Deuteronomy 4

1 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.

“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.

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

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.

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

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

4 But ye who adhered to the LORD your God, [are] alive every one of you this day.

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

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

“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.

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

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]!’

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

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]

8 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?

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.

9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou shouldst 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:

“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.

10 [Specially] the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD 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 shall live upon the earth, and [that] they may teach their children.

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.’

11 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.

[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].

12 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.

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.

13 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.

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.

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

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.”

15 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;

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

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

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,

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

or that resembles any animal or any bird

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

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

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].

20 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.

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.

21 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:

“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.

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

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.

23 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.

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.

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

[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.

25 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:

“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].

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

29 But if from thence 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.

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.

30 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;

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.

31 (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.

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.”

32 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?

“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]

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

(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]

34 Or hath God essayed to go [and] take him 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 out-stretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

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].

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

“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.

36 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 heardst his words from the midst of the fire.

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.

37 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.

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.

38 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.

[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.

39 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.

“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.

40 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.

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.”

41 Then Moses set apart three cities on the side of Jordan, towards the sun-rising;

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

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

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].

43 [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.

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].

44 And this [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

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

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

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

46 On the east side of Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-Peor, 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:

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.

47 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, towards the sun-rising;

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].

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

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.

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

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].