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.
39. The Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Today you must agree with that and take it to heart. There is no other God.
40. I'm giving you his rules and commands today. Obey them. Then things will go well with you and your children after you. You will live a long time in the land. The Lord your God is giving you the land for all time to come.
41. I set apart three cities east of the Jordan River.
42. Anyone who killed a person he didn't hate and without meaning to do it could run to one of those cities. He could go there and stay alive.
43. Here are the names of the cities. Bezer was for the people of Reuben. It was in the high flatlands in the desert. Ramoth was for the people of Gad. It was in Gilead. Golan was for the people of Manasseh. It was in Bashan.