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, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, 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 take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh 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 Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you.

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

But you who were faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today.

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, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in 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.’

Keep 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.”

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 a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?

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

What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous 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 be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known 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.’

the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that 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.

You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, 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.

Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you 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.

He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets.

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

Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go 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.

Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle 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 corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved 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, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

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, the likeness of any fish that is in the water 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 you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

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 Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.

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 Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Yahweh 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 go over 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.

Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.

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

For Yahweh your God is a devouring 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 shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight, 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 today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be 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.

Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.

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 shall 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 shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after 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 oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen 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 Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, neither 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 of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has 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 a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle 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 has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh 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.

It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else 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 to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle 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.

Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, 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 drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.

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 therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one 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.”

You shall 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 Yahweh 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 toward the sunrise;

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 man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past; and 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 plain country, 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 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, which Moses spoke 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.

beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, 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,

They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;

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, even to Mount Sion (also called 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 beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.