1 N ow therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

“Now, O Israel, listen to the Laws I am teaching you. Do them so that you may live and go in to take the land for your own that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2 Y e shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Do not add to the Word that I tell you, and do not take away from it. Keep the Laws of the Lord your God which I tell you.

3 Y our eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

Your eyes saw what the Lord did because of Baal-peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor.

4 B ut ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

But you who stayed faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

5 B ehold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

See, I have taught you Laws just as the Lord my God told me. So you are to live by them in the land you are going to have for your own.

6 K eep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

Keep them and do them. For this will show how wise and understanding you are. The people who will hear all these Laws will say, ‘For sure this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

7 F or what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

For what great nation is there that has a god so near as the Lord our God is to us every time we call to Him?

8 A nd what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

What great nation is there that has laws as right as this whole Law which I am giving you today?

9 O nly take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

“Only be careful. Keep watch over your life. Or you might forget the things you have seen. Do not let them leave your heart for the rest of your life. But teach them to your children and to your grandchildren.

10 s pecially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai. The Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people together before Me, so I may let them hear My words. Then they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and they may teach their children.’

11 A nd ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

You came near and stood at the bottom of the mountain. And the mountain burned with fire into the heavens, which were covered with darkness and black clouds.

12 A nd the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

Then the Lord spoke to you from the center of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no body. There was only a voice.

13 A nd he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

He told you His agreement which He told you to keep, the Ten Laws. And He wrote them on two pieces of stone.

14 A nd the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

The Lord told me at that time to teach you Laws. So you might obey them in the land that you are going to have for your own. Israel Not to Worship False Gods

15 T ake ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

“So watch yourselves and be careful. For you saw no body on the day the Lord spoke to you in the fire at Mount Sinai.

16 l est ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Do not become sinful and make a false god for yourselves that looks like a body or object, like a male or female,

17 t he likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

or like an animal on the earth, or a bird with wings that flies in the sky,

18 t he likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

or like anything that moves on the ground, or like any fish in the water below the earth.

19 a nd 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, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

Be careful not to lift up your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and moon and stars, all the things of heaven, and be pulled away and worship them and serve them. The Lord your God has given these things to all the nations under the whole heavens.

20 B ut the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron stove, out of Egypt, to be His own people, as you are this day.

21 F urthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

“The Lord was angry with me because of you. He swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not go into the good land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.

22 b ut I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

For I must die in this land. I will not cross the Jordan. But you will cross and take that good land for your own.

23 T ake heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

So watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the agreement the Lord your God made with you, or make a false god for yourselves that looks like something which the Lord your God has told you not to do.

24 F or the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

For the Lord your God is an all-burning fire, a jealous God.

25 W hen thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:

“When you become the father of children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, if you become sinful and make a god that looks like anything, and anger the Lord your God by doing what is bad in His eyes,

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

I call heaven and earth to speak against you this day. You will soon be destroyed from the land you are crossing the Jordan to have for your own. You will not live long on it, but will all be destroyed.

27 A nd the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

The Lord will spread you out among the nations. And there will not be many of you left among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

28 A nd there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

There you will work for gods made by man’s hands out of wood and stone. They do not see or hear or eat or smell.

29 B ut if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

But from there you will look for the Lord your God. And you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and soul.

30 W hen thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

When you are in trouble and all these things have happened to you in later days, you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.

31 ( for the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

For the Lord your God is a God of loving-pity. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the agreement He promised to your fathers.

32 F or ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

“Ask about the past days, the days before your time, since the day that God made man on the earth. Ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing? Has anything been heard like it?

33 D id ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

Have any people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the center of the fire, as you have heard it, and still live?

34 O r hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation, by trials, special things to see, great works, war, a powerful hand, a long arm, and spreading much fear? The Lord your God did this for you in Egypt in front of your eyes.

35 U nto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.

It was shown to you so you might know that the Lord is God. There is no other except Him.

36 O ut of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

He let you hear His voice from the heavens to teach you. On earth He let you see His great fire. And you heard His words from the center of the fire.

37 A nd because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

He loved your fathers, so He chose their children after them. He Himself brought you from Egypt by His great power.

38 t o drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

He drove out from in front of you nations greater and more powerful than you. And He brought you in and gave you their land for your own, as it is today.

39 K now therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

So know this day, take it to your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other.

40 T hou shalt keep therefore 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 upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

Keep His Laws which I am giving you today. Then it may go well with you and your children after you. And you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

41 T hen Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

Then Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan

42 t hat the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

where a person may run to, if he killed his neighbor without meaning to and had not hated him in the past. He might save his life by running to one of these cities:

43 n amely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

Bezer in the desert on the plain for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

44 A nd this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

This is the Law which Moses gave to the children of Israel.

45 t hese are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,

These are the Laws which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt.

46 o n this side 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, after they were come forth out of Egypt:

They were on the other side of the Jordan, in the valley beside Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon. Moses and the sons of Israel won the war against him when they came out of Egypt.

47 a nd they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

They took for their own his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, east of the Jordan,

48 f rom Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

from Aroer beside the valley of Arnon, as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon).

49 a nd all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

They took all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the sea of the Arabah at the bottom of the hills of Pisgah.