The LORD uprooted them from their land … and cast them into another land: the verb translated “uproot” is not used elsewhere in Deuteronomy or the other “books of Moses” (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers). This is a vivid way of describing the people of Israel being taken as prisoners of war to a foreign country. The background of this was probably the period of the Babylonian captivity. The picture of uprooted may be also expressed as “pulled them up by the roots.” However, if the figure sounds strange, a translator may say something like “then the LORD became furiously angry [or, his anger burned hotly], and he removed the Israelites from their land, just like someone pulls up a plant by its roots.”

In anger and fury and great wrath: here three similar terms are used together for emphasis.

And cast them into another land: the picture is of someone pulling weeds out of the ground and tossing or throwing them aside.

As at this day: the day or time when those foreigners are talking about the terrible disasters that have fallen on the Israelites.

The speech of the foreigners, which began at verse 25, ends here.

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 verse sounds like a proverbial saying that the writer did not intend to be part of what Moses said. But there is no way, other than placing it within parentheses, to indicate this. It is better to translate it as part of Moses’ discourse. It combines with 30.11-14 as a frame for 30.1-10. It will be helpful to begin this verse with “Moses said” or “Then Moses continued to speak.”

The secret things belong to the LORD our God: this pertains primarily to future events, but in a general way it states that there are matters that human beings cannot know; God alone knows. So Good News Translation has “there are some things that the LORD our God has kept secret.”

The things that are revealed: that is, God has made some things known, primarily, in this context, the covenant and its conditions. In many languages it will be helpful to make the subject or agent of the action clear; for example, “but he [God] has revealed his law to us and our descendants.”

Belong to us and to our children for ever: here us are the people of Israel; our children are their descendants.

We may do all the words of this law: see 1.5; 4.2; 6.25.

A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The LORD our [inclusive] God has not revealed certain things to us and our descendants; but he has revealed his law to us. We and our descendants must obey it forever.

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 .

With the beginning of a new section, Moses should be reintroduced as the speaker.

Verses 1-3 are one long sentence in Revised Standard Version, which must be broken into smaller units. See Good News Translation for a helpful model.

When all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse: Moses looks to the future, when the people of Israel will have experienced all the blessings and curses promised in chapter 28. The blessing may be translated as “the good things he will do for you.” The curse may be rendered as “how he will punish you if you reject him,” or “the punishments he will bring upon you if….” But see the comments on curse at 11.26.

Which I have set before you: throughout this chapter Moses is the speaker. Moses has listed the blessings and the curses, and the Israelites are to choose between them. It will be helpful in a number of languages to reorder the first part of the verse, as shown in the alternative translation model given at the end.

And you call them to mind: Good News Translation has restructured the sentence for greater clarity, placing this clause at the end of the verse and rendering “you will remember the choice I gave you.”

Among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you: this is a reference to exile, here spoken of as exile in various foreign countries. The verb “drive” is used in this sense only here in Deuteronomy; it appears quite frequently in Jeremiah. It means “to scatter,” as in “He will scatter you in faraway countries” (Contemporary English Version). For “scattered” see 4.27.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Moses said to the Israelites: “I am now letting you choose between two things: the good things that Yahweh will do for you or the punishments that he will bring upon you if you reject him. When all these things that I have told you about happen to you, and you are living in faraway countries where the LORD your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave 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 .

Return to the LORD your God: see 4.30.

You and your children: not only the next generation but all succeeding generations; in other words “your descendants” (Good News Translation).

Obey … with all your heart and with all your soul: see 4.29-30; 6.5.

Again this day (“today”) is emphasized.

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 .

Restore your fortunes: this expression may be translated “bring you back from captivity” (New International Version alternative rendering, in footnote). But the majority of translations give the sense it has in Revised Standard Version, that is, deliver them from their misery and humiliation and make them a prosperous people again. In essence the two variant translations mean the same thing. Contemporary English Version has “Then he will stop punishing you”; but another possible translation is “He will make you prosperous again” (Good News Translation).

Have compassion: see 13.17.

Gather you again from all the peoples: this presupposes that the Israelites will be scattered among many nations.

Scattered: see 4.27.

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 .

Your outcasts: the Hebrew noun here is related to the verb “has driven” in verse 1. New Revised Standard Version is much better here: “Even if you are exiled.” Good News Translation translates “Even if you are scattered.” Another way to express this is “Even if you live in other countries.”

In the uttermost parts of heaven: obviously this is “to the ends of the earth” as New Revised Standard Version has it, or “the ends of the world” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh); see a similar phrase in 4.32. New International Version has “the most distant lands under the heavens.”

Will gather you … will fetch you: two very similar expressions, for emphasis.

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 verse tells how the fortunes of the Israelites will be reversed.

Bring you into the land which your fathers possessed: bring is repetitive and redundant; Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version omit it. You here refers not to the people being addressed that day in Moab, but to their descendants in the distant future who will be taken into exile; and your fathers are the ancestors of those distant descendants, not the ancestors of the people listening to Moses. If readers of the translation are likely to understand that “you” and “your ancestors” mean the people present there that day and their own ancestors, some means must be found to eliminate this misunderstanding, either in the text or else by means of a footnote. See the alternative translation model at the end of the verse for a way to put this in the text.

Possess: see 1.8.

Make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers: that is, the people who return from exile will become more prosperous and numerous than their ancestors who had lived in the land of Israel before the exile. Again you may be translated as “your descendants.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• … so that your descendants may again take possession of the land where their ancestors once lived. He will make your descendants more prosperous and numerous than their ancestors ever were.

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 .

Here Moses is talking about the people present with him there in the plains of Moab.

Will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring: circumcision was the sign of belonging to the people of Yahweh, the people of the covenant; an uncircumcised man was, by definition, a Gentile, a pagan. In effect this clause means that God will make these stubborn and disobedient Israelites his obedient people once more (see 10.16; Jer 4.4). Contemporary English Version begins the verse with the statement “You and your descendants are stubborn, but the LORD will make you willing to obey him.” We may also say “but the LORD will make your hearts and the hearts of your descendants obedient to him.”

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul: see 6.5.

That you may live: this might be quite literally true; but primarily it means to have a long and prosperous existence as a nation in the land of Canaan. So Good News Translation has “and you will continue to live in that land.”

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 .