The Lord made an agreement with the Israelites at Mount Horeb. In addition to that agreement, he also commanded Moses to make another agreement with them while they were in Moab. This is that agreement.
Moses called together all the Israelites. He said to them, "You saw everything the Lord did in the land of Egypt. You saw what he did to Pharaoh, to Pharaoh's officers, and to his whole country.
You did not have any food with you. You did not have any wine or anything else to drink. But the Lord took care of you so that you would understand that he is the Lord your God.
With this agreement, the Lord is making you his own special people, and he himself will become your God. He told you this. He promised this to your ancestors — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He is making this agreement with all of us who stand here today before the Lord our God. But this agreement is also for our descendants who are not here with us today.
Be sure that there is no man, woman, family or tribe here today who turns away from the Lord our God. No one should go and serve the gods of the other nations. People who do that are like a plant that grows bitter and poisonous fruit.
"Some people might hear these curses and comfort themselves by saying, 'I will continue doing what I want. Nothing bad will happen to me.' But that attitude will bring total disaster.
The Lord will not forgive them for that. No, the Lord will be angry and upset at them and punish them. The Lord will separate them from the tribes of Israel. He will completely destroy them. All the curses that are written in this book will happen to them. They are a part of the agreement that is written in this Book of Teachings.
"In the future, your descendants and foreigners from faraway countries will see how the land has been ruined. They will see the diseases that the Lord has brought to it.
All the land will be useless— destroyed by burning sulfur and covered with salt. The land will have nothing planted in it. Nothing will be growing—not even weeds. The land will be destroyed like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, the cities the Lord destroyed when he was very angry.
The answer will be: 'The Lord is angry because the Israelites left the agreement of the Lord, the God of their ancestors. They stopped following the agreement that the Lord made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.
"There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret. Only he knows these things. But he told us about some things. And these teachings are for us and our descendants forever. And we must obey all the commands in that law.