< Deuteronomy 4 >
1 And now, Israel, hear the ordinances and judgments, all that I teach you this day to do: that ye may live, and be multiplied, and that ye may go in and inherit the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives you.
Now, Israel [God prevails], sh'ma ·hear obey· the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Adonai, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, and ye shall not take from it: keep the commandments of the Lord our God, all that I command you this day.
You shall not add to the word which I enjoin you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the mitzvot ·instructions· of Adonai your God which I enjoin you.
3 Your eyes have seen all that the Lord our God did in [the case of] Beel-phegor; for every man that went after Beel-phegor, the Lord your God has utterly destroyed him from among you.
Your eyes have seen what Adonai did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Adonai your God has destroyed them from among you.
4 But ye that kept close to the Lord your God are all alive to-day.
But you who were faithful to Adonai your God are all alive today.
5 Behold, I have shewn you ordinances and judgments as the Lord commanded me, that ye should do so in the land into which ye go to inherit it.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Adonai my God enjoined me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it.
6 And ye shall keep and do them: for this is your wisdom and understanding before all nations, as many as shall hear all these ordinances; and they shall say, Behold, this great nation [is] a wise and understanding people.
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall sh'ma ·hear obey· all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
7 For what manner of nation [is so] great, which has God so near to them as the Lord our God [is] in all things in whatsoever we may call upon him?
For what great nation is there, that has a deity so near to them, as Yahweh Eloheikhem [Yahweh our God] is whenever we call on him?
8 And what manner of nation [is so] great, which has righteous ordinances and judgments according to all this law, which I set before you this day?
What great nation is there, that has statutes and judgement so upright as all this Torah ·Teaching·, which I set before you today?
9 Take heed to thyself, and keep thy heart diligently: forget not any of the things, which thine eyes have seen, and let them not depart from thine heart all the days of thy life; and thou shalt teach thy sons and thy sons' sons,
Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;
10 [even the things that happened in] the day in which ye stood before the Lord our God in Choreb in the day of the assembly; for the Lord said to me, Gather the people to me, and let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days which they live upon the earth, and they shall teach their sons.
the day that you stood before Adonai your God in Horeb [Desert], when Adonai said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them sh'ma ·hear obey· 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 And ye drew nigh and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire up to heaven: [there was] darkness, blackness, [and] tempest.
You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire a voice of words, which ye heard: and ye saw no likeness, only [ye heard] a voice.
Adonai spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you sh'ma ·hear obey· the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.
13 And he announced to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.
He declared to you his covenant ·binding contract between two or more parties·, which he enjoined you to perform, even the Ten Words. He wrote them on two stone tablets.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time, to teach you ordinances and judgments, that ye should do them on the land, into which ye go to inherit it.
Adonai enjoined 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 And take good heed to your hearts, for ye saw no similitude in the day in which the Lord spoke to you in Choreb in the mountain out of the midst of the fire:
Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Adonai spoke to you in Horeb [Desert] out of the middle of the fire,
16 lest ye transgress, and make to yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,
lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 the likeness of any beast of those that are on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird which flies under heaven,
the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
18 the likeness of any reptile which creeps on the earth, the likeness of any fish of those which are in the waters under the earth;
the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
19 and lest having looked up to the sky, and having seen the sun and the moon and the stars, and all the heavenly bodies, thou shouldest go astray and worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God has distributed to all the nations under heaven.
and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and abad ·serve· them, which Adonai your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
20 But God took you, and led you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
But Adonai has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt [Abode of slavery], to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.
21 And the Lord God was angry with me for the things said by you, and sware that I should not go over this Jordan, and that I should not enter into the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Furthermore Adonai was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan [Descender], and that I should not go in to that good land, which Adonai your God gives you for an inheritance;
22 For I am to die in this land, and shall not pass over this Jordan; but ye are to pass over, and shall inherit this good land.
but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan [Descender]; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord our God, which he made with you, and ye transgress, and make to yourselves a graven image of any of the things concerning which the Lord thy God commanded thee.
Be careful, lest you forget the covenant ·binding contract between two or more parties· of Adonai your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves an engraved image in the form of anything which Adonai your God has enjoined forbidden for you.
24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
For Yahweh [He sustains breathing] your God is 'Akal 'Esh [Consuming Fire], El Kana' [Jealous God].
25 And when thou shalt have begotten sons, and shalt have sons' sons, and ye shall have dwelt a long time on the land, and shall have transgressed, and made a graven image of any thing, and shall have done wickedly before the Lord your God to provoke him;
When you shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in Adonai your God’s sight, to provoke him to anger;
26 I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan [Descender] to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.
27 And the Lord shall scatter you among all nations, and ye shall be left few in number among all the nations, among which the Lord shall bring you.
Adonai will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Adonai will lead you away.
28 And ye shall there serve other gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which cannot see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor smell.
There you shall abad ·serve· deities, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor sh'ma ·hear obey·, nor eat, nor smell.
29 And there ye shall seek the Lord your God, and ye shall find him whenever ye shall seek him with all your heart, and with all your soul in your affliction.
But from there you shall seek Adonai your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30 And all these things shall come upon thee in the last days, and thou shalt turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice.
When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall teshuvah ·completely return· to Adonai your God, and sh'ma ·hear obey· to his voice.
31 Because the Lord thy God [is] a God of pity: he will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee; he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers, which the Lord sware to them.
For Adonai your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant ·binding contract between two or more parties· of your fathers which he swore to them.
32 Ask of the former days which were before thee, from the day when God created man upon the earth, and [beginning] at the [one] end of heaven to the other end of heaven, if there has happened any thing like to this great event, if such a thing has been heard:
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been sh'ma ·heard obeyed· like it?
33 if a nation have heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard and hast lived;
Did a people ever sh'ma ·hear obey· the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have sh'ma ·heard obeyed·, and live?
34 if God has assayed to go and take to himself a nation out of the midst of [another] nation with trial, and with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with great sights, according to all the things which the Lord our God did in Egypt in thy sight.
Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Adonai your God did for you in Egypt [Abode of slavery] before your eyes?
35 So that thou shouldest know that the Lord thy God he is God, and there is none beside him.
It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh [He sustains breathing] is God. There is no one else besides him,
36 His voice was made audible from heaven to instruct thee, and he shewed thee upon the earth his great fire, and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
Out of heaven he made you to sh'ma ·hear obey· his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you sh'ma ·heard obeyed· his words out of the middle of the fire.
37 Because he loved thy fathers, he also chose you their seed after them, and he brought thee himself with his great strength out of Egypt,
Because he 'ahav ·affectionately loved· your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt [Abode of slavery];
38 to destroy nations great and stronger than thou before thy face, to bring thee in, to give thee their land to inherit, as thou hast it this day.
to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.
39 An thou shalt know this day, and shalt consider in thine heart, that the Lord thy God he [is] God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath, and there is none else but he.
Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh [He sustains breathing] himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else.
40 And keep ye his commandments, and his ordinances, all that I command you this day; that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, that ye may be long-lived upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for ever.
You shall keep his statutes, and his mitzvot ·instructions·, which I enjoin 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, which Adonai your God gives you, forever.
41 Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan on the east,
Then Moses [Drawn out] set apart three cities beyond the Jordan [Descender] toward the sunrise;
42 that the slayer might flee thither, who should have slain his neighbour unintentionally, and should not have hated him in times past, and he shall flee to one of these cities and live:
that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43 Bosor in the wilderness, in the plain country of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad [belonging to] Gad, and Gaulon in Basan [belonging to] Manasse.
Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
44 This [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
This is the Torah ·Teaching· which Moses [Drawn out] set before the children of Israel [God prevails].
45 These [are] the testimonies, and the ordinances, and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt:
These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses [Drawn out] spoke to the children of Israel [God prevails], when they came out of Egypt [Abode of slavery],
46 on the other side of Jordan, in the valley near the house of Phogor, in the land of Seon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Esebon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote when they came out of the land of Egypt.
beyond the Jordan [Descender], in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites [Descendants of Talkers], who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses [Drawn out] and the children of Israel [God prevails] struck, when they came out of Egypt [Abode of slavery].
47 And they inherited his land, and the land of Og king of Basan, two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan eastward.
They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites [Descendants of Talkers], who were beyond the Jordan [Descender] toward the sunrise;
48 From Aroer, which is on the border of the brook Arnon, even to the mount of Seon, which is Aermon.
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (also called Hermon [Devoted to destruction]),
49 All Araba beyond Jordan eastward under Asedoth hewn in the rock.
and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan [Descender] eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.