Deuteronomy 29

These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;

the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders.

But the LORD has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet.

You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them.

We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.

Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

All of you stand today in the presence of the LORD your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,

your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water,

that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today,

that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only,

but with those who stand here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with those who are not here with us today

(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed;

and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them);

lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison;

and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry.

The LORD will not pardon him, but then the LORD’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under the sky.

The LORD will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

The generation to come—your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick,

that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath.

Even all the nations will say, “Why has the LORD done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”

Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,

and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them.

Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book.

The LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”

The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter stands at a pivotal moment in Deuteronomy, renewing the covenant between the LORD and Israel before they enter the Promised Land. It emphasizes the collective responsibility of all Israelites—past, present, and future—to uphold the covenant, warning of dire consequences for unfaithfulness, while affirming the clarity and accessibility of God’s revealed will.

Flow.

Moses identifies this as a covenant addition to Sinai (Horeb), rooted in Israel’s historical experience of God’s works in Egypt and the wilderness (vv. 1–6).
He recounts their conquest of Transjordan and reaffirms the necessity of obedience for prosperity (vv. 7–9).
The entire nation is summoned before God to enter the covenant, including future generations and foreigners (vv. 10–15).
A solemn warning follows against idolatry and self-deception, with the assurance that rebellion will bring national judgment and exile (vv. 16–28).
The chapter closes by distinguishing divine secrets from revealed commandments, calling Israel to faithful obedience (v. 29).

Connections.
Following chapter 28’s detailed blessings and curses, this chapter applies them personally and communally, grounding the covenant in Israel’s ongoing identity. It prepares the way for chapter 30, which holds out hope for repentance and restoration after exile, by making clear that the covenant includes both judgment for disobedience and the possibility of return. The inclusion of future generations here (v. 15) sets the stage for the promise of renewal in the next chapter.

What it teaches.
The covenant with Israel is not a one-time event at Sinai but an ongoing, communal relationship confirmed anew in each generation (WCF 7.4). God’s saving acts in history—deliverance from Egypt, provision in the wilderness, victory over kings—demand faithful response, not presumption (WCF 19.1). Israel is warned that apostasy defiles the community like a poisonous root (Heb. 12:15) and provokes God’s jealousy, leading to national disaster (WCF 5.6). Yet God has revealed what is necessary for obedience (v. 29), so that His people are accountable to do “all the words of this law”—a truth echoed in the clarity of Scripture affirmed in WCF 1.6.

Apply.
Obedience is rendered not through speculative judgment of hidden things, but through faithful attention to what God has plainly revealed.

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