Deuteronomy 4
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1"Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the ordinances that I'm teaching you to observe so you may live and go in to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is about to give you. 1“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.
2Do not add or subtract a thing to what I'm commanding you. Observe the commands of the LORD your God.2Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
3You saw with your own eyes what he did in Baal Peor. The LORD your God exterminated from among you every man who followed Baal of Peor. 3“You saw for yourself what the LORD did to you at Baal-peor. There the LORD your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor.
4But all of you who are clinging to the LORD your God are alive today. 4But all of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today—every one of you.
5See! I taught you the statutes and the ordinances, just as the LORD God commanded. Therefore, observe them when you enter the land you are about to possess. 5“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
6Observe them carefully, because this will show your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of people who'll listen to all these decrees. Then they'll say: 'Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people.' 6Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’
7For what great nation has a god so near like the LORD our God whenever we call on him? 7For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him?
8And what great nation has all the decrees and righteous ordinances like all this teaching that I'm giving you today? 8And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9Only guard yourselves carefully so you won't forget the things that you saw and let them slip from your mind for the rest of your life. Tell them to your children and to your grandchildren. 9“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
10The day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God in Horeb, the LORD told me, 'Gather the people before me so they may hear my words, learn to revere me the whole time that they live in the land, and teach them to their children.'"10Never forget the day when you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’
11"When you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain—a mountain that was blazing with fire at its core while the sky was covered with thick, dark clouds— 11“You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness.
12the LORD your God spoke from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you saw no form; there was only a voice. 12And the LORD spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.
13He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to observe—the Ten Commandments that he wrote on two stone tablets. 13He proclaimed his covenant—the Ten Commandments —which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets.
14The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you to observe the statutes and ordinances in the land after you cross over to take possession of it.14It was at that time that the LORD commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. A Warning against Idolatry
15"Therefore, for your own sake, be very careful, since you did not see any form on the day that the LORD your God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire. 15“But be very careful! You did not see the LORD’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.
16Be careful! Otherwise, you will be destroyed when you make carved images for yourself—all sorts of images in the form of man, woman, 16So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman,
17any animal on earth, any winged bird that flies in the sky, 17an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky,
18any creeping thing on the ground, or any fish in the sea.18a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea.
19Do not gaze toward the heavens and observe the sun, the moon, the stars—the entire array of the sky—with the intent to worship and serve what the LORD your God gave every nation.19And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The LORD your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.
20For the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace—out of Egypt—to be the people of his inheritance, as you are today.20Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.
21"But the LORD was angry with me because of you. So he swore that I'll never cross the Jordan River to enter the good land that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance. 21“But the LORD was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession.
22I'm going to die in this land and I won't cross the Jordan River, but you're about to cross over to possess that good land. 22You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river.
23Be careful! Otherwise, you will forget the covenant of the LORD your God, who established that covenant with you. Don't make carved images of any likeness in violation of everything that you were commanded by the LORD your God. 23So be careful not to break the covenant the LORD your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the LORD your God has forbidden this.
24Indeed, the LORD your God is a consuming fire. He is a jealous God."24The LORD your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.
25"After you've borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God, you will provoke him to anger. 25“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the LORD your God and will arouse his anger.
26Heaven and earth will testify against what has occurred today: you'll surely and swiftly be destroyed from the land that you are about to possess by crossing the Jordan River. You won't live long in it, because you'll certainly be exterminated. 26“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.
27Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among the nations, and you'll be fewer in number in the nations where the LORD your God will drive you. 27For the LORD will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.
28There you'll serve gods made by human hands, serving trees and stones that cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell. 28There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
29If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul. 29But from there you will search again for the LORD your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
30In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice. 30“In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the LORD your God and listen to what he tells you.
31For God is compassionate. The LORD your God won't fail you. He won't destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors."31For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors. There Is Only One God
32"Indeed, ask from one end of the heavens to the other about days of old, before your time, when God created mankind on the earth. Did we ever have anything as great as this, or ever hear of anything like it? 32“Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before?
33Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of a fire just as you did, and survived it? 33Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire—as you did—and survived?
34Or has any god ever taken for himself one nation out from another nation with testings, signs, wonders, wars, awesome power, and magnificent, terrifying deeds as the LORD your God did in Egypt before your eyes?34Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.
35"You have been shown this in order to know that 'the LORD is God' and there is no one like him. 35“He showed you these things so you would know that the LORD is God and there is no other.
36You have been made to hear his voice from heaven so you may be instructed. And he showed you his great fire here on earth, and you heard his voice from the middle of that fire. 36He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it.
37Moreover, he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt, accompanied by his presence and great power, 37Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.
38in order to drive out nations that are stronger and more powerful than you, to bring you into this land, and to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today.38He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.
39"May you acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in the heavens above and over the earth below—there is no other God.39“So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The LORD is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other.
40May you observe his statutes and keep his commands that I'm giving you today, so that life may go well for you and for your descendants after you. That way, you'll live a long life in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you permanently." 40If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” Eastern Cities of Refuge
41Then Moses designated three cities on the east side of the Jordan, 41Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River.
42where a person who accidentally killed someone could flee, if he killed his neighbor without having enmity toward him in the past. He may flee to one of these cities and live: 42Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety.
43Bezer in the desert plain for the descendants of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the descendants of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the descendants of Manasseh.43These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh. Introduction to Moses’ Second Address
44This is the Law that Moses reviewed in the presence of the Israelis. 44This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites.
45These are the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that Moses declared to the Israelis when they came out of Egypt. 45These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt,
46He did this east of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and whom Moses and the Israelis defeated after leaving Egypt. 46and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt.
47So they took possession of his land, as well as the land of King Og of Bashan. Both Amorite kings lived east of the Jordan—47Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan—the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.
48from Aroer on the edge of the Wadi Arnon as far as Mount Sirion, which is also called Hermon, 48So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion, also called Mount Hermon.
49and all the Arabah east of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.49And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah.)
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 3
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