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 therefore listen, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that you may live, and go in and possess 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, neither shall you diminish anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I 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 the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD 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 that did join to the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

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 taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you go 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.

Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear 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 nation is there so great, who has God so near to them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call on him for?

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 nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as 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: —

Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life: but teach them 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.

Specially the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall 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.

And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the middle of heaven, with darkness, clouds, 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.

And the LORD spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; 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 declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even 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 statutes and judgments, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess 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;

Take you therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spoke to you in 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;

Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any 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 that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air,

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 thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath 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 you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has divided to all nations under the whole 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 the LORD has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as you are 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;

Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good 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.

But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but you shall 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;

Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD your God has forbidden 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, even 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 shall beget children, and children’s children, and you shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD 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 this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land where you go over Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be 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;

And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and you shall be left few in number among the heathen, where the LORD shall lead 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 there you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor 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.

But if from there you shall seek the LORD your God, you shall find him, if you seek 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 tribulation, and all these things are come on you, even in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD your God, and shall be obedient 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 the LORD your God is a merciful God; ) he will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which 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:

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?

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 people hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle 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 assayed to go and take him a nation from the middle of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD 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 it was showed, that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else 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.

Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he showed you his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle 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;

And because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out in his sight with his mighty power 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 drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is 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.

Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath: there is none 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 shall keep therefore 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 on 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 severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sun rise;

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 thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might 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.

Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

44 This, then is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel:

And 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 statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, after they came forth 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:

On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelled at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth 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;

And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sun rise;

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 by the bank of the river Arnon, even to mount Sion, which is 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 all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.