Deuteronomy 4
1 People of Israel, pay attention to the rules and regulations I'm teaching you to observe. That way you can stay alive, and go in and take over the country the Lord, the God of your forefathers, is giving you.
And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 You are not to add to or take away from what I'm telling you, so that you can keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm ordering you to follow.
Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you.
3 You've seen for yourselves what the Lord did at Baal-peor where the Lord your God killed everyone among you who worshiped Baal of Peor.
Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor. For all the men who followed Baal-peor, Jehovah thy God has destroyed them from the midst of thee.
4 Those of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today, every one of you.
But ye who clung to Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day.
5 Listen, I have taught you the rules and regulations just as the Lord my God ordered me to do, so you can follow them in the country that you are about to enter and take over.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land where ye go in to possess it.
6 Be careful to observe them, because this will demonstrate your wisdom and insight to the other people living there who are watching. They will find out about all these rules and say, “The people of this great nation are very wise and have good insight.”
Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 What nation is as great as us, having a god so close to them as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call on him?
For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them, as Jehovah our God is whenever we call upon him?
8 What nation is as great as us, having such good rules and regulations like all these laws that I'm placing before you today?
And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Just make sure to be very careful, and really watch what you do, so you don't forget the things you've have seen. Keep them in mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life, but make them known to thy sons and thy son's sons-
10 That day when you stood in the presence of the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord told me, “Have the people come to me and to hear what I have to say, so they may learn to have respect for me throughout their lives here on earth, and so they may teach this to their children.”
the day that thou stood before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their sons.
11 You gathered and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was on fire, shooting out flames into the sky and producing thick dark clouds.
And ye came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
12 The Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the words, but you didn't see the form of anyone speaking—there was just a voice.
And Jehovah spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. Ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form, only a voice.
13 He explained to you his agreement, the Ten Commandments, which he ordered you to follow. He wrote them down on two tablets of stone.
And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. And he wrote them upon two tablets of stone.
14 This was the time that the Lord ordered me to teach you the rules and regulations that you are to follow when you arrive in the country you're going to own once you've crossed the Jordan.
And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land where ye go over to possess it.
15 You didn't see any form when the Lord spoke to you from the fire at Horeb, so be very careful
Take ye therefore good heed to yourselves, for ye saw no manner of form on the day that Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.
16 that you don't spoil your relationship with the Lord by making an idol for yourselves in any shape or form, whether it looks like a male or female,
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make for you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 or any land animal or bird that flies,
the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
18 or of any animal that crawls on the ground or any fish in the deep sea.
the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
19 When you look up at the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the heavenly bodies—don't be tempted to bow down to them. Don't worship them like all the other nations on earth in the way that the Lord has allowed.
And lest thou lift up thine eyes to heaven, and when thou see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
20 Remember that the Lord took you and led you out of the iron furnace which was Egypt to be his own people, just as you are today.
But Jehovah has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
21 But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I wouldn't cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you to own.
Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me because of you, and swore that I would not go over the Jordan, and that I would not go in to that good land, which Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance,
22 So I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I have to die here in this land. But you will cross over and occupy that good land.
but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 However, be careful not to forget the agreement of the Lord your God that he made with you. Don't make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything, because he has forbidden you to do this.
Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God has forbidden thee.
24 For the Lord your God is a fire that burns everything up. He is an exclusive God.
For Jehovah thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 After you have been living in the country for a long time and have had children and grandchildren, if you then spoil the relationship you have with the Lord and make an idol in any form. The Lord your God sees this as evil makes him angry.
When thou shall beget sons, and son's sons, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger,
26 If you do this, I call on heaven and earth to be witnesses against you today that you will be completely wiped out from the country that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will not live long there—you will be totally destroyed.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land to which ye go over the Jordan to possess it. Ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly destroyed.
27 The Lord will scatter you among the other nations, and not many of you will survive in the countries where the Lord has exiled you.
And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations where Jehovah shall lead you away.
28 There you will worship gods of wood and stone made by human beings. These idols can't see or hear or eat or smell.
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 However, if while you're there you decide to come to the Lord your God, you will find him if you come to him whole-heartedly, with complete commitment.
But from there ye shall seek Jehovah thy God. And thou shall find him when thou search after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When you are in trouble, after you've experienced all these things, then eventually you will return to the Lord your God and do what he says.
When thou are in tribulation, and all these things have come upon thee, in the latter days thou shall return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken to his voice.
31 The Lord your God is a merciful God. He won't abandon you or destroy you or forget the agreement he made with your forefathers, confirmed by a solemn promise.
For Jehovah thy God is a merciful God. He will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore to them.
32 Think about it! Examine the whole of history from the beginning of time, long before you existed, when God made human beings, right up until now. Ask this question anywhere, from one end of the earth to the other: Has anything as amazing as this ever happened before; has anyone ever heard anything like this?
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?
33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, like you have, and survived?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou have heard, and live?
34 Has any god tried to take a nation out of another nation and make them his own, using tests and signs and miracles and war—with his great power and incredible strength and terrifying actions—like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes?
Or has God assayed to go and take for him 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, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35 You were shown all this so you could be certain that the Lord is God and there is no one like him.
It was shown to thee, that thou might know that Jehovah he is God. There is none else besides him.
36 He made you hear his voice from heaven so you would obey him. On earth he revealed himself though blazing fire, and you heard him speak to you from the fire.
Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee. And upon earth he made thee to see his great fire, and thou heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
37 Because he loved your forefathers, he chose you, their descendants. He himself led you out of Egypt by his great power,
And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt,
38 driving out ahead of you nations that were greater and stronger than you, in order to lead you to their land and give it to you as yours to own, just as you do today.
to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as at this day.
39 So today be sure about this and never forget: the Lord is the only God in heaven above and on the earth below.
Know therefore this day, and lay it to thy heart, that Jehovah he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath. There is none else.
40 Observe his rules and regulations that I'm giving you right now, so that you and your children will do well, and that you may have long lives in the country that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.
And thou shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, and that thou may prolong thy days in the land, which Jehovah thy God gives thee, forever.
41 Then Moses assigned three sanctuary towns to the east of the Jordan
Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise,
42 where a person could run to after accidentally killing someone without deliberate hatred. To save their life they could run to one of these towns:
that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43 Bezer in the desert plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh.
namely, 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 that Moses placed before the Israelites.
And this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel.
45 These are the laws, rules, and regulations Moses gave them after they had come out of Egypt.
These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,
46 This was when they were in the valley to the east of the Jordan near Beth-peor in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites. He had ruled from Heshbon and had been defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had left Egypt.
beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote when they came forth out of Egypt.
47 They took over his country and the country of Og king of Bashan. (They were the two kings of the Amorites who previously ruled on the east side of the Jordan.)
And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise,
48 The territory went from the town of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley all the way to Mount Sirion, otherwise known as Mount Hermon,
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to mount Sion (the same is Hermon),
49 and included all the Arabah to the east of the Jordan down as far as the Dead Sea beside the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
