Deuteronomy 4-5
New King James Version
Moses Commands Obedience
4 “Now, O Israel, listen to (A)the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and [a]possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. 2 (B)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 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at (C)Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 “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 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is (D)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 “For (E)what great nation is there that has (F)God[b] so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 8 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 take heed to yourself, and diligently (G)keep yourself, lest you (H)forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And (I)teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning (J)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 “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 (K)And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no [c]form; (L)you only heard a voice. 13 (M)So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, (N)the Ten Commandments; and (O)He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And (P)the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might [d]observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.
Beware of Idolatry
15 (Q)“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no (R)form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 lest you (S)act corruptly and (T)make for yourselves a carved image in the [e]form of any figure: (U)the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you (V)lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, (W)all the host of heaven, you feel driven to (X)worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has [f]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 20 But the Lord has taken you and (Y)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be (Z)His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore (AA)the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that (AB)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 But (AC)I must die in this land, (AD)I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and [g]possess (AE)that good land. 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, (AF)and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For (AG)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, (AH)a jealous God.
25 “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 (AI)do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 (AJ)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 [h]prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord (AK)will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And (AL)there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, (AM)which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 (AN)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 When you are in [i]distress, and all these things come upon you in the (AO)latter days, when you (AP)turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor (AQ)destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
32 “For (AR)ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask (AS)from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 (AT)Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, (AU)by trials, (AV)by signs, by wonders, by war, (AW)by a mighty hand and (AX)an outstretched arm, (AY)and by great [j]terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; (AZ)there is none other besides Him. 36 (BA)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 And because (BB)He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their [k]descendants after them; and (BC)He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 (BD)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 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that (BE)the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 (BF)You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that [l]it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may [m]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 Then Moses (BG)set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, 42 (BH)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 (BI)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 Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, 46 on this side of the Jordan, (BJ)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 (BK)defeated[n] after they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land (BL)of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the [o]rising of the sun, 48 (BM)from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount [p]Sion (that is, (BN)Hermon), 49 and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the (BO)slopes of Pisgah.
The Ten Commandments Reviewed(BP)
5 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 (BQ)The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The Lord (BR)did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 (BS)The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 (BT)I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for (BU)you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:
6 (BV)‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [q]bondage.
7 (BW)‘You shall have no other gods [r]before Me.
8 (BX)‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not (BY)bow[s] down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, [t]visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 (BZ)but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and [u]keep My commandments.
11 (CA)‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him [v]guiltless who takes His name in vain.
12 (CB)‘Observe the Sabbath day, to [w]keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 (CC)Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the (CD)Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 (CE)And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there (CF)by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 (CG)‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, (CH)that your days may be long, and that it may be well with (CI)you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
17 (CJ)‘You shall not murder.
18 (CK)‘You shall not commit adultery.
19 (CL)‘You shall not steal.
20 (CM)‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 (CN)‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And (CO)He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
The People Afraid of God’s Presence(CP)
23 (CQ)“So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and (CR)we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he (CS)still lives. 25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; (CT)if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. 26 (CU)For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and (CV)tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. (CW)They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 (CX)Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and (CY)always keep all My commandments, (CZ)that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, (DA)and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
32 “Therefore you shall [x]be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; (DB)you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in (DC)all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live (DD)and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:1 take possession of
- Deuteronomy 4:7 Or a god
- Deuteronomy 4:12 similitude
- Deuteronomy 4:14 do or perform
- Deuteronomy 4:16 similitude
- Deuteronomy 4:19 divided
- Deuteronomy 4:22 take possession of
- Deuteronomy 4:26 live long on it
- Deuteronomy 4:30 tribulation
- Deuteronomy 4:34 calamities
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit. seed
- Deuteronomy 4:40 you may prosper
- Deuteronomy 4:40 live long
- Deuteronomy 4:46 struck
- Deuteronomy 4:47 east
- Deuteronomy 4:48 Syr. Sirion
- Deuteronomy 5:6 slavery
- Deuteronomy 5:7 besides
- Deuteronomy 5:9 worship them
- Deuteronomy 5:9 punishing
- Deuteronomy 5:10 observe
- Deuteronomy 5:11 innocent
- Deuteronomy 5:12 sanctify it
- Deuteronomy 5:32 observe
Deuteronomy 4-5
Amplified Bible
Israel Urged to Obey God’s Law
4 “Now, O Israel, listen and pay attention to the statutes and the judgments (God’s legal decisions) which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor; for all the men who followed [and participated in the worship of] Baal of Peor, the Lord your God destroyed them from among you,(A) 4 but you who held tightly to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 “Look, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may do them in the land which you are entering to possess. 6 So keep and do them, for that 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 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God [is to us] whenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation has statutes and judgments so righteous (upright, just) as this whole law which I am [a]placing before you today?
9 “Only pay attention and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your grandchildren [impressing these things on their mind and penetrating their heart with these truths]— 10 especially the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai), when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] all the days they live on the land, and so that they may teach their children.’ 11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the [very] heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to follow, [b]the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you the statutes and judgments, so that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.
15 “So pay attention and watch [c]yourselves carefully—for you did not see any form [of God] on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire— 16 so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved or sculpted image [to worship] in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, or of any winged bird that flies in the [d]sky, 18 the likeness of anything that crawls on the ground, or of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth. 19 And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and let yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, [mere created bodies] which the Lord your God has allotted to [serve and benefit] all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron [smelting] furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as [you are] this day.
21 “Now the Lord was angry with me [at the waters of Meribah] because of you, and He swore [an oath] that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For I am going to die in this land, I am not going to cross the Jordan, but you shall cross over and take possession of this good land. 23 So be on your guard and watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He has made with you, and make for yourselves a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; He is a [e]jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].
25 “When you become the father of children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, then if you corrupt yourselves by making a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything [for the purpose of worship], and do evil [things] in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter and disperse you among the peoples (pagan nations), and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 And there you will serve [false and foreign] gods, the work of human hands, [lifeless images of] wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell [the offerings of food given to them]. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and tribulation and all these things come on you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful and compassionate God; He will not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
32 “Indeed, ask now about the days that are past, [those days] which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 Did [any] people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you heard, and [still] live? 34 Or has any [man-made] god ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your [very] eyes? 35 It was shown to you so that you might have [personal] knowledge and comprehend that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. 36 Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline and admonish you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants who followed them, and brought you from Egypt with His Presence, with His great and awesome power, 38 dispossessing and driving out from before you nations, [nations that were] greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know and understand today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
41 Then Moses set apart three cities [of refuge] beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun (eastward), 42 so that someone who committed manslaughter could flee there, [that is, a person] who killed his neighbor unintentionally and without previously having hostility toward him, and that by escaping to one of these cities he might [claim the right of asylum and] save his life: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
44 This is the law which Moses placed before the sons of Israel; 45 these are the testimonies (legal provisions) and the statutes and the judgments which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan in the Valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who reigned across the Jordan to the east, 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the [river] Arnon, as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah (desert lowlands) across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
The Ten Commandments Repeated
5 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments (legal decisions) which I am speaking today in your hearing, so that you may learn them and observe them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,
6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 ‘You shall have no other gods [f]before Me.
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol [as an object to worship], or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a [g]jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,(B) 10 but [h]showing graciousness and lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who [i]takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God), as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the stranger who stays inside your [city] gates, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember [with thoughtful concern] that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
16 ‘Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days [on the earth] may be prolonged and so that it may go well with you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
17 ‘You shall not [j]murder.
18 ‘You shall not commit [k]adultery.(C)
19 ‘You shall not steal.(D)
20 ‘You shall not give false testimony [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).(E)
21 ‘You shall not covet [that is, desire and seek to acquire] your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’(F)
Moses Interceded
22 “The Lord spoke these words with a great voice to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and He added no more. He wrote these commandments on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the leaders (heads) of your tribes and your elders; 24 and you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he [still] lives. 25 Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. 26 For who is there of all flesh (mankind) who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 You, Moses, go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
28 “The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear [and worship Me with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] and keep all My commandments always, so that it may go well with them and with their children forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will tell you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, so that they may obey them in the land which I give them to possess.’ 32 Therefore you shall pay attention and be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left [deviating from My commandments]. 33 You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:8 Lit giving.
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Lit the ten words.
- Deuteronomy 4:15 Lit your souls.
- Deuteronomy 4:17 Lit heavens, the reference here is to the first heaven, the “heaven of the clouds.”
- Deuteronomy 4:24 I.e. intolerant of unfaithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 5:7 Or besides.
- Deuteronomy 5:9 See note 4:24.
- Deuteronomy 5:10 Lit doing.
- Deuteronomy 5:11 Using the name of God in a casual, frivolous way establishes a mindset that diminishes and dishonors the omnipotent God. Using the name of God to abuse, manipulate, or deceive invites judgment.
- Deuteronomy 5:17 Or commit homicide. In general, prohibits one from acting on one’s own initiative to deliberately take or maliciously cause to be taken, the life of another.
- Deuteronomy 5:18 Jesus extended this commandment in Matt 5:27, 28. Not only is adultery forbidden, but also the act of looking at a woman with lustful (sexual) desire, which would include indulging oneself in pornography.
Deuteronomy 4-5
Authorized (King James) Version
4 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. 5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10 specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18 the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22 but I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
25 When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. 28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. 32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 to drive out 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 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. 40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.
41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 42 that the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: 43 namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.
44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: 45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, 46 on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: 47 and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, 49 and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
5 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4 The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5 (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying, 6 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 9 thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. 13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
17 Thou shalt not kill.
18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19 Neither shalt thou steal.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
22 These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. 23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24 and ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. 25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. 28 And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. 29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! 30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. 31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. 32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
Deuteronomy 4-5
1599 Geneva Bible
4 1 An exhortation to observe the law without adding thereto or diminishing. 6 Therein standeth our wisdom. 9 We must teach it to our children. 15 No image ought to be made to worship. 26 Threatenings against them that forsake the Law of God. 37 God chose the seed because he loved their fathers.
1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the ordinances and to the laws which I teach you to [a]do, that ye may live and go in, and possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
2 (A)Ye shall [b]put nothing unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye [c]take ought there from, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
3 Your [d]eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal Peor, for all the men that followed Baal Peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed every one from among you.
4 But ye that did [e]cleave unto the Lord your God, are alive every one of you this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you ordinances, and laws, as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do even so within the land whither ye go to possess it.
6 Keep them therefore, and do them: for that is your [f]wisdom, and your understanding in the sight of the people, which shall hear all these ordinances, and shall say, [g]Only this people is wise, and of understanding, and a great nation.
7 For what nation is so great, unto whom the gods come so near unto them, as the Lord our God is, [h]near unto us, in all that we call unto him for?
8 And what nation is so great, that hath ordinances and laws so righteous, as all this Law, which I set before you this day?
9 But take heed to thyself, and [i]keep thy soul diligently, that thou forget not the things which thine eyes have seen, and that they depart not out of thine heart, all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons:
10 Forget not the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will cause them to hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children:
11 Then came you near and (B)stood under the mountain, and the mountain [j]burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven, and there was darkness, clouds and mist.
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire, and ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, save a voice.
13 Then he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to [k]do, even the ten [l]commandments, and wrote them upon two Tables of stone.
14 ¶ And the Lord commanded me that same time, that I should teach you ordinances and laws, which ye should observe in the land, whither ye go, to possess it.
15 Take therefore good heed unto your [m]selves: for ye saw no [n]image in the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 That ye corrupt not yourselves, and make you a graven image, or representation of any figure: whether it be the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on earth, or the likeness of any feathered fowl that flieth in the air:
18 Or the likeness of anything that creepeth on the earth, or the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth,
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars with all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath [o]distributed to all people under the whole heaven.
20 But the Lord hath taken you and brought you out of the [p]iron furnace, out of Egypt to be unto him a people and inheritance, as appeareth this day.
21 And the Lord was angry with me for your words, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
22 For I must die in this land, and shall not go over Jordan: but [q]ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God which he made with you, and lest ye make you any graven image, or likeness of anything, as the Lord thy God hath charged thee.
24 For the Lord thy God is a [r]consuming fire, and a jealous God.
25 ¶ When thou shalt beget children and children’s children, and shalt have remained long in the land, if ye [s]corrupt yourselves, and make any graven image, or likeness of anything, and work evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger,
26 I [t]call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that ye shall shortly perish from the land, whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it: ye shall not prolong your days therein, but shall utterly be destroyed.
27 And the Lord shall [u]scatter you among the people, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither the Lord shall bring you:
28 And there ye shall serve gods: even the work of man’s hand, wood, and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thine [v]heart, and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [w]at the length, if thou return to the Lord thy God, and be obedient unto his voice,
31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he [x]sware unto them.
32 For inquire now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and [y]ask from the one end of heaven unto the other, if there came to pass such a great thing as this, or whether any such like thing hath been heard.
33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of a fire, as thou hast heard, and lived?
34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from among nations, by [z]tentations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great fear, according unto all that the Lord your God did unto you in Egypt before your eyes?
35 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest [aa]know that the Lord he is God, and that there is none but he alone.
36 Out of heaven he made thee hear his voice to instruct thee, and upon earth he showed thee his great fire, and thou heardest his voice out of the midst of the fire.
37 And because [ab]he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and hath brought thee out of Egypt in his sight by his mighty power,
38 To thrust out nations greater and mightier than thou, before thee, to bring thee in, and to give thee their land for inheritance: as appeareth this day.
39 Understand therefore this day, and consider in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none other.
40 Thou shalt keep therefore his ordinances, and his commandments which I command thee this day, that it may [ac]go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever.
41 ¶ Then Moses separated three cities on this side of Jordan toward the sun rising:
42 That the slayer should flee thither, which had killed his neighbor at unawares, and hated him not in time past, might flee, I say, unto one of those cities, and live:
43 That is, (C)Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country of the Reubenites: and Ramoth in Gilead among the Gadites: and Golan in Bashan among them of Manasseh.
44 ¶ So this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
45 These are the [ad]witnesses, and the ordinances, and the laws which Moses declared to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt.
46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon King of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel (D)smote, after they were come out of Egypt:
47 And they possessed his land, and the land of (E)Og King of Bashan, two Kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sun rising:
48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
49 And all the plain from Jordan Eastward, even unto [ae]the Sea of the plain, under the (F)springs of Pisgah.
5 5 Moses is the mean between God and the people. 6 The Law is repeated. 23 The people are afraid at God’s voice. 29 The Lord wisheth that the people would fear him. 32 They must neither decline to the right hand nor left.
1 Then Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the ordinances and the laws which [af]I propose to you this day, that ye may learn them, and take heed to observe them.
2 (G)The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3 The Lord [ag]made not this covenant with our fathers only, but with us, even with us all here alive this day.
4 The Lord talked with you [ah]face to face in the Mount, out of the midst of the fire.
5 (At that time I stood between the Lord and you, to declare unto you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid at the sight of the fire, and went not up into the mount) and he said,
6 ¶ (H)I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of [ai]bondage.
7 Thou shalt have none [aj]other gods before my face.
8 Thou shalt make thee no graven image or any likeness of that that is in heaven above, or which is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth.
9 Thou shalt neither bow thyself unto them, nor serve them: for (I)I the Lord thy God am a [ak]jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, even unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:
10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that [al]love me, and keep my commandments.
11 Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain.
12 Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.
13 Six days [am]thou shalt labor, and shalt do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt not do any work therein, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maid, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, neither any of thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: that thy manservant and thy maid may rest as well as thou.
15 For, remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to observe the Sabbath day.
16 ¶ [an]Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
17 (J)Thou shalt not kill.
18 (K)Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19 (L)Neither shalt thou steal.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
21 (M)Neither shalt [ao]thou covet thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s house, his field, nor his manservant, nor his maid, his ox, nor his ass, nor ought that thy neighbor hath.
22 ¶ These words the Lord spake unto all your multitude in the mount of the midst of the fire, the cloud and the darkness, with a great voice, and [ap]added no more thereto: and wrote them upon two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
23 And when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire) then ye came to me, all the chief of your tribes, and your Elders:
24 And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and (N)we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he (O)liveth.
25 Now therefore, why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, we shall die.
26 For what [aq]flesh was there ever that heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have, and lived?
27 Go thou near and hear all that the Lord our God saith: and declare thou unto us all that the Lord our God saith unto thee: (P)and we will hear it, and do it.
28 Then the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me: and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said, all that they have spoken.
29 Oh [ar]that there were such an heart in them to fear me, and to keep all my commandments always: that it might go well with them, and with their children forever.
30 Go, say unto them, Return you into your tents.
31 But stand thou here with me, and I will tell thee all the commandments, and the ordinances, and the laws, which thou shalt teach them: that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
32 Take heed therefore, that ye do as the Lord your God hath commanded you: [as]turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left.
33 But walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may [at]live, and that it may go well with you: and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:1 For this doctrine standeth not in bare knowledge, but in practice of life.
- Deuteronomy 4:2 Think not to be more wise than I am.
- Deuteronomy 4:2 God will not be served by halves, but will have full obedience.
- Deuteronomy 4:3 God’s judgments executed upon other idolaters ought to serve for our instruction, read Num. 25:3,4.
- Deuteronomy 4:4 And were not idolaters.
- Deuteronomy 4:6 Because all men naturally desire wisdom, he showeth how to attain unto it.
- Deuteronomy 4:6 Or, surely.
- Deuteronomy 4:7 Helping us, and delivering us out of all dangers, as 2 Sam. 7:23.
- Deuteronomy 4:9 He addeth all these words, to show that we can never be careful enough to keep the law of God and to teach it to our posterity.
- Deuteronomy 4:11 The Law was given with fearful miracles, to declare both that God was the author thereof, and also that no flesh was able to abide the rigor of the same.
- Deuteronomy 4:13 God joineth this condition to his covenant.
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Or, words.
- Deuteronomy 4:15 Hebrew, souls.
- Deuteronomy 4:15 Signifying, that destruction is prepared for all them that make any image to represent God.
- Deuteronomy 4:19 He hath appointed them for to serve man.
- Deuteronomy 4:20 He hath delivered you out of most miserable slavery and freely chosen you for his.
- Deuteronomy 4:22 Moses’ good affection appeareth in that he being deprived of such an excellent treasure, doth not envy them that must enjoy it.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 To those that come not unto him with love and reverence, but rebel against him, Heb. 12:29.
- Deuteronomy 4:25 Meaning hereby all superstition and corruption of the true service of God.
- Deuteronomy 4:26 Though men would absolve you, yet the insensible creatures shall be witnesses of your disobedience.
- Deuteronomy 4:27 So that his curse shall make his former blessings of none effect.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 Not with outward show or ceremony, but with a true confession of thy faults.
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Hebrew, in the latter days.
- Deuteronomy 4:31 To certify them the more of the assurance of their salvation.
- Deuteronomy 4:32 Man’s negligence is partly cause, that he knoweth not God.
- Deuteronomy 4:34 By so manifest proofs that none could doubt thereof.
- Deuteronomy 4:35 He showeth the cause why God wrought these miracles.
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Freely, and not of their deserts.
- Deuteronomy 4:40 God promiseth reward not for our merits, but to encourage us, and to assure us that our labor shall not be lost.
- Deuteronomy 4:45 The articles and points of the covenant.
- Deuteronomy 4:49 That is, the salt sea.
- Deuteronomy 5:1 Hebrew, I speak in your ears.
- Deuteronomy 5:3 Some read, God made not this covenant, that is, in such ample forth and with such signs and wonders.
- Deuteronomy 5:4 So plainly that ye need not to doubt thereof.
- Deuteronomy 5:6 Or, servant.
- Deuteronomy 5:7 God bindeth us to serve him only, without superstition and idolatry.
- Deuteronomy 5:9 That is, of his honor, not permitting it to be given to others.
- Deuteronomy 5:10 The first degree to keep the commandments, is to love God.
- Deuteronomy 5:13 Meaning, since God permitteth six days to our labors, that we ought willingly to dedicate the seventh to serve him wholly.
- Deuteronomy 5:16 Not for a show, but with true obedience, and due reverence.
- Deuteronomy 5:21 He speaketh not only of that resolute will, but that there be no motion or affection.
- Deuteronomy 5:22 Teaching us by his example to be content with his word, and add nothing thereto.
- Deuteronomy 5:26 Or, man.
- Deuteronomy 5:29 He requireth of us nothing but obedience, showing also that of ourselves we are unwilling thereunto.
- Deuteronomy 5:32 Ye shall neither add nor diminish, Deut. 4:2.
- Deuteronomy 5:33 As by obedience, God giveth us all felicity: so of disobeying God proceed all our miseries.
Deuteronomy 4-5
Young's Literal Translation
4 `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.
2 Ye 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.
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;
4 and ye who are cleaving to Jehovah your God, [are] alive, all of you, to-day.
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;
6 and ye have kept and done [them] (for it [is] 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 [is] this great nation.
7 `For which [is] the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Jehovah our God, in all we have called unto him?
8 and which [is] the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?
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.
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; --
11 and 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:
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;
13 and 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.
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;
15 and 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,
16 lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female --
17 a form of any beast which [is] in the earth -- a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens --
18 a form of any creeping thing on the ground -- a form of any fish which [is] in the waters under 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.
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 [at] 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;
22 for I am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, and ye are passing over, and have possessed this good land.
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 [concerning] which Jehovah thy God hath charged thee:
24 for Jehovah thy God is a fire consuming -- a zealous 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: --
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;
27 and Jehovah hath scattered you among the peoples, and ye have been left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah leadeth you,
28 and ye have served there gods, work of man's hands, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor eat, nor 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,
30 in distress [being] 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;
31 for a merciful God [is] Jehovah thy God; He doth not fail thee, nor destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which He hath sworn to them.
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 [one] end of the heavens even unto the [other] end of the heavens, whether there hath been as this great thing -- or hath been heard like it?
33 Hath a people heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, thou -- and doth live?
34 Or 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?
35 Thou, thou hast been shewn [it], to know that Jehovah He [is] God; there is none else besides 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.
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:
38 to dispossess nations greater and stronger than thou, from thy presence, to bring thee in to give to thee their land -- an inheritance, as [at] this day.
39 `And thou hast known to-day, and hast turned [it] back unto thy heart, that Jehovah He [is] God, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath -- there is none else;
40 and 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.'
41 Then Moses separateth three cities beyond the Jordan, towards the sun-rising,
42 for 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:
43 Bezer, 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.
44 And this [is] the law which Moses hath set before the sons of Israel;
45 these [are] the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses hath spoken unto the sons of Israel, in their coming out of Egypt,
46 beyond 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,
47 and they possess his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, [towards] the sun-rising;
48 from Aroer, which [is] by the edge of the brook Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which [is] Hermon --
49 and all the plain beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
5 And Moses calleth unto all Israel, and saith unto them, `Hear, Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I am speaking in your ears to-day, and ye have learned them, and have observed to do them.
2 Jehovah our God made with us a covenant in Horeb;
3 not with our fathers hath Jehovah made this covenant, but with us; we -- these -- here to-day -- all of us alive.
4 Face to face hath Jehovah spoken with you, in the mount, out of the midst of the fire;
5 I am standing between Jehovah and you, at that time, to declare to you the word of Jehovah, for ye have been afraid from the presence of the fire, and ye have not gone up into the mount; saying:
6 `I Jehovah [am] thy God, who hath brought thee out from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants.
7 `Thou hast no other gods in My presence.
8 `Thou dost not make to thee a graven image, any similitude which [is] in the heavens above, and which [is] in the earth beneath, and which [is] in the waters under the earth;
9 thou dost not bow thyself to them nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on children, and on a third [generation], and on a fourth, to those hating Me;
10 and doing kindness to thousands, to those loving Me, and to those keeping My commands.
11 `Thou dost not take up the Name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah doth not acquit him who taketh up His Name for a vain thing.
12 `Observe the day of the sabbath -- to sanctify it, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee;
13 six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work,
14 and the seventh day [is] a sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle, and thy sojourner who [is] within thy gates; so that thy man-servant, and thy handmaid doth rest like thyself;
15 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God is bringing thee out thence by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm; therefore hath Jehovah thy God commanded thee to keep the day of the sabbath.
16 `Honour thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee, so that thy days are prolonged, and so that it is well with thee, on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.
17 `Thou dost not murder.
18 `Thou dost not commit adultery.
19 `Thou dost not steal.
20 `Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour -- a false testimony.
21 `Thou dost not desire thy neighbour's wife; nor dost thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, and his man-servant, and his handmaid, his ox, and his ass, and anything which [is] thy neighbour's.
22 `These words hath Jehovah spoken unto all your assembly, in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness -- a great voice; and He hath not added, and He writeth them on two tables of stone, and giveth them unto me.
23 `And it cometh to pass as ye hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and of the mountain burning with fire, that ye come near unto me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders,
24 and say, Lo, Jehovah our God hath shewed us His honour, and His greatness; and His voice we have heard out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God doth speak with man -- and he hath lived.
25 `And, now, why do we die? for consume us doth this great fire -- if we add to hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more -- then we have died.
26 For who of all flesh [is] he who hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire like us -- and doth live?
27 Draw near thou, and hear all that which Jehovah our God saith, and thou, thou dost speak unto us all that which Jehovah our God speaketh unto thee, and we have hearkened, and done it.
28 `And Jehovah heareth the voice of your words, in your speaking unto me, and Jehovah saith unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee; they have done well [in] all that they have spoken.
29 O that their heart had been thus to them, to fear Me, and to keep My commands all the days, that it may be well with them, and with their sons -- to the age!
30 `Go, say to them, Turn back for yourselves, to your tents;
31 and thou here stand thou with Me, and let Me speak unto thee all the command, and the statutes, and the judgments which thou dost teach them, and they have done in the land which I am giving to them to possess it.
32 `And ye have observed to do as Jehovah your God hath commanded you, ye turn not aside -- right or left;
33 in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded you ye walk, so that ye live, and [it is] well with you, and ye have prolonged days in the land which ye possess.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
