Deuteronomy 4

1 Now, therefore, O Israel, hearken thou unto the statutes, and unto the regulations, which, I, am teaching you, to do [them], —to the end ye may live and enter and possess the land, which, Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving unto 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 Ye shall not add unto the word which, I, am commanding you, neither shall ye take away therefrom, —that ye may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, which, I, am commanding 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 Yours are the eyes, that have seen what Yahweh did in Baal-peor, for every man who went after Baal-peor, did Yahweh thy God destroy out of thy midst;

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, ye who kept on cleaving unto Yahweh your God, alive, are ye all to-day.

But you that kept close to the Lord your God are all alive today.

5 See! I have taught you statutes, and regulations, as Yahweh my God commanded me, —that ye should do so, in the midst of the land whereinto ye are entering 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 Therefore shall ye observe, and do [them], for that, will be your wisdom, and discernment, in the eyes of the peoples, —who will hear all these statutes, and will say—Nevertheless, a people wise and discerning, is this great nation.

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 which hath gods nigh unto it, —like Yahweh our God, whensoever we have cried out unto 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 Or what great nation which hath righteous statutes and regulations, like all this law, which, I, am setting before you to-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 thou heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, so that thou forget not the things which thine own eyes have seen, and so that they go not out of thy heart, all the days of thy life, —but thou shalt make them known unto thy sons and unto thy sons’ sons: —

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 What day thou didst stand before Yahweh thy God, in Horeb, when Yahweh said unto me, Gather unto me the people, that I may let them hear my words, —which they must learn that they may revere me all the days which they are living upon the soil, their children also, must they teach.

[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 So ye drew near and stood, under the mountain. Now, the mountain, was burning with fire, up to the midst of the heavens, —darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.

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 Then spake Yahweh unto you out of the midst of the fire, —a voice of words, ye were hearing, no form, were ye seeing, there was only 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 Then declared he unto you his covenant which he commanded you to do, the ten words, —and wrote them upon two tables 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 And unto me, gave Yahweh command, at that time, to teach you statutes and regulations, —that ye should do them, in the land whereinto ye are passing 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 Ye must take diligent heed, therefore unto your own souls, for ye saw no manner of form, on the day Yahweh spake unto 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 ye should break faith, and make you an image, a form of any likeness, —a model 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 a model of any beast that is in the earth, —a model of any winged bird, that flieth in the heavens;

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

18 a model of any thing that creepeth on the ground, —a model of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth;

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 or lest thou shouldest lift up thine eyes towards the heavens and see the sun and the moon, and the stars—all the host of the heavens, and shouldest be seduced, and shouldest bow thyself down to them and he led to serve them, —the which Yahweh thy God hath assigned unto all the peoples under all the heavens;

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 whereas you, hath Yahweh taken, and brought you forth out of a smelting-pot of iron, out of Egypt, —that ye might become his own inherited people 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 But, Yahweh shewed himself angry with me, for your sakes, —and sware that I should not pass over the Jordan, and that I should not enter into the good land, which, Yahweh thy God, is giving unto thee as 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 for, I, am about to die in this land, I am not to pass over the Jordan, —but, ye, are to pass over, and possess this 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 Take heed to yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he hath solemnised with you, —and so make for yourselves an image, the form of anything, the which Yahweh thy God hath forbidden thee;

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 seeing that as for Yahweh thy God, a consuming fire, he is, —a jealous GOD.

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 When thou shalt beget sons, and sons’ sons, and become careless in the land and break faith and make an image the form of any thing, and shalt do the thing that is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh thy God provoking 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 take both the heavens and the earth to witness against you to-day, that ye shall, perish, speedily, from off the land which ye are passing over the Jordan to possess, —ye shall not prolong your days thereupon; for, ye shall surely be laid waste;

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 and Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, —and ye shall have left remaining of you men easily counted, among the nations whither Yahweh 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 and ye will serve there gods made by the hands of man, —wood or 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 If thou shalt seek from thence, Yahweh thy God, then shalt thou find him, —when thou shalt search after him with all thy heart, and with all thy 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 In thy distress, when all these things have found thee out—in the afterpart of the days, thou wilt return unto Yahweh thy God, and wilt hearken 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, a GOD of compassion, is Yahweh thy God, he will not forsake thee neither will he destroy thee, —nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto 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, I pray you, of the former days which were before thee, even from the day when God created man upon the earth, yea from one end of the heavens even to the other end of the heavens, —whether aught was ever brought to pass, like this great thing, or was ever heard of 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 a god speaking out of the midst of fire, as, thou, didst hear, and yet 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 did a god ever make trial of entering in to take unto him a nation out of the midst of a nation, by provings, by signs and by wonders and by fighting, and by a firm hand and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors, —according to all that Yahweh 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 Thou, wast allowed to see that thou mightest know, that Yahweh, he is God, there is none other than he alone.

So that you should know that the Lord your God he is God, and there is none beside him.

36 Out of the heavens, he let thee hear his voice to instruct thee, —and, upon the earth, he let thee see his great fire, and his own words, thou didst hear 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 And because that he loved thy fathers, therefore chose he his seed after him, —and brought thee forth with his presence with his great might, 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 dispossess nations, greater and stronger than thou from before thee, —to bring thee in. to give unto thee 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 So then thou must consider to-day, and bring it back to thy heart, that, Yahweh, he is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath, —there is none 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 So shalt thou keep his statutes and his commandments which, I, am commanding thee to-day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, —and to the end thou mayest prolong thy days upon the soil, which Yahweh thy God, is giving thee, all the days.

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, did Moses set apart three cities, over the Jordan, —towards the rising of the sun:

Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan on the east,

42 that the manslayer might flee thither who should slay his neighbour unawares, he, not having hated him, aforetime, —and might flee unto one of these cities, and 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 namely Bezer, in the desert of the table-land, 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, then is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel:

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

45 These, are the testimonies, and the statutes and the regulations, —which Moses spake unto the sons 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 over the Jordan in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, —whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote, 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 so they took possession of his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan the two kings of the Amorites, who were over the Jordan, —towards the rising of the sun;

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 ravine of Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, the same, 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 waste plain over the Jordan, towards sunrise, even unto the sea of the waste plain, —under the slopes of the Pisgah.

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