1 ` And now, Israel, hearken unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that ye live, and have gone in, and possessed the land which Jehovah God of your fathers is giving to 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 e do not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor diminish from it, to keep the commands of Jehovah your God which I am commanding 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 ` Your eyes are seeing that which Jehovah hath done in Baal-Peor, for every man who hath gone after Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed him from thy midst;

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 a nd ye who are cleaving to Jehovah your God, alive, all of you, to-day.

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

5 ` See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as Jehovah my God hath commanded me -- to do so, in the midst of the land whither ye are going in 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 a nd ye have kept and done (for it your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Only, a people wise and understanding this great nation.

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 ` For which the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Jehovah our God, in all we have called unto 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 a nd which the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?

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

9 ` Only, take heed to thyself, and watch thy soul exceedingly, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from thy heart, all days of thy life; and thou hast made them known to thy sons, and to thy sons' sons.

“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 ` The day when thou hast stood before Jehovah thy God in Horeb -- in Jehovah's saying unto me, Assemble to Me the people, and I cause them to hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they are alive on the ground, and their sons they teach; --

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 a nd ye draw near and stand under the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire unto the heart of the heavens -- darkness, cloud, yea, thick darkness:

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 ` And Jehovah speaketh unto you out of the midst of the fire; a voice of words ye are hearing and a similitude ye are not seeing, 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 a nd He declareth to you His covenant, which He hath commanded you to do, the Ten Matters, and He writeth them upon two tables 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 ` And me hath Jehovah commanded at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land whither ye are passing 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 a nd ye have been very watchful of your souls, for ye have not seen any similitude in the day of Jehovah's speaking unto you in Horeb out of 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 l est ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form 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 a form of any beast which in the earth -- a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens --

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

18 a form of any creeping thing on the ground -- a form of any fish which in the waters under the earth;

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

19 ` And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.

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 ` And you hath Jehovah taken, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people -- an inheritance, as this day.

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 ` And Jehovah hath shewed himself wroth with me because of your words, and sweareth to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going in unto the good land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- 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 am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, and ye are passing over, and have possessed 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 ` Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He hath made with you, and have made to yourselves a graven image, a similitude of anything which Jehovah thy God hath charged thee:

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 Jehovah thy God is a fire consuming -- a zealous God.

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

25 ` When thou begettest sons and sons' sons, and ye have become old in the land, and have done corruptly, and have made a graven image, a similitude of anything, and have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, 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 have caused to testify against you this day the heavens and the earth, that ye do perish utterly hastily from off the land whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it; ye do not prolong days upon it, but are 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 a nd Jehovah hath scattered you among the peoples, and ye have been left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah leadeth 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 a nd ye have served there gods, work of man's hands, wood and stone, which see not, 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 ` And -- ye have sought from thence Jehovah thy God, and hast found, when thou seekest Him with all thy heart, and with all thy 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 i n distress to thee, and all these things have found thee, in the latter end of the days, and thou hast turned back unto Jehovah thy God, and hast hearkened 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 a merciful God Jehovah thy God; He doth not fail thee, nor destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which He hath sworn 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 ` For, ask, I pray thee, at the former days which have been before thee, from the day that God prepared man on the earth, and from the end of the heavens even unto the end of the heavens, whether there hath been as this great thing -- or hath 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 ath a people heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, thou -- and doth live?

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 hath God tried to go in to take to Himself, a nation from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors -- according to all that Jehovah your God hath done to 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 hou, thou hast been shewn, to know that Jehovah He God; there is none else besides Him.

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

36 ` From the heavens He hath caused thee to hear His voice, to instruct thee, and on earth He hath shewed thee His great fire, and His words thou hast heard out of 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 ` And because that He hath loved thy fathers, He doth also fix on their seed after them, and doth bring thee out, in His presence, by His great power, from Egypt:

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

38 t o dispossess nations greater and stronger than thou, from thy presence, to bring thee in to give to thee their land -- an inheritance, as this day.

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 ` And thou hast known to-day, and hast turned back unto thy heart, that Jehovah He God, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath -- there is none else;

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 a nd thou hast kept His statutes and His commands which I am commanding thee to-day, so that it is well to thee, and to thy sons after thee, and so that thou prolongest days on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- all the days.'

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 separateth three cities beyond the Jordan, towards the sun-rising,

Then Moses set apart three cities east of the Jordan

42 f or the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, who slayeth his neighbour unknowingly, and he is not hating him heretofore, and he hath fled unto one of these cities, and he hath lived:

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, in the land of the plain, of the Reubenite; and Ramoth, in Gilead, of the Gadite; and Golan, in Bashan, of the Manassahite.

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 A nd this the law which Moses hath set before the sons of Israel;

This is the Law which Moses gave to the children of Israel.

45 t hese the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses hath spoken unto the sons of Israel, in their coming out of Egypt,

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

46 b eyond the Jordan, in the valley over-against Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel have smitten, in their coming out of 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 a nd they possess his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorite who beyond the Jordan, the sun-rising;

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 by the edge of the brook Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which Hermon --

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

49 a nd all the plain beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs 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.