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 the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.

Now, Israel, listen to the laws and the decrees that I am about to teach you, to do them; so that you may live and go in and possess the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

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

You will not add to the words that I command you, neither will you diminish them, so that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am about to command you.

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

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

4 But you who were faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today.

But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you.

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

Look, I have taught you laws and decrees, as Yahweh my God had commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land which you are going into in order 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.”

Therefore keep them and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear about all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'

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

For what other great nation is there that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call upon him?

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

What other great nation is there that has laws and decrees so righteous as all this law that I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful, 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 pay attention and carefully guard yourself, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not leave your heart for all the days of your life. Instead, make them known to your children and your children's children.

10 the day that you stood before the LORD your 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 live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.”

On the day that you stood before Yahweh your God at Horeb, when Yahweh 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.'

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

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

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

Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire; you heard the voice with its words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.

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

He declared to you his covenant that he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments. He wrote them on two tablets of stone.

14 The LORD 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.

Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, so that you might do them in the land that you are crossing over to take possession of.

15 Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,

So take great heed to yourselves—for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb out of the middle of the fire—

16 lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

that you do not corrupt yourselves and by making a carved image in the form of any figure, in the likeness 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,

the likeness of any animal on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,

18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;

the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under 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 army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

You shall not lift your eyes up to the heavens and look at the sun, the moon, or the stars—all the host of the heavens—and be drawn away to worship them and adore them—those things of which Yahweh your God has given a share all the peoples under the whole sky.

20 But the LORD has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.

But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of his own inheritance, as you are today.

21 Furthermore the LORD 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 the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance;

Yahweh was angry with me because of you; he swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go into that good land, the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as 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.

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

23 Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.

Pay attention to yourselves, so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden you to make.

24 For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

25 When you father children and children’s children, and you have been long in the land, and then corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the LORD your God’s sight to provoke him to anger,

When you beget children and children's children, and when you will have been in the land for a long time, and if you corrupt yourselves and make a carved figure in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger—

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from off the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but you will be completely destroyed.

27 The LORD will scatter you amongst the peoples, and you will be left few in number amongst the nations where the LORD will lead you away.

Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.

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

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

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

But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find him, when you search after 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 the LORD your God and listen to his voice.

When you are in distress, and when all these things will have come on you, in those later days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice.

31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

For Yahweh your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers that he swore to them.

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it?

Ask now about the days that are past, which were before your time, since the day that God created man on the earth, ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has been anything so great as this, or has anything like it ever been heard?

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

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

34 Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from amongst another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Or has God ever attempted to go and take for himself a nation 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, as everything that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

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

To you these things were shown, so that you might know that Yahweh is God, and that there is no one else besides him.

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

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

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

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

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 it is today.

in order to drive out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as today.

39 Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that the LORD himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else.

Know therefore today, and lay it on your heart, that Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no one else.

40 You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God gives you for all time.

You will keep his statutes and his commandments that I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you forever.”

41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan towards the sunrise,

Then Moses selected three cities on the east side of the Jordan,

42 that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbour unintentionally and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

so that anyone might flee to one of them if he killed another person accidentally, without being his enemy previously. By fleeing to one of these cities, he might survive.

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

They were: Bezer in the wilderness, the plain country, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

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

This is the law that Moses placed before the people of Israel;

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

these are the covenant decrees, laws, and other decrees that he spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,

46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite 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 out of Egypt.

when they were east of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel had defeated when they came out of Egypt.

47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan towards the sunrise;

They took his land as a possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan—these, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the east.

48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Zion (also called Hermon),

This territory went from Aroer, on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, to Mount Sion (or Mount Hermon),

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

and included all of the plain of the Jordan River valley, eastward beyond the Jordan, to the Sea of the Arabah, to the slopes of Mount Pisgah.