Deuteronomy 4

1 And now, Israel, hear the ordinances and judgments, all that I teach you this day to do: that ye may live, and be multiplied, and that ye may go in and inherit the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives you.

Now, Israel, listen to the laws and the decrees that I am about to teach you, to do them; so that you may live and go in and possess the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2 Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, and ye shall not take from it: keep the commandments of the Lord our God, all that I command you this day.

You will not add to the words that I command you, neither will you diminish them, so that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am about to command you.

3 Your eyes have seen all that the Lord our God did in [the case of] Beel-phegor; for every man that went after Beel-phegor, the Lord your God has utterly destroyed him from among you.

Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed the Baal of Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you.

4 But ye that kept close to the Lord your God are all alive to-day.

But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.

5 Behold, I have shewn you ordinances and judgments as the Lord commanded me, that ye should do so in the land into which ye go to inherit it.

Look, I have taught you laws and decrees, as Yahweh my God had commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land which you are going into in order to possess it.

6 And ye shall keep and do them: for this is your wisdom and understanding before all nations, as many as shall hear all these ordinances; and they shall say, Behold, this great nation [is] a wise and understanding people.

Therefore keep them and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear about all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'

7 For what manner of nation [is so] great, which has God so near to them as the Lord our God [is] in all things in whatsoever we may call upon him?

For what other great nation is there that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call upon him?

8 And what manner of nation [is so] great, which has righteous ordinances and judgments according to all this law, which I set before you this day?

What other great nation is there that has laws and decrees so righteous as all this law that I am setting before you today?

9 Take heed to thyself, and keep thy heart diligently: forget not any of the things, which thine eyes have seen, and let them not depart from thine heart all the days of thy life; and thou shalt teach thy sons and thy sons' sons,

Only pay attention and carefully guard yourself, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not leave your heart for all the days of your life. Instead, make them known to your children and your children's children.

10 [even the things that happened in] the day in which ye stood before the Lord our God in Choreb in the day of the assembly; for the Lord said to me, Gather the people to me, and let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days which they live upon the earth, and they shall teach their sons.

On the day that you stood before Yahweh your God at Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, 'Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'

11 And ye drew nigh and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire up to heaven: [there was] darkness, blackness, [and] tempest.

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

12 And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire a voice of words, which ye heard: and ye saw no likeness, only [ye heard] a voice.

Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire; you heard the voice with its words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.

13 And he announced to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.

He declared to you his covenant that he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments. He wrote them on two tablets of stone.

14 And the Lord commanded me at that time, to teach you ordinances and judgments, that ye should do them on the land, into which ye go to inherit it.

Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, so that you might do them in the land that you are crossing over to take possession of.

15 And take good heed to your hearts, for ye saw no similitude in the day in which the Lord spoke to you in Choreb in the mountain out of the midst of the fire:

So take great heed to yourselves—for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb out of the middle of the fire—

16 lest ye transgress, and make to yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,

that you do not corrupt yourselves and by making a carved image in the form of any figure, in the likeness of male or female,

17 the likeness of any beast of those that are on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird which flies under heaven,

the likeness of any animal on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,

18 the likeness of any reptile which creeps on the earth, the likeness of any fish of those which are in the waters under the earth;

the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.

19 and lest having looked up to the sky, and having seen the sun and the moon and the stars, and all the heavenly bodies, thou shouldest go astray and worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God has distributed to all the nations under heaven.

You shall not lift your eyes up to the heavens and look at the sun, the moon, or the stars—all the host of the heavens—and be drawn away to worship them and adore them—those things of which Yahweh your God has given a share all the peoples under the whole sky.

20 But God took you, and led you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.

But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of his own inheritance, as you are today.

21 And the Lord God was angry with me for the things said by you, and sware that I should not go over this Jordan, and that I should not enter into the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Yahweh was angry with me because of you; he swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go into that good land, the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance.

22 For I am to die in this land, and shall not pass over this Jordan; but ye are to pass over, and shall inherit this good land.

Instead, I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan; but you will go over and possess that good land.

23 Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord our God, which he made with you, and ye transgress, and make to yourselves a graven image of any of the things concerning which the Lord thy God commanded thee.

Pay attention to yourselves, so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden you to make.

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

For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

25 And when thou shalt have begotten sons, and shalt have sons' sons, and ye shall have dwelt a long time on the land, and shall have transgressed, and made a graven image of any thing, and shall have done wickedly before the Lord your God to provoke him;

When you beget children and children's children, and when you will have been in the land for a long time, and if you corrupt yourselves and make a carved figure in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger—

26 I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from off the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but you will be completely destroyed.

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among all nations, and ye shall be left few in number among all the nations, among which the Lord shall bring you.

Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.

28 And ye shall there serve other gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which cannot see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor smell.

There you will serve other gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

29 And there ye shall seek the Lord your God, and ye shall find him whenever ye shall seek him with all your heart, and with all your soul in your affliction.

But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 And all these things shall come upon thee in the last days, and thou shalt turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice.

When you are in distress, and when all these things will have come on you, in those later days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice.

31 Because the Lord thy God [is] a God of pity: he will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee; he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers, which the Lord sware to them.

For Yahweh your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers that he swore to them.

32 Ask of the former days which were before thee, from the day when God created man upon the earth, and [beginning] at the [one] end of heaven to the other end of heaven, if there has happened any thing like to this great event, if such a thing has been heard:

Ask now about the days that are past, which were before your time, since the day that God created man on the earth, ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has been anything so great as this, or has anything like it ever been heard?

33 if a nation have heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard and hast lived;

Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

34 if God has assayed to go and take to himself a nation out of the midst of [another] nation with trial, and with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with great sights, according to all the things which the Lord our God did in Egypt in thy sight.

Or has God ever attempted to go and take for himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, as everything that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 So that thou shouldest know that the Lord thy God he is God, and there is none beside him.

To you these things were shown, so that you might know that Yahweh is God, and that there is no one else besides him.

36 His voice was made audible from heaven to instruct thee, and he shewed thee upon the earth his great fire, and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, so that he might instruct you; on earth he made you see his great fire; you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

37 Because he loved thy fathers, he also chose you their seed after them, and he brought thee himself with his great strength out of Egypt,

Because he loved your fathers, he chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his presence, with his great power;

38 to destroy nations great and stronger than thou before thy face, to bring thee in, to give thee their land to inherit, as thou hast it this day.

in order to drive out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as today.

39 An thou shalt know this day, and shalt consider in thine heart, that the Lord thy God he [is] God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath, and there is none else but he.

Know therefore today, and lay it on your heart, that Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no one else.

40 And keep ye his commandments, and his ordinances, all that I command you this day; that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, that ye may be long-lived upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for ever.

You will keep his statutes and his commandments that I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you forever.”

41 Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan on the east,

Then Moses selected three cities on the east side of the Jordan,

42 that the slayer might flee thither, who should have slain his neighbour unintentionally, and should not have hated him in times past, and he shall flee to one of these cities and live:

so that anyone might flee to one of them if he killed another person accidentally, without being his enemy previously. By fleeing to one of these cities, he might survive.

43 Bosor in the wilderness, in the plain country of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad [belonging to] Gad, and Gaulon in Basan [belonging to] Manasse.

They were: Bezer in the wilderness, the plain country, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 This [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

This is the law that Moses placed before the people of Israel;

45 These [are] the testimonies, and the ordinances, and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt:

these are the covenant decrees, laws, and other decrees that he spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,

46 on the other side of Jordan, in the valley near the house of Phogor, in the land of Seon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Esebon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote when they came out of the land of Egypt.

when they were east of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel had defeated when they came out of Egypt.

47 And they inherited his land, and the land of Og king of Basan, two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan eastward.

They took his land as a possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan—these, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the east.

48 From Aroer, which is on the border of the brook Arnon, even to the mount of Seon, which is Aermon.

This territory went from Aroer, on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, to Mount Sion (or Mount Hermon),

49 All Araba beyond Jordan eastward under Asedoth hewn in the rock.

and included all of the plain of the Jordan River valley, eastward beyond the Jordan, to the Sea of the Arabah, to the slopes of Mount Pisgah.