New: Plus articles on faith, family and the Bible. Read them →

Join

Old Testament

Deuteronomy

34 chapters

Start reading: Deuteronomy 1

About this book

Deuteronomy is Moses' farewell address. Israel stands on the plains of Moab, at the edge of the promised land, and Moses knows he will not cross the Jordan. He looks back at the journey from Egypt, reminds a new generation of what God has done, and restates the law so it can be lived in the land. At its center is the call to love the Lord with all one's heart and to worship him alone. The laws touch worship, justice, the care of the poor, the stranger, the widow and the orphan, and the rhythms of family life. The book is shaped like an ancient covenant and closes with blessings and curses, a renewal of the covenant, a final song, Moses' blessing of the tribes and his death. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy often, and the book's message of listening and loving runs through the whole Bible.

Author
Tradition names Moses; many scholars think the book was shaped and edited by later hands.
Date
The speeches are set just before Israel enters Canaan, in the 15th or 13th century BC; scholars debate when it reached its final form.
Audience
The new generation of Israel, preparing to enter the promised land.

Themes

Loving and listening to the LordCovenant faithfulnessRemembering what God has doneJustice and care for the vulnerableBlessing and consequences

Outline

  1. 1:1–4:43Looking back on the journey
  2. 4:44–11:32The great commandment and the call to love
  3. 12:1–26:19The laws for life in the land
  4. 27:1–30:20Blessings, curses and the choice of life
  5. 31:1–34:12Moses' song, blessing and death

Key verses

Deuteronomy 6:4-5Deuteronomy 10:12-13Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Chapters of Deuteronomy

  1. 1Deuteronomy 1Moses begins his farewell addresses to the new generation on the plains of Moab, recalling the journey from Mount Horeb.
  2. 2Deuteronomy 2Moses continues the review of the wilderness years.
  3. 3Deuteronomy 3Moses recalls the defeat of Og, king of Bashan, and the taking of sixty walled cities east of the Jordan, which were then given to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh.
  4. 4Deuteronomy 4Moses urges Israel to listen to God's decrees and to keep them without adding or subtracting, since their obedience will show other nations the wisdom and nearness of their God.
  5. 5Deuteronomy 5Moses gathers Israel and repeats the Ten Commandments given at Horeb, opening with God's identity as the one who brought them out of slavery.
  6. 6Deuteronomy 6This chapter contains the Shema, the central call of Israel's faith: the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and he is to be loved with all heart, soul and strength.
  7. 7Deuteronomy 7Moses tells Israel that when God brings them into the land, they must not make treaties or intermarry with the nations there, because these would draw them away to other gods.
  8. 8Deuteronomy 8Moses tells Israel to remember the forty years in the wilderness, when God humbled and tested them, letting them hunger and then feeding them with manna so they would learn that people live on every word from the mouth of the Lord.
  9. 9Deuteronomy 9Moses warns Israel that they will not enter the land because of their own righteousness, for they are a stubborn people.
  10. 10Deuteronomy 10God calls Moses back to Sinai to carve new stone tablets and place them in the ark of acacia wood.
  11. 11Deuteronomy 11Moses presses Israel to love the Lord and obey, recalling that they themselves saw the plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the sea and the earth's swallowing of Dathan and Abiram.
  12. 12Deuteronomy 12Moses begins the specific laws by calling Israel to destroy the Canaanite shrines and worship only at the place the Lord will choose, where they will bring sacrifices, tithes and offerings and rejoice before him with their households and the Levites.
  13. 13Deuteronomy 13Moses warns against three kinds of enticement to worship other gods: a prophet or dreamer who performs signs but calls people to follow other gods, a family member or close friend who secretly urges idolatry, and a whole town that turns away.
  14. 14Deuteronomy 14Israel is called God's treasured people, and so they must not mourn in pagan ways, such as cutting themselves.
  15. 15Deuteronomy 15Every seventh year, debts among fellow Israelites are to be released, so that no one becomes permanently poor.
  16. 16Deuteronomy 16Moses commands three annual pilgrim feasts at the place God will choose: Passover with Unleavened Bread, recalling the exodus; the Feast of Weeks, seven weeks after the harvest begins; and the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrated with joy for seven days after the harvest.
  17. 17Deuteronomy 17This chapter sets limits on those who serve or lead.
  18. 18Deuteronomy 18Levites are to live from the offerings, since the Lord is their inheritance.
  19. 19Deuteronomy 19Moses gives rules for cities of refuge, so that someone who kills unintentionally can flee and be protected from a vengeful relative until a fair hearing, while a deliberate murderer receives no protection.
  20. 20Deuteronomy 20Moses gives rules for war.
  21. 21Deuteronomy 21The chapter treats several cases.
  22. 22Deuteronomy 22This chapter gathers everyday rules for caring for a neighbor: return a lost ox or donkey, help a fallen animal, and put a parapet on a flat roof to prevent falls.
  23. 23Deuteronomy 23Moses sets limits on who may enter the assembly of the Lord, excluding some groups, though Edomites and Egyptians are treated more gently, since Israel once lived among them.
  24. 24Deuteronomy 24This chapter contains several social protections.
  25. 25Deuteronomy 25Moses addresses fair punishment, limiting flogging to forty lashes so that a person is not degraded.
  26. 26Deuteronomy 26When Israel enters the land, they are to bring the first of their harvest to the sanctuary in a basket and recite a confession that recalls their ancestry, the slavery in Egypt, and God's rescue and gift of the land.
  27. 27Deuteronomy 27Moses and the elders tell Israel that when they cross the Jordan they are to set up large stones coated with plaster, write the law on them, and build an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal.
  28. 28Deuteronomy 28Moses sets out the blessings that will follow if Israel obeys and the curses that will follow if they do not.
  29. 29Deuteronomy 29Moses gathers everyone, including children, foreigners, and those not yet born, to enter the covenant in Moab, in addition to the one at Horeb.
  30. 30Deuteronomy 30Moses says that even after exile, if Israel returns to the Lord with all its heart, God will gather them, restore their fortunes and circumcise their hearts so that they love him.
  31. 31Deuteronomy 31Moses, now 120 years old, says he can no longer lead.
  32. 32Deuteronomy 32Moses recites the Song of Moses before all Israel.
  33. 33Deuteronomy 33Before he dies, Moses blesses the twelve tribes, much as Jacob did in Genesis, though Simeon is not mentioned.
  34. 34Deuteronomy 34Moses climbs Mount Nebo, and the Lord shows him the whole land, from Gilead to the Negev, but tells him he will not cross the Jordan.
All books