ruler of God's people, was not to lead them in; he was to die on that side of the Jordan, before they should pass over into the land of Canaan. So he called together the children of Israel in the plains of Moab, that he might speak to them, for the last time, the commandments which the Lord had given him.

First, he reminded the children of Israel how the Lord had brought them forth from the hard bondage of Egypt forty years before, to bring them into the land of Canaan, but because of the sin of their fathers, who had rebelled against Him at Kadesh-barnea, the Lord had turned them back to wander in the wilderness. And then he spoke of all that God had since done for them, how He had brought them again to the border of the promised land, and had subdued their enemies, the two kings of the Amorites, on that side of the river Jordan, where they now were, and had given them their land to possess.

Then Moses spoke many solemn words to the children of Israel; and he bade them take heed to themselves, and keep their souls diligently, lest

they should forget the things which they had seen, the great works which the Lord had done before their eyes. He told them to remember specially the day when they stood before the Lord at Sinai, when the mountain burned with fire, and the Lord spake unto them the ten commandments out of the midst of the fire, and made His covenant with them. And he warned them that the Lord their God was as a consuming fire to those who sinned against Him.

Then he told them, that if they should sin against God, and forget the covenant which He had made with them, the Lord would cast them out of the good land which they were now going to possess, and would scatter them amongst the heathen nations which were round about it. But he said, that if they should repent with all their hearts of the sins for which He punished them, God would still be merciful to them, and would not forsake them when scattered among those heathen nations, nor destroy them altogether. He said, "If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou shalt seek Him with

all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, if thou turn unto the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice, He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee."

Then Moses went on to tell the children of Israel all that the Lord willed that they should do; and he said, “ These are the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do them, that it may be well with thee, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou

liest down, and when thou risest up... Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His statutes which He hath commanded thee. . . And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, and upon Pharaoh, before our eyes: and He brought us out from thence, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day."

Deut. i. 1. 3; iv. v. & vi.

Diligently, means carefully and earnestly.
The heathen, are people who worship false gods.
Tribulation, is great trouble and sorrow.

Statutes, are laws to be obeyed.

Chapter LXXV.

GOD'S PROMISES AND WARNINGS TO HIS PEOPLE.

MOSES continued for many days to speak to the children of Israel, who were gathered together on the borders of the promised land, the commandments of God, His warnings and His promises.

He reminded them of all that God willed that they should do to the seven nations who now dwelt in the land of Canaan, when He should deliver them into their hands, and drive them out from before them. He said, that they were utterly to destroy those nations, and to throw down the altars of their idols, and break their images, and burn them with fire. For God had commanded that the children of Israel should not show mercy unto that wicked people, nor make any covenant with them, nor have any dealings with them, nor make marriages with their sons or their daughters, lest they should turn away their hearts from