1 “ 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.

Now listen and give heed, O Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I teach you, and do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you.

2 D o 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.

You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

3 Y our 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.

Your eyes still see what the Lord did because of Baal-peor; for all the men who followed the Baal of Peor the Lord your God has destroyed from among you,

4 B ut you who stayed faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

But you who clung fast to the Lord your God are alive, every one of you, this day.

5 S ee, 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.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to possess.

6 K eep 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.’

So keep them and do them, for that is 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 F or 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?

For what great nation is there who has a god so near to them as the Lord our God is to us in all things for which we call upon Him?

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

And what large and important nation has statutes and ordinances so upright and just as all this law which I set before you today?

9 “ 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.

Only take heed, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Teach them to your children and your children’s children—

10 R emember 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.’

Especially how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, the Lord said to me, Gather the people together to Me and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live upon the earth and that they may teach their children.

11 Y ou 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.

And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.

12 T hen 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.

And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.

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

And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two tables of stone.

14 T he 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

And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you the statutes and precepts, that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.

15 “ 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.

Therefore take good heed to yourselves, since you saw no form of Him on the day the Lord spoke to you on Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

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

Beware lest you become corrupt by making for yourselves a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

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

The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, or of any winged fowl that flies in the air,

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

The likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.

19 B e 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.

And beware lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, moon, and stars, even all the host of the heavens, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.

20 B ut 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.

But the Lord has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of His own possession, as you are this day.

21 “ 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.

Furthermore the Lord was angry with me because of you, and He swore that I should not go over the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.

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

But I must die in this land; I must not cross the Jordan; but you shall go over and possess that good land.

23 S o 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.

Take heed to yourselves, lest you 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 which the Lord your God has forbidden you.

24 F or the Lord your God is an all-burning fire, a jealous God.

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 “ 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,

When children shall be born to you, and children’s children, and you have grown old in the land, if you corrupt yourselves by making a graven image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger,

26 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.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that you shall soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it but will be utterly destroyed.

27 T he 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.

And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.

28 T here 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.

There you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

29 B ut 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.

But if from there you will seek (inquire for and require as necessity) the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and soul and life.

30 W hen 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.

When you are in tribulation and all these things come upon you, in the latter days you will turn to the Lord your God and be obedient to His voice.

31 F or 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.

For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them.

32 “ 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?

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of the heavens to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever occurred or been heard of anywhere.

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

Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you heard, and live?

34 O r 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.

Or has God ever tried 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, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

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

To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

36 H e 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.

Out of heaven He made you hear His voice, that He might correct, discipline, and admonish you; and on earth He made you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.

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

And because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them, and brought you out from Egypt with His own Presence, by His mighty power,

38 H e 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.

Driving out nations from before you, greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day;

39 S o 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.

Know, recognize, and understand therefore this day and turn your heart to it that the Lord is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other.

40 K eep 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.”

Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you forever.

41 T hen Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan

Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan to the east,

42 w here 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:

That the manslayer might flee there, who slew his neighbor unintentionally and had not previously been at enmity with him, that fleeing to one of these cities he might save his life:

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

Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 T his is the Law which Moses gave to the children of Israel.

This is the law which Moses set before the Israelites.

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

These are the testimonies and the laws and the precepts which Moses spoke to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt,

46 T hey 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.

Beyond 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 Israelites smote when they came out of Egypt.

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

And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived beyond the Jordan to the east,

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

From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),

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

And all the Arabah (lowlands) beyond the Jordan eastward, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes and springs of Pisgah.