Deuteronomii 4

1 Et nunc Israel audi praecepta et iudicia, quae ego doceo te: ut faciens ea, vivas, et ingrediens possideas Terram, quam Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum daturus est vobis.

Now, therefore, O Israel, hearken thou unto the statutes, and unto the regulations, which, I, am teaching you, to do [them], —to the end ye may live and enter and possess the land, which, Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving unto you.

2 Non addetis ad verbum, quod vobis loquor, nec auferetis ex eo: custodite mandata Domini Dei vestri quae ego praecipio vobis.

Ye shall not add unto the word which, I, am commanding you, neither shall ye take away therefrom, —that ye may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, which, I, am commanding you.

3 Oculi vestri viderunt omnia quae fecit Dominus contra Beelphegor, quomodo contriverit omnes cultores eius de medio vestri.

Yours are the eyes, that have seen what Yahweh did in Baal-peor, for every man who went after Baal-peor, did Yahweh thy God destroy out of thy midst;

4 Vos autem qui adhaeretis Domino Deo vestro, vivitis universi usque in praesentem diem.

but, ye who kept on cleaving unto Yahweh your God, alive, are ye all to-day.

5 Scitis quod docuerim vos praecepta atque iustitias, sicut mandavit mihi Dominus Deus meus: sic facietis ea in Terra, quam possessuri estis:

See! I have taught you statutes, and regulations, as Yahweh my God commanded me, —that ye should do so, in the midst of the land whereinto ye are entering to possess it.

6 et observabitis et implebitis opere. Haec est enim vestra sapientia, et intellectus coram populis, ut audientes universi praecepta haec, dicant: En populus sapiens et intelligens, gens magna.

Therefore shall ye observe, and do [them], for that, will be your wisdom, and discernment, in the eyes of the peoples, —who will hear all these statutes, and will say—Nevertheless, a people wise and discerning, is this great nation.

7 Nec est alia natio tam grandis, quae habeat deos appropinquantes sibi, sicut Deus noster adest cunctis obsecrationibus nostris.

For what great nation is there which hath gods nigh unto it, —like Yahweh our God, whensoever we have cried out unto him.

8 Quae est enim alia gens sic inclyta ut habeat ceremonias, iustaque iudicia, et universam legem, quam ego proponam hodie ante oculos vestros?

Or what great nation which hath righteous statutes and regulations, like all this law, which, I, am setting before you to-day?

9 Custodi igitur temetipsum, et animam tuam solicite. Ne obliviscaris verborum, quae viderunt oculi tui, et ne excidant de corde tuo cunctis diebus vitae tuae. Docebis ea filios ac nepotes tuos,

Only take thou heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, so that thou forget not the things which thine own eyes have seen, and so that they go not out of thy heart, all the days of thy life, —but thou shalt make them known unto thy sons and unto thy sons’ sons: —

10 a die in quo stetisti coram Domino Deo tuo in Horeb, quando Dominus locutus est mihi dicens: Congrega ad me populum, ut audiant sermones meos, et discant timere me omni tempore quo vivunt in terra, doceantque filios suos.

What day thou didst stand before Yahweh thy God, in Horeb, when Yahweh said unto me, Gather unto me the people, that I may let them hear my words, —which they must learn that they may revere me all the days which they are living upon the soil, their children also, must they teach.

11 Et accessistis ad radices montis, qui ardebat usque ad caelum: erantque in eo tenebrae, et nubes, et caligo.

So ye drew near and stood, under the mountain. Now, the mountain, was burning with fire, up to the midst of the heavens, —darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.

12 Locutusque est Dominus ad vos de medio ignis. Vocem verborum eius audistis, et formam penitus non vidistis.

Then spake Yahweh unto you out of the midst of the fire, —a voice of words, ye were hearing, no form, were ye seeing, there was only a voice.

13 Et ostendit vobis pactum suum, quod praecepit ut faceretis, et decem verba, quae scripsit in duabus tabulis lapideis.

Then declared he unto you his covenant which he commanded you to do, the ten words, —and wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14 Mihique mandavit in illo tempore ut docerem vos ceremonias et iudicia, quae facere deberetis in Terra, quam possessuri estis.

And unto me, gave Yahweh command, at that time, to teach you statutes and regulations, —that ye should do them, in the land whereinto ye are passing over to possess it.

15 Custodite igitur solicite animas vestras. Non vidistis aliquam similitudinem in die, qua locutus est vobis Dominus in Horeb de medio ignis:

Ye must take diligent heed, therefore unto your own souls, for ye saw no manner of form, on the day Yahweh spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire;

16 ne forte decepti faciatis vobis sculptam similitudinem, aut imaginem masculi vel feminae,

lest ye should break faith, and make you an image, a form of any likeness, —a model of male or female;

17 similitudinem omnium iumentorum, quae sunt super terram, vel avium sub caelo volantium,

a model of any beast that is in the earth, —a model of any winged bird, that flieth in the heavens;

18 atque reptilium, quae moventur in terra, sive piscium qui sub terra morantur in aquis:

a model of any thing that creepeth on the ground, —a model of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth;

19 ne forte elevatis oculis ad caelum, videas Solem et Lunam, et omnia astra caeli, et errore deceptus adores ea et colas quae creavit Dominus Deus tuus in ministerium cunctis gentibus, quae sub caelo sunt.

or lest thou shouldest lift up thine eyes towards the heavens and see the sun and the moon, and the stars—all the host of the heavens, and shouldest be seduced, and shouldest bow thyself down to them and he led to serve them, —the which Yahweh thy God hath assigned unto all the peoples under all the heavens;

20 Vos autem tulit Dominus, et eduxit de fornace ferrea Aegypti, ut haberet populum hereditarium, sicut est in praesenti die.

whereas you, hath Yahweh taken, and brought you forth out of a smelting-pot of iron, out of Egypt, —that ye might become his own inherited people as at this day.

21 Iratusque est Dominus contra me propter sermones vestros, et iuravit ut non transirem Iordanem, nec ingrederer Terram optimam, quam daturus est vobis.

But, Yahweh shewed himself angry with me, for your sakes, —and sware that I should not pass over the Jordan, and that I should not enter into the good land, which, Yahweh thy God, is giving unto thee as an inheritance;

22 Ecce moriar in hac humo, non transibo Iordanem: vos transibitis, et possidebitis terram egregiam.

for, I, am about to die in this land, I am not to pass over the Jordan, —but, ye, are to pass over, and possess this good land.

23 Cave ne quando obliviscaris pacti Domini Dei tui, quod pepigit tecum: et facias tibi sculptam similitudinem eorum, quae fieri Dominus prohibuit:

Take heed to yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he hath solemnised with you, —and so make for yourselves an image, the form of anything, the which Yahweh thy God hath forbidden thee;

24 quia Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est, Deus aemulator.

seeing that as for Yahweh thy God, a consuming fire, he is, —a jealous GOD.

25 Si genueritis filios ac nepotes, et morati fueritis in Terra, deceptique feceritis vobis aliquam similitudinem, patrantes malum coram Domino Deo vestro, ut eum ad iracundiam provocetis:

When thou shalt beget sons, and sons’ sons, and become careless in the land and break faith and make an image the form of any thing, and shalt do the thing that is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh thy God provoking him to anger,

26 testes invoco hodie caelum et terram, cito perituros vos esse de Terra, quam transito Iordane possessuri estis. non habitabitis in ea longo tempore, sed delebit vos Dominus,

I take both the heavens and the earth to witness against you to-day, that ye shall, perish, speedily, from off the land which ye are passing over the Jordan to possess, —ye shall not prolong your days thereupon; for, ye shall surely be laid waste;

27 atque disperget in omnes gentes, et remanebitis pauci in nationibus, ad quas vos ducturus est Dominus.

and Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, —and ye shall have left remaining of you men easily counted, among the nations whither Yahweh will drive you;

28 ibique servietis diis, qui hominum manu fabricati sunt, ligno et lapidi qui non vident, nec audiunt, nec comedunt, nec odorant.

and ye will serve there gods made by the hands of man, —wood or stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

29 Cumque quaesieris ibi Dominum Deum tuum, invenies eum: si tamen toto corde quaesieris, et tota tribulatione animae tuae.

If thou shalt seek from thence, Yahweh thy God, then shalt thou find him, —when thou shalt search after him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

30 Postquam te invenerint omnia quae praedicta sunt, novissimo autem tempore reverteris ad Dominum Deum tuum, et audies vocem eius.

In thy distress, when all these things have found thee out—in the afterpart of the days, thou wilt return unto Yahweh thy God, and wilt hearken to his voice.

31 Quia Deus misericors Dominus Deus tuus est: non dimittet te, nec omnino delebit, neque obliviscetur pacti, in quo iuravit patribus tuis.

For, a GOD of compassion, is Yahweh thy God, he will not forsake thee neither will he destroy thee, —nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

32 Interroga de diebus antiquis, qui fuerunt ante te ex die quo creavit Deus hominem super terram, a summo caelo usque ad summum eius, si facta est aliquando huiuscemodi res, aut umquam cognitum est,

For ask, I pray you, of the former days which were before thee, even from the day when God created man upon the earth, yea from one end of the heavens even to the other end of the heavens, —whether aught was ever brought to pass, like this great thing, or was ever heard of like it:

33 ut audiret populus vocem Dei loquentis de medio ignis, sicut tu audisti, et vidisti:

Did a people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of fire, as, thou, didst hear, and yet live?

34 si fecit Deus ut ingrederetur, et tolleret sibi Gentem de medio nationum, per tentationes, signa, atque portenta, per pugnam, et robustam manum, extentumque brachium, et horribiles visiones iuxta omnia, quae fecit pro vobis Dominus Deus vester in Aegypto, videntibus oculis tuis:

Or did a god ever make trial of entering in to take unto him a nation out of the midst of a nation, by provings, by signs and by wonders and by fighting, and by a firm hand and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors, —according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

35 ut scires quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus, et non est alius praeter eum.

Thou, wast allowed to see that thou mightest know, that Yahweh, he is God, there is none other than he alone.

36 De caelo te fecit audire vocem suam, ut doceret te, et in terra ostendit tibi ignem suum maximum, et audisti verba illius de medio ignis,

Out of the heavens, he let thee hear his voice to instruct thee, —and, upon the earth, he let thee see his great fire, and his own words, thou didst hear out of the midst of the fire.

37 quia dilexit patres tuos, et elegit semen eorum post eos. Eduxitque te praecedens in virtute sua magna ex Aegypto,

And because that he loved thy fathers, therefore chose he his seed after him, —and brought thee forth with his presence with his great might, out of Egypt;

38 ut deleret nationes maximas et fortiores te in introitu tuo: et introduceret te, daretque tibi terram earum in possessionem, sicut cernis in praesenti die.

to dispossess nations, greater and stronger than thou from before thee, —to bring thee in. to give unto thee their land for an inheritance: As at this day.

39 Scito ergo hodie, et cogitato in corde tuo quod Dominus ipse est Deus in caelo sursum, et in terra deorsum, et non sit alius.

So then thou must consider to-day, and bring it back to thy heart, that, Yahweh, he is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath, —there is none other.

40 Custodi praecepta eius atque mandata, quae ego praecipio tibi: ut bene sit tibi, et filiis tuis post te, et permaneas multo tempore super Terram, quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi.

So shalt thou keep his statutes and his commandments which, I, am commanding thee to-day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, —and to the end thou mayest prolong thy days upon the soil, which Yahweh thy God, is giving thee, all the days.

41 Tunc separavit Moyses tres civitates trans Iordanem ad Orientalem plagam,

Then, did Moses set apart three cities, over the Jordan, —towards the rising of the sun:

42 ut confugiat ad eas qui occiderit nolens proximum suum, nec sibi fuerit inimicus ante unum et alterum diem, et ad harum aliquam urbium possit evadere:

that the manslayer might flee thither who should slay his neighbour unawares, he, not having hated him, aforetime, —and might flee unto one of these cities, and live:

43 Bosor in solitudine, quae sita est in terra campestri de tribu Ruben: et Ramoth in Galaad, quae est in tribu Gad: et Golan in Basan, quae est in tribu Manasse.

namely Bezer, in the desert of the table-land, for the Reubenites, —and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 Ista est lex, quam proposuit Moyses coram filiis Israel,

This, then is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel:

45 et haec testimonia et ceremoniae atque iudicia, quae locutus est ad filios Israel, quando egressi sunt de Aegypto,

These, are the testimonies, and the statutes and the regulations, —which Moses spake unto the sons of Israel when they came forth out of Egypt:

46 trans Iordanem in valle contra fanum Phogor in terra Sehon regis Amorrhaei, qui habitavit in Hesebon, quem percussit Moyses. Filii quoque Israel egressi ex Aegypto

over the Jordan in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, —whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt:

47 possederunt terram eius, et terram Og regis Basan, duorum regum Amorrhaeorum, qui erant trans Iordanem ad solis ortum:

so they took possession of his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan the two kings of the Amorites, who were over the Jordan, —towards the rising of the sun;

48 Ab Aroer, quae sita est super ripam torrentis Arnon, usque ad montem Sion, qui est et Hermon,

from Aroer which is on the edge of the ravine of Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, the same, is Hermon;

49 omnem planitiem trans Iordanem ad Orientalem plagam, usque ad mare solitudinis, et usque ad radices montis Phasga.

and all the waste plain over the Jordan, towards sunrise, even unto the sea of the waste plain, —under the slopes of the Pisgah.