Deuteronomy 4

1 And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances which I teach you to do; in order that ye may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, giveth unto you.

And now give ear, O Israel, to the laws and the decisions which I am teaching you, and do them; so that life may be yours, and you may go in and take for yourselves the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, nor shall ye diminish aught from it; that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Make no addition to the orders which I give you, and take nothing from them, but keep the orders of the Lord your God which I give you.

3 Your own eyes have seen that which the Lord hath done because of Baal-peor; for every man that followed Baal-peor, him the Lord thy God hath destroyed from the midst of thee.

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for destruction came from the Lord on all those among you who went after Baal-peor.

4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God, are alive, every one of you, this day.

But you who kept faith with the Lord are living, every one of you, today.

5 See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, just as the Lord my God commanded me; that ye may do so in the midst of the land whither ye go to take possession of it.

I have been teaching you laws and decisions, as I was ordered to do by the Lord my God, so that you might keep them in the land to which you are going to take it for your heritage.

6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the nations, that shall hear all these statutes, and they will say, Nothing but a wise and understanding people is this great nation.

So keep these laws and do them; for so will your wisdom and good sense be clear in the eyes of the peoples, who hearing all these laws will say, Truly, this great nation is a wise and far-seeing people.

7 For what great nation is there that hath gods so nigh unto it, as is the Lord our God at all times that we call upon him.

For what great nation has a god so near to them as the Lord our God is, whenever we are turned to him in prayer?

8 And what great nation is there that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as is all this law, which I lay before you this day?

And what great nation has laws and decisions so right as all this law which I put before you today?

9 Only take heed to thyself, and guard thy soul diligently, that thou do not forget the things which thy eyes have seen, and that they depart not from thy heart all the days of thy life; but thou shalt make them known unto thy sons, and unto thy sons' sons;

Only take care, and keep watch on your soul, for fear that the things which your eyes have seen go from your memory and from your heart all the days of your life; but let the knowledge of them be given to your children and to your children's children;

10 The day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God at Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Assemble for me the people, and I will cause them to hear my words, which they shall learn, to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and which they shall teach their children.

That day when you were waiting before the Lord your God in Horeb, and the Lord said to me, Make all the people come together, so that hearing my words they may go in fear of me all the days of their life on earth and give this teaching to their children.

11 And ye came near and stood at the foot of the mount; and the mount was burning with fire unto the midst of the heaven, [from amidst] darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

And you came near, waiting at the foot of the mountain; and flames of fire went up from the mountain to the heart of heaven, with dark clouds, and all was black as night.

12 And the Lord spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire; the sound of words ye heard, but any similitude ye saw not: there was nothing but a sound.

And the voice of the Lord came to you out of the fire: the sound of his words came to your ears but you saw no form; there was nothing but a voice.

13 And he told unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

And he gave you his agreement with you, the ten rules which you were to keep, which he put in writing on the two stones of the law.

14 And me the Lord commanded at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

And the Lord gave me orders at that time to make clear to you these laws and decisions, so that you might do them in the land to which you are going, and which is to be your heritage.

15 Take ye therefore good heed of your souls; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke unto you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

So keep watch on yourselves with care; for you saw no form of any sort on the day when the voice of the Lord came to you in Horeb out of the heart of the fire:

16 That ye become not corrupt, and make yourselves a graven image, the similitude of any idol-figure, the likeness of a male or of a female,

So that you may not be turned to evil ways and make for yourselves an image in the form of any living thing, male or female,

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air of heaven,

Or any beast of the earth, or winged bird of the air,

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth;

Or of anything which goes flat on the earth, or any fish in the water under the earth.

19 And that thou lift not up thy eyes unto the heavens, and thou see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be misled to bow down to them, and to serve them, those which the Lord thy God hath assigned unto all nations under the whole heaven.

And when your eyes are lifted up to heaven, and you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of heaven, do not let yourselves be moved to give them worship, or become the servants of what the Lord has given equally to all peoples under heaven.

20 But you did the Lord take, and he brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto you a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

But the Lord has taken you out of the flaming fire, out of Egypt, to be to him the people of his heritage, as you are today.

21 Farthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and he swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth unto thee for an inheritance;

And the Lord was angry with me because of you, and made an oath that I was not to go over Jordan into the good land which the Lord is giving you for your heritage:

22 For I must die in this land; I shall not go over the Jordan; but ye will go over and take possession of this good land.

But death is to come to me in this land, I may not go over Jordan: but you will go over and take that good land for your heritage.

23 Take heed unto yourselves, that ye do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he hath made with you, and make yourselves a graven image, the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

Take care that you do not let the agreement of the Lord your God, which he has made with you, go out of your mind, or make for yourselves images of any sort, against the orders which the Lord your God has given you.

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire; yea, a watchful God.

For the Lord your God is an all-burning fire, and he will not let the honour which is his be given to any other.

25 When thou begettest children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and ye become corrupt, and make a graven image, the likeness of any thing, and do the evil in the eyes of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:

If, when you have had children and children's children, and have been living a long time in the land, you are turned to evil ways, and make an image of any sort, and do evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, moving him to wrath:

26 I call this day the heavens and the earth to witness against you, that ye shall soon perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not remain many days upon it, but ye shall surely be destroyed.

May heaven and earth be my witnesses against you today, that destruction will quickly overtake you, cutting you off from that land which you are going over Jordan to take; your days will not be long in that land, but you will come to a complete end.

27 And the Lord will scatter you among the nations, and ye will be left few in number among the nations, whither the Lord will lead you.

And the Lord will send you wandering among the peoples; only a small band of you will be kept from death among the nations where the Lord will send you.

28 And ye will serve there gods, the work of man's hands, wood and stone, which neither can see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

There you will be the servants of gods, made by men's hands, of wood and stone, having no power of seeing or hearing or taking food or smelling.

29 But thou wilt seek from there the Lord thy God, and wilt find him, if thou apply to him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

But if in those lands you are turned again to the Lord your God, searching for him with all your heart and soul, he will not keep himself from you.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things have overtaken thee, in the latter end of days: then wilt thou return to the Lord thy God, and be obedient unto his voice.

When you are in trouble and all these things have come on you, if, in the future, you are turned again to the Lord your God, and give ear to his voice:

31 For a merciful God is the Lord thy God; he will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee; and he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers which he hath sworn unto them.

Because the Lord your God is a God of mercy, he will not take away his help from you or let destruction overtake you, or be false to the agreement which he made by an oath with your fathers.

32 For do but ask of former days, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of the heavens unto the other end of the heavens, whether there hath been the like of this great thing, or whether the like of it hath been heard.

Give thought now to the days which are past, before your time, from the day when God first gave life to man on the earth, and searching from one end of heaven to the other, see if such a great thing as this has ever been, or if anything like it has been talked of in story.

33 Hath ever a people heard the voice of a god, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and remained alive?

Has any people ever gone on living after hearing the voice of God out of the heart of the fire as you did?

34 Or hath a god essayed to go to take himself a nation from the midst of a nation, by proofs, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, like all that which the Lord your God hath done for you in Egypt before thy eyes.

Has God ever before taken a nation for himself from out of another nation, by punishments and signs and wonders, by war and by a strong hand and a stretched-out arm and great acts of wonder and fear, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes?

35 Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know, that the Eternal is the God: there is none else besides him.

All this he let you see, so that you might be certain that the Lord is God and there is no other.

36 Out of the heavens he caused thee to hear his voice, to correct thee: and upon the earth he caused thee to see his great fire; and his words didst thou hear out of the midst of the fire.

Out of heaven itself his voice came to you, teaching you; and on earth he let you see his great fire; and his words came to your ears out of the heart of the fire.

37 And therefore, because he loved thy fathers, he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his presence with his mighty power out of Egypt;

And because of his love for your fathers, he took their seed and made it his, and he himself, present among you, took you out of Egypt by his great power;

38 To drive out nations greater and mightier than thou art, from before thee, to bring thee in, to give unto thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

Driving out before you nations greater and stronger than you, to take you into their land and give it to you for your heritage, as at this day.

39 Know therefore this day, and reflect in thy heart, that the Eternal is the God in the heavens above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

So today be certain, and keep the knowledge deep in your hearts, that the Lord is God, in heaven on high and here on earth; there is no other God.

40 And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee; and that thou mayest live many days upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for all times.

Then keep his laws and his orders which I give you today, so that it may be well for you and for your children after you, and that your lives may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for ever.

41 Then Moses set aside three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun;

Then Moses had three towns marked out on the far side of Jordan looking to the east;

42 That thither might flee the manslayer, who should kill his neighbor unawares, when he had not been an enemy to him in times past; and that he should flee unto one of these cities and live.

To which anyone causing the death of his neighbour in error and not through hate, might go in flight; so that in one of these towns he might be kept from death:

43 Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gil'ad for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Menassites.

The names of the towns were Bezer in the waste land, in the table-land, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for Manasseh.

44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

This is the law which Moses put before the children of Israel:

45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,

These are the rules and the laws and the decisions which Moses gave to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt;

46 On this side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite to Beth-peor, in the land of Sichon the king of the Emorites, who dwelt at Cheshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt;

On the far side of Jordan, in the valley facing Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who was ruling in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel overcame after they had come out of Egypt:

47 And they took possession of his land, and of the land of 'Og the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Emorites, who were on this side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun;

And they took his land for a heritage, and the land of Og, king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, whose lands were on the other side of Jordan to the east;

48 From 'Aro'er, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Chermon,

From Aroer on the edge of the valley of the Arnon as far as Mount Sion, which is Hermon,

49 And all the plain on this side of the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the declivities of Pisgah.

And all the Arabah on the far side of Jordan to the east, as far as the sea of the Arabah under the slopes of Pisgah.