Deuteronomy 4

1 Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving 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 You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving 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 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.

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 you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.

But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.

5 See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.

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 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

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 nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on 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 And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

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 be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

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 The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.”

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 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

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 And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; 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 He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets 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 At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

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 So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful

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 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a 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 of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air,

the likeness of any animal on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,

18 or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below.

the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.

19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

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 Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.

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 The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you 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 will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that 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 Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.

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

For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and 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 call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

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 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD 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 there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

There you will serve other gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

29 But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your 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 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen 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 the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.

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 Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?

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 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?

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 has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD 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 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.

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 He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out 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 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,

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 drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is 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 Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no 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 Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

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 Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east

Then Moses selected three cities on the east side of the Jordan,

42 to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities:

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 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to 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 is the law that Moses set before the Israelites.

This is the law that Moses placed before the people of Israel;

45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come 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 while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come 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 They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east—

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 extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),

This territory went from Aroer, on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, to Mount Sion (or Mount Hermon),

49 including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of 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.