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.

And now, Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah the God of your fathers giveth 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.

Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye take from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah 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 have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-Peor; for all the men that followed Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from among you;

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

but ye that did cleave to Jehovah 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.

See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye may do so in the land into which ye enter to possess it.

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.’

And ye shall keep and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Verily 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 that hath God near to them as Jehovah our God is in everything we call upon him for?

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

And what great nation is there that hath righteous statutes and ordinances, as all this law which I set before you this day?

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 to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things that thine eyes have seen (and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but thou shalt make them known to thy sons and to thy sons' sons),

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.’

the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Gather me the people together, that I may cause them to hear my words, that they may learn them, and fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and teach them to 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 ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and obscurity.

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 Jehovah spoke to you from the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but ye saw no form; 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 do, the ten words; 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 Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye are passing over to possess it.

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.

And take great heed to your souls (for ye saw no form on the day that Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb from 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,

lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the form of any figure, the pattern of male or female,

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

the pattern of any beast that is on the earth, the pattern of any winged fowl that flieth in the heaven,

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

the pattern of anything that creepeth on the ground, the pattern of any fish that is in the waters under 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 lest thou lift up thine eyes to the heavens, and see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, the whole host of heaven, and be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath assigned unto all peoples 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 you hath Jehovah taken, and hath brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, that ye might be to him a people of inheritance, as it is 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.

And Jehovah was angry with me on your account, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not enter in to that good land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee 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.

for I shall die in this land, I shall not go over the Jordan; but ye shall go over, and possess this 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 ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a graven image, the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee.

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

For Jehovah thy 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 thou begettest sons, and sons' sons, and ye have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke 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 ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye pass over the Jordan to possess it: ye shall not prolong your days on it, but shall 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 Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left a small company among the nations to which Jehovah will lead 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.

And ye shall there 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.

And from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, if thou shalt seek him with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul.

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.

In thy tribulation, and when all these things shall come upon thee, at the end of days, thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and shalt hearken 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 Jehovah 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.

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 thee, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there hath been anything as this great thing is, or if anything hath been heard like it?

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 people hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as thou hast 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 hath God essayed to come to take him a nation from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a powerful hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah 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.

Unto thee it was shewn, that thou mightest know that Jehovah, he is God—there is none 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.

From the heavens he made thee hear his voice, that he might instruct thee; and on the earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words from 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 thy fathers, and chose their seed after them, he brought thee out with his countenance, with his great power, out of Egypt,

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.

to dispossess 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.

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.

Thou shalt know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that Jehovah, he is God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath: none else.

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.”

And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee and with thy sons after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days on the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, for ever.

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

Then Moses separated three cities on this side the Jordan toward the sun-rising,

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 thither, who should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not previously, that fleeing to one of these cities, he might live:

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, in the plateau, of the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

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

And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

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 statutes, and the ordinances that Moses declared to the children of Israel, 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.

on this side the Jordan, in the valley opposite to Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel 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 the king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side the Jordan, toward the sun-rising;

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

from Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, as far as mount Sion, which 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 plain on this side the Jordan, eastward, and as far as the sea of the plain, under the slopes of Pisgah.