Deuteronomy 4

1 “Now, you Israeli people, obey all the rules and regulations [DOU] that I will teach you. If you do that, you will remain alive and you will enter and occupy/capture the land that Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors [worshiped], is giving to you.

Nowe therefore hearken, O Israel, vnto the ordinances and to the lawes which I teache you to doe, that ye may liue and goe in, and possesse the lande, which the Lord God of your fathers giueth you.

2 Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away from what I tell you. Obey all the commands of Yahweh our God that I am giving to you.

Ye shall put nothing vnto the word which I command you, neither shall ye take ought there from, that ye may keepe the commandements of the Lord your God which I commande you.

3 “You have seen what Yahweh did at Baal-Peor [Mountain]. He got rid of all the people who worshiped [the god] Baal there,

Your eyes haue seene what the Lord did because of Baal-Peor, for al the men that folowed Baal-Peor the Lord thy God hath destroyed euery one from among you.

4 but you who faithfully [continued to worship] Yahweh our God are still alive today.

But ye that did cleaue vnto the Lord your God, are aliue euery one of you this day.

5 “Note that I have taught you all the rules and regulations, just like Yahweh our God told me to do. He wants you to obey them [when you are living] in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.

Behold, I haue taught you ordinances, and lawes, as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should doe euen so within the land whither ye goe to possesse it.

6 Obey them faithfully because, [if you do that], you will show the people of other nations that you are very wise. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, ‘The people of this great nation [of Israel] are certainly very wise [DOU]!’

Keepe them therefore, and doe them; for that is your wisdome, and your vnderstanding in the sight of the people, which shall heare all these ordinances, and shall say, Onely this people is wise, and of vnderstanding, and a great nation.

7 Even if other nations are great, there is none [RHQ] of them that has a god who is as near to them as Yahweh our God is to us! Whenever we call out to him [to help us, he answers/helps us]

For what nation is so great, vnto whome the gods come so neere vnto them, as the Lord our God is neere vnto vs, in all that we call vnto him for?

8 And there is no [RHQ] other nation, even if it is a great nation, that has laws that are as just/fair as the laws that I am telling to you today.

And what nation is so great, that hath ordinances and lawes so righteous, as all this Lawe, which I set before you this day?

9 “But be very careful! [DOU, IDM] Do not forget what you [SYN] have seen [God do]. Remember those things as long as you are alive. Tell them to your children and your grandchildren.

But take heede to thy selfe, and keepe thy soule diligently, that thou forget not the thinges which thine eyes haue seene, and that they depart not out of thine heart, all the dayes of thy life: but teach them thy sonnes, and thy sonnes sonnes:

10 Tell them about the day that your ancestors stood in the presence of Yahweh our God at Sinai [Mountain], when he said to me, ‘Gather the people together, in order that they can hear what I say. I want them to learn to have an awesome respect for me as long as they are alive, and I want them to teach their children to do that also.’

Forget not the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said vnto me, Gather me the people together, and I wil cause them heare my wordes, that they may learne to feare me all the dayes that they shall liue vpon the earth, and that they may teache their children:

11 [Tell them that] your ancestors came near the bottom of the mountain, while the mountain burned with a fire that went up to the sky, and the mountain was covered with dark clouds and black [smoke].

Then came you neere and stoode vnder the mountaine, and the mountaine burnt with fire vnto the mids of heauen, and there was darkenesse, cloudes and mist.

12 Then Yahweh spoke to your ancestors out of the middle of the fire. Your ancestors heard him speak, but they did not see him. They only heard his voice.

And the Lord spake vnto you out of the middes of the fire, and ye heard the voyce of the wordes, but sawe no similitude, saue a voyce.

13 And he declared to them his agreement. That agreement contained the Ten Commandments that he wants you to obey. He wrote those on two stone tablets.

Then hee declared vnto you his couenant which he commanded you to doe, euen the ten commandements, and wrote them vpon two tables of stone.

14 Yahweh commanded me to teach all the rules and regulations to you, in order that you would obey them in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.”

And the Lord commanded me that same time, that I should teach you ordinances and lawes, which ye should obserue in the lande, whither ye goe, to possesse it.

15 “On the day that Yahweh spoke to your ancestors at Sinai [Mountain], he was invisible. So, be careful

Take therefore good heede vnto your selues: for ye sawe no image in the day that the Lord spake vnto you in Horeb out of the middes of the fire:

16 that you do not sin by making for yourselves any idol [of something that can be seen!] not make an idol that resembles any person, either a man or a woman,

That ye corrupt not your selues, and make you a grauen image or representation of any figure: whither it be the likenes of male or female,

17 or that resembles any animal or any bird

The likenes of any beast that is on earth, or the likenesse of any fethered foule that flieth in the aire:

18 or any (reptile/creature that scurries across the ground) or any fish in the deep ocean.

Or the likenesse of any thing that creepeth on the earth, or the likenesse of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth,

19 And be careful to not look up toward the sky and be tempted to worship anything that you see there—the sun or the moon or the stars. Yahweh our God has given those to [be a blessing to] all people everywhere, [but you must not worship them].

And lest thou lift vp thine eyes vnto heauen, and when thou seest the sunne and the moone and the starres with all the host of heauen, shouldest bee driuen to worship them and serue them, which the Lord thy God hath distributed to all people vnder the whole heauen.

20 Yahweh has brought your ancestors out of Egypt, where [they were suffering as though] they were in a blazing furnace, in order that they would be people who belong to him, which is what you are today.

But the Lord hath taken you and brought you out of the yron fornace: out of Egypt to be vnto him a people and inheritance, as appeareth this day.

21 “But Yahweh was angry with me because of [what] your ancestors [made me do]. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan [River] to enter the good/fertile land that he is giving to you.

And the Lord was angrie with me for your words, and sware that I should not goe ouer Iorden, and that I should not goe in vnto that good land, which the Lord thy God giueth thee for an inheritance.

22 He said that I must die here in this land and never cross the Jordan [River]. But you will go across it, and you will occupy that land.

For I must die in this land, and shall not go ouer Iorden: but ye shall goe ouer, and possesse that good land.

23 Be sure that you do not forget the agreement that Yahweh our God made with you. He commanded you to not make any kind of idol, because he has forbidden that.

Take heede vnto your selues, least ye forget the couenant of the Lord your God which hee made with you, and least ye make you any grauen image, or likenes of any thing, as the Lord thy God hath charged thee.

24 [You must not do that] because Yahweh your God will destroy [anyone who worships idols, ] like [MET] a fire completely destroys things. He [wants people to worship only him, he] (cannot accept/will punish) people who worship anyone or anything else.

For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, and a ielous God.

25 “When you have been in the land [of Canaan] for a long time and you have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making an idol that represents anything at all, because Yahweh says that is evil, and if you do that, you will cause him to become angry with you [and punish you].

When thou shalt beget children and childrens children, and shalt haue remained long in the land, if ye corrupt your selues, and make any grauen image, or likenes of any thing, and worke euill in the sight of the Lord thy God, to prouoke him to anger,

26 Today I am requesting everyone who is in heaven and everyone who is on the earth [MTY] to watch what you are doing. [If you disobey what I am telling you], you will soon all die in the land that you will be crossing the Jordan [River] to occupy. You will not live very long there; Yahweh will completely get rid of many [HYP] of you.

I call heauen and earth to record against you this day, that ye shall shortly perish from the land, whereunto ye goe ouer Iorden to possesse it: ye shall not prolong your dayes therein, but shall vtterly be destroyed.

27 And [the rest of you], Yahweh will force you to go and live among the people of many other nations. Only a few of you will (survive/remain alive) there.

And the Lord shall scatter you among the people, and ye shall be left few in nomber among the nations, whither the Lord shall bring you:

28 When you are in those nations, you will worship gods that are made of wood and stone, gods made by humans, gods that cannot see anything or hear anything or eat anything or smell anything.

And there ye shall serue gods, euen ye worke of mans hand, wood, and stone, which neither see, nor heare, nor eate, nor smelll.

29 But while you are there, if you will try to know Yahweh your God, and if you try with your entire inner being to know him, he will (answer/reveal himself to) you.

But if from thence thou shalt seeke the Lord thy God, thou shalt finde him, if thou seeke him with all thine heart, and with all thy soule.

30 In the future, after you have been mistreated there and all those bad things happen to you, you will again worship only Yahweh and obey him.

When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come vpon thee, at the length if thou returne to the Lord thy God, and bee obedient vnto his voyce,

31 Yahweh is a God who acts mercifully. [If you continue to obey him], he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the agreement that he solemnly made with your ancestors.”

(For the Lord thy God is a mercifull God) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the couenant of thy fathers, which hee sware vnto them.

32 “Now think about the past, about the time before you were born, about all the time since God first created people here on the earth. You could search everywhere, in heaven and on the earth. (Has anything like this ever happened that is as great as [what Yahweh did for the Israeli people]?/Certainly nothing has ever happened that is as great [as what Yahweh did for the Israeli people].) [RHQ] (Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?/Certainly no one has ever heard of anything like this.) [RHQ]

For inquire now of the dayes that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man vpon the earth, and aske from the one ende of heauen vnto the other, if there came to passe such a great thing as this, or whether any such like thing hath bene heard.

33 (Has any group ever remained alive after they heard a god speak to them from the middle of a fire, like we did?/Certainly no group has ever remained alive after they heard a god speak to them from the middle of a fire, like we did.) [RHQ]

Did euer people heare the voyce of God speaking out of the middes of a fire, as thou hast heard, and liued?

34 Certainly no other god has ever tried to take a [huge] group of people from one nation [to another location], like he did for us when he brought us out of Egypt. We saw Yahweh our God use great power [MTY, DOU] when he performed many kinds of [DOU] miracles, and sent plagues, and did many other very terrifying things in Egypt for us, [and rescued us when the army of Egypt tried to fight against us].

Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from among nations, by tentations, by signes, and by wonders, and by warre, and by a mightie hand, and by a stretched out arme, and by great feare, according vnto all that the Lord your God did vnto you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 “Yahweh showed all these things to you, in order that you would know that only he is truly God, and that there is no other God.

Vnto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest knowe, that the Lord hee is God, and that there is none but he alone.

36 He allowed your ancestors to hear him speak from heaven in order that he could discipline them. Here on the earth he allowed them to see his great fire [on Sinai Mountain], and he spoke to them from the middle of the fire.

Out of heauen hee made thee heare his voyce to instruct thee, and vpon earth he shewed thee his great fire, and thou heardest his voyce out of the middes of the fire.

37 Because he loved our ancestors, he chose you Israelis who are their descendants, and by his great power he brought your ancestors out of Egypt.

And because hee loued thy fathers, therefore hee chose their seede after them, and hath brought thee out of Egypt in his sight by his mightie power,

38 [As they advanced], he expelled the people of nations that were greater and more powerful than they were, in order that he could allow them to capture their land and cause it to become yours, which is [what is happening] now.

To thrust out nations greater and mightier then thou, before thee, to bring thee in, and to giue thee their land for inheritance: as appeareth this day.

39 “So today you should (meditate on/think about) the fact that Yahweh is God, that he is/rules in heaven and also on the earth, and that there is no other god.

Vnderstande therefore this day, and consider in thine heart, that the Lord, he is God in heauen aboue, and vpon the earth beneath: there is none other.

40 Obey all the rules and regulations that I am giving to you today, in order that things will go well for you and for your descendants, and that you will live a long time in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, [to belong to you] forever.”

Thou shalt keepe therefore his ordinances, and his commandements which I commaund thee this day, that it may goe well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayst prolong thy dayes vpon the earth, which the Lord thy God giueth thee for euer.

41 Then Moses/I set apart three cities that are on the east side of the Jordan [River].

Then Moses separated three cities on this side of Iorden toward the sunne rising:

42 If someone accidentally killed another person, a person who had not been his enemy previously, he could escape to one of those cities. He would be safe/protected in one of those cities [because the people there would protect him].

That the slayer should flee thither, which had killed his neighbour at vnwares, and hated him not in time past, might flee, I say, vnto one of those cities, and liue:

43 For the tribe of Reuben, Moses/I set apart Bezer [city] in the (plateau/high level) area. For the tribe of Gad, Moses/I set apart Ramoth [city] in the Gilead [area]. For the tribe of Manasseh, Moses/I set apart Golan [city] in the Bashan [region].

That is, Bezer in the wildernesse, in the plaine countrey of the Reubenites: and Ramoth in Gilead among the Gadites: and Golan in Bashan among them of Manasseh.

44 Moses/I gave [God’s] laws to the Israeli people.

So this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

45 They included all the rules and instructions and commands that Moses/I gave to them, after they/we had come out of Egypt,

These are the witnesses, and the ordinances, and the lawes which Moses declared to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt,

46 when they/we were in the valley east of the Jordan [River]. They/We were across from Beth-Peor [town], in the land that [previously] was ruled by Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who lived in Heshbon [city]. Moses/I and the other Israelis had defeated his [army] when they/we came out of Egypt.

On this side Iorden, in the valley ouer against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon King of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come out of Egypt:

47 They/We captured Sihon’s land and the land that Og, the king of the Bashan [region], ruled. They were the two kings who ruled the Amor people-group [in the area] east of the Jordan [River].

And they possessed his land, and the lande of Og King of Bashan, two Kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Iorden towarde the sunne rising:

48 Their land extended from Aroer [town in the south] along the Arnon [River], as far [north] as Sirion Mountain, which [most people] call Hermon Mountain.

From Aroer, which is by the banke of the riuer Arnon, euen vnto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

49 It also included all the area east of the Jordan [River] Valley, all the way south to the Dead Sea and east to the slopes of Pisgah [Mountain].

And all the plaine by Iorden Eastwarde, euen vnto the Sea, of ye plaine, vnder the springs of Pisgah.