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,
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,
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.
4 Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there.
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.
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.
7 Then the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you.
8 And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and follow all His commandments I am giving you today.
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,
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.
Note · Deutéronome 30.1–10
Le retour engage le cœur autant que le chemin
La communauté dispersée n’est pas décrite comme définitivement hors d’atteinte. Le rassemblement et la transformation du cœur relèvent de l’initiative de Dieu, à laquelle répond l’écoute. La promesse ne doit pas être utilisée pour effacer les personnes qui vivent encore en exil ni pour fixer un calendrier politique certain.
11 For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
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?’
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?’
14 But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.
Note · Deutéronome 30.11–14
La parole proche est destinée à être mise en pratique
Le commandement n’est pas placé dans un ciel inaccessible ou au-delà de la mer. Sa proximité dans la bouche et le cœur appelle un agir. Romains 10.6-8 reprend ce langage dans l’annonce du Christ ; cette réception chrétienne ne permet pas de décrire la Torah comme une parole dépourvue de grâce ou de proximité.
15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster.
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.
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,
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.
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,
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.”
Note · Deutéronome 30.15–20
Choisir la vie signifie aimer, écouter et s’attacher
L’alternative est formulée avec gravité, dans le cadre de l’alliance et du pays promis. La vie n’est pas ici un bien indépendant de toute relation. Le lecteur ne peut toutefois faire de cette exhortation un reproche automatique envers un malade, une personne dépressive ou quiconque ne parvient pas à sortir seul de sa détresse.