Deuteronomy 4

1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and to the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that you live, and have gone in, and possessed the land which YHWH God of your fathers is giving to you.

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you, to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

2 You do not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor diminish from it, to keep the commands of your God YHWH which I am commanding you.

Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish any thing from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

3 Your eyes are seeing that which YHWH has done in Ba‘al-Peor, for every man who has gone after Ba‘al-Peor, your God YHWH has destroyed him from your midst;

Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

4 and you who are cleaving to your God YHWH [are] alive today—all of you.

But ye who held fast to the LORD your God are alive each one of you this day.

5 See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as my God YHWH has commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land to where you are going in to possess it;

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land where ye go to possess it.

6 and you have kept and done [them] (for it [is] your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Surely a people wise and understanding [is] this great nation.

Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

7 For which [is] the great nation that has God [so] near to it, as our God YHWH, in all we have called to Him?

For what nation is there so great, which hath God so near to them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

8 And which [is] the great nation which has righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you today?

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

9 Only, take heed to yourself, and watch your soul exceedingly, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from your heart all [the] days of your life; and you have made them known to your sons and to your sons’ sons.

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou shouldest forget the things which thy eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them to thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

10 [Never forget] the day when you have stood before your God YHWH in Horeb, in YHWH’s saying to me, Assemble the people to Me, and I cause them to hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they are alive on the ground, and they teach their sons;

Especially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, Gather the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

11 and you draw near and stand under the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire to the heart of the heavens, [with] darkness, cloud, and thick darkness,

And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

12 and YHWH speaks to you out of the midst of the fire; you are hearing a voice of words, but you are seeing no likeness, only a voice;

And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

13 and He declares His covenant to you, which He has commanded you to do, the Ten Commandments, and He writes them on two tablets of stone.

And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14 And YHWH has commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land to where you are passing over to possess it.

And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land where ye go over to possess it.

15 And you have been very watchful of your souls, for you have not seen any likeness in the day of YHWH’s speaking to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

Take ye therefore good heed to yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

16 lest you do corruptly, and have made for yourselves a carved image, a likeness of any figure: a form of male or female,

Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make to you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 a form of any beast which [is] in the earth, a form of any winged bird which flies in the heavens,

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

18 a form of any creeping thing on the ground, a form of any fish which [is] in the waters below the earth.

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

19 And lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and have seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and have been drawn away, and have bowed yourself to them and served them, which your God YHWH has apportioned to all the peoples under all the heavens.

And lest thou shouldest lift up thy eyes to heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided to all nations under the whole heaven.

20 And YHWH has taken you, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people, an inheritance, as [at] this day.

But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, even from Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

21 And YHWH has showed Himself angry with me because of your words, and swears to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going into the good land which your God YHWH is giving to you [for] an inheritance;

Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not enter that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

22 for I am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, but you are passing over and have possessed this good land.

But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

23 Take heed to yourselves lest you forget the covenant of your God YHWH which He has made with you, and have made a carved image for yourselves, a likeness of anything [concerning] which your God YHWH has charged you;

Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

24 for your God YHWH is a consuming fire—a zealous God.

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

25 When you beget sons and sons’ sons, and you have become old in the land, and have done corruptly, and have made a carved image, a likeness of anything, and have done evil in the eyes of YHWH to provoke Him to anger,

When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

26 I have caused the heavens and the earth to testify against you this day, that you perish utterly quickly from off the land to where you are passing over the Jordan to possess it; you do not prolong days on it, but are utterly destroyed;

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from the land where ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly destroyed.

27 and YHWH has scattered you among the peoples, and you have been left few in number among the nations to where YHWH leads you,

And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, where the LORD shall lead you.

28 and you have served gods there, work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor eat, nor 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 And you have sought your God YHWH from there, and have found [Him] when you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

But if from there thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou shalt seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 In the distress of yours, when all these things have found you in the latter end of the days, and you have turned back to your God YHWH and have listened to His voice—

When thou art in tribulation, and all these things have come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou shalt turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient to his voice;

31 for your God YHWH [is] a merciful God—He does not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He has sworn to them.

(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God; ) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore to them.

32 For ask now of the former days which have been before you, from the day that God created man on the earth, and from the [one] end of the heavens even to the [other] end of the heavens, whether there has been as this great thing, or [if anything] has been heard like it.

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven to the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

33 Has a people heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, you—and live?

Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

34 Or has God tried to go in to take a nation for Himself from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that your God YHWH has done to you in Egypt before your eyes?

Or hath God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, 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 the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 You—you have been shown [it], to know that He, YHWH, [is] God; there is none else besides Him.

To thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none besides him.

36 He has caused you to hear His voice from the heavens, to instruct you; and on earth He has showed you His great fire, and you have heard His words out of the midst of the fire.

Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words from the midst of the fire.

37 And because that He has loved your fathers, He also fixes on their seed after them, and brings you out in His presence, by His great power, from Egypt,

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

38 to dispossess nations greater and stronger than you from your presence, to bring you in to give their land to you [for] an inheritance, as [at] this day.

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

39 And you have known today, and have turned [it] back to your heart, that He, YHWH, [is] God in the heavens above and on the earth below—there is none else;

Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

40 and you have kept His statutes and His commands which I am commanding you today, so that it is well for you, and for your sons after you, and so that you prolong days on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you—all the days.”

Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.

41 Then Moses separates three cities beyond the Jordan, toward the sun-rising,

Then Moses set apart three cities on the side of Jordan toward the sunrising;

42 for the fleeing there of the manslayer who slays his neighbor unknowingly, and he is not hating him before, and he has fled to one of these cities and he has lived:

That the slayer might flee there, who should kill his neighbour unintentionally, and when he had not hated him in times past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

43 Bezer in the wilderness, in the land of the plain, for the Reubenite; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadite; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassite.

Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

44 And this [is] the law which Moses has set before the sons of Israel;

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

45 these [are] the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses has spoken to the sons of Israel in their coming out of Egypt,

These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, after they came forth from Egypt,

46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel have struck in their coming out of Egypt;

On the east side of Jordan, in the valley opposite Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they had come forth from Egypt:

47 and they possess his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, [toward] the sun-rising,

And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on the side of Jordan toward the sunrising;

48 from Aroer, which [is] by the edge of the Brook of Arnon, even to Mount Zion, which [is] Hermon—

From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even to mount Sion, which is Hermon,

49 and all the plain beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the Sea of the Plain, below the Springs of Pisgah.

And all the plain on the side of Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.