Deuteronomy 4
1 And now, thou Israel, here the comaundementis and domes whiche Y teche thee, that thou do tho, and lyue, and that thow entre and welde the lond which the Lord God of youre fadris schal yyue to you.
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.
2 Ye schulen not adde to the word which Y speke to you, nether ye schulen take awei `fro it; kepe ye the comaundementis of youre Lord God, which Y comaunde to you.
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.
3 Youre iyen sien alle thingis whiche the Lord dide ayens Belphegor; how he alto brak alle the worschiperis `of hym fro the myddis of you.
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 among you.
4 Forsothe ye that cleuen to youre Lord God lyuen alle `til in to present day.
But you who were faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today.
5 Ye witen that Y tauyte you the comaundementis and riytfulnessis, as my Lord God comaundide to me; so ye schulen do tho in the lond whiche ye schulen welde,
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.
6 and ye schulen kepe, and schulen fille in werk. For this is youre wisdom and vndurstondyng bifor puplis, that alle men here these comaundementis, and seie, Lo! a wise puple and vnderstondynge! a greet folk!
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.”
7 Noon other nacioun is so greet, `not in noumbre ether in bodili quantite, but in dignite, that hath Goddis neiyynge to it silf, as oure God is redi to alle oure bisechyngis.
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?
8 For whi what other folk is so noble, that it hath cerymonyes and iust domes, and al the lawe which Y schal `sette forth to dai bifor youre iyen?
What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?
9 Therfor kepe thi silf, and thi soule bisili; foryete thou not the wordis whiche thin iyen sien, and falle tho not doun fro thin herte, in alle the daies of thi lijf. Thou schalt teche tho thi sones and thi sones sones.
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—
10 Telle thou the day in which thou stodist bifor thi Lord God in Oreb, whanne the Lord spak to me, and seide, Gadere thou the puple to me, that it here my wordis, and lerne for to drede me in al tyme in which it lyueth in erthe, and teche hise sones.
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.”
11 And ye neiyiden to the `roote of the hille, that brente `til to heuene; and derknessis, and cloude, and myist weren therynne.
You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spak to you fro the myddis of fier; ye herden the vois of hise wordis, and outirli ye sien no fourme.
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.
13 And he schewide to you his couenaunt, which he comaundide, that ye schulden do, and `he schewide ten wordis, whiche he wroot in two tablis of stoon.
He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets.
14 And he comaundide to me in that tyme, that Y schulde teche you cerymonyes and domes, whiche ye owen to do in the lond whiche ye schulen welde.
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.
15 Therfor kepe ye bisili youre soulis; ye sien not ony licnesse in the dai in which the Lord spak to you in Oreb, fro the myddis of the fier;
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,
16 lest perauenture ye be disseyued and make to you a grauun licnesse, ether an ymage of male, ether of female;
lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 a licnesse of alle beestis that ben on erthe, ether of bridis fleynge vndur heuene,
the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
18 and of crepynge beestis that ben moued in erthe, ether of fischis that dwellen vndur the erthe in watris; lest perauenture,
the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
19 whanne thin iyen ben reisid to heuene, thou se the sonne, and moone, and alle the sterris of heuene, and be disseyued bi errour, and worschipe tho, `bi outermer reuerence, and onour, `bi ynner reuerence, `tho thingis whiche thi Lord God made of nouyt, in to seruyce to alle folkis that ben vndur heuene.
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.
20 Forsothe the Lord took you, and ledde out of the yrun furneys of Egipt, that he schulde haue a puple of eritage, as it is in `present dai.
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.
21 And the Lord was wrooth ayens me for youre wordis, and swoor that Y schulde not passe Jordan, and schulde not entre in to the beeste lond, which he schal yyue to you.
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;
22 Lo! Y die in this erthe; Y schal not passe Jordan; ye schulen passe, and schulen welde the noble lond.
but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land.
23 Be thou war, lest ony tyme thou foryete the couenaunt of thi Lord God, which he made with thee, and lest thou make to thee a grauun licness of tho thingis whiche the Lord forbeed to make.
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.
24 For thi Lord God is fier wastynge; `God, a feruent louyere.
For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
25 If ye gendren sones, and sones of sones, and ye dwellen in the lond, and ye be disceyued, and make to you ony licnesse, and doen yuel bifor youre Lord God, that ye terren hym to greet wrathe,
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,
26 Y clepe witnesses to dai heuene and erthe, `that is, ech resonable creature beynge in heuene and in erthe, that ye schulen perische soone fro the lond, which ye schulen welde, whanne ye han passid Jordan; ye schulen not dwelle long tyme therynne, but the Lord schal do awey you,
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.
27 and schal scatere `in to alle hethen men, and ye schulen leeue fewe among naciouns, to whiche the Lord schal lede you.
The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will lead you away.
28 And there ye schulen serue to goddis, that ben maad bi `the hond of men, to a tre and a stoon, that `seen not, nether heren, nether eten, nether smellen.
There you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 And whanne thou hast souyt there thi Lord God, thou schalt fynde hym; if netheles thou sekist with al the herte, and with al the tribulacioun of thi soule.
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.
30 Aftir that alle thingis han founde thee, that ben biforseid, forsothe in the laste tyme, thou schalt turne ayen to thi Lord God, and thou schalt here his vois.
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.
31 For thi Lord God is merciful God; he schal not forsake thee, nethir he schal do awey outirli, nethir he schal foryete the couenaunt, in which he swoor to thi fadris.
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.
32 Axe thou of elde daies that weren bifor thee, fro the day in which thi Lord God made of nouyt man on erthe, axe thou fro that oon ende of heuene `til to the tother ende therof, if sich a thing was doon ony tyme, ether if it was euere knowun,
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?
33 that a puple herde the vois of God spekynge fro the myddis of the fier, as thou herdist, and siest;
Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
34 if God `dide, that he entride, and took to him silf a folc fro the middis of naciouns, bi temptaciouns, myraclis, and grete wondris, bi batel, and strong hond, and arm holdun forth, and orrible siytis, bi alle thingis whiche youre Lord God dide for you in Egipt, `while thin iyen sien;
Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among 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?
35 that thou schuldist wite, that the Lord hym silf is God, and noon other is, outakun oon.
It was shown to you so that you might know that the LORD is God. There is no one else besides him.
36 Fro heuene he made thee to here his vois, that he schulde teche thee; and in erthe he schewide to thee his grettiste fier, and thou herdist the wordis `of hym fro the myddis of the fier;
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.
37 for he louyde thi fadris, and chees her seed aftir hem. And he ledde thee out of Egipt, and yede bifore in his greet vertu,
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;
38 that he schulde do awei grettiste naciouns, and strongere than thou, in thin entryng, and that he schulde lede thee ynne, and schulde yyue to thee the lond `of hem in to possessioun, as thou seest in `present day.
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.
39 Therfor wite thou to dai, and thenke in thin herte, that the Lord him silfe is God in heuene aboue, and in erthe bynethe, and noon other is.
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.
40 Kepe thou hise heestis, and comaundementis, whiche Y comaunde to thee, that it be wel to thee, and to thi sones after thee, and that thou dwelle mych tyme on the lond, which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee.
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.
41 Thanne Moises departide thre citees biyende Jordan at the eest coost,
Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise,
42 that he fle to tho, that sleeth his neighbore not wilfuli, and was not enemy bifore oon and `the tother dai, and that he mai fle to summe of these citees;
that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally and did not hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43 Bosor in the wildirnesse, which is set in the feeldi lond, of the lynage of Ruben; and Ramoth in Galaad, which is in the lynage of Gad; and Golan in Basan, which is in the lynage of Manasses.
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.
44 This is the lawe which Moises `settide forth bifor the sones of Israel,
This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
45 and these ben the witnessyngis, and cerymonyes, and domes, whiche he spak to the sones of Israel, whanne thei yeden out of Egipt,
These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
46 biyende Jordan, in the valey ayens the temple of Phegor, in the lond of Seon, kyng of Ammorreis, that dwellide in Esebon, whom Moises killide. And the sones of Israel yeden out of Egipt, and weldiden `the lond of him,
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.
47 and the lond of Og, kyng of Basan, twei kyngis of Ammoreis, that weren biyende Jordan, at the rysyng of the sunne;
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 toward the sunrise;
48 fro Aroer which is set on the brenke of the stronde of Arnon, `til to the hil of Seon, which is Hermon;
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Zion (also called Hermon),
49 thei weldiden al the pleyn biyende Jordan, at the eest coost, `til to the see of wildirnesse, and `til to the rootis of the hil of Phasga.
and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
