Deuteronomy 4
New Living Translation
Moses Urges Israel to Obey
4 “And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.
3 “You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you.
5 “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9 “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. 10 Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai,[a] where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’
11 “You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness. 12 And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice. 13 He proclaimed his covenant—the Ten Commandments[b]—which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets. 14 It was at that time that the Lord commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
A Warning against Idolatry
15 “But be very careful! You did not see the Lord’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai. 16 So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman, 17 an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky, 18 a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea. 19 And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth. 20 Remember that the Lord rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.
21 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. 22 You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river. 23 So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this. 24 The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.
25 “In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and will arouse his anger.
26 “Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed. 27 For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive. 28 There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
30 “In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.
There Is Only One God
32 “Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before? 33 Has any nation ever heard the voice of God[c] speaking from fire—as you did—and survived? 34 Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.
35 “He showed you these things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power. 38 He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.
39 “So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. 40 If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
Eastern Cities of Refuge
41 Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River. 42 Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety. 43 These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
Introduction to Moses’ Second Address
44 This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites. 45 These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt, 46 and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt. 47 Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan—the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion,[d] also called Mount Hermon. 49 And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea,[e] below the slopes of Pisgah.)
Devarim 4
Orthodox Jewish Bible
4 Now therefore shema, Yisroel, unto the chukkim and unto the mishpatim, which I melammed (teach) you, to do them, in order that ye may live, and go in and possess ha’aretz which Hashem Elohei Avoteichem giveth you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye take anything from it, that ye may be shomer mitzvot of the commandments of Hashem Eloheichem which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what Hashem did because of Baal Peor; for all the men that followed Baal Peor, Hashem Eloheicha hath destroyed them from among you.
4 But ye that did have deveykus (cleaving) unto Hashem Eloheichem are alive every one of you today.
5 Behold, I have taught you chukkim and mishpatim, even as Hashem Elohai commanded me, that ye should do so in ha’aretz whither ye go to possess it.
6 Be shomer therefore and do them; for this is your chochmah and your binah in the sight of the peoples, which shall hear all these chukkim, and say, Surely HaGoy HaGadol is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath elohim so near unto them, as Hashem Eloheinu is in all things for which we call upon Him?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath chukkim and mishpatim tzaddikim as all this torah, which I set before you today?
9 Only be shomer over thyself, and be shomer over thy nefesh diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy lev kol yamim of thy life; but teach them to thy banim, and the banim of thy banim;
10 Specially the yom that thou stoodest before Hashem Eloheicha in Chorev, when Hashem said unto me, Gather Me the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me kol hayamim that they shall live upon ha’adamah and that they may teach their children.
11 And ye came near and stood at the foot of the mountain; the mountain burned with eish unto the midst of Shomayim, with choshech, and anan, and thick darkness.
12 And Hashem spoke unto you out of the midst of the eish; ye heard the voice of the devarim, but saw no temunah (form, semblance); only ye heard a voice.
13 And He declared unto you His Brit, which He commanded you to do, even Aseres HaDevarim; and He wrote them upon shnei luchot avanim (two tablets of stone).
14 And Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you chukkim and mishpatim, that ye might do them in ha’aretz whither ye go over to possess it.
15 Be shomer over yourselves, therefore; for ye saw no manner of temunah on the yom that Hashem spoke unto you in Chorev out of the midst of the eish;
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a pesel, the temunah of any semel, the likeness of zachar or nekevah,
17 The likeness of any behemah that is on ha’aretz, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of anything that creepeth on the adamah, the likeness of any dag (fish) that is in the waters below;
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto Shomayim, and when thou seest the shemesh, and the yarei’ach, and the kokhavim, even all the tz’va HaShomayim, shouldest be driven to hishtachaveh (bow down, worship) them, and serve them which Hashem Eloheicha hath divided unto kol HaGoyim under kol HaShomayim.
20 But Hashem hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Mitzrayim, to be unto Him an Am Nachalah (a people of inheritance), as ye are yom hazeh.
21 Furthermore Hashem was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over Yarden, and that I should not go in unto that ha’aretz hatovah, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee for a nachalah (inheritance);
22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Yarden; but ye shall go over, and possess that ha’aretz hatovah.
23 Be shomer over yourselves, lest ye forget the Brit Hashem Eloheichem, which He cut with you, and make you a pesel (idol, image), or the likeness of anything, which Hashem Eloheicha hath forbidden thee.
24 For Hashem Eloheicha is a consuming eish, even an El Kannah.
25 When thou shalt father banim, and bnei banim, and ye shall have remained long in Ha’Aretz, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a pesel, or the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of Hashem Eloheicha, to provoke Him to anger;
26 I call Shomayim and HaAretz to witness against you today, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off Ha’Aretz whereunto ye go over Yarden to possess it; ye shall not prolong your yamim upon it, but shall be utterly shmad.
27 And Hashem shall scatter you among the amim; ye shall be left few in number among the Goyim, whither Hashem shall lead you.
28 And there ye shall serve elohim, the work of men’s hands, etz (wood) and even (stone), which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek Hashem Eloheicha, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy lev and with all thy nefesh.
30 When thou art in tzar (tribulation), and all these things are come upon thee, even in the acharit hayamim, if thou turn to Hashem Eloheicha and shalt be obedient unto His voice;
31 For Hashem Eloheicha is an El Rachum; He will not abandon thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the Brit Avoteicha which He swore unto them.
32 For ask now of the yamim that are past, which were before thee, since the yom that Elohim bara man upon Ha’Aretz, and ask from the one side of Shomayim 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 kol Elohim speaking out of the midst of the eish, as thou hast heard, and live?
34 Or hath Elohim tried to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by massot (trials), by otot, by mofetim, by milchamah, by a yad chazakah, by an out- stretched zero’a, by great terrors, according to all that Hashem Eloheicha did for you in Mitzrayim before your eyes?
35 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Hashem He is HaElohim; there is none else beside Him.
36 Out of Shomayim He made thee to hear His voice, that He might discipline thee; upon Ha’Aretz He showed thee His eish hagedolah; and thou heardest His devarim out of the midst of the eish.
37 And because He loved Avoteicha, therefore He chose their zera after them, and brought thee out in His sight with His ko’ach hagadol out of Mitzrayim;
38 To drive out Goyim from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for a nachalah, as it is yom hazeh.
39 Know therefore today, and consider it in thine lev, that Hashem He is HaElohim in Shomayim above, and upon Ha’Aretz beneath: there is no other.
40 Thou shalt be shomer over His chukkim, therefore, and His mitzvot, which I command thee today, that it may go well with thee, and with thy banim after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy yamim upon Ha’Aretz, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, kol hayamim.
41 Then Moshe separated and set apart three towns on this side of the Yarden toward the rising of the shemesh;
42 That the rotze’ach might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these towns he might live:
43 Namely, Betzer in the midbar, in the flatland, of the Reuveni; and Ramot in Gil‘ad, of the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan, of the Menashi.
44 And this is the torah which Moshe set before the Bnei Yisroel;
45 These are the edot, and the chukkim, and the mishpatim, which Moshe spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, after they came forth out of Mitzrayim.
46 On this side of the Yarden, in the valley over against Beit Peor, in Eretz Sichon Melech HaEmori, who dwelt at Cheshbon, whom Moshe and the Bnei Yisroel struck down, after they were come forth out of Mitzrayim;
47 And they possessed his land, and Eretz Og Melech HaBashan, two melachim of HaEmori, which were on this side of the Yarden toward the rising of the shemesh;
48 From Aroer, which is by the edge of the Wadi Arnon, even unto Mt Siyon, which is Chermon,
49 And all the Aravah on this side of the Yarden eastward, even unto the Dead Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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