Deuteronomy 4
New American Standard Bible
Israel Urged to Obey God’s Law
4 “Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which (A)I am teaching you to perform, so that (B)you will live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 (C)You shall not add to the word which (D)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 (E)Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your God has destroyed [a]them from among you. 4 But you who clung to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments (F)just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. 6 So keep and do them, (G)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 (H)what great nation is there that has a god (I)so near to it as is the Lord our God (J)whenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation is there that has (K)statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?
9 “Only (L)be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart (M)all the days of your life; but (N)make them known to your sons and your grandsons. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may have them hear My words (O)so that they may learn to [b]fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may (P)teach their children.’ 11 You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain, (Q)and the mountain was burning with fire to the 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 words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, (R)the Ten [c]Commandments; and (S)He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so that you would perform them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it.
15 “So (T)be very careful [d]yourselves, since you did not see any (U)form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not (V)act corruptly and (W)make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female, 17 a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of (X)any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19 And be careful not to raise your eyes to heaven and look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, (Y)all the heavenly [e]lights, (Z)and allow yourself to be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of (AA)the iron furnace, from Egypt, to (AB)be a people of His own possession, as today.
21 “(AC)Now the Lord was angry with me on your account, and He swore 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 (AD)I am going to die in this land; I am not crossing the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you will take possession of this (AE)good land. 23 So be careful [f]yourselves, (AF)that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and (AG)make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you. 24 For the Lord your God is a (AH)consuming fire, a (AI)jealous God.
25 “When you father children and have [g]grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you (AJ)act corruptly, and (AK)make [h]an idol in the form of anything, and (AL)do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I (AM)call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will (AN)certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not [i]live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will (AO)scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 (AP)There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, (AQ)wood and stone, (AR)which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything. 29 (AS)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him (AT)with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you (AU)are in distress and all these things happen to you, (AV)in the latter days (AW)you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a (AX)compassionate God; (AY)He will not abandon you nor (AZ)destroy you, nor (BA)forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
32 “Indeed, (BB)ask now about the earlier days that were [j]before your time, since the (BC)day that God created [k]mankind on the earth, and inquire (BD)from one end of the heavens to the other. (BE)Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 (BF)Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34 (BG)Or has a god ventured to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation (BH)by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, (BI)by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, [l]just as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord, He is God; (BJ)there is no other besides Him. 36 (BK)Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice (BL)to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 (BM)Because He loved your fathers, He chose [m]their descendants after them. And He [n](BN)personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and (BO)to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Therefore know today, and take it to your heart, that (BP)the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 (BQ)So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am [o]giving you today, so that (BR)it may go well for you and for your children after you, and (BS)that you may [p]live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
41 (BT)Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the [q]east, 42 for [r]one to flee there who unintentionally killed his neighbor, without having hatred for him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 (BU)Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
44 Now this is the Law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 45 these are the testimonies and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley (BV)opposite Beth-peor, in the land of (BW)Sihon king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel [s]defeated when they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land of (BX)Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the [t]east, 48 from (BY)Aroer, which is on the edge of the [u]Valley of Arnon, even as far as (BZ)Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, [v]at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:3 Lit him
- Deuteronomy 4:10 Or revere
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Lit Words
- Deuteronomy 4:15 Or for your own lives
- Deuteronomy 4:19 Lit host
- Deuteronomy 4:23 Or for yourselves
- Deuteronomy 4:25 Lit children’s children
- Deuteronomy 4:25 Or a carved image
- Deuteronomy 4:26 Lit prolong your days
- Deuteronomy 4:32 Lit before you
- Deuteronomy 4:32 Or Adam
- Deuteronomy 4:34 Lit according to all that
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit his seed
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit with His presence
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Lit commanding
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Lit prolong your days
- Deuteronomy 4:41 Lit sunrise
- Deuteronomy 4:42 Lit one who committed manslaughter
- Deuteronomy 4:46 Lit struck
- Deuteronomy 4:47 Lit sunrise
- Deuteronomy 4:48 Or wadi
- Deuteronomy 4:49 Lit under
Deuteronomy 4
GOD’S WORD Translation
Moses Reminds Israel to Be Loyal to the Lord
4 Israel, listen to the laws and rules I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you will live and be able to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord God of your ancestors is giving you. 2 Never add anything to what I command you, or take anything away from it. Then you will be able to obey the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.
3 With your own eyes you saw what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal while you were at Peor. 4 But you were loyal to the Lord your God and are still alive today.
5 I have taught you laws and rules as the Lord my God commanded me. You must obey them when you’ve entered the land and taken possession of it. 6 Faithfully obey these laws. This will show the people of the world your wisdom and insight. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, “What wise and insightful people there are in this great nation!”
7 What great nation ever had their gods as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we pray to him? 8 Or what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as all these teachings I am giving you today?
9 However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you don’t forget the things which you have seen with your own eyes. Don’t let them fade from your memory as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. 10 Never forget the day you stood in front of the Lord your God at Mount Horeb. The Lord had said to me, “Assemble the people in front of me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on earth, and they will teach their children the same thing.”
11 So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, which was on fire with flames shooting into the sky. It was dark, cloudy, and gloomy. 12 The Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard a voice speaking but saw no one. There was only a voice. 13 The Lord told you about the terms of his promise, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to do. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 The Lord also commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey after you cross ⌞the Jordan River⌟ and take possession of the land.
15 You didn’t see the Lord the day he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb. So be very careful 16 that you don’t become corrupt and make your own carved idols. Don’t make statues that represent men or women, 17 any animal on earth, any creature with wings that flies, 18 any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water. 19 Don’t let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. The Lord your God has given them to all people everywhere. 20 But you are the people the Lord brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.
21 The Lord was angry with me because of you. So the Lord your God took an oath that I wouldn’t cross the Jordan River and enter the good land he is giving you as your property. 22 I’m going to die in this land and not cross the Jordan River, but you’re going to go across and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful that you don’t forget the promise [a] that the Lord your God made to you. Don’t make your own carved idols or statues that represent anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 The Lord your God is a raging fire, a God who does not tolerate rivals.
25 Even when you have children and grandchildren and have grown old in that land, don’t become corrupt and make carved idols or statues that represent anything. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today: [b] If you do this thing that the Lord your God considers evil, making him furious, 26 you will quickly disappear from the land you’re going to possess on the other side of the Jordan River. You won’t live very long there. You’ll be completely wiped out. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the people of the world, and only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will force you to live. 28 There you will worship wooden and stone gods made by human hands. These gods can’t see, hear, eat, or smell.
29 But if you look for the Lord your God when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you’re in distress and all these things happen to you, then you will finally come back to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 The Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.
32 Search the distant past, long before your time. Start from the very day God created people on earth. Search from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened before, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Have any ⌞other⌟ people ever heard God speak from a fire and lived? You did! 34 Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? The Lord your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you.
35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God. There is no other god. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power. 38 He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.
39 Remember today, and never forget that the Lord is God in heaven above and here on earth. There is no other god. 40 Obey his laws and commands which I’m giving you today. Then things will go well for you and your descendants. You will live for a long time in the land. The Lord your God is giving you the land for as long as you live.
Three Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan River
41 Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River. 42 Those who unintentionally killed someone whom they had never hated could flee to one of these cities and save their lives. 43 The cities were Bezer on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
Introduction to Moses’ Teachings
44 This is what Moses taught the people of Israel. 45 These are the commandments, laws, and rules Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt. 46 He gave these to the people when they were east of the Jordan River in the valley near Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses and Israel defeated him after they left Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were east of the Jordan River. 48 This land went from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Siyon (that is, Mount Hermon). 49 It included all the plains on the east side of the Jordan River as far as the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
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