< 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.
And now, thou Israel, here the comaundementis and domes whiche Y teche thee, that thou do tho, and lyue, and that thow entre and welde the lond which the Lord God of youre fadris schal yyue to 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.
Ye schulen not adde to the word which Y speke to you, nether ye schulen take awei `fro it; kepe ye the comaundementis of youre Lord God, which Y comaunde to 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.
Youre iyen sien alle thingis whiche the Lord dide ayens Belphegor; how he alto brak alle the worschiperis `of hym fro the myddis of you.
4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.
Forsothe ye that cleuen to youre Lord God lyuen alle `til in to present day.
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.
Ye witen that Y tauyte you the comaundementis and riytfulnessis, as my Lord God comaundide to me; so ye schulen do tho in the lond whiche ye schulen welde,
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.”
and ye schulen kepe, and schulen fille in werk. For this is youre wisdom and vndurstondyng bifor puplis, that alle men here these comaundementis, and seie, Lo! a wise puple and vnderstondynge! a greet folk!
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?
Noon other nacioun is so greet, `not in noumbre ether in bodili quantite, but in dignite, that hath Goddis neiyynge to it silf, as oure God is redi to alle oure bisechyngis.
8 And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
For whi what other folk is so noble, that it hath cerymonyes and iust domes, and al the lawe which Y schal `sette forth to dai bifor youre iyen?
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.
Therfor kepe thi silf, and thi soule bisili; foryete thou not the wordis whiche thin iyen sien, and falle tho not doun fro thin herte, in alle the daies of thi lijf. Thou schalt teche tho thi sones and thi sones sones.
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.”
Telle thou the day in which thou stodist bifor thi Lord God in Oreb, whanne the Lord spak to me, and seide, Gadere thou the puple to me, that it here my wordis, and lerne for to drede me in al tyme in which it lyueth in erthe, and teche hise sones.
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.
And ye neiyiden to the `roote of the hille, that brente `til to heuene; and derknessis, and cloude, and myist weren therynne.
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.
And the Lord spak to you fro the myddis of fier; ye herden the vois of hise wordis, and outirli ye sien no fourme.
13 He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone.
And he schewide to you his couenaunt, which he comaundide, that ye schulden do, and `he schewide ten wordis, whiche he wroot in two tablis of stoon.
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.
And he comaundide to me in that tyme, that Y schulde teche you cerymonyes and domes, whiche ye owen to do in the lond whiche ye schulen welde.
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
Therfor kepe ye bisili youre soulis; ye sien not ony licnesse in the dai in which the Lord spak to you in Oreb, fro the myddis of the fier;
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,
lest perauenture ye be disseyued and make to you a grauun licnesse, ether an ymage of male, ether of female;
17 of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air,
a licnesse of alle beestis that ben on erthe, ether of bridis fleynge vndur heuene,
18 or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below.
and of crepynge beestis that ben moued in erthe, ether of fischis that dwellen vndur the erthe in watris; lest perauenture,
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.
whanne thin iyen ben reisid to heuene, thou se the sonne, and moone, and alle the sterris of heuene, and be disseyued bi errour, and worschipe tho, `bi outermer reuerence, and onour, `bi ynner reuerence, `tho thingis whiche thi Lord God made of nouyt, in to seruyce to alle folkis that ben vndur heuene.
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.
Forsothe the Lord took you, and ledde out of the yrun furneys of Egipt, that he schulde haue a puple of eritage, as it is in `present dai.
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.
And the Lord was wrooth ayens me for youre wordis, and swoor that Y schulde not passe Jordan, and schulde not entre in to the beeste lond, which he schal yyue to you.
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.
Lo! Y die in this erthe; Y schal not passe Jordan; ye schulen passe, and schulen welde the noble lond.
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.
Be thou war, lest ony tyme thou foryete the couenaunt of thi Lord God, which he made with thee, and lest thou make to thee a grauun licness of tho thingis whiche the Lord forbeed to make.
24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
For thi Lord God is fier wastynge; `God, a feruent louyere.
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—
If ye gendren sones, and sones of sones, and ye dwellen in the lond, and ye be disceyued, and make to you ony licnesse, and doen yuel bifor youre Lord God, that ye terren hym to greet wrathe,
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.
Y clepe witnesses to dai heuene and erthe, `that is, ech resonable creature beynge in heuene and in erthe, that ye schulen perische soone fro the lond, which ye schulen welde, whanne ye han passid Jordan; ye schulen not dwelle long tyme therynne, but the Lord schal do awey you,
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.
and schal scatere `in to alle hethen men, and ye schulen leeue fewe among naciouns, to whiche the Lord schal lede you.
28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
And there ye schulen serue to goddis, that ben maad bi `the hond of men, to a tre and a stoon, that `seen not, nether heren, nether eten, nether smellen.
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.
And whanne thou hast souyt there thi Lord God, thou schalt fynde hym; if netheles thou sekist with al the herte, and with al the tribulacioun of thi soule.
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.
Aftir that alle thingis han founde thee, that ben biforseid, forsothe in the laste tyme, thou schalt turne ayen to thi Lord God, and thou schalt here his vois.
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 thi Lord God is merciful God; he schal not forsake thee, nethir he schal do awey outirli, nethir he schal foryete the couenaunt, in which he swoor to thi fadris.
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?
Axe thou of elde daies that weren bifor thee, fro the day in which thi Lord God made of nouyt man on erthe, axe thou fro that oon ende of heuene `til to the tother ende therof, if sich a thing was doon ony tyme, ether if it was euere knowun,
33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?
that a puple herde the vois of God spekynge fro the myddis of the fier, as thou herdist, and siest;
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?
if God `dide, that he entride, and took to him silf a folc fro the middis of naciouns, bi temptaciouns, myraclis, and grete wondris, bi batel, and strong hond, and arm holdun forth, and orrible siytis, bi alle thingis whiche youre Lord God dide for you in Egipt, `while thin iyen sien;
35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.
that thou schuldist wite, that the Lord hym silf is God, and noon other is, outakun oon.
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.
Fro heuene he made thee to here his vois, that he schulde teche thee; and in erthe he schewide to thee his grettiste fier, and thou herdist the wordis `of hym fro the myddis of the fier;
37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,
for he louyde thi fadris, and chees her seed aftir hem. And he ledde thee out of Egipt, and yede bifore in his greet vertu,
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.
that he schulde do awei grettiste naciouns, and strongere than thou, in thin entryng, and that he schulde lede thee ynne, and schulde yyue to thee the lond `of hem in to possessioun, as thou seest in `present day.
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.
Therfor wite thou to dai, and thenke in thin herte, that the Lord him silfe is God in heuene aboue, and in erthe bynethe, and noon other is.
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.
Kepe thou hise heestis, and comaundementis, whiche Y comaunde to thee, that it be wel to thee, and to thi sones after thee, and that thou dwelle mych tyme on the lond, which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee.
41 Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east
Thanne Moises departide thre citees biyende Jordan at the eest coost,
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:
that he fle to tho, that sleeth his neighbore not wilfuli, and was not enemy bifore oon and `the tother dai, and that he mai fle to summe of these citees;
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.
Bosor in the wildirnesse, which is set in the feeldi lond, of the lynage of Ruben; and Ramoth in Galaad, which is in the lynage of Gad; and Golan in Basan, which is in the lynage of Manasses.
44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites.
This is the lawe which Moises `settide forth bifor the sones of Israel,
45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,
and these ben the witnessyngis, and cerymonyes, and domes, whiche he spak to the sones of Israel, whanne thei yeden out of Egipt,
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.
biyende Jordan, in the valey ayens the temple of Phegor, in the lond of Seon, kyng of Ammorreis, that dwellide in Esebon, whom Moises killide. And the sones of Israel yeden out of Egipt, and weldiden `the lond of him,
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—
and the lond of Og, kyng of Basan, twei kyngis of Ammoreis, that weren biyende Jordan, at the rysyng of the sunne;
48 extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),
fro Aroer which is set on the brenke of the stronde of Arnon, `til to the hil of Seon, which is 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.
thei weldiden al the pleyn biyende Jordan, at the eest coost, `til to the see of wildirnesse, and `til to the rootis of the hil of Phasga.

< Deuteronomy 4 >