1 ¶ Now, therefore, hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rights which I teach you, for in doing them ye shall live and go in and inherit the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives 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 anything 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 Baalpeor; for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God has 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 rights, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do thus in the midst of the land where ye are about to enter in 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 them, therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who 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 has 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 has statutes and rights so just 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 T herefore, 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 to 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 T he day that thou didst stand before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather the people together unto me, 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 sons.

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 the heavens, 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 spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no likeness; 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, the ten words; 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 the statutes and rights that ye might do them in the land which ye are about to enter to possess.

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 D iligently guard, therefore, your souls, for ye saw no manner of likeness on the day that the LORD spoke 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 yourselves 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 flies 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 animal that moves 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, and should be driven to worship them and serve them because the LORD thy God has conceded them unto all the peoples under all the heavens.

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 has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him the people of his 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 swore that I should not go over Jordan and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God gives 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 T herefore, I must die in this land and will not pass the Jordan, but ye shall pass and inherit 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 K eep yourselves, do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he established with you, and make yourselves a graven image or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God has 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 grandchildren 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 put heaven and earth as witnesses today that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land unto which ye pass the Jordan to inherit it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it without being utterly 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 peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the Gentiles, unto whom the LORD shall take 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 there, 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 trouble and all these things are come upon thee, if in the latter days thou shalt turn to the LORD thy God and shalt hear 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 swore 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 A sk, therefore, 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 has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has any other 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 H ave a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and lived?

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 has 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 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 shown that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is no one else other than he.

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

36 O ut of the heavens he made thee to hear his voice that he might instruct thee, and upon earth he showed thee his great fire, and thou hast heard 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 Gentiles 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 is the only God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other.

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 sons after thee and that thou may prolong thy days upon the land which the LORD thy God gives 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 ¶ Then Moses separated three cities on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising

Then Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan

42 t hat the manslayer might flee there, who 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 sons 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 rights, which Moses spoke unto the sons 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 of the Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons 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, who were on this side of the 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 of the 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.