In those foreign countries, where they will live as exiles, the Israelites will worship pagan gods, lifeless idols. There is no hint in the text that their conquerors will force them to do this, it is rather that on their own they will eventually worship the pagan deities.

Serve: that is, worship (see verse 19).

The gods of wood and stone are man-made idols, the work of men’s hands; therefore they cannot see, hear, eat, or smell (see Psa 115.4-6; 135.15-17). In some languages this first sentence will be expressed as “There you will worship idols made of wood and stone that represent gods…” or “… likenesses of gods that they have made out of wood….” See the comments on “graven image” in 4.16.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

But from there: “But while you are there,” “But in that country.” Yahweh is not restricted to his own land, the land of Israel. He can be “found” anywhere.

You will seek the LORD your God and you will find him: the idea of looking for God and finding him may not be easy to express without sounding ludicrous, as though God were hiding or living in some place difficult to find. The “seeking” consists of praying to God, and the “finding” of having the prayer answered. So we may translate “But in that country you will pray to the LORD your God, and he will answer you.”

If you search for him: here a different Hebrew verb is used; other models can be “if you really look for him,” “if you really try to find him,” or “if you really try to contact him….” In some languages this if clause will come first. In such cases translators must ensure that this verse fits with the flow of the paragraph.

With all your heart and with all your soul: in general the heart stands for intellect or will, and the soul for emotion, feelings. This phrase recurs frequently (10.12; 11.13; 13.3; 26.16; 30.2, 6, 10); the triple phrase “heart, soul, and might” is used in 6.5. Some possibilities are “whole-heartedly,” “completely,” “with all your being,” “earnestly.” Translators are urged to use descriptive language similar to the Hebrew if it does not sound strange or unnatural. Otherwise we may simply have to combine the two parts of the verse; for example, “If you earnestly pray to the LORD your God in that country, he will listen to you.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

When you are in tribulation: “When you are in trouble,” “When you are suffering [or, being mistreated].” This still refers to their exile.

All these things come upon you: these things are their deportation, their loss of freedom, and eventual idolatry.

In the latter days: in some contexts this phrase has the technical sense of the time when God will intervene forcibly into human affairs and establish his rule over the world (the Septuagint translation favors this interpretation). Here, however, it is more likely that the phrase refers to a decisive turning point in the future (see Ezek 38.8, 16; Hos 3.5). Revised English Bible has “in days to come”; Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “finally.” It should be noted that this phrase goes with what is before, not with what follows.

You will return to the LORD your God: they will once more acknowledge Yahweh as their God and worship and serve him alone. Contemporary English Version has “you may finally decide that you want to worship only the LORD.”

Obey his voice: the verb can be translated “hear” or “listen to”; here “hear” means to heed, or obey.

It is possible to combine verses 29 and 30 as follows:

• When you are there [or, in that land] and the time comes when you will endure all kinds of trouble, you may then decide to turn back to the LORD your God and obey him. If at that time you pray to him wholeheartedly, he will answer you [or, come and help you].

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

A merciful God: compassionate, tenderhearted; the same God described so harshly in verse 24. In many languages there will be idiomatic expressions using the heart, liver, or even bowels (or, intestines) that mean merciful; for example, “He [God] cries in his heart for you,” or “His bowels yearn for you.”

He will not fail you: he will not abandon, leave, forsake, desert.

Destroy: a different verb is used in verses 3, 26, but the meaning is the same (the Septuagint translates both verbs with the same Greek verb).

Forget the covenant: see verse 23. In some languages it will be more natural style, or even obligatory, to state this positively; for example, “He will remember the agreement he made with….”

With your fathers, which he swore to them: see 1.8. This covenant is the one that God made with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Verses 33-34 are two rhetorical questions, each expecting a negative answer. It may be better to express them as emphatic statements, even though this may result in a loss of stylistic beauty. Verse 34 especially is much too long and complex to be read as a single question.

Did any people ever hear…? Israel’s experience with its God is unique; no other people had had Israel’s experience of being chosen by a god to receive special treatment. The question has to do not only with the people hearing a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, but of their having lived after hearing that god speak. Good News Translation provides a good model for restructuring the verse; see also Bible en français courant: “Is there any other people who has heard a god speak to them out of the midst of the fire and has survived, as has happened with you?” This refers to Mount Sinai (see verse 12).

Translators must take care to translate the general term “a god,” not “God” in particular. For god see 3.24.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This is another rhetorical question, whose answer is “No.” Since it is so long and complex, it may be well to translate it as a statement; for example, “No other god ever dared [or, tried] to go and take a group of people….”

Attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation: the verb attempted may be translated “dared” (see its use in 28.56, where Revised Standard Version has “venture”). For go and take a nation, see verse 20. Here Yahweh is portrayed as forcibly going to Egypt and seizing the Israelites to be his own people. If take a nation for himself … is too difficult to translate, we may say “Yahweh your God dared to go and take you out of Egypt; no other god has ever done something like this.”

Yahweh did this by using trials, signs, wonders, war, and great terrors. All these events refer to the plagues God sent on the Egyptians to force the king to let the Israelites leave the country (Exo 7.14–12.36). In a series like this the precise meaning of each term is not as important as the cumulative effect of all of them used together:

• trials refer to the sufferings inflicted on the Egyptians;

• signs were the plagues themselves, seen as demonstrations of God’s power;

• wonders means miraculous events in general; in this context they are bad, not good;

• war seems to refer to what happened to the Egyptians as they chased the Israelites across the “Red Sea” (Exo 14.14; 15.3-4; Deut 11.4);

• great terrors were terrifying events, unspecified.

Good News Translation may serve as a good model for this list: “plagues and wars … miracles and wonders, and … terrifying things.” See the similar list in 26.8.

By a mighty hand and an outstretched arm: a vivid metaphor for great power, mighty strength; so “used his great power and strength” (also 5.15; 7.19; 11.2; 26.8). An alternative translation model for by trials … great terrors may be:

• He used his great power and strength and caused the Egyptians to suffer terribly. He did amazing and dreadful things that terrified the Egyptians, and he fought against them for you.

According to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt: the initial according to is a poor rendering of the Hebrew in English; it should have been “as”: “as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt” (New Revised Standard Version).

Before your eyes: that is, “in your presence.” These were public, not private, displays of Yahweh’s power. Time is shortened, and Moses’ addresses his audience, forty years after the exodus, as the very people who left Egypt. Another way of saying this is “You actually saw.”

It is possible to combine verses 32-34, putting the order of events in a more logical sequence:

• When the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt and made you his own people, you yourselves actually saw how he used his great power and strength and caused the Egyptians to suffer terribly. He did amazing and dreadful things that terrified them, and he fought against them for you. Later at Mount Sinai you heard him talking to you out of the fire. And yet you are still alive! Has anything like this ever happened since the time God created human beings? Even if you search the entire earth you will find that no one has heard of another god who did such things as the LORD your God has done for you.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

To you it was shown: “You saw [all these things] for yourselves,” or “God showed you [all these things].” Revised English Bible has “You have had sure proof.”

That you might know that the LORD is God: “to prove to you that…” (Good News Translation), “to convince you that….” New Revised Standard Version translates “so that you would acknowledge.”

There is no other god besides him: “there is no other god,” “Yahweh is the only god,” “he alone is God” (Good News Translation), or “he is the only true God” (Contemporary English Version) (see 5.7; 32.39).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

In this verse the point is made that, though Yahweh’s voice was heard coming from Mount Sinai, Yahweh himself was not there but in heaven.

Out of heaven he let you hear his voice: “You heard him speak to you from heaven.” See Exo 20.22.

That he might discipline you: the Hebrew verb might be translated “instruct” (New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible), but here “discipline” is better (New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh); see its use in 8.5, of a father disciplining his son. The purpose of all these events was to make Israel an obedient people. An alternative model is “teach you to obey him.”

And on earth he let you see his great fire: see verses 11-12.

You heard his words out of the midst of the fire: see verses 12, 15.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .