והשבות אל לבבך, you will be able to distinguish the truth between apparently contradictory phenomena. When you become the victim of what has been predicted for the sinners, you will realise how far you had strayed from G’d’s Torah, i.e. from G’d Himself.

בכל הגויים, while you are still in exile.

ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך, your repentance will have as its exclusive purpose to henceforth carry out only G’d ‘s will to the extent that He has revealed it. Our sages in Yuma 86 have said of this type of repentance that “it reaches right up to the throne of G’d’s Majesty.”

ושמעת בקולו ככל אשר אנכי מצוך היום, instead of listening (abiding by) man-made laws as you were in the habit of doing.

אתה ובניך, also the children of this generation will recognise this. Jeremiah 31,33 refers to “everyone knowing Me,” i.e. G’d, adding למקטנם ועד גדולם, “from their early youth till their reaching adulthood.”

בכל לבבך, without any reservation.

ובכל נפשך, without allowing the “natural,” evil urge inspired temptations to sidetrack you by downplaying the importance of some of G’d’s legislation

ושב וקבצך , during the ingathering of the exiles.

ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך, לאהבה, He will open your eyes so as to remove every erroneous conceptions which have prevented you from recognising the theological truth of all aspects of the Jewish religion. Once these “blinds” have been removed from your eyes you will realise that everything G’d has done was out of His love for you, and had to be done למען חייך, in order to ensure that you will be part of eternal life after your body dies.

על אויביך ועל שונאיך, both against those who oppose you openly and attack you, as well as against those who hate you only in their hearts without translating their hatred into hostile action. According to Jeremiah 30,11 G’d will eliminate all those nations.

ואתה תשוב, not from the root שוב to return, but from the root ישב, i.e. you will sit at ease, undisturbed. Compare Isaiah 30,15 בשובה ונחת. This period will be ushered in by the arrival of the Messiah after the hostile nations have been eliminated. Moses contrasts what will happen to those nations and what will happen to the Jewish people at that time. G’d will never exile you again. All this has been spelled out by Jeremiah 4,1 when he said:אם תשוב ישראל....אלי תשוב....ולא תנוד, “if you return Israel….return to Me, and you do not waver, …nations shall bless themselves by you, etc.”

ועשית את כל מצוותיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום, not adopting any new religious rites or philosophies.

'והותירך ה, He will grant you success beyond any success you have ever enjoyed previously.

לטובה...הכתובה בספר התורה הזה, as He said when He said: והתהלכתי בתוככם והייתי לכם לאלוקים ואתם תהיו לי לעם, “I shall walk freely in your midst and will be your G’d and you will be My people” (Leviticus 26,12) This promise will be fulfilled when כאשר ה' ישוב לשוש עליך...לטוב כי תשמע, as He had once delighted in your forefathers (the patriarchs). This time the good you will experience at G’d’s hands will not be due to the merit of the patriarchs but will be due to the fact that your repentance is so wholehearted and unreserved. Due to your unreserved repentance your former demerits will be converted into merits, seeing that it was, after all, these demerits and what followed that have become the catalyst of your eventual return to G’d. You will enjoy G’d’s goodwill just as did the patriarchs.

כי המצוה הזאת, and the reason that I said in verse 1 that the repentance must be wholehearted and among the nations, i.e. while you are still in exile, is so that it can trigger your salvation. For, indeed this commandment, i.e. the one to return to G’d in sincere penitence אשר אנכי מצוך היום, Moses reminds the people that in the list of sacrifices in Leviticus 5,5 et al, where various kinds of sin and guilt offerings are listed as means to expiate for the error committed, the essential refrain is always “והתוודה אשר חטא,” that the guilty person first confesses his mistake, his sin, even the one committed inadvertently. Compare also Numbers 5,6-7)

לא נפלאת היא ממך, so that you would need to ask the prophets in order to understand it correctly.

ולא רחוקה היא, so that you have to ask the leading Torah scholars of your generation who live a long way from you to explain how to observe this commandment. You can easily observe this commandment even in the Diaspora where you may not have any Torah scholars nearby.

לא בשמים היא, in order to repent you do not need to turn to a prophet who represents heaven,

ולא מעבר לים היא, neither, when you are in exile, overseas, do you need to travel to the leading Torah scholars across the ocean in order to become a true penitent. True, there are commandments which are difficult to master without expert guidance, repentance, however, is not one of them.

בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו, to recognise with your heart the nature of your sins and the One against Whom you have sinned so that you will express your confession and remorse to Him with your heart and with your lips.

את החיים, eternal life, not just life on earth.

ואת הטוב, the pleasant aspects of life on earth.

ואת המות, eternal oblivion.

ואת הרע, the unpleasant aspects of life on earth.

וחיית, forever;

כי אבוד תאבדון, for you would perish forever.

so choose life, you will opt for eternal life

in order that you may stay alive, you and your seed, to love the Lord your God, when I said to choose life, I did not mean for the sake of the reward. Rather, you should only choose what is truly life, such that you only desire life on earth for this purpose, that you should love the Lord your God by way of your recognizing His goodness and His great magnificence.

ולדבקה בו, meaning that all of your activities during life on earth should be focused on giving glory to His name.

כי הוא חייך, for your cleaving to Him is your real life, the reason why you will enjoy eternal life;

ואורך ימיך לשבת על האדמה, during the transient life on earth, during which through study, serious contemplation of your duties, and your performance of them you will qualify for the life awaiting you in the hereafter. Compare Avot 4,16 where we have been told that life on earth is merely to be viewed as a vestibule to the hereafter, a place in which one makes suitable preparations for eternal life in the Palace.