Deuteronomy 4

1 Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which YHWH, the God of your fathers, gives you.

“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.

2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH your God which I command you.

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.

3 Your eyes have seen what YHWH did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, YHWH your God has destroyed them from the midst of you.

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;

4 But you who were faithful to YHWH your God are all alive this day.

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

5 Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as YHWH my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.

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;

6 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."

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.

7 For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as YHWH our God is whenever we call on him?

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

8 What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

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

9 Only take heed to yourself, 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;

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.

10 the day that you stood before YHWH your God in Horeb, when YHWH 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."

[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;

11 You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

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,

12 YHWH spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.

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;

13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.

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.

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

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.

15 Therefore watch yourselves carefully; for you saw no kind of form on the day that YHWH spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.

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,

16 Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

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

17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

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

18 the likeness of any crawling creature that crawls on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the land;

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

19 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 host of heaven, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which YHWH your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

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.

20 But God 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.

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.

21 Furthermore YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which YHWH your God gives you for an inheritance:

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;

22 but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.

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.

23 Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of YHWH your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which YHWH your God has forbidden you.

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;

24 For YHWH your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

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

25 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 the sight of YHWH your God, to provoke him to anger;

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,

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

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;

27 YHWH will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where YHWH will drive you.

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

28 There you shall serve other gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

and you have served gods there, work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But from there you shall seek YHWH your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

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.

30 When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to YHWH your God, and listen to his voice:

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—

31 for YHWH your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

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.

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created humankind 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 heard like it?

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.

33 Did a people ever hear the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

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

34 Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself 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 YHWH your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

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?

35 It was shown to you so that you might know that YHWH is God. There is no one else besides him.

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

36 Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

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.

37 Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their descendants after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;

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,

38 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 at this day.

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.

39 Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that YHWH he is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

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;

40 You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which YHWH your God gives you, forever.

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.”

41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;

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

42 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:

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:

43 Bezer in the wilderness, on the plateau, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

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.

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

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

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

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,

46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came forth out of Egypt.

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;

47 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;

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,

48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),

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

49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

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