God want His people to depend on Him daily instead of feeling self-sufficient?
Moses sets a choice before Israel. What choices about following God do you face?

Memory Verse

“You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Deuteronomy 11:19 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for the rain. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

Why is the land's need for rain a lesson about trust?
How can you teach God's words to someone younger?
What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

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Deuteronomy 11: A Blessing and a Curse

Read Deuteronomy 11

Worksheets

God Gives Food

Prayer

Take It Home

God Gives Rain

Trace the Words

Match the Pictures

Mini Maze

Draw It

Prayer

Take It Home

Choose to Obey

Trace the Words

Match the Pictures

Rain for the Land

Prayer

Take It Home

God Cares for the Land

Read the Story

Show What You Know

Word Search

Prayer

Take It Home

Blessing or Curse

Read the Story

Answer the Questions

Rain for the Land

Word Search

Prayer

Take It Home

A Land God Cares For

Read and Think

Show What You Know

Word Bank Fill-In

Think About It

Copy It

Prayer

Take It Home

Trusting God for Rain

Read and Think

Show What You Know

Crossword

Think About It

Copy It

Prayer

Take It Home

More print options