< Deuteronomy 4 >

1 Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.
And now, Israel, hear the ordinances and judgments, all that I teach you this day to do: that you may live, and be multiplied, and that you may go in and inherit the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
You shall not add to the word which I command you, and you shall not take from it: keep the commandments of the Lord our God, all that I command you this day.
3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from the midst of you.
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.
4 But you who were faithful to the LORD your God are all alive this day.
But you that kept close to the Lord your God are all alive today.
5 Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.
Behold, I have shown you ordinances and judgments as the Lord commanded me, that you should do so in the land into which you go to inherit it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."
And you 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.
7 For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as the LORD our God is whenever we call on him?
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 whatever we may call upon him?
8 What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
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?
9 Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children;
Take heed to yourself, and keep your heart diligently: forget not any of the things, which your eyes have seen, and let them not depart from your heart all the days of your life; and you shall teach your sons and your sons' sons,
10 the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD 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."
[even the things that happened in] the day in which you 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.
11 You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
And you drew near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire up to heaven: [there was] darkness, blackness, [and] tempest.
12 The LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.
And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire a voice of words, which you heard: and you saw no likeness, only [you heard] a voice.
13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
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.
14 The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.
And the Lord commanded me at that time, to teach you ordinances and judgments, that you should do them on the land, into which you go to inherit it.
15 Therefore watch yourselves carefully; for you saw no kind of form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.
And take good heed to your hearts, for you 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:
16 Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
lest you transgress, and make to yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
the likeness of any beast of those that are on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird which flies under heaven,
18 the likeness of any crawling creature that crawls on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the land;
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;
19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
and lest having looked up to the sky, and having seen the sun and the moon and the stars, and all the heavenly bodies, you should go astray and worship them, and serve them, which the Lord your God has distributed to all the nations under heaven.
20 But God has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
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.
21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance:
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 your God gives you for an inheritance.
22 but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.
For I am to die in this land, and shall not pass over this Jordan; but you are to pass over, and shall inherit this good land.
23 Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.
Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord our God, which he made with you, and you transgress, and make to yourselves a graven image of any of the things concerning which the Lord your God commanded you.
24 For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 When you shall father children, and children's children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, to provoke him to anger;
And when you shall have begotten sons, and shall have sons' sons, and you shall have lived 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;
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that you shall surely perish from off the land, into which you go across Jordan to inherit it there; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.
27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where the LORD will drive you.
And the Lord shall scatter you among all nations, and you shall be left few in number among all the nations, among which the Lord shall bring you.
28 There you shall serve other gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
And you shall there serve other gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which can’t see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
And there you shall seek the Lord your God, and you shall find him whenever you shall seek him with all your heart, and with all your soul in your affliction.
30 When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to the LORD your God, and listen to his voice:
And all these things shall come upon you in the last days, and you shall turn to the Lord your God, and shall listen to his voice.
31 for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.
Because the Lord your God [is] a God of pity: he will not forsake you, nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant of your fathers, which the Lord sware to them.
32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created humankind on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?
Ask of the former days which were before you, 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:
33 Did a people ever hear the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
if a nation have heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard and have lived;
34 Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself 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, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
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 your sight.
35 It was shown to you so that you might know that the LORD is God. There is no one else besides him.
So that you should know that the Lord your God he is God, and there is none beside him.
36 Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
His voice was made audible from heaven to instruct you, and he showed you upon the earth his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
37 Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their descendants after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;
Because he loved your fathers, he also chose you their seed after them, and he brought you himself with his great strength out of Egypt,
38 to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day.
to destroy nations great and stronger than you before your face, to bring you in, to give you their land to inherit, as you have it this day.
39 Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
An you shall know this day, and shall consider in your heart, that the Lord your God he [is] God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath, and there is none else but he.
40 You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD your God gives you, forever.
And keep you his commandments, and his ordinances, all that I command you this day; that it may be well with you, and with your sons after you, that you may be long-lived upon the earth, which the Lord your God gives you for ever.
41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;
Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan on the east,
42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
that the slayer might flee there, who should have slain his neighbor unintentionally, and should not have hated him in times past, and he shall flee to one of these cities and live:
43 Bezer in the wilderness, on the plateau, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
Bosor in the wilderness, in the plain country of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad [belonging to] Gad, and Gaulon in Basan [belonging to] Manasse.
44 This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
This [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,
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:
46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came forth out of Egypt.
on the other side of Jordan, in the valley near the house of Phogor, in the land of Seon king of the Amorites, who lived in Esebon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel struck when they came out of the land of Egypt.
47 They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;
And they inherited his land, and the land of Og king of Basan, two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan eastward.
48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),
From Aroer, which is on the border of the brook Arnon, even to the mount of Seon, which is Aermon.
49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
All Araba beyond Jordan eastward under Asedoth hewn in the rock.

< Deuteronomy 4 >