21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.

22 Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you.

23 And I besought the Lord at that time, saying,

24 O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?

25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.

26 But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

29 So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.

36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

42 That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.

46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:

47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,

(I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.

13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

17 Thou shalt not kill.

18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

19 Neither shalt thou steal.

20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.

22 These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

24 And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.

26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

27 Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

28 And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.

29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.

31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid(A) of them;(B) the Lord your God himself will fight(C) for you.”

23 At that time I pleaded(D) with the Lord: 24 “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness(E) and your strong hand. For what god(F) is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works(G) you do?(H) 25 Let me go over and see the good land(I) beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.(J)

26 But because of you the Lord was angry(K) with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah(L) and look west and north and south and east.(M) Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross(N) this Jordan.(O) 28 But commission(P) Joshua, and encourage(Q) and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across(R) and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.(S)

Obedience Commanded

Now, Israel, hear the decrees(T) and laws I am about to teach(U) you. Follow them so that you may live(V) and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add(W) to what I command you and do not subtract(X) from it, but keep(Y) the commands(Z) of the Lord your God that I give you.

You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor.(AA) 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(AB) you decrees and laws(AC) as the Lord my God commanded(AD) me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering(AE) to take possession of it. Observe(AF) them carefully, for this will show your wisdom(AG) and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”(AH) What other nation is so great(AI) as to have their gods near(AJ) 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(AK) as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

Only be careful,(AL) 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(AM) them to your children(AN) and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,(AO) when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn(AP) to revere(AQ) me as long as they live in the land(AR) and may teach(AS) them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain(AT) while it blazed with fire(AU) to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.(AV) 12 Then the Lord spoke(AW) to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form;(AX) there was only a voice.(AY) 13 He declared to you his covenant,(AZ) the Ten Commandments,(BA) 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(BB) you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 You saw no form(BC) of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb(BD) out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,(BE) 16 so that you do not become corrupt(BF) and make for yourselves an idol,(BG) 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,(BH) 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,(BI) the moon and the stars(BJ)—all the heavenly array(BK)—do not be enticed(BL) into bowing down to them and worshiping(BM) 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,(BN) out of Egypt,(BO) to be the people of his inheritance,(BP) as you now are.

21 The Lord was angry with me(BQ) 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;(BR) I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.(BS) 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant(BT) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol(BU) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,(BV) a jealous God.(BW)

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt(BX) and make any kind of idol,(BY) doing evil(BZ) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses(CA) against you(CB) this day that you will quickly perish(CC) 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(CD) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive(CE) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods(CF) of wood and stone,(CG) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.(CH) 29 But if from there you seek(CI) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart(CJ) and with all your soul.(CK) 30 When you are in distress(CL) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days(CM) you will return(CN) to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful(CO) God; he will not abandon(CP) or destroy(CQ) you or forget(CR) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

32 Ask(CS) now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth;(CT) ask from one end of the heavens to the other.(CU) Has anything so great(CV) 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?(CW) 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation,(CX) by testings,(CY) by signs(CZ) and wonders,(DA) by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,(DB) or by great and awesome deeds,(DC) 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.(DD) 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice(DE) to discipline(DF) you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved(DG) your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,(DH) 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,(DI) as it is today.

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

Cities of Refuge(DP)

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(DQ) 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(DR) 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(DS) 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(DT) on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion[b](DU) (that is, Hermon(DV)), 49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,[c] below the slopes of Pisgah.

The Ten Commandments(DW)

Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws(DX) I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant(DY) with us at Horeb.(DZ) It was not with our ancestors[d] that the Lord made this covenant, but with us,(EA) with all of us who are alive here today.(EB) The Lord spoke(EC) to you face to face(ED) out of the fire(EE) on the mountain. (At that time I stood between(EF) the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid(EG) of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt,(EH) out of the land of slavery.(EI)

“You shall have no other gods before[e] me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.(EJ) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents(EK) to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,(EL) 10 but showing love to a thousand(EM) generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.(EN)

11 “You shall not misuse the name(EO) of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.(EP)

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,(EQ) as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day(ER) is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant,(ES) nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.(ET) 15 Remember that you were slaves(EU) in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand(EV) and an outstretched arm.(EW) Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 “Honor your father(EX) and your mother,(EY) as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long(EZ) and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 “You shall not murder.(FA)

18 “You shall not commit adultery.(FB)

19 “You shall not steal.(FC)

20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.(FD)

21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”(FE)

22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness;(FF) and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets(FG) and gave them to me.

23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders(FH) came to me. 24 And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us(FI) his glory and his majesty,(FJ) and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.(FK) 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.(FL) 26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?(FM) 27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says.(FN) Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”(FO)

28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.(FP) 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me(FQ) and keep all my commands(FR) always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!(FS)

30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay here(FT) with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.”

32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you;(FU) do not turn aside to the right or to the left.(FV) 33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you,(FW) so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days(FX) in the land that you will possess.

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
  4. Deuteronomy 5:3 Or not only with our parents
  5. Deuteronomy 5:7 Or besides