Deuteronomy 4
1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the precepts and judgments which I am teaching to you, so that, by doing these, you may live, and you may enter and possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, will give to 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 shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it. Preserve the commandments of the Lord your God which I am teaching to 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 all that the Lord has done against Baal-peor, in what manner he has crushed all of his worshippers from among you.
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 adhere to the Lord your God are all still alive, to the present day.
But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 You know that I have taught you precepts as well as justices, just as the Lord my God has commanded me. And so shall you do in the land that you will 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 And you shall observe and fulfill these in practice. For this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, so that, upon hearing all these precepts, they may say: ‘Lo, a wise and understanding people, a great nation.’
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 Neither is there any other nation so great, which has its gods so near to them, as our God is present to all our petitions.
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 For what other nation is there so renowned as to have ceremonies, and just judgments, and the entire law that I will set forth today before your eyes?
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 And so, guard yourself and your soul carefully. You should not forget the words that your eyes have seen, and do not let them be cut away from your heart, throughout all the days of your life. You shall teach them to your sons and to your grandsons,
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 from the day on which you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying: ‘Gather the people to me, so that they may listen to my words, and may learn to fear me, throughout all the time that they are alive on earth, and so that they may teach 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 And you approached the base of the mountain, which was burning even toward heaven. And there was a darkness upon it, and a cloud, and a mist.
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 from the midst of fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you did not see any form at all.
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 And he revealed his covenant to you, which he instructed you to carry out, and the ten words which 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 And he commanded me, at that time, that I should teach you the ceremonies and judgments which you must carry out, in the land that you shall 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 And so, guard your souls carefully. You saw no likeness on the day that the Lord God spoke to you on Horeb from the midst of fire.
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 Otherwise, perhaps being deceived, you might have made a graven image, or an image of 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 a likeness of any of the beasts, which are upon the earth, or of birds, which fly under heaven,
the likeness of any animal on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,
18 or of reptiles, which move across the earth, or of fish, which abide in the waters under the earth.
the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
19 Otherwise, perhaps lifting up your eyes to heaven, you might look upon the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error, you might adore and worship these things, which the Lord your God created for the service of all the nations, which are 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 But the Lord has taken you up, and led you away from the iron furnaces of Egypt, in order to have a people of inheritance, just as it is to the present day.
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 And the Lord became angry against me because of your words, and he swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent land, which he will give to you.
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 Behold, I shall die on this soil. I shall not cross over the Jordan. You shall cross it, and you shall possess the singular 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, lest you at some time forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he has formed with you, and lest you make for yourselves a graven likeness of those things which the Lord has prohibited to be made.
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 When you will have conceived sons and grandsons while abiding in the land, and if, having been deceived, you make for yourselves any likeness, accomplishing evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to wrath,
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 this day, that you shall quickly perish from the land, which, when you have crossed over the Jordan, you will possess. You will not live in it for a long time; instead, the Lord will destroy you.
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 And he will scatter you among all the nations, and few of you will remain among those nations, to which the Lord will lead 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 gods which were fabricated by the hands of men: gods of wood and of stone, who neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
There you will serve other gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.
29 And when you will seek the Lord your God in that place, you shall find him, if only you seek him with all your heart, and in all the tribulation of 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 After all these things which have been foretold have found you, in the end time, you shall return to the Lord your God, and you will hear 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, nor will he entirely destroy you, nor will he forget the covenant, which he swore to your fathers.
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 Inquire concerning the days of antiquity, which were before you, from the day when God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to another, if anything similar has ever occurred, or whether any such thing has ever been known,
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 that a people would hear the voice of God, speaking from the midst of fire, just as you have heard it, and live,
Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
34 whether God has acted so as to enter and take for himself a nation from the midst of the nations, by means of tests, signs, and wonders, by means of fighting, and a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and terrible visions, in accord with all the things which the Lord your God has accomplished for you in Egypt, in the sight of 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 So may you know that the Lord himself is God, and there is no other beside 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 has caused you to hear his voice from heaven, so that he might teach you. And he showed you his exceedingly great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the midst 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 For he loved your fathers, and he chose their offspring after them. And he led you away from Egypt, advancing before you with his 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 so as to wipe away, upon your arrival, nations, very great and stronger than you, and so as to lead you in, and to present to you their land as a possession, just as you discern in the present 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 Therefore, know on this day and consider in your heart, that the Lord himself is God in heaven above, and on earth below, and 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 precepts and commandments, which I am teaching to you, so that it may be well with you, and with your sons after you, and so that you may remain for a long time upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.”
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 toward the eastern region,
Then Moses selected three cities on the east side of the Jordan,
42 so that anyone might flee to these if he has killed his neighbor unwillingly, who was not his enemy a day or two earlier, and so that he would be able to escape 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, which is situated in the plains of the tribe of Ruben; and Ramoth in Gilead, which is in the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, which is in the tribe of Manasseh.
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, which Moses set forth before the sons of Israel.
This is the law that Moses placed before the people of Israel;
45 And these are the testimonies and ceremonies as well as judgments, which he spoke to the sons of Israel, when they departed from 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 across the Jordan, in the valley opposite the shrine of Peor, in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses struck down. Accordingly, the sons of Israel, having departed from 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 possessed his land, and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the land of the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun:
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 from Aroer, which is situated above the bank of the torrent Arnon, as far as Mount Zion, which is also called Hermon,
This territory went from Aroer, on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, to Mount Sion (or Mount Hermon),
49 the entire plain across the Jordan, from its eastern region, as far as the sea of the wilderness, and even to the base of Mount 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.
