Deuteronomy 4
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic 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. 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. 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, 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 diligently, 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!’ 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? 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— 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 to do so’; 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. 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. 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. 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, take care and 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, 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. 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.
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. 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. 23 So be careful not to forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you, and not to make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
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, 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. 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. 28 There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 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. 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.
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? 33 Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? 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? 35 To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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.
Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan
41 Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities 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. 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), 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
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Heb the ten words
- Deuteronomy 4:48 Syr: Heb Sion
Deuteronomy 4
American Standard Version
4 And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor; for all the men that followed Baal-peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee. 4 But ye that did cleave unto Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day. 5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what great nation is there, that hath [a]a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances 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 saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children’s children; 10 the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they 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 heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12 And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten [b]commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, 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 form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire; 16 lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form 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 bird that flieth in the heavens, 18 the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under 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, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But Jehovah hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as at this day. 21 Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22 but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
25 When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah 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 the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you away. 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 from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [c]in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice: 31 for Jehovah thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail 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 from the one end 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 a 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 trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he made thee to see 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 with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; 38 to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as at this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and lay it to thy heart, that Jehovah he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else. 40 And thou shalt keep 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 in the land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, for ever.
41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising; 42 that the manslayer might flee thither, that slayeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: 43 namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the [d]plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for 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 ordinances, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt, 46 beyond the 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, when they came forth out of Egypt. 47 And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even unto mount Sion (the same is Hermon), 49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the Arabah, under the [e]slopes of Pisgah.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:7 Or, God
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Hebrew words.
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Or, if in the latter days thou return
- Deuteronomy 4:43 Or, table-land
- Deuteronomy 4:49 Or, springs
Deuteronomio 4
Reina Valera Revisada
Moisés exhorta a la obediencia
4 Ahora, pues, oh Israel, oye los estatutos y decretos que yo os enseño, para que los ejecutéis, y viváis, y entréis y poseáis la tierra que Jehová el Dios de vuestros padres os da.
2 No añadiréis a la palabra que yo os mando, ni disminuiréis de ella, para que guardéis los mandamientos de Jehová vuestro Dios que yo os ordeno.
3 Vuestros ojos vieron lo que hizo Jehová con motivo de Baal-peor; que a todo hombre que fue en pos de Baal-peor destruyó Jehová tu Dios de en medio de ti.
4 Mas vosotros que seguisteis a Jehová vuestro Dios, todos estáis vivos hoy.
5 Mirad, yo os he enseñado estatutos y decretos, como Jehová mi Dios me mandó, para que los pongáis en práctica en medio de la tierra en la cual vais a entrar para tomar posesión de ella.
6 Guardadlos, pues, y ponedlos por obra; porque ésta es vuestra sabiduría y vuestra inteligencia ante los ojos de los pueblos, los cuales oirán todos estos estatutos, y dirán: Ciertamente pueblo sabio y entendido, nación grande es ésta.
7 Porque ¿qué nación grande hay que tenga dioses tan cercanos a ellos como lo está Jehová nuestro Dios en todo cuanto le pedimos?
8 Y ¿qué nación grande hay que tenga estatutos y juicios justos como es toda esta ley que yo pongo hoy delante de vosotros?
La experiencia de Israel en Horeb
9 Por tanto, guárdate, y guarda tu alma con diligencia, para que no te olvides de las cosas que tus ojos han visto, ni se aparten de tu corazón en todos los días de tu vida; antes bien, las enseñarás a tus hijos, y a los hijos de tus hijos.
10 El día que estuviste delante de Jehová tu Dios en Horeb, cuando Jehová me dijo: Reúneme el pueblo, para que yo les haga oír mis palabras, las cuales aprenderán, para temerme mientras vivan sobre la tierra, y las enseñarán a sus hijos;
11 y os acercasteis y os pusisteis al pie del monte; y el monte ardía en llamas que subían hasta en medio de los cielos entre tinieblas y densa nube;
12 y habló Jehová con vosotros de en medio del fuego; oísteis la voz de sus palabras, mas a excepción de oír la voz, ninguna figura visteis.
13 Y él os anunció su pacto, el cual os mandó poner por obra; los diez mandamientos, y los escribió en dos tablas de piedra.
14 A mí también me mandó Jehová en aquel tiempo que os enseñase los preceptos y normas que deberíais poner por obra en la tierra en que vais a entrar para tomar posesión de ella.
Advertencia contra la idolatría
15 Guardad, pues, mucho vuestras almas; pues ninguna figura visteis el día que Jehová habló con vosotros de en medio del fuego;
16 para que no os corrompáis y hagáis para vosotros escultura, imagen de figura alguna, efigie de varón o de hembra,
17 figura de alguna de las bestias de la tierra, figura de alguna de las aves que vuelan por el aire,
18 figura de alguno de los reptiles que se arrastran sobre la tierra, o figura de alguno de los peces que hay en las aguas debajo de la tierra.
19 No sea que alces tus ojos al cielo, y viendo el sol y la luna y las estrellas, y todo el ejército del cielo, seas impulsado, y te inclines a ellos y les sirvas; porque Jehová tu Dios los ha concedido a todos los pueblos debajo de todos los cielos.
20 Pero a vosotros Jehová os tomó, y os ha sacado del horno de hierro, de Egipto, para que seáis el pueblo de su heredad como lo sois ahora.
21 Y Jehová se enojó contra mí por causa de vosotros, y juró que yo no pasaría el Jordán, ni entraría en la buena tierra que Jehová tu Dios te da por heredad.
22 Así que yo voy a morir en esta tierra, y no pasaré el Jordán; mas vosotros pasaréis, y poseeréis aquella buena tierra.
23 Guardaos, no os olvidéis del pacto de Jehová vuestro Dios, que él estableció con vosotros, y no os hagáis escultura o imagen de ninguna cosa que Jehová tu Dios te ha prohibido.
24 Porque Jehová tu Dios es fuego consumidor, Dios celoso.
25 Cuando hayáis engendrado hijos y nietos, y hayáis envejecido en la tierra, si os corrompéis y hacéis escultura o imagen de cualquier cosa, y hacéis lo malo ante los ojos de Jehová vuestro Dios, para enojarlo;
26 yo pongo hoy por testigos al cielo y a la tierra, que pronto pereceréis totalmente de la tierra hacia la cual pasáis el Jordán para tomar posesión de ella; no estaréis en ella largos días sin que seáis destruidos.
27 Y Jehová os esparcirá entre los pueblos, y quedaréis pocos en número entre las naciones a las cuales os llevará Jehová.
28 Y serviréis allí a dioses hechos de manos de hombres, de madera y piedra, que no ven, ni oyen, ni comen, ni huelen.
29 Mas si desde allí buscas a Jehová tu Dios, lo hallarás, si lo buscas con todo tu corazón y con toda tu alma.
30 Cuando estés en angustia, y te alcancen todas estas cosas, si en los postreros días te vuelves a Jehová tu Dios, y oyes su voz;
31 porque Dios misericordioso es Jehová tu Dios; no te dejará, ni te destruirá, ni se olvidará del pacto que les juró a tus padres.
Privilegio de la elección divina
32 Porque pregunta ahora si en los tiempos pasados que han sido antes de ti, desde el día que creó Dios al hombre sobre la tierra, si desde un extremo del cielo al otro se ha hecho cosa semejante a esta gran cosa, o se ha contado algo semejante.
33 ¿Ha oído pueblo alguno la voz de Dios, hablando de en medio del fuego, como tú la has oído, sin perecer?
34 ¿O ha intentado Dios venir a tomar para sí una nación de en medio de otra nación, con pruebas, con señales, con milagros y con guerra, y mano poderosa y brazo extendido, y hechos aterradores como todo lo que hizo con vosotros Jehová vuestro Dios en Egipto ante vuestros mismos ojos?
35 A ti te fue mostrado, para que supieses que Jehová es Dios, y no hay otro fuera de él.
36 Desde los cielos te hizo oír su voz, para enseñarte; y sobre la tierra te mostró su gran fuego, y has oído sus palabras de en medio del fuego.
37 Y por cuanto él amó a tus padres, escogió a su descendencia después de ellos, y te sacó de Egipto con su presencia y con su gran poder,
38 para echar de delante de tu presencia naciones grandes y más fuertes que tú, y para introducirte y darte su tierra por heredad, como hoy.
39 Aprende, pues, hoy, y reflexiona en tu corazón que Jehová es Dios arriba en el cielo y abajo en la tierra, y no hay otro.
40 Y guarda sus estatutos y sus mandamientos, los cuales yo te mando hoy, para que te vaya bien a ti y a tus hijos después de ti, y prolongues tus días sobre la tierra que Jehová tu Dios te da para siempre.
Las ciudades de refugio al oriente del Jordán
41 Entonces apartó Moisés tres ciudades a este lado del Jordán al nacimiento del sol,
42 para que huyese allí el homicida que matase a su prójimo sin intención, sin haber tenido enemistad con él nunca antes; y que huyendo a una de estas ciudades salvase su vida:
43 Béser en el desierto, en la altiplanicie, para los rubenitas; Ramot en Galaad para los gaditas, y Golán en Basán para los de Manasés.
Recapitulación
44 Esta, pues, es la ley que Moisés puso delante de los hijos de Israel.
45 Estos son los testimonios, los estatutos y los decretos que habló Moisés a los hijos de Israel cuando salieron de Egipto;
46 a este lado del Jordán, en el valle delante de Bet-peor, en la tierra de Sehón rey de los amorreos que habitaba en Hesbón, al cual derrotó Moisés con los hijos de Israel, cuando salieron de Egipto;
47 y poseyeron su tierra, y la tierra de Og rey de Basán; dos reyes de los amorreos que estaban de este lado del Jordán, al oriente.
48 Desde Aroer, que está junto a la ribera del arroyo de Arnón, hasta el monte Siryón, que es el Hermón;
49 y todo el Arabá de este lado del Jordán, al oriente, hasta el mar del Arabá, al pie de las laderas del Pisgá.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Texto bíblico tomado de La Santa Biblia, Reina Valera Revisada® RVR® Copyright © 2017 por HarperCollins Christian Publishing® Usado con permiso. Reservados todos los derechos en todo el mundo.
