Deuteronomy 4
1 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.
People of Israel, pay attention to the rules and regulations I'm teaching you to observe. That way you can stay alive, and go in and take over the country the Lord, the God of your forefathers, is giving you.
2 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.
You are not to add to or take away from what I'm telling you, so that you can keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm ordering you to follow.
3 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.
You've seen for yourselves what the Lord did at Baal-peor where the Lord your God killed everyone among you who worshiped Baal of Peor.
4 But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.
Those of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today, every one of you.
5 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.
Listen, I have taught you the rules and regulations just as the Lord my God ordered me to do, so you can follow them in the country that you are about to enter and take over.
6 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.'
Be careful to observe them, because this will demonstrate your wisdom and insight to the other people living there who are watching. They will find out about all these rules and say, “The people of this great nation are very wise and have good insight.”
7 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?
What nation is as great as us, having a god so close to them as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call on him?
8 What other great nation is there that has laws and decrees so righteous as all this law that I am setting before you today?
What nation is as great as us, having such good rules and regulations like all these laws that I'm placing before you today?
9 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.
Just make sure to be very careful, and really watch what you do, so you don't forget the things you've have seen. Keep them in mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
10 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.'
That day when you stood in the presence of the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord told me, “Have the people come to me and to hear what I have to say, so they may learn to have respect for me throughout their lives here on earth, and so they may teach this to their children.”
11 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.
You gathered and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was on fire, shooting out flames into the sky and producing thick dark clouds.
12 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.
The Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the words, but you didn't see the form of anyone speaking—there was just a voice.
13 He declared to you his covenant that he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments. He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
He explained to you his agreement, the Ten Commandments, which he ordered you to follow. He wrote them down on two tablets of stone.
14 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.
This was the time that the Lord ordered me to teach you the rules and regulations that you are to follow when you arrive in the country you're going to own once you've crossed the Jordan.
15 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—
You didn't see any form when the Lord spoke to you from the fire at Horeb, so be very careful
16 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,
that you don't spoil your relationship with the Lord by making an idol for yourselves in any shape or form, whether it looks like a male or female,
17 the likeness of any animal on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,
or any land animal or bird that flies,
18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
or of any animal that crawls on the ground or any fish in the deep sea.
19 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.
When you look up at the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the heavenly bodies—don't be tempted to bow down to them. Don't worship them like all the other nations on earth in the way that the Lord has allowed.
20 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.
Remember that the Lord took you and led you out of the iron furnace which was Egypt to be his own people, just as you are today.
21 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.
But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I wouldn't cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you to own.
22 Instead, I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan; but you will go over and possess that good land.
So I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I have to die here in this land. But you will cross over and occupy that good land.
23 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.
However, be careful not to forget the agreement of the Lord your God that he made with you. Don't make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything, because he has forbidden you to do this.
24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
For the Lord your God is a fire that burns everything up. He is an exclusive God.
25 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—
After you have been living in the country for a long time and have had children and grandchildren, if you then spoil the relationship you have with the Lord and make an idol in any form. The Lord your God sees this as evil makes him angry.
26 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.
If you do this, I call on heaven and earth to be witnesses against you today that you will be completely wiped out from the country that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will not live long there—you will be totally destroyed.
27 Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.
The Lord will scatter you among the other nations, and not many of you will survive in the countries where the Lord has exiled you.
28 There you will serve other gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.
There you will worship gods of wood and stone made by human beings. These idols can't see or hear or eat or smell.
29 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.
However, if while you're there you decide to come to the Lord your God, you will find him if you come to him whole-heartedly, with complete commitment.
30 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.
When you are in trouble, after you've experienced all these things, then eventually you will return to the Lord your God and do what he says.
31 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.
The Lord your God is a merciful God. He won't abandon you or destroy you or forget the agreement he made with your forefathers, confirmed by a solemn promise.
32 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?
Think about it! Examine the whole of history from the beginning of time, long before you existed, when God made human beings, right up until now. Ask this question anywhere, from one end of the earth to the other: Has anything as amazing as this ever happened before; has anyone ever heard anything like this?
33 Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, like you have, and survived?
34 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?
Has any god tried to take a nation out of another nation and make them his own, using tests and signs and miracles and war—with his great power and incredible strength and terrifying actions—like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes?
35 To you these things were shown, so that you might know that Yahweh is God, and that there is no one else besides him.
You were shown all this so you could be certain that the Lord is God and there is no one like him.
36 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.
He made you hear his voice from heaven so you would obey him. On earth he revealed himself though blazing fire, and you heard him speak to you from the fire.
37 Because he loved your fathers, he chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his presence, with his great power;
Because he loved your forefathers, he chose you, their descendants. He himself led you out of Egypt by his great power,
38 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.
driving out ahead of you nations that were greater and stronger than you, in order to lead you to their land and give it to you as yours to own, just as you do today.
39 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.
So today be sure about this and never forget: the Lord is the only God in heaven above and on the earth below.
40 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.”
Observe his rules and regulations that I'm giving you right now, so that you and your children will do well, and that you may have long lives in the country that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.
41 Then Moses selected three cities on the east side of the Jordan,
Then Moses assigned three sanctuary towns to the east of the Jordan
42 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.
where a person could run to after accidentally killing someone without deliberate hatred. To save their life they could run to one of these towns:
43 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.
Bezer in the desert plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh.
44 This is the law that Moses placed before the people of Israel;
This is the law that Moses placed before the Israelites.
45 these are the covenant decrees, laws, and other decrees that he spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
These are the laws, rules, and regulations Moses gave them after they had come out of Egypt.
46 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.
This was when they were in the valley to the east of the Jordan near Beth-peor in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites. He had ruled from Heshbon and had been defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had left Egypt.
47 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.
They took over his country and the country of Og king of Bashan. (They were the two kings of the Amorites who previously ruled on the east side of the Jordan.)
48 This territory went from Aroer, on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, to Mount Sion (or Mount Hermon),
The territory went from the town of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley all the way to Mount Sirion, otherwise known as Mount Hermon,
49 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.
and included all the Arabah to the east of the Jordan down as far as the Dead Sea beside the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
