26. I'm calling out to heaven and earth to be witnesses against you this very day. If you do those things, you will quickly die in the land you are going across the Jordan River to take over. You won't live there very long. You will certainly be destroyed.
27. The Lord will drive you out of your land. He will scatter you among the nations. Only a few of you will remain alive there.
28. There you will worship gods that men have made out of wood and stone. Those gods can't see, hear, eat or smell.
29. Perhaps while you are there, you will look to the Lord your God. You will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30. All of the things I've told you about might happen to you. And you will be in trouble. But later you will return to the Lord your God. You will obey him.
31. The Lord your God is tender and loving. He won't leave you or destroy you. He won't forget the covenant he made with your people long ago. He took an oath when he made it.
32. Ask now about the days of long ago. Learn what happened long before your time. Ask about what has happened since the time God created man on the earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened? Has anything like it ever been heard of?
33. You heard the voice of God speaking out of fire. And you lived! Has that happened to any other people?
34. Has any god ever tried to take one nation out of another to be his own? Has any god done it by putting his people to the test? Has any god done it with miraculous signs and wonders or with a war? Has any god reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm? Or has any god shown his people his great and wonderful acts? The Lord your God did all of those things for you in Egypt. With your very own eyes you saw him do them.
35. The Lord showed you those things so that you might know he is God. There is no other God except him.
36. From heaven he made you hear his voice. He wanted to teach you. On earth he showed you his great fire. You heard his words coming out of the fire.
37. He loved your people long ago. He chose their children after them. So he brought you out of Egypt. He used his great strength to do it.
38. He drove out nations to make room for you. They were greater and stronger than you are. He will bring you into their land. He wants to give it to you as your very own. The whole land is as good as yours right now.