Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:26 
Context4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you 1 today that you will surely and swiftly be removed 2 from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be 3 annihilated.
Deuteronomy 4:40
Context4:40 Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth 4 today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you as a permanent possession.
Deuteronomy 28:13
Context28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his 5 commandments which I am urging 6 you today to be careful to do.
Deuteronomy 29:18
Context29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. 7
Deuteronomy 30:16
Context30:16 What 8 I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. 9
Deuteronomy 31:21
Context31:21 Then when 10 many disasters and distresses overcome them 11 this song will testify against them, 12 for their 13 descendants will not forget it. 14 I know the 15 intentions they have in mind 16 today, even before I bring them 17 to the land I have promised.”
1 sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the
2 tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”
3 tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.
4 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).
5 tn Heb “the
6 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”
7 tn Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”
8 tc A number of LXX
9 tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 tn Heb “Then it will come to pass that.”
11 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
12 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
13 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
14 tn Heb “it will not be forgotten from the mouth of his seed.”
15 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
16 tn Heb “which he is doing.”
17 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
