Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Print Page Options
Close NRSVCE

Deuteronomy 4
New Revised Standard Version 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 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

  1. Deuteronomy 4:13 Heb the ten words
  2. Deuteronomy 4:48 Syr: Heb Sion
Close GNT

Deuteronomy 4
Good News Translation

Moses Urges Israel to Be Obedient

4 Then Moses said to the people, “Obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 (A)Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away. Obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have given you. 3 (B)You yourselves saw what the Lord did at Mount Peor. He destroyed everyone who worshiped Baal there, 4 but those of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today.

5 “I have taught you all the laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. 6 Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!’

7 “No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the Lord our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help. 8 No other nation, no matter how great, has laws so just as those that I have taught you today. 9 Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren 10 about the day you stood in the presence of the Lord your God at Mount Sinai,[a] when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same.’

11 (C)“Tell your children how you went and stood at the foot of the mountain which was covered with thick clouds of dark smoke and fire blazing up to the sky. 12 Tell them how the Lord spoke to you from the fire, how you heard him speaking but did not see him in any form at all. 13 (D)He told you what you must do to keep the covenant he made with you—you must obey the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets. 14 (E)The Lord told me to teach you all the laws that you are to obey in the land that you are about to invade and occupy.

Warning against Idolatry

15 “When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain 16 (F)that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all—whether man or woman, 17 (G)animal or bird, 18 reptile or fish. 19 Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. 20 (H)But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today. 21 (I)Because of you the Lord your God was angry with me and solemnly declared that I would not cross the Jordan River to enter the fertile land which he is giving you. 22 I will die in this land and never cross the river, but you are about to go across and occupy that fertile land. 23 Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol, 24 (J)because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

25 “Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord's sight, and it will make him angry. 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed. 27 (K)The Lord will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive. 28 There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell. 29 (L)There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. 30 When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the Lord and obey him. 31 He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors.

32 “Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? 33 Have any people ever lived after hearing a god speak to them from a fire, as you have? 34 Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. 35 (M)The Lord has shown you this, to prove to you that he alone is God and that there is no other. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt. 38 As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you. 39 So remember today and never forget: the Lord is God in heaven and on earth. There is no other god. 40 Obey all his laws that I have given you today, and all will go well with you and your descendants. You will continue to live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to be yours forever.”

The Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

41 (N)Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan River 42 to which a man could escape and be safe if he had accidentally killed someone who had not been his enemy. He could escape to one of these cities and not be put to death. 43 For the tribe of Reuben there was the city of Bezer, on the desert plateau; for the tribe of Gad there was Ramoth, in the territory of Gilead; and for the tribe of Manasseh there was Golan, in the territory of Bashan.

Introduction to the Giving of God's Law

44 Moses gave God's laws and teachings to the people of Israel. 45-46 It was after they had come out of Egypt and were in the valley east of the Jordan River, opposite the town of Bethpeor, that he gave them these laws. This was in the territory that had belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in the town of Heshbon. Moses and the people of Israel defeated him when they came out of Egypt. 47 They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the other Amorite king who lived east of the Jordan. 48 This land extended from the town of Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon River, all the way north to Mount Sirion,[b] that is, Mount Hermon. 49 It also included all the region east of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea and east to the foot of Mount Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:10 Sinai; or Horeb.
  2. Deuteronomy 4:48 One ancient translation Sirion; Hebrew Sion.
Listen to Deuteronomy 4
Close NASB1995

Deuteronomy 4
New American Standard Bible 1995

Israel Urged to Obey God’s Law

4 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which (A)I am teaching you to perform, so that (B)you may 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, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command 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 held fast 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 should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess 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)give heed to yourself and keep 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 let them hear My words (O)so they may learn to [b]fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may (P)teach their children.’ 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, (Q)and the mountain burned with fire to the very 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—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, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it.

15 “So (T)watch yourselves carefully, 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 graven image 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 (X)any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19 And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, (Y)all the host of heaven, (Z)and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those 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 for His own possession, as today.

21 “(AC)Now the Lord was angry with me on your account, and 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 will die in this land, I shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this (AE)good land. 23 So watch 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 graven 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 [d]become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and (AJ)act corruptly, and (AK)make an [e]idol in the form of anything, and (AL)do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26 I (AM)call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will (AN)surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not [f]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 man’s hands, (AQ)wood and stone, (AR)which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 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 have come upon 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 fail you nor (AZ)destroy you nor (BA)forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

32 “Indeed, (BB)ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the (BC)day that God created [g]man 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 tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation (BH)by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and (BI)by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, [h]as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown 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 [i](BM)Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose [j]their descendants after them. And He [k](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 for an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Know therefore 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 [l]giving you today, that (BR)it may go well with you and with your children after you, and (BS)that you may [m]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 [n]east, 42 that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward 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, and 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 from Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley (BV)opposite Beth-peor, in the land of (BW)Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel [o]defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47 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 [p]east, 48 from (BY)Aroer, which is on the edge of the [q]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, [r]at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:3 Lit him
  2. Deuteronomy 4:10 Or reverence
  3. Deuteronomy 4:13 Lit Words
  4. Deuteronomy 4:25 Lit beget
  5. Deuteronomy 4:25 Or a graven image
  6. Deuteronomy 4:26 Lit prolong your days
  7. Deuteronomy 4:32 Or Adam
  8. Deuteronomy 4:34 Lit according to all that
  9. Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit And instead, because
  10. Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit his seed
  11. Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit with His presence
  12. Deuteronomy 4:40 Lit commanding
  13. Deuteronomy 4:40 Lit prolong your days
  14. Deuteronomy 4:41 Lit sunrise
  15. Deuteronomy 4:46 Lit smote
  16. Deuteronomy 4:47 Lit sunrise
  17. Deuteronomy 4:48 Or wadi
  18. Deuteronomy 4:49 Lit under
Listen to Deuteronomy 4
Close NIV

Deuteronomy 4
New International Version

Obedience Commanded

4 Now, Israel, hear the decrees(A) and laws I am about to teach(B) you. Follow them so that you may live(C) and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add(D) to what I command you and do not subtract(E) from it, but keep(F) the commands(G) of the Lord your God that I give you.

3 You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor.(H) The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4 but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

5 See, I have taught(I) you decrees and laws(J) as the Lord my God commanded(K) me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering(L) to take possession of it. 6 Observe(M) them carefully, for this will show your wisdom(N) and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”(O) 7 What other nation is so great(P) as to have their gods near(Q) them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws(R) as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful,(S) and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach(T) them to your children(U) and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,(V) when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn(W) to revere(X) me as long as they live in the land(Y) and may teach(Z) them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain(AA) while it blazed with fire(AB) to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.(AC) 12 Then the Lord spoke(AD) to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form;(AE) there was only a voice.(AF) 13 He declared to you his covenant,(AG) the Ten Commandments,(AH) which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws(AI) you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 You saw no form(AJ) of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb(AK) out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,(AL) 16 so that you do not become corrupt(AM) and make for yourselves an idol,(AN) an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,(AO) 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,(AP) the moon and the stars(AQ)—all the heavenly array(AR)—do not be enticed(AS) into bowing down to them and worshiping(AT) things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,(AU) out of Egypt,(AV) to be the people of his inheritance,(AW) as you now are.

21 The Lord was angry with me(AX) because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. 22 I will die in this land;(AY) I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.(AZ) 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant(BA) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol(BB) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,(BC) a jealous God.(BD)

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt(BE) and make any kind of idol,(BF) doing evil(BG) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses(BH) against you(BI) this day that you will quickly perish(BJ) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter(BK) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive(BL) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods(BM) of wood and stone,(BN) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.(BO) 29 But if from there you seek(BP) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart(BQ) and with all your soul.(BR) 30 When you are in distress(BS) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days(BT) you will return(BU) to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful(BV) God; he will not abandon(BW) or destroy(BX) you or forget(BY) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

32 Ask(BZ) now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth;(CA) ask from one end of the heavens to the other.(CB) Has anything so great(CC) as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God[a] speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?(CD) 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation,(CE) by testings,(CF) by signs(CG) and wonders,(CH) by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,(CI) or by great and awesome deeds,(CJ) like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.(CK) 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice(CL) to discipline(CM) you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved(CN) your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,(CO) 38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance,(CP) as it is today.

39 Acknowledge(CQ) and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.(CR) 40 Keep(CS) his decrees and commands,(CT) which I am giving you today, so that it may go well(CU) with you and your children after you and that you may live long(CV) in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

Cities of Refuge(CW)

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, 42 to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally(CX) killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. 43 The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth(CY) in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt 46 and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon(CZ) king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 This land extended from Aroer(DA) on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion[b](DB) (that is, Hermon(DC)), 49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,[c] below the slopes of Pisgah.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:33 Or of a god
  2. Deuteronomy 4:48 Syriac (see also 3:9); Hebrew Siyon
  3. Deuteronomy 4:49 Hebrew the Sea of the Arabah
Close DRA

Deuteronomy 4
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

4 And now, O Israel, hear the commandments and judgments which I teach thee: that doing them, thou mayst live, and entering in mayst possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers will give you.

2 You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

3 Your eyes have seen all that the Lord hath done against Beelphegor, how he hath destroyed all his worshippers from among you.

4 But you that adhere to the Lord your God, are all alive until this present day.

5 You know that I have taught you statutes and justices, as the Lord my God hath commanded me: so shall you do them in the land which you shall possess:

6 And you shall observe, and fulfill them in practice. For this is your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing all these precepts, they may say: Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation.

7 Neither is there any other nation so great, that hath gods so nigh them, as our God is present to all our petitions.

8 For what other nation is there so renowned that hath ceremonies, and just judgments, and all the law, which I will set forth this day before your eyes?

9 Keep thyself therefore, and thy soul carefully. Forget not the words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and to thy grandsons,

10 From the day in which thou didst stand before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying: Call together the people unto me, that they may hear my words, and may learn to fear me all the time that they live on the earth, and may teach their children.

11 And you came to the foot of the mount, which burned even unto heaven: and there was darkness, and a cloud and obscurity in it.

12 And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all.

13 And he shewed you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, and the ten words that he wrote in two tables of stone.

14 And he commanded me at that time that I should teach you the ceremonies and judgments which you shall do in the land, that you shall possess.

15 Keep therefore your souls carefully. You saw not any similitude in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire:

16 Lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude, or image of male or female,

17 The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of birds, that fly under heaven,

18 Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of fishes, that abide in the waters under the earth:

19 Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all the nations, that are under heaven.

20 But the Lord hath taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace of Egypt, to make you his people of inheritance, as it is this present day.

21 And the Lord was angry with me for your words, and he swore that I should not pass over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent land, which he will give you.

22 Behold I die in this land, I shall not pass over the Jordan: you shall pass, and possess the goodly land.

23 Beware lest thou ever forget the covenant of the Lord thy God, which he hath made with thee: and make to thyself a graven likeness of those things which the Lord hath forbid to be made:

24 Because the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 If you shall beget sons and grandsons, and abide in the land, and being deceived, make to yourselves any similitude, committing evil before the Lord your God, to provoke him to wrath:

26 I call this day heaven and earth to witness, that you shall quickly perish out of the land, which, when you have passed over the Jordan, you shall possess. You shall not dwell therein long, but the Lord will destroy you,

27 And scatter you among all nations, and you shall remain a few among the nations, to which the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there you shall serve gods, that were framed with men's hands: wood and stone, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 And when thou shalt seek there the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul.

30 After all the things aforesaid shall and thee, in the latter time thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hear his voice.

31 Because the Lord thy God is a merciful God: he will not leave thee, nor altogether destroy thee, nor forget the covenant, by which he swore to thy fathers.

32 Ask of the days of old, that have been before thy time from the day that God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to the other end thereof, if ever there was done the like thing, or it hath been known at any time,

33 That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire, as thou hast heard, and lived:

34 If God ever did so as to go, and take to himself a nation out of the midst of nations by temptations, signs, and wonders, by fight, and a strong hand, and stretched out arm, and horrible visions according to all the things that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before thy eyes.

35 That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

36 From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might teach thee. And upon earth he shewed thee his exceeding great fire, and thou didst hear his words out of the midst of the fire,

37 Because he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them. And he brought thee out of Egypt, going before thee with his great power,

38 To destroy at thy coming very great nations, and stronger than thou art, and to bring thee in, and give thee their land for a possession, as thou seest at this present day.

39 Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other.

40 Keep his precepts and commandments, which I command thee: that it may be well with thee, and thy children after thee, and thou mayst remain a long time upon the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.

41 Then Moses set aside three cities beyond the Jordan at the east side,

42 That any one might flee to them who should kill his neighbour unwillingly, and was not his enemy a day or two before, and that he might escape to some one of these cities:

43 Bosor in the wilderness, which is situate in the plains of the tribe of Ruben: and Ramoth in Galaad, which is in the tribe of Gad: and Golan in Basan, which is in the tribe of Manasses.

44 This is the law, that Moses set before the children of Israel,

45 And these are the testimonies and ceremonies and judgments, which he spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,

46 Beyond the Jordan in the valley over against the temple of Phogor, in the land of Sehon king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in Hesebon, whom Moses slew. And the children of Israel coming out of Egypt,

47 Possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Basan, of the two kings of the Amorrhites, who were beyond the Jordan towards the rising of the sun:

48 From Aroer, which is situate upon the bank of the torrent Amen, unto mount Sion, which is also called Hermon,

49 All the plain beyond the Jordan at the east side, unto the see of the wilderness, and unto the foot of mount Phasga.

Next
Deuteronomy 3
Deuteronomy 5
Next
dropdown
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 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.

Good News Translation (GNT)

Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.

GNT Resources
New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)