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Deuteronomy 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Moses Commands Obedience

4 “So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.(A) 2 You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you.(B) 3 You have seen for yourselves what the Lord did with regard to the Baal of Peor, how the Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,(C) 4 while those of you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.

5 “See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. 6 You must observe them and perform them, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’(D) 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him?(E) 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?

9 “But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children(F)— 10 how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth and may teach their children so’;(G) 11 you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds.(H) 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.(I) 13 He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments,[a] and he wrote them on two stone tablets.(J) 14 And the Lord charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.

15 “Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, watch yourselves closely, 16 so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,(K) 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven.(L) 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now.(M)

21 “The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I should not cross the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving for your possession.(N) 22 For I am going to die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you are going to cross over to take possession of that good land.(O) 23 So be careful, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you and make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.(P) 24 For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.(Q)

25 “When you have had children and children’s children and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and provoking him to anger,(R) 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it but will be utterly destroyed.(S) 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you.(T) 28 There you will serve gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.(U) 29 From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.(V) 30 In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the Lord your God and heed him. 31 Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.(W)

32 “For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has its like ever been heard of?(X) 33 Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived?(Y) 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?(Z) 35 To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.(AA) 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire.(AB) 37 And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,(AC) 38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today.(AD) 39 So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.(AE) 40 Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”(AF)

Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

41 Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities(AG) 42 to which a homicide could flee, someone who unintentionally kills another person, the two not having been at enmity before; the homicide could flee to one of these cities and live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

Transition to the Second Address

44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the decrees and the statutes and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites when they had come out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned at Heshbon, whom Moses and the Israelites defeated when they came out of Egypt.(AH) 47 They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites on the eastern side of the Jordan: 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion[b] (that is, Hermon),(AI) 49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. 4.13 Heb the ten words
  2. 4.48 Syr: Heb Sion
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Deuteronomy 4
Lexham English Bible

Introduction to the Stipulations

4 “Now, Israel, listen to the rules and to the regulations that I am teaching you to do, in order that you may live and you may go in and you may take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[a] is giving to you. 2 You must not add to the word that I am commanding you, and you shall not take away from it in order to keep[b] the commands of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you to observe. 3 Your eyes have seen[c] what Yahweh did with[d] the case of Baal Peor, for each[e] man that followed after Baal Peor Yahweh your God destroyed from your midst. 4 But you, the ones holding fast to Yahweh your God, are all alive today.[f]

5 See, I now teach[g] you rules and regulations just as Yahweh my God has commanded me, to observe them just so in the midst of the land where you are going, to take possession of it. 6 And you must observe them diligently,[h] for that is your wisdom and your insight before the eyes of the people, who will hear all of these rules, and they will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people.’ 7 For what great nation has for it a god near to it as Yahweh our God, whenever[i] we call upon him? 8 And what other great nation has for it[j] just rules and regulations just like[k] this whole[l] law that I am setting before[m] you today?[n]

9 “However, take care[o] for yourself and watch your inner self[p] closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not slip from your mind all the days of your life; and you shall make them known to your children and to your grandchildren.[q] 10 Remember the day that you stood before[r] Yahweh your God at Horeb when Yahweh said to me,[s] ‘Summon for me the people so that I can tell them my words, that they may learn to fear me all of the days they are alive on the earth and so that they may teach their children.’ 11 And so you came near, and you stood under the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire up to the heart of the heaven, dark with a very thick cloud.[t] 12 And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard[u] a sound of words, but you did not see[v] a form—only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments,[w] which he charged you to observe,[x] and he wrote them on the two tablets of stone. 14 And Yahweh charged me at that time to teach you rules and regulations for your observation of them[y] in the land that you are about to cross into[z] to take possession of it.

15 “So you must be very careful for yourselves,[aa] because you did not see[ab] any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not ruin yourselves[ac] and make for yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or female, 17 a replica of any animal that is upon the earth, a replica of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 a replica of any creeping thing on the ground, a replica of any fish that is in the water below[ad] the earth. 19 And do this so that you do not lift[ae] your eyes toward heaven and observe[af] the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all of the peoples under all of the heaven. 20 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be a people of inheritance to[ag] him, as it is this day.[ah]

21 “And Yahweh was angry with me because of you,[ai] and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan[aj] and that I would not go to the good land[ak] that Yahweh 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 are going to cross, and you are going to take possession of this good land. 23 Watch out for yourselves so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God that he had made[al] with you and make for yourselves a divine image of the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden,[am] 24 for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous[an] God.

25 “When you have had children and grandchildren[ao] and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image of the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, thus provoking him to anger, 26 I call[ap] to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; you will not live long on it,[aq] but you will be completely destroyed. 27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number[ar] among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you.[as] 28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands,[at] of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell. 29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.[au] 30 In your distress[av] when[aw] all these things have found you in the latter days,[ax] then[ay] you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice. 31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you,[az] and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors[ba] that he swore to them.

32 “Yes, ask, please, about former days that preceded you[bb] from the day that God created humankind on the earth; ask even from one end of the heaven up to the other end of heaven whether anything ever happened[bc] like this great thing or whether anything like it was ever heard.[bd] 33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, just as you heard it, and lived? 34 Or has a god ever attempted to go to take for himself[be] a nation from the midst of a nation, using trials and signs and wonders and war, with an outstretched arm and with great and awesome deeds, like all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 You yourselves[bf] were shown this wonder in order for you to acknowledge that Yahweh is the God;[bg] there is no other God besides him.[bh] 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to teach you, and on the earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your ancestors[bi] he chose their descendants[bj] after them. And he brought you forth from Egypt with his own presence,[bk] by his great strength, 38 to drive out nations greater and more numerous than you from before you,[bl] to bring you and to give to you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 So you shall acknowledge today,[bm] and you must call to mind[bn] that Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no other God. 40 And you shall keep his rules and his commandments that I am commanding you today,[bo] so that it may go well[bp] for you and for your children[bq] after you, and so that you may remain a long time[br] on the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you during all of those days.”

41 Then Moses set apart three cities on the other side of the Jordan,[bs] toward the east,[bt] 42 in order for a manslayer[bu] to flee there who has killed his neighbor without intent[bv] and was not hating him previously,[bw] and so he could flee to one of these cities and be safe.[bx] 43 He set apart Bezer in the wilderness[by] in the land of the plateau of the Reubenites;[bz] Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites,[ca] and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.[cb]

44 Now this is the law[cc] that Moses set before[cd] the Israelites;[ce] 45 these are the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Moses spoke to the Israelites[cf] when they left Egypt,[cg] 46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth Peor in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites,[ch] who was reigning in Heshbon and whom Moses and the Israelites[ci] defeated when they came out of Egypt.[cj] 47 And so they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites[ck] who were beyond the Jordan, eastward,[cl] 48 from Aroer, which is on the bank of the wadi[cm] of Arnon and as far as Mount Sirion; that is, Hermon, 49 and all of the Arabah[cn] beyond the Jordan, eastward, and as far as the Sea of the Arabah[co] under the slopes of Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:1 Or “fathers”
  2. Deuteronomy 4:2 Or “observe”
  3. Deuteronomy 4:3 Literally “your eyes the seeing what”
  4. Deuteronomy 4:3 Or “in”
  5. Deuteronomy 4:3 Literally “every one of”
  6. Deuteronomy 4:4 Literally “the day”
  7. Deuteronomy 4:5 Or “I have taught” (compare NASB, NEB)
  8. Deuteronomy 4:6 Literally “you must observe and you must do”
  9. Deuteronomy 4:7 Literally “in every matter/every time we call ”
  10. Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “which/that is for him it”
  11. Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “as”
  12. Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “all of”
  13. Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “to the face of”
  14. Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “the day”
  15. Deuteronomy 4:9 Literally “watch”
  16. Deuteronomy 4:9 Or “soul”
  17. Deuteronomy 4:9 Literally “the children of your children”
  18. Deuteronomy 4:10 Literally “to the face of”
  19. Deuteronomy 4:10 Literally “when to say Yahweh”
  20. Deuteronomy 4:11 Literally “darkness, cloud, and very thick darkness”
  21. Deuteronomy 4:12 Literally “you were hearing”
  22. Deuteronomy 4:12 Literally “you were not seeing”
  23. Deuteronomy 4:13 Literally “the ten words”
  24. Deuteronomy 4:13 Literally “to do”
  25. Deuteronomy 4:14 Literally “for your doing them”
  26. Deuteronomy 4:14 Literally “about to cross into there”
  27. Deuteronomy 4:15 Literally “watch yourselves diligently with respect to your souls”
  28. Deuteronomy 4:15 Or “have not seen”
  29. Deuteronomy 4:16 Literally “corrupt yourselves”
  30. Deuteronomy 4:18 Literally “under”
  31. Deuteronomy 4:19 Literally “And lest you lift up”
  32. Deuteronomy 4:19 Literally “see”
  33. Deuteronomy 4:20 Or “for”; a people of inheritance = a people who is his very own possession
  34. Deuteronomy 4:20 Literally “as the day the this” = as you are now
  35. Deuteronomy 4:21 Literally “because of your matter”
  36. Deuteronomy 4:21 Literally “not I to cross the Jordan”
  37. Deuteronomy 4:21 Literally “not I going to the land”
  38. Deuteronomy 4:23 Literally “cut”
  39. Deuteronomy 4:23 Literally “has commanded you about”
  40. Deuteronomy 4:24 Or “zealous” or “impassioned”
  41. Deuteronomy 4:25 Literally “children of children”
  42. Deuteronomy 4:26 Or “I shall call to witness”
  43. Deuteronomy 4:26 Literally “you will not extend days”
  44. Deuteronomy 4:27 Literally “people of number,” as opposed to people without number
  45. Deuteronomy 4:27 Literally “he will lead Yahweh you there”
  46. Deuteronomy 4:28 Literally “the work of the hands of human”
  47. Deuteronomy 4:29 Or “inner self”
  48. Deuteronomy 4:30 Literally “In the distress for you”
  49. Deuteronomy 4:30 Hebrew “and”
  50. Deuteronomy 4:30 Literally “in the last of the days”
  51. Deuteronomy 4:30 Hebrew “and”
  52. Deuteronomy 4:31 Literally “will not leave you alone”
  53. Deuteronomy 4:31 Or “fathers”
  54. Deuteronomy 4:32 Literally “that they were to the face of you”
  55. Deuteronomy 4:32 Literally “was it ever”
  56. Deuteronomy 4:32 Literally “was it ever heard as it”
  57. Deuteronomy 4:34 Hebrew “for him”
  58. Deuteronomy 4:35 Emphatic use of pronoun; plural meaning implied
  59. Deuteronomy 4:35 The definite article indicates that Israel’s God is alone the true God and the one who revealed himself to them
  60. Deuteronomy 4:35 Literally “except him” or “to him alone”
  61. Deuteronomy 4:37 Or “fathers”
  62. Deuteronomy 4:37 Literally “seed”
  63. Deuteronomy 4:37 Literally “with his faces”
  64. Deuteronomy 4:38 Literally “from your face”
  65. Deuteronomy 4:39 Literally “the day”
  66. Deuteronomy 4:39 Literally “you shall bring back to your heart”
  67. Deuteronomy 4:40 Literally “the day”
  68. Deuteronomy 4:40 Literally “he/it is good”
  69. Deuteronomy 4:40 Or “descendants”
  70. Deuteronomy 4:40 Literally “you may make long/prolong days”
  71. Deuteronomy 4:41 Literally “in the beyond of the Jordan”
  72. Deuteronomy 4:41 Literally “toward rising of the sun”
  73. Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “a killer of a man”
  74. Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “without previous knowledge”
  75. Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “the day before yesterday”
  76. Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “and live”
  77. Deuteronomy 4:43 Or “desert”
  78. Deuteronomy 4:43 Hebrew “Reubenite”
  79. Deuteronomy 4:43 Hebrew “Gadite”
  80. Deuteronomy 4:43 Hebrew “Manassite”
  81. Deuteronomy 4:44 Hebrew “the torah” = teaching, instruction, law
  82. Deuteronomy 4:44 Literally “before the faces of”
  83. Deuteronomy 4:44 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  84. Deuteronomy 4:45 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  85. Deuteronomy 4:45 Literally “at their going out from Egypt”
  86. Deuteronomy 4:46 Hebrew “Amorite”
  87. Deuteronomy 4:46 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  88. Deuteronomy 4:46 Literally “at their going out from Egypt”
  89. Deuteronomy 4:47 Hebrew “Amorite”
  90. Deuteronomy 4:47 Literally “toward the rising of the sun”
  91. Deuteronomy 4:48 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  92. Deuteronomy 4:49 Or “valley” in this instance
  93. Deuteronomy 4:49 Commonly known today as the Dead Sea
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Deuteronomy 3
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