Deuteronomy 11 is Moses’ final appeal before Israel enters the promised land. He asks the people to remember what the LORD has done, to love him wholeheartedly, and to choose between blessing and curse. These questions are for a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study, and they follow the chapter from start to finish so you can move through it without a separate summary.
Deuteronomy 11 at a Glance
The chapter opens with a call to love the LORD and keep his commands, grounded in what the people have already seen him do in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness. Moses then contrasts the watered valleys of Canaan with the Nile-fed fields of Egypt, pointing out that the land depends on the rain the LORD sends. Obedience brings rain and fruitfulness; turning to other gods brings drought and loss.
The second half turns to instruction. Moses tells the people to fix these words in their hearts, teach them to their children in everyday moments, and display them at home and at the gates. The chapter closes with the blessing and the curse set before them and the command to carry out the statutes in the land ahead.
Observation Questions
Use these first to make sure everyone has read the chapter closely before anyone offers an opinion. Let the group answer from the text itself, and point back to the verse when answers drift into assumptions.
Deuteronomy 11:1
Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
(WEB)
Read this first to frame the whole chapter around love for God. It names love as the root from which obedience should grow, which gives the group a foundation for everything that follows.
Deuteronomy 11:12
A land which the LORD your God cares for. The LORD your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
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This verse presents God’s attention as constant, from the beginning of the year to its end. Reading it aloud lets the group sit with the image of God’s watchful care over a land and a people.
Deuteronomy 11:13-15
13 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.
(WEB)
These verses link faithfulness with rain, harvest and provision in a single promise. Reading the range together helps the group see how Moses describes blessing in tangible, seasonal terms.
Deuteronomy 11:18-19
18 Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
(WEB)
These verses describe keeping God’s words in the heart and teaching them through daily life. Reading them aloud invites the group to consider how faith is passed on in ordinary routines.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
26 Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
(WEB)
Moses sets the blessing and the curse before the people in direct, personal terms. Reading this range helps the group feel the seriousness of the choice without rushing past it.
Memory Verse for Deuteronomy 11
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who have seen and heard of your mighty works, and we ask you to keep those memories fresh in our hearts. Teach us to love you with all our hearts and souls, and to listen carefully to the words you give us. Guard us from the quiet drift of divided loyalties, and keep our attention on you through every season. Help us to teach your faithfulness to those who follow us, in the ordinary moments of our days. Amen.
