Deuteronomy, 4

1. 'And now, Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observing them, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you.

1. "And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.

2. You must add nothing to what I command you, and take nothing from it, but keep the commandments of Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you.

2. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

3. You can see for yourselves what Yahweh has done about the Baal of Peor; Yahweh your God has destroyed all those of you who followed the Baal of Peor;

3. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Ba'al-pe'or; for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Ba'al of Pe'or;

4. but those of you who stayed faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today.

4. but you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive this day.

5. Look: as Yahweh my God commanded me, I have taught you laws and customs, for you to observe in the country of which you are going to take possession.

5. Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.

6. Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Once they know what all these laws are, they will exclaim, "No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!"

6. Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, `Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'

7. And indeed, what great nation has its gods as near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever we call to him?

7. For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

8. And what great nation has laws and customs as upright as the entirety of this Law which I am laying down for you today?

8. And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?

9. 'But take care, as you value your lives! Do not forget the things which you yourselves have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live; teach them, rather, to your children and to your children's children.

9. "Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children --

10. The day you stood at Horeb in the presence of Yahweh your God, Yahweh said to me, "Summon the people to me; I want them to hear me speaking, so that they will learn to fear me all the days they live on earth, and teach this to their children."

10. how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, `Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'

11. So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a sky darkened by cloud, murky and thunderous.

11. And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.

12. Yahweh then spoke to you from the heart of the fire; you heard the sound of words but saw no shape; there was only a voice.

12. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.

13. He revealed his covenant to you and commanded you to observe it, the Ten Words which he inscribed on two tablets of stone.

13. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14. Yahweh then ordered me to teach you the laws and customs that you were to observe in the country into which you are about to cross, to take possession of it.

14. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.

15. 'Hence, be very careful what you do. Since you saw no shape that day at Horeb when Yahweh spoke to you from the heart of the fire,

15. "Therefore take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

16. see that you do not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the shape of anything whatever: be it statue of man or of woman,

16. beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17. or of any animal on the earth, or of any bird that flies in the heavens,

17. the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,

18. or of any reptile that crawls on the ground, or of any fish in the waters under the earth.

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

19. When you raise your eyes to heaven, when you see the sun, the moon, the stars -- the entire array of heaven -- do not be tempted to worship them and serve them. Yahweh your God has allotted these to all the other peoples under heaven,

19. And beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

20. but Yahweh has chosen you, bringing you out of the iron-foundry, Egypt, to be his own people, his own people as you still are today.

20. But the LORD has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day.

21. 'Yahweh is angry with me because of you; he has sworn that I shall not cross the Jordan or enter the fine country which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.

21. Furthermore the LORD was angry with me on your account, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.

22. Yes, I am to die in this country; I shall not cross this Jordan; you will go over and take possession of that rich land.

22. For I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over and take possession of that good land.

23. Be careful not to forget the covenant which Yahweh your God has made with you, by sculpting an image or making a statue of anything, since Yahweh your God has forbidden this;

23. Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a graven image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.

24. for Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

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

25. 'When you have fathered children and grandchildren and have grown old in the country, when you have grown corrupt and made some image, doing what Yahweh regards as wrong and so provoking his anger-

25. "When you beget children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a graven image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger,

26. today I call heaven and earth to witness against you -- you will quickly vanish from the country which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Your days will not be prolonged there, for you will be utterly destroyed.

26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

27. Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and only a small number of you will remain among the nations where Yahweh will have driven you.

27. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

28. There you will serve gods made by human hand, of wood and of stone, that cannot see or hear, eat or smell.

28. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of men's hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29. 'If, however, from there you start searching once more for Yahweh your God, and if you search for him honestly and sincerely, you will find him.

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

30. You will suffer; everything I have said will befall you, but in the final days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice.

30. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice,

31. For Yahweh your God is a merciful God and will not desert or destroy you or forget the covenant which he made on oath with your ancestors.

31. for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them.

32. 'Put this question, then, to the ages that are past, that have gone before you, from when God created the human race on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything like it ever heard?

32. "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.

33. Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you have heard it, and remain alive?

33. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?

34. Has it ever been known before that any god took action himself to bring one nation out of another one, by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors -- all of which things Yahweh your God has done for you before your eyes in Egypt?

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

35. 'This he showed you, so that you might know that Yahweh is the true God and that there is no other.

35. To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

36. To instruct you, he made you hear his voice from heaven, and on earth he let you see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire you heard his words.

36. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

37. Because he loved your ancestors and, after them, chose their descendants, he has brought you out of Egypt, displaying his presence and mighty power,

37. And because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,

38. dispossessing for you nations who were larger and stronger than you, to make way for you and to give you their country as your heritage, as it still is today.

38. driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day;

39. 'Hence, grasp this today and meditate on it carefully: Yahweh is the true God, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other.

39. know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

40. Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and live long in the country that Yahweh your God is giving you for ever.'

40. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you this day, 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 ever."

41. Moses then set aside three towns in the east, beyond the Jordan,

41. Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,

42. to which any killer might flee who had accidentally, without any previous feud, killed his fellow; by taking refuge in one of these towns he could save his life.

42. that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might save his life:

43. These were, for the Reubenites, Bezer in the desert on the tableland; for the Gadites, Ramoth in Gilead; for the Manassehites, Golan in Bashan.

43. Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manas'sites.

44. This is the Law which Moses presented to the Israelites.

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

45. These are the stipulations, the laws and the customs which Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt,

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

46. beyond the Jordan in the valley near Beth-Peor, in the country of Sihon the Amorite king who had lived at Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites had defeated him when they left Egypt,

46. beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-pe'or, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.

47. and had taken possession of his country, as well as that of Og king of Bashan -- two Amorite kings to the east beyond the Jordan,

47. And they took possession of his land and the land of Og the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;

48. from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, all the way to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon) -

48. from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Si'rion (that is, Hermon),

49. and of the whole Arabah east of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

49. together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.