Ulangan 4:26

4:26 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.

Ulangan 8:1

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ⁴  I am giving ⁵  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ⁶  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ⁷ 

Ulangan 28:13

28:13 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 ⁸  commandments which I am urging ⁹  you today to be careful to do.

Ulangan 28:15

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore ¹⁰  the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ¹¹ 

Ulangan 30:19

30:19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!

[4:26]  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 Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

[4:26]  ² tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

[4:26]  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.

[8:1]  ⁴ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[28:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”

[28:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

[28:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”