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, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving 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, nor take from 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 have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor.

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

But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.

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.

“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go 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.’

Therefore be careful to observe them; for this 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.’

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 has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may 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 great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in 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 yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,

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 concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on 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.

“Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

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 sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard 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.

So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets 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 statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess. Beware of Idolatry

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.

“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at 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,

lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved 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 animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird 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 the likeness of any fish that is in the water 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 take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.

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 out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, 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 for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as 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 over the Jordan; but you shall cross 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 carved 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 you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your 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 you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in 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 where 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.

And 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 from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your 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.

When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey 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 forsake you nor destroy you, nor 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 concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.

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 any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have 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 did God ever try 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 and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that 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 know that the Lord Himself 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.

Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you 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, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with 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 from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as 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.

Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on 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.”

You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

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

Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,

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 kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by 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 on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. Introduction to God’s Law

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

Now 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, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after 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 of 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 children of Israel defeated after 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, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,

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, even to Mount Sion (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 plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.