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.
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 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 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 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 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 who kept on cleaving unto Yahweh your God, alive, are ye all to-day.
But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.
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.
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 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.
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 great nation is there which hath gods nigh unto it, —like Yahweh our God, whensoever we have cried out unto 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 Or what great nation which hath righteous statutes and regulations, like all this law, which, I, am setting before you to-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 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: —
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 Then declared he unto you his covenant which he commanded you to do, the ten words, —and wrote them upon 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 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.
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 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;
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 should break faith, and make you an image, a form of any likeness, —a model 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 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 animal on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,
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 anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water 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;
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 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 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 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;
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 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.
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 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;
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 seeing that as for Yahweh thy God, a consuming fire, he is, —a jealous GOD.
For Yahweh your God is a devouring 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,
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 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 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 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;
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 will serve there gods made by the hands of man, —wood or stone, which neither see nor 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 Did a people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of fire, as, thou, didst hear, and yet live?
Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
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?
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 Thou, wast allowed to see that thou mightest know, that Yahweh, he is God, there is none other than he alone.
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 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.
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 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 chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his presence, with his great power;
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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, did Moses set apart three cities, over the Jordan, —towards the rising of the sun:
Then Moses selected three cities on the east side of the Jordan,
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:
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 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.
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, then is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel:
This is the law that Moses placed before the people 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 covenant decrees, laws, and other decrees that he spoke to the people of Israel when they came out 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:
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 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;
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 edge of the ravine of Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, the same, is Hermon;
This territory went from Aroer, on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, to Mount Sion (or Mount Hermon),
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.
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.
