# Return, and choose life Deuteronomy · Draft · BSB Content revision: 52353cafd3248180 · No editorial review date recorded [Citation / readable page](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/studies/deuteronomy/choose-life/) [Open interactive map](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/?study=deuteronomy§ion=choose-life) [Markdown](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/studies/deuteronomy/choose-life/index.md) [JSON](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/studies/deuteronomy/choose-life/index.json) Date: c. 1406 BC · Year 40, month 11 (Deuteronomy 1:3). Dated from 1 Kings 6:1 (the Exodus c. 1446 BC). Many scholars instead date the Exodus to about 1260 BC, placing these speeches about 1220 BC. When blessing and curse have come and Israel, scattered among the nations, returns to the LORD, he will restore and gather them and circumcise their hearts to love him. His command is not too hard or far away; the word is very near, in their mouth and in their heart. Moses sets before them life and death and urges them to choose life by loving the LORD, listening to his voice and holding fast to him. Deuteronomy records Moses’ last speeches to the new generation of Israel on the plains of Moab, in the fortieth year after the Exodus (1:3). It looks back over the journey from Egypt and Horeb and forward to life in the land, calling Israel to love the LORD and remember what he has done. Each section below lists what Moses recalls, with links to those events on the timeline, and where the rest of Scripture takes up the passage. The covenant renewed with the new generation, and the call to choose life (29–30). ## Primary Scripture [Deuteronomy 30:1–20 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2030%3A1%E2%80%9320&version=BSB) 30:1 “When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you, 30:2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, 30:3 then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you. 30:4 Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there. 30:5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. 30:7 Then the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you. 30:8 And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and follow all His commandments I am giving you today. 30:9 So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, 30:10 if you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30:11 For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ 30:13 And it is not beyond the sea, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ 30:14 But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it. 30:15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster. 30:16 For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 30:18 I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, 30:20 and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” ## Where Scripture takes it up [Romans 10:6–10](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2010%3A6%E2%80%9310&version=BSB) Paul reads “the word is very near you” as the message of faith. [Nehemiah 1:8–9](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah%201%3A8%E2%80%939&version=BSB) Nehemiah prays this promise of return. [Nehemiah hears Jerusalem’s plight and prays](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/nehemiah-prayer/) ## Location evidence Plains of Moab: Approximate region. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.64, 31.85\]. Classification source: editorial. Illustrative regional extent: \[\[35.56,31.77\],\[35.7,31.91\]\]; not a measured confidence interval. [Numbers 33:48–49 · extent of the camp](https://ebible.org/eng-web/NUM33.htm) ## For the class How does Paul in Romans 10 read “the word is very near you”? ## Interpretation and reuse Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review. Record source: editorial Study guide: original editorial writing for Scripture Atlas. Place coordinates: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0. Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm [Use this atlas with AI / data documentation](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/ai/)