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Deuteronomy 4
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1And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, giveth you.
1Now, Israel, listen to the laws and the rules that I am teaching you to follow. Do this so that you may live, and go in to take over the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.
2Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you.
2Do not add anything to the words I command you, and do not take anything away from them. You must keep the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
3Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor; for all the men that followed Baal-peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee.
3You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal-peor. The LORD your God destroyed every person among you who followed the god Baal of Peor.
4But ye that did cleave unto Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day.
4But all of you who stayed faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today.
5Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it.
5Look, I have taught you laws and rules just as the LORD my God commanded me. You are to follow these in the land you are entering to possess.
6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
6Obey them carefully, because this will show your wisdom and understanding to other nations. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'
7For what great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him?
7For what other great nation has a god so near to them as the LORD our God is whenever we pray to him?
8And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
8And what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as this whole body of law I am setting before you today?
9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children’s children;
9Only be careful and watch yourselves closely. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.
10the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
10Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Horeb. The LORD said to me, 'Gather the people together so they can hear my words. Then they will learn to respect me as long as they live on the earth, and they can teach these things to their children.'
11And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
11You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it burned with fire reaching to the sky, surrounded by black clouds and deep darkness.
12And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice.
12Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no physical shape; there was only a voice.
13And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
13He told you about his covenant, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to follow. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets.
14And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
14At that time, the LORD commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to possess.
15Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire;
15Be very careful, because you saw no physical shape of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb.
16lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
16Do not ruin yourselves by making an idol in any form. Do not make a statue shaped like a man or a woman,
17the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flieth in the heavens,
17or like any animal on the earth, or any bird that flies in the sky,
18the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
18or like any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water below the earth.
19and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.
19When you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars—all the heavenly bodies—do not be led astray to bow down and worship them. The LORD your God has assigned those to all the other nations under heaven.
20But Jehovah hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
20But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt to be his own special people, as you are today.
21Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
21The LORD was angry with me because of you. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan River or enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance.
22but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
22I will die here in this land and will not cross the Jordan, but you will go over and take possession of that good land.
23Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee.
23Be careful not to forget the covenant that the LORD your God made with you. Do not make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
24For the LORD your God is a fire that consumes; he is a God who demands total loyalty.
25When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger;
25After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, if you become corrupt and make any kind of idol—doing what is evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and making him angry—
26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will be completely destroyed.
27And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you away.
27The LORD will scatter you among the nations, and only a few of you will survive in the places where the LORD sends you.
28And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
28There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.
29But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
29But if you search for the LORD your God from there, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and all your soul.
30When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice:
30When you are in deep trouble and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
31for Jehovah thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
31For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant he made with your ancestors by an oath.
32For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
32Search through history, back to the day God created humans on the earth. Search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything this great ever happened before, or has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
33Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
33Has any other people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have, and lived to tell about it?
34Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
34Has any god ever tried to go and take a nation for himself out of another nation? He used trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a powerful hand, and great terrors, just as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt while you watched.
35Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him.
35You were shown these things so you would know that the LORD is God; there is no one else besides him.
36Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he made thee to see his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
36He let you hear his voice from heaven to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire. You heard his words coming out of that fire.
37And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;
37Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power.
38to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as at this day.
38He drove out nations greater and stronger than you to bring you into their land and give it to you as an inheritance, as it is today.
39Know therefore this day, and lay it to thy heart, that Jehovah he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.
39So recognize today and take it to heart: the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other god.
40And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days in the land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, for ever.
40Obey his laws and commands that I am giving you today. Then things will go well for you and your children after you, and you will live a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you forever.
41Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
41Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River.
42that the manslayer might flee thither, that slayeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
42Anyone who killed someone accidentally, without having hated them before, could flee to one of these cities and be safe.
43namely, 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.
43The cities were: Bezer on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
44And 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, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,
45These are the requirements, laws, and rules Moses gave to the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
46beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt.
46They were on the east side of the Jordan River in the valley near Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites. He had lived in Heshbon but was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.
47And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.