Deuteronomy 4
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1“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you.1“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
2You 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.2You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.
3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor.3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor.
4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today.
5“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.5See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
6Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’6Keep 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“For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?7For 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?
8And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
9Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that 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—
10especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’10how 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 on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’
11“Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.11And 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.
12And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.12Then 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.
13So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.13And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
14And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.14And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
15“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,15“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
16lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,16beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,
18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth.18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
19And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.19And beware lest you raise 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 bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
20But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.20But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
21Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.21Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
22But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land.22For 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.
23Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.23Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.
24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25“When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger,25“When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved 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,
26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
27And 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.27And 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.
28And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.28And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.29But 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.
30When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice30When 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 the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.31For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
32“For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.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 ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.
33Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?33Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
34Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, 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?34Or 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 deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.35To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.
36Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.36Out 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.
37And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power,37And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,
38driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day.38driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,
39Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.39know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
40You shall therefore 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 is giving you for all time.”40Therefore 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 that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
41Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,41Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,
42that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live:42that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life:
43Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.43Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
44Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.44This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.
45These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt,45These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
46on this side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt.46beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.
47And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,47And 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;
48from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),
49and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.49together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 3
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