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And now, thou Israel, hear the behests and dooms which I teach thee, that thou do those, and live, and that thou enter and wield the land which the Lord God of your fathers shall give to you. (And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and laws, or judgements, which I shall teach thee, so that thou do them, and live, and so that thou can enter and take the land which the Lord God of your fathers shall give to you.)

Ye shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither ye shall take away from it; keep ye the commandments of your Lord God (obey the commandments of the Lord your God), which I command to you.

Your eyes saw all things which the Lord did against Baalpeor; how he all-brake all the worshippers of him from the midst of you. (Your own eyes saw all the things which the Lord did at Mount Peor; how he destroyed all the worshippers of Baal of Peor in the midst of you.)

Forsooth ye that cleave(d) to your Lord God live all till into (this) present day. (But all of ye who cleaved to the Lord your God still be alive unto this present day.)

Ye know that I taught you the behests and the rightwisenesses, as my Lord God commanded to me; so ye shall do them in the land that ye shall wield, (Ye know that I have taught you all the statutes and the laws, or the judgements, as the Lord my God commanded to me; and ye shall do them in the land that ye shall take,)

and ye shall keep, and fulfill them in work. For this is your wisdom and understanding before [the] peoples, that all men hear these behests, and say, Lo! a wise people and an understanding (one)! a great folk! (and ye shall obey them, and fulfill them in work. For this shall show your wisdom and understanding to the other peoples, and when the other peoples hear of these statutes, they shall say, Lo! a wise people, a people of understanding! yea, a great nation!)

None other nation is so great, that hath Gods nighing to itself, as our God is ready to all our beseechings. (No other nation, no matter how great, hath gods so near to it, as our God is to us.)

For what other folk is so noble, that it hath ceremonies, and just dooms, and all the law, which I shall set forth today before your eyes? (For what other nation is so noble, that it hath statutes, and judgements, and all the law/s, which I shall set forth today before your eyes?)

Therefore keep thyself, and thy soul busily; forget thou not the words which thine eyes have seen, and fall they not down from thine heart, in all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach those (to) thy sons, and thy sons’ sons. (And so guard thyself, and thy soul; forget thou not the things which thine eyes have seen, and fall they not down from thy heart, all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and thy daughters, and to thy children’s children.)

10 Tell thou to them (about) the day in which thou stoodest before thy Lord God in Horeb, when the Lord spake to me, and said, Gather thou the people to me, that it hear my words, and that it learn for to dread me in all time in which it liveth in (the) earth, and teach his sons. (Tell thou them about the day in which thou stoodest before the Lord thy God at Mount Sinai, when the Lord spoke to me, and said, Gather thou the people to me, so that they can hear my words, and that they learn to fear me/and that they learn to revere me, in all the time in which they live on the earth, and that they also teach their sons and their daughters this.)

11 And ye nighed to the root of the hill, that burnt till to heaven; and darknesses, and cloud, and mist were therein. (And ye came near, and stood at the foot of the mountain, that burned unto the heavens; and darkness, and cloud, and mist were on that mountain.)

12 And the Lord spake to you from the midst of [the] fire; ye heard the voice of his words, and utterly ye saw no form, or shape. (And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; ye heard him speaking to you, but truly ye saw no shape, or form.)

13 And he showed to you his covenant, which he commanded that ye should do, and [the] ten words, which he wrote in two tables of stone. (And he told you his covenant, which he commanded that ye should do, and the Ten Words, that is, the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone.)

14 And he commanded to me in that time, that I should teach you ceremonies and dooms (that I should teach you the statutes and laws, or judgements), which ye ought to do in the land which ye shall wield.

15 Therefore keep ye busily your minds; ye saw not any likeness in the day in which the Lord spake to you in Horeb, from the midst of the fire; (And so guard ye your minds; for ye saw not any form, or figure, on the day in which the Lord spoke to you on Mount Sinai, from the midst of the fire;)

16 lest peradventure ye be deceived, and make to you a graven likeness, either an image of male, either female; (lest ye be deceived, and make for yourselves an idol, a carved image of a man, or a woman,)

17 or a likeness of all beasts that be on earth, either of birds flying under heaven, (or a likeness of any beast that is on the earth, or of any bird flying in the sky,)

18 either of creeping beasts that be moved in the earth, either of fishes that dwell under the earth in waters; (or of any creeping beast that moveth on the ground, or of any fish that liveth in the waters under the earth;)

19 lest peradventure, when thine eyes be raised up to heaven, thou see the sun, and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and thou be deceived by error, and worship those things, and honour them, the which things thy Lord God made of nought, into the service of all folks that be under heaven. (lest, when thine eyes be raised up to the heavens, and thou see the sun, and the moon, and all the stars in the sky, that is, the host of heaven, thou be deceived by error, and thou worship those things, and honour them, which things the Lord thy God made out of nothing, for the service of all the peoples who be under heaven.)

20 Forsooth the Lord took you, and led you out of the iron furnace, or strong tribulation, of Egypt, that he should have a people of heritage, as it is in [the] present day. (But the Lord took you, and led you out of the iron furnace, that is, out of thy strong tribulation, in Egypt, so that he would have a people of inheritance, as ye be to this present day.)

21 And the Lord was wroth against me for your words, and swore that I should not pass (the) Jordan, and that I should not enter into the best land, which he shall give to you. (But because of you, the Lord was angry with me, and he swore that I would not cross over the Jordan River, and that I would not enter into that best land, which he shall give to you.)

22 Lo! I die in this land; I shall not pass (the) Jordan; ye shall pass it, and shall wield the noble land. (Lo! I shall die here in this land; I shall not cross over the Jordan River, but ye shall cross over it, and ye shall possess the noble land.)

23 Be ye ware, lest any time thou forget the covenant of thy Lord God, which he made with thee, and lest thou make to thee a graven likeness of those things which the Lord hath forbidden thee to make. (Be ye careful, lest any time thou forget the covenant of the Lord thy God, which he made with thee, and lest thou make for yourselves a carved image, or an idol, of those things which the Lord hath forbidden thee to make.)

24 For thy Lord God is a fire wasting; a jealous God. (For the Lord thy God is a wasting fire; yea, a jealous God.)

25 If ye beget sons, and sons of sons, and ye dwell in the land, and ye be deceived, and make to you any likeness, or image (and make for yourselves any likeness, or idol), and do evil before your Lord God, (so) that ye stir him to great wrath,

26 I call (to) witness today heaven and earth, that ye shall perish soon from the land, that ye shall wield, when ye have passed (the) Jordan; ye shall not live long time therein, but the Lord shall do away you, (I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that ye soon shall perish from the land that ye shall take, when ye have crossed over the Jordan River; ye shall not live a long time in it, but the Lord shall do you away,)

27 and he shall scatter you abroad among all heathen men, and ye shall dwell few (in number) among the nations, to which the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there ye shall serve to gods, that be made by men’s hands, to tree and to stone (And there ye shall serve gods, that be made by the hands of men, out of wood and stone), (gods) that neither see, neither hear, neither eat, neither smell.

29 And when thou hast sought there thy Lord God, thou shalt find him (But if thou shalt seek the Lord thy God there, thou shalt find him); if nevertheless thou seekest him with all thy heart, and with all the tribulation of thy soul.

30 After that all things have found thee, that be before-said, soothly in the last time, thou shalt turn again to thy Lord God, and thou shalt hear his voice. (And when all these things have found thee, that be spoken of before, thou shalt finally return to the Lord thy God, and thou shalt listen to his voice, and obey him.)

31 For thy Lord God is a merciful God; he shall not forsake thee, neither he shall do thee away utterly, neither he shall forget the covenant, in which he swore to thy fathers. (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he shall not forsake thee, nor shall he utterly do thee away, nor shall he forget the covenant, which he swore to thy fathers.)

32 Ask thou (them) of [the] eld days, or times, that were before thee, from the day in which thy Lord God made of nought man upon (the) earth, ask thou from the one end of heaven unto the tother end thereof, that is, take heed to all things that ever were done, if such a thing was done any time, (Ask thou them about the days of old, or the former times, that were before thee, from the day in which the Lord thy God made a man out of nothing on the earth, ask thou from one end of heaven unto the other, that is, take heed of all the things that were ever done, if at any time such a thing was ever done,)

33 either if it was ever known, that a people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard and seen; (or was it ever made known, if any other people heard the voice of God speaking to them from the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and yet still lived?)

34 either if that God went in, and took to himself a folk from the midst of nations, by temptations, miracles, and great wonders, by battle, and strong hand, and arm stretched forth, and horrible sights, by all things which your Lord God did for you in Egypt, in sight of thine eyes; (or if any god went in, and took for himself a people from the midst of another nation, by temptations, and miracles, and great wonders, and by battle, and by a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and terrible sights, yea, by all the things which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, in the sight of thine own eyes?)

35 that thou shouldest know, that the Lord himself is God, and none other is, besides (this) one. (so that thou wouldest know, that the Lord himself is God, and there is no other besides him.)

36 From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he should teach thee; and in [the] earth he showed to thee his full great fire (and on the earth he showed thee his very great fire), and thou heardest his words from [the] midst of the fire;

37 for he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them. And he led thee out of Egypt, and went before thee in his great strength,

38 that he should do away the greatest nations, and stronger than thou, in thine entering, and that he should lead thee in, and should give to thee their land into possession (and should give thee their land for a possession), as thou seest in (this) present day.

39 Therefore know thou today, and think in thine heart, that the Lord himself is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath, and none other is. (And so know thou today, and take to thy heart, that the Lord himself is God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath, and there is no other.)

40 Keep thou his behests, and his commandments, which I command to thee, that it be well to thee, and to thy sons after thee, and that thou dwell much time upon the land, which thy Lord God shall give to thee. (Obey thou his statutes, and his commandments, which I command to thee, that it be well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and so that thou live a long time on the land, which the Lord thy God shall give to thee.)

41 Then Moses separated three cities beyond (the) Jordan at the east coast, (Then Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan River,)

42 that he flee to those, that slayeth his neighbour not willfully, and was not (an) enemy (to him) before one and the tother day, and that he may flee to some of these cities; (so that anyone might flee to them, who did not willfully, or intentionally, kill his neighbour, and was not an enemy to him the day before, and so that he might escape to one of these cities, and live;)

43 Bezer in the wilderness, which is set in the field land, of the lineage of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead, which is in the lineage of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, which is in the lineage of Manasseh. (Bezer in the wilderness, which is set on the plains, for the tribe of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, for the tribe of Manasseh.)

44 This is the law which Moses setted forth before the sons of Israel,

45 and these be the witnessings, and ceremonies, and the dooms, which he spake to the sons of Israel, when they went out of Egypt, (and these be the testimonies, and statutes, and the laws, or the judgements, which he spoke to the Israelites, when they went out of Egypt,)

46 beyond (the) Jordan, in the valley against the temple of Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon, king of Amorites, that dwelled in Heshbon, whom Moses killed. And the sons of Israel went out of Egypt, (east of the Jordan River, in the valley opposite the town of Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites defeated him, after they went out of Egypt,)

47 and wielded his land, and the land of Og, king of Bashan, two kings of Amorites, that were beyond (the) Jordan, at the rising of the sun; (and they took his land, and also the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived on the east side of the Jordan River;)

48 from Aroer, which is set on the brink of the strand of Arnon, till to the hill of Sion, which is Hermon; (from Aroer, which is set on the bank of the Arnon River, unto Mount Sirion, that is, Mount Hermon;)

49 and they wielded all the plain beyond (the) Jordan, at the east coast, unto the sea of (the) wilderness, and unto the roots of the hill of Pisgah. (and they took all the plain, or the Arabah, east of the Jordan River, unto the Dead Sea, and the foot of Mount Pisgah.)

Obedience Commanded

Now, Israel, hear the decrees(A) and laws I am about to teach(B) you. Follow them so that you may live(C) and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add(D) to what I command you and do not subtract(E) from it, but keep(F) the commands(G) of the Lord your God that I give you.

You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor.(H) The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

See, I have taught(I) you decrees and laws(J) as the Lord my God commanded(K) me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering(L) to take possession of it. Observe(M) them carefully, for this will show your wisdom(N) and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”(O) What other nation is so great(P) as to have their gods near(Q) them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws(R) as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

Only be careful,(S) and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach(T) them to your children(U) and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,(V) when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn(W) to revere(X) me as long as they live in the land(Y) and may teach(Z) them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain(AA) while it blazed with fire(AB) to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.(AC) 12 Then the Lord spoke(AD) to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form;(AE) there was only a voice.(AF) 13 He declared to you his covenant,(AG) the Ten Commandments,(AH) which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws(AI) you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 You saw no form(AJ) of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb(AK) out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,(AL) 16 so that you do not become corrupt(AM) and make for yourselves an idol,(AN) an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,(AO) 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,(AP) the moon and the stars(AQ)—all the heavenly array(AR)—do not be enticed(AS) into bowing down to them and worshiping(AT) things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,(AU) out of Egypt,(AV) to be the people of his inheritance,(AW) as you now are.

21 The Lord was angry with me(AX) because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. 22 I will die in this land;(AY) I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.(AZ) 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant(BA) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol(BB) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,(BC) a jealous God.(BD)

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt(BE) and make any kind of idol,(BF) doing evil(BG) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses(BH) against you(BI) this day that you will quickly perish(BJ) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter(BK) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive(BL) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods(BM) of wood and stone,(BN) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.(BO) 29 But if from there you seek(BP) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart(BQ) and with all your soul.(BR) 30 When you are in distress(BS) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days(BT) you will return(BU) to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful(BV) God; he will not abandon(BW) or destroy(BX) you or forget(BY) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

32 Ask(BZ) now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth;(CA) ask from one end of the heavens to the other.(CB) Has anything so great(CC) as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God[a] speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?(CD) 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation,(CE) by testings,(CF) by signs(CG) and wonders,(CH) by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,(CI) or by great and awesome deeds,(CJ) like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.(CK) 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice(CL) to discipline(CM) you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved(CN) your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,(CO) 38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance,(CP) as it is today.

39 Acknowledge(CQ) and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.(CR) 40 Keep(CS) his decrees and commands,(CT) which I am giving you today, so that it may go well(CU) with you and your children after you and that you may live long(CV) in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

Cities of Refuge(CW)

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, 42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally(CX) killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. 43 The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth(CY) in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt 46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon(CZ) king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 This land extended from Aroer(DA) on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion[b](DB) (that is, Hermon(DC)), 49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,[c] below the slopes of Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:33 Or of a god
  2. Deuteronomy 4:48 Syriac (see also 3:9); Hebrew Siyon
  3. Deuteronomy 4:49 Hebrew the Sea of the Arabah