1 “ Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving 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 ou shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you 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 has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your 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 you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.

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

5 “ See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering 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 S o keep and do them, for that 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.’

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 great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?

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 O r what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

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

9 “ Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.

“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 R emember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on 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 Y ou came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom.

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 T hen the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only 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 S o 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.

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

14 T he Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going 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 “ So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from 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 s o that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form 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 animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

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

18 t he likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth.

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

19 A nd beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples 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 has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.

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 “ Now the Lord was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as 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 F or I will die in this land, I shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this 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 S o watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you.

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 your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

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

25 “ When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord your God so as 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 today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be 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 T he Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives 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 T here you will serve gods, the work of man’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 from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your 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 you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to 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 F or the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to 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 “ Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything 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 as any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?

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 a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as 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 T o you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides 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 the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from 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 B ecause He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,

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

38 d riving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.

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 today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; 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 S o you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

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 set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east,

Then Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan

42 t hat a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to 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 B ezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for 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 N ow 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 ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from Egypt,

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

46 a cross the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from 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 T hey took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east,

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 on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),

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

49 w ith all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes 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.