See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.
- BSB See, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster.
- NKJV “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,
- NASB “See, I have placed before you today life and happiness, and death and adversity,
- NLT “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses sets before Israel a clear choice: life and good, or death and evil. God's word confronts us with a decisive choice.
Overview
Moses frames the covenant decision starkly as life and prosperity versus death and ruin. There is no neutral ground; the response to God's word determines destiny. This either-or, fulfilled in the gospel's call to choose Christ who is the life, presses every hearer to a definite and urgent decision.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Deut 11:26Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
- Deut 30:19I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
- Gal 3:13–14Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
- 1 Jn 5:11–12And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
- Deut 28:1–14And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
- Deut 32:47For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
- Mark 16:16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
- Deut 30:1And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
- John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
- 1 Jn 3:23And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
- Gal 5:6For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 30:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.