Deuteronomy 4
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 4
Benefits of Obedience. 1 Now listen, O Israel, to the statutes and the ordinances that I am teaching you to observe so that you might live and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 [a]You will not add to what I command you, nor will you take away from it, so that you might observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, that I am giving you. 3 Your own eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor, for the Lord, your God, wiped out from all of those who followed Baal-peor from your midst. 4 But every one of you who clung to the Lord, your God, is alive today.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord, my God, commanded me, so that you might enter into the land into which you are going and take possession of it. 6 Carefully observe them, for the nations will consider this is your wisdom and your understanding. They will hear all these statutes and say, “Truly this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 For what nation is as great as we are? Who has God as near to them, as the Lord, our God, is whenever we call upon him? 8 What nation is so great that it has statutes and ordinances as righteous as this law that I set before you today?
9 Only be careful and watch yourselves closely lest you ever forget the things that your eyes have seen or you let them slip out of your mind. Teach them to your children and your children’s children, 10 especially about the day that you stood before the Lord, your God, in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I might let them hear my words. They will thus learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and they will be able to teach their children.” 11 You approached and stood at the base of the mountain. The mountain blazed with flames reaching the very heavens, and it was covered with dark clouds and thick darkness. 12 The Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you did not see a form. There was only a voice. 13 He proclaimed his covenant to you which he ordered you to fulfill, the Ten Commandments, that he wrote upon two tablets of stone. 14 The Lord then commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances so that you might observe them in the land that you were crossing over to possess.
15 Pitfalls of Idolatry. Therefore, guard yourselves carefully, for you did not see any kind of form when the Lord spoke to you on Horeb from the midst of the fire. 16 Do not become perverse and make an idol for yourselves of any shape or likeness, whether male or female, 17 whether it be a land animal or a bird that flies in the skies, 18 or like something that crawls on the ground or a fish in the waters beneath the earth. 19 When you look up into the skies and you see the sun and the moon and stars, all the hosts of heaven, do not be enticed to worship and serve the things that the Lord, your God, has assigned to every other nation under the heavens. 20 But as for you, the Lord has chosen you and taken you out from the iron furnace,[b] out of Egypt, to be a people who are his own possession, as you are today.
21 The Lord was angry with me because of you and he swore that I would not cross over the Jordan nor enter the fertile land that the Lord, your God, has given to you as an inheritance. 22 I must die in this land; I will not cross over the Jordan. But you will cross over and take possession of this fertile land. 23 Therefore, keep guard over yourselves, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord, your God, has made with you and you make an idol in the form of anything that the Lord, your God, has prohibited. 24 The Lord, your God, is a consuming fire and a jealous God.
25 When you have borne children and grandchildren and have dwelt in the land for a long time, if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord, your God, and provoking him to anger, 26 I will call upon the heavens and the earth to give witness against you on that day so that you might be utterly obliterated from the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess. You will not remain there long, but you will be totally wiped out.
27 The Lord will scatter you among the nations and only a few of you will survive among the foreign peoples where the Lord has led you. 28 There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, made of wood and stone, which cannot see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
The Lord Is God.29 But if you seek the Lord, your God, and you strive with all your heart and your soul, you will find him there. 30 When you are in distress and all of these things happen to you in the future, you are to return to the Lord,[c] your God, and obey his voice, 31 and he will not abandon you, nor destroy you nor forget the covenant that he made with your fathers, confirming it to them by oath, for the Lord, your God, is a merciful God.
32 Ask now about the days of old, the former times. From the day that God created humans upon the earth, inquire from one end of the heavens to the other, has anything so great ever happened or has anything like it been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speak from the midst of the flame, as you heard, and still live? 34 Did God ever go and lead one nation from the midst of another nation by trials, signs, wonders, and battle, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great and wondrous deeds, all things that the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
35 You were shown these things so that you might come to know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. 36 He had you hear his voice from out of the heavens so that he might instruct you. He showed you his great fire upon the earth so that you might hear his voice from the midst of the flames. 37 It was because he loved your fathers and had chosen their descendants after them that he brought you out of Egypt before him by his great strength. 38 He drove out greater and more powerful nations before you so that he might bring you into their land to give it to you as an inheritance, just as it is today.
39 So today acknowledge it and take it to heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 You shall obey his statutes and the commandments that I give you today, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you for all time.
41 Cities of Refuge. Then Moses set aside three cities on the east of the Jordan 42 to which anyone who unintentionally killed another person with whom he had not previously been at enmity might flee. He could flee to one of these cities and save his life. 43 They were Bezer,[d] on the desert plateau, for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the men of Manasseh.
Moses’ Second Address
The Covenant with Israel[e]
44 Introduction. This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the stipulations, the statutes, and the judgments that Moses declared to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt 46 and they were dwelling in the valley near Beth-peor on the east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and who was defeated by Moses and the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and also the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who reigned on the east side of the Jordan. 48 This land extended from Aroer, that is on the bank of the Arnon River, up to Mount Sion (that is Hermon). 49 It included all of the plain on the east side of the Jordan up to the Sea in the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:2 Observing God’s laws in their entirety secures for us the fullness of life.
- Deuteronomy 4:20 Iron furnace: referring to Egypt by this term implies the spiritual cleansing “by fire” that the Israelites encountered there. Also used in 1 Ki 8:51 and Jer 11:4.
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Return to the Lord: reconciliation and restoration of our relationship with the Lord, then as now, hinges on the sinner’s repentance.
- Deuteronomy 4:43 Bezer: perhaps Umm el-Aniad, to the east of Mount Nebo; Ramoth: perhaps Tell Ramit, east of the Jordan between the Jabbok and Yarmuk Rivers; Golan: perhaps Sahem el-Giolan, east of the Lake of Gennesaret.
- Deuteronomy 4:44 This discourse existed, in great part, in the first edition of the book. The author hides behind the authority of Moses as he urges Israel to live the covenant to the full.
Deuteronomio 4
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Moisés exhorta al pueblo a la obediencia
4 »Ahora pues, oh Israel, escucha los estatutos y los decretos que yo les enseño para que los cumplan(A), a fin de que vivan y entren a tomar posesión de la tierra que el Señor, el Dios de sus padres, les da(B). 2 Ustedes no añadirán nada a la palabra que yo les mando(C), ni quitarán nada de ella(D), para que guarden los mandamientos del Señor su Dios que yo les mando. 3 Sus ojos han visto lo que el Señor hizo en el caso de Baal Peor, pues a todo hombre que siguió a Baal Peor, el Señor, su Dios lo destruyó de en medio de ti(E). 4 Pero ustedes, que permanecieron fieles al Señor su Dios, todos están vivos hoy.
5 »Miren, yo les he enseñado estatutos y decretos tal como el Señor mi Dios me ordenó(F), para que así los cumplan en medio de la tierra en que van a entrar para poseerla. 6 Así que guárdenlos y pónganlos por obra, porque esta será su sabiduría y su inteligencia ante los ojos de los pueblos que al escuchar todos estos estatutos, dirán: “Ciertamente esta gran nación es un pueblo sabio e inteligente(G)”. 7 Porque, ¿qué nación grande(H) hay que tenga un dios tan cerca de ella como está el Señor nuestro Dios(I) siempre que lo invocamos(J)? 8 ¿O qué nación grande hay que tenga estatutos y decretos(K) tan justos como toda esta ley que hoy pongo delante de ustedes?
Israel en Horeb
9 »Por tanto, cuídate y guarda tu alma con diligencia, para que no te olvides(L) de las cosas que tus ojos han visto, y no se aparten de tu corazón todos los días de tu vida(M); sino que las hagas saber a tus hijos y a tus nietos(N). 10 Recuerda el día que estuviste delante del Señor tu Dios en Horeb, cuando el Señor me dijo: “Reúneme el pueblo para que Yo les haga oír Mis palabras, a fin de que aprendan a temerme[a] todos los días que vivan sobre la tierra(O) y las enseñen a sus hijos(P)”. 11 Ustedes se acercaron, pues, y permanecieron al pie del monte, y el monte ardía en fuego(Q) hasta el mismo cielo[b]: oscuridad, nube y densas tinieblas.
12 »Entonces el Señor les habló de en medio del fuego; oyeron su voz[c], solo la voz[d], pero no vieron figura alguna. 13 Y Él les declaró Su pacto, el cual les mandó poner por obra: esto es, los Diez Mandamientos(R), y los[e] escribió en dos tablas de piedra(S). 14 El Señor me ordenó en aquella ocasión que les enseñara estatutos y decretos, a fin de que los cumplieran en la tierra a la cual van a entrar para poseerla.
Advertencia contra la idolatría
15 »Así que tengan mucho cuidado(T), ya que no vieron ninguna figura(U) el día en que el Señor les habló en Horeb de en medio del fuego; 16 no sea que se corrompan(V) y hagan para ustedes una imagen tallada semejante a cualquier figura(W): semejanza de varón o de hembra, 17 semejanza de cualquier animal que está en la tierra, semejanza de cualquier ave que vuela en el cielo(X), 18 semejanza de cualquier animal que se arrastra sobre la tierra, semejanza de cualquier pez que hay en las aguas debajo de la tierra. 19 Y ten cuidado, no sea que levantes los ojos al cielo y veas el sol, la luna, las estrellas y todo el ejército del cielo(Y), y seas impulsado a adorarlos y servirlos(Z), cosas que el Señor tu Dios ha concedido a todos los pueblos debajo de todos los cielos. 20 Pero a ustedes el Señor los ha tomado y los ha sacado del horno de hierro, de Egipto(AA), para que fueran pueblo de Su heredad(AB) como lo son ahora.
21 »Y el Señor se enojó conmigo por causa de ustedes, y juró que yo no pasaría el Jordán, ni entraría en la buena tierra(AC) que el Señor tu Dios te da por heredad. 22 Porque yo moriré en esta tierra, no cruzaré el Jordán(AD); pero ustedes pasarán y tomarán posesión de esta buena tierra(AE). 23 Tengan cuidado, pues, no sea que olviden el pacto que el Señor su Dios hizo con ustedes(AF), y se hagan imagen tallada en forma de cualquier cosa que el Señor tu Dios te ha prohibido[f](AG). 24 Porque el Señor tu Dios es fuego consumidor(AH), un Dios celoso(AI).
25 »Cuando hayan engendrado hijos y nietos, y hayan permanecido largo tiempo en la tierra, y se corrompan(AJ) y hagan un ídolo[g] en forma de cualquier cosa(AK), y hagan lo que es malo ante los ojos del Señor su Dios para provocarlo a ira(AL), 26 hoy pongo por testigo contra ustedes(AM) al cielo y a la tierra, que pronto serán totalmente exterminados de la tierra donde van a pasar el Jordán para poseerla. No vivirán por mucho tiempo[h] en ella, sino que serán totalmente destruidos(AN). 27 El Señor los dispersará entre los pueblos(AO), y quedarán pocos en número entre las naciones adonde el Señor los llevará. 28 Allí ustedes servirán a dioses hechos por manos de hombre(AP), de madera y de piedra(AQ), que no ven, ni oyen, ni comen, ni huelen(AR).
29 »Pero desde allí buscarás[i] al Señor tu Dios, y lo hallarás si lo buscas(AS) con todo tu corazón y con toda tu alma(AT). 30 En los postreros días(AU), cuando estés angustiado y todas esas cosas te sobrevengan(AV), volverás al Señor tu Dios y escucharás Su voz(AW). 31 Pues el Señor tu Dios es Dios compasivo(AX); no te abandonará(AY), ni te destruirá(AZ), ni olvidará el pacto que Él juró a tus padres(BA).
32 »Ciertamente, pregunta ahora acerca de los tiempos[j] pasados que fueron antes de ti(BB), desde el día en que Dios creó al hombre[k] sobre la tierra(BC); averigua desde un extremo de los cielos hasta el otro(BD). ¿Se ha hecho cosa tan grande como esta(BE), o se ha oído algo como esto? 33 ¿Ha oído pueblo alguno la voz de Dios, hablando de en medio del fuego, como tú la has oído, y ha sobrevivido(BF)? 34 ¿O ha intentado dios alguno tomar para sí una nación de en medio de otra nación(BG), con pruebas, con señales y maravillas(BH), con guerra y mano fuerte y con brazo extendido(BI) y hechos aterradores[l], como[m] el Señor tu Dios hizo por ti en Egipto delante de tus ojos? 35 A ti te fue mostrado, para que supieras que el Señor, Él es Dios; ningún otro hay fuera de Él(BJ).
36 »Desde los cielos el Señor te hizo oír Su voz para disciplinarte[n]; y sobre la tierra te hizo ver Su gran fuego, y oíste Sus palabras de en medio del fuego(BK). 37 Porque[o] Él amó a tus padres, por eso escogió a su descendencia[p] después de ellos(BL); y personalmente[q] te sacó de Egipto con Su gran poder(BM), 38 expulsando[r] delante de ti naciones más grandes y más poderosas que tú, para hacerte entrar y darte la tierra de ellos por heredad(BN), como sucede hoy. 39 Por tanto, reconoce hoy y reflexiona en tu corazón, que el Señor es Dios arriba en los cielos y abajo en la tierra; no hay otro(BO). 40 Así pues, guardarás Sus estatutos y Sus mandamientos(BP) que yo te ordeno hoy, a fin de que te vaya bien a ti y a tus hijos después de ti(BQ), y para que prolongues tus días sobre la tierra que el Señor tu Dios te da para siempre(BR)».
Las ciudades de refugio
41 Entonces Moisés designó[s] tres ciudades al otro lado del Jordán, al oriente[t](BS), 42 para que huyera allí el que involuntariamente[u] hubiera matado a su vecino sin haber tenido enemistad contra él en el pasado; y huyendo a una de estas ciudades, salvara su vida: 43 Beser en el desierto, sobre la meseta, para los rubenitas, Ramot en Galaad para los gaditas, y Golán en Basán para los de Manasés(BT).
44 Esta es, pues, la ley que Moisés puso delante de los israelitas. 45 Estos son los testimonios, los estatutos y las ordenanzas que Moisés dio[v] a los israelitas cuando salieron de Egipto, 46 al otro lado del Jordán en el valle frente a Bet Peor(BU), en la tierra de Sehón, rey de los amorreos, que habitaba en Hesbón(BV), a quien Moisés y los israelitas derrotaron[w] cuando salieron de Egipto. 47 Y tomaron posesión de su tierra y de la tierra de Og, rey de Basán(BW), los dos reyes de los amorreos que estaban al otro lado del Jordán hacia el oriente[x], 48 desde Aroer, que está a la orilla del valle[y] del Arnón(BX), hasta el monte Sión, es decir, Hermón(BY), 49 con todo el Arabá al otro lado del Jordán, al oriente, hasta el mar del Arabá, al pie[z] de las laderas del monte Pisga.
Footnotes
- 4:10 O reverenciarme.
- 4:11 Lit. el corazón de los cielos.
- 4:12 O el sonido de palabras.
- 4:12 O el sonido.
- 4:13 Lit. las diez palabras y las.
- 4:23 Lit. ordenado.
- 4:25 O imagen tallada.
- 4:26 Lit. No prolongarán sus días.
- 4:29 Lit. buscarán.
- 4:32 Lit. días.
- 4:32 O a Adán.
- 4:34 O grandes terrores.
- 4:34 Lit. conforme a todo lo que.
- 4:36 O enseñarte.
- 4:37 Lit. Y al contrario, porque.
- 4:37 Lit. simiente.
- 4:37 Lit. con su presencia.
- 4:38 Lit. desposeyendo.
- 4:41 Lit. separó.
- 4:41 Lit. hacia la salida del sol.
- 4:42 Lit. sin saber.
- 4:45 Lit. habló.
- 4:46 Lit. hirieron.
- 4:47 Lit. hacia la salida del sol.
- 4:48 O torrente.
- 4:49 Lit. debajo.
Deuteronomy 4
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 Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, 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 Bethpeor, 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.
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