Deuteronomy 3:21-5:33
Lexham English Bible
21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes see all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings; so Yahweh will do to all of the kingdoms where you are about to cross over to. 22 You shall not fear them, for Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you.
23 “And I pleaded with Yahweh at that time, saying, 24 ‘Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand, for what[a] god is there in the heaven or on the earth who can do according to your works and according to your mighty deeds? 25 Let me cross over, please, and let me see the good land that is beyond the Jordan,[b] this good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But Yahweh was very angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me, and Yahweh said, ‘Enough of that from you![c] You shall not speak to me any longer about this matter! 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you[d] toward the west, toward the north, and toward the east, and view[e] the land with your eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan. 28 Now instruct Joshua and support him and encourage him because he himself[f] will cross over before this people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.’ 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth Peor.
Introduction to the Stipulations
4 “Now, Israel, listen to the rules and to the regulations that I am teaching you to do, in order that you may live and you may go in and you may take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[g] is giving to you. 2 You must not add to the word that I am commanding you, and you shall not take away from it in order to keep[h] the commands of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you to observe. 3 Your eyes have seen[i] what Yahweh did with[j] the case of Baal Peor, for each[k] man that followed after Baal Peor Yahweh your God destroyed from your midst. 4 But you, the ones holding fast to Yahweh your God, are all alive today.[l]
5 See, I now teach[m] you rules and regulations just as Yahweh my God has commanded me, to observe them just so in the midst of the land where you are going, to take possession of it. 6 And you must observe them diligently,[n] for that is your wisdom and your insight before the eyes of the people, who will hear all of these rules, and they will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people.’ 7 For what great nation has for it a god near to it as Yahweh our God, whenever[o] we call upon him? 8 And what other great nation has for it[p] just rules and regulations just like[q] this whole[r] law that I am setting before[s] you today?[t]
9 “However, take care[u] for yourself and watch your inner self[v] closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not slip from your mind all the days of your life; and you shall make them known to your children and to your grandchildren.[w] 10 Remember the day that you stood before[x] Yahweh your God at Horeb when Yahweh said to me,[y] ‘Summon for me the people so that I can tell them my words, that they may learn to fear me all of the days they are alive on the earth and so that they may teach their children.’ 11 And so you came near, and you stood under the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire up to the heart of the heaven, dark with a very thick cloud.[z] 12 And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard[aa] a sound of words, but you did not see[ab] a form—only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments,[ac] which he charged you to observe,[ad] and he wrote them on the two tablets of stone. 14 And Yahweh charged me at that time to teach you rules and regulations for your observation of them[ae] in the land that you are about to cross into[af] to take possession of it.
15 “So you must be very careful for yourselves,[ag] because you did not see[ah] any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not ruin yourselves[ai] and make for yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or female, 17 a replica of any animal that is upon the earth, a replica of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 a replica of any creeping thing on the ground, a replica of any fish that is in the water below[aj] the earth. 19 And do this so that you do not lift[ak] your eyes toward heaven and observe[al] the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all of the peoples under all of the heaven. 20 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be a people of inheritance to[am] him, as it is this day.[an]
21 “And Yahweh was angry with me because of you,[ao] and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan[ap] and that I would not go to the good land[aq] that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For I am going to die in this land; I am not going to cross the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you are going to take possession of this good land. 23 Watch out for yourselves so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God that he had made[ar] with you and make for yourselves a divine image of the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden,[as] 24 for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous[at] God.
25 “When you have had children and grandchildren[au] and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image of the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, thus provoking him to anger, 26 I call[av] to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; you will not live long on it,[aw] but you will be completely destroyed. 27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number[ax] among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you.[ay] 28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands,[az] of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell. 29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.[ba] 30 In your distress[bb] when[bc] all these things have found you in the latter days,[bd] then[be] you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice. 31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you,[bf] and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors[bg] that he swore to them.
32 “Yes, ask, please, about former days that preceded you[bh] from the day that God created humankind on the earth; ask even from one end of the heaven up to the other end of heaven whether anything ever happened[bi] like this great thing or whether anything like it was ever heard.[bj] 33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, just as you heard it, and lived? 34 Or has a god ever attempted to go to take for himself[bk] a nation from the midst of a nation, using trials and signs and wonders and war, with an outstretched arm and with great and awesome deeds, like all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 You yourselves[bl] were shown this wonder in order for you to acknowledge that Yahweh is the God;[bm] there is no other God besides him.[bn] 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to teach you, and on the earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your ancestors[bo] he chose their descendants[bp] after them. And he brought you forth from Egypt with his own presence,[bq] by his great strength, 38 to drive out nations greater and more numerous than you from before you,[br] to bring you and to give to you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 So you shall acknowledge today,[bs] and you must call to mind[bt] that Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no other God. 40 And you shall keep his rules and his commandments that I am commanding you today,[bu] so that it may go well[bv] for you and for your children[bw] after you, and so that you may remain a long time[bx] on the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you during all of those days.”
41 Then Moses set apart three cities on the other side of the Jordan,[by] toward the east,[bz] 42 in order for a manslayer[ca] to flee there who has killed his neighbor without intent[cb] and was not hating him previously,[cc] and so he could flee to one of these cities and be safe.[cd] 43 He set apart Bezer in the wilderness[ce] in the land of the plateau of the Reubenites;[cf] Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites,[cg] and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.[ch]
44 Now this is the law[ci] that Moses set before[cj] the Israelites;[ck] 45 these are the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Moses spoke to the Israelites[cl] when they left Egypt,[cm] 46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth Peor in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites,[cn] who was reigning in Heshbon and whom Moses and the Israelites[co] defeated when they came out of Egypt.[cp] 47 And so they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites[cq] who were beyond the Jordan, eastward,[cr] 48 from Aroer, which is on the bank of the wadi[cs] of Arnon and as far as Mount Sirion; that is, Hermon, 49 and all of the Arabah[ct] beyond the Jordan, eastward, and as far as the Sea of the Arabah[cu] under the slopes of Pisgah.
Basic Stipulations
5 And then Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the rules and the regulations that I am speaking in your ears today,[cv] and you shall learn them, and you must observe them diligently.[cw] 2 Yahweh our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our ancestors[cx] that Yahweh made this covenant, but with these of us who are here alive today. 4 Face to face[cy] Yahweh spoke with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I was standing between Yahweh and you[cz] at that time to report[da] to you the word of Yahweh, for you were afraid because of the presence of[db] the fire, and so you did not go up the mountain. He said,[dc]
6 ‘I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 7 There shall not be for you other gods besides me.[dd]
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a divine image of any type of form that is in the heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
9 ‘You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, punishing the guilt of fathers upon their children and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those hating me, 10 but showing loyal love to thousands of those who love me and of those who keep my commandments.
11 ‘You shall not take up the name of Yahweh your God for a worthless purpose, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who uses his name for a worthless purpose.
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day[de] to make it holy,[df] just as Yahweh your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall work, and you shall do all of your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work, or your son, or your daughter, or your slave, or your slave woman, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your domestic animals, or your resident alien who is in your towns,[dg] so that your slave and your slave woman may rest as you rest. 15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore, Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath.[dh]
16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, so that it will be good for you[di] in the land[dj] that Yahweh your God is giving to you.
17 ‘You shall not murder.
18 ‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘And you shall not steal.
20 ‘And you shall not falsely bear evidence against your neighbor.
21 ‘And you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor, and you shall not crave the house of your neighbor, his field or his slave or his slave woman or his ox and his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’[dk]
22 “These words Yahweh spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire and the very thick cloud with a loud voice, and he did not add anything,[dl] and then he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And then[dm] when you heard[dn] the voice from the midst of the darkness, and as the mountain was burning with fire, and and all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me, 24 you said, ‘Look, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire; this day we have seen[do] that God can speak with a human being, yet he remains alive.[dp] 25 And so then why shall we die, for this great fire will consume us if we continue[dq] to hear the voice of Yahweh our God any longer, and so we shall die? 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have heard it and remained alive?[dr] 27 You go near and hear everything[ds] that Yahweh our God will say; and then you tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you, and we will listen, and we will do it.’
28 “And Yahweh heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me,[dt] and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you; they are right with respect to all that they have spoken. 29 If only[du] they had such a mind’;[dv] that is, to fear me and to keep all my commandments at all times,[dw] so that it will go well[dx] for them and for their children forever.[dy] 30 Go! Say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you stand here with me, and let me tell you all of the commandments and the rules and the regulations that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving to them to take possession of it.’
32 “So you must be careful to do just as Yahweh your God commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left. 33 In exactly the path[dz] that Yahweh your God has commanded, you must go, so that you may live and it will go well[ea] for you and you may live long[eb] in the land that you will take possession of.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 3:24 Hebrew “who”
- Deuteronomy 3:25 Literally “in the beyond of the Jordan”
- Deuteronomy 3:26 Literally “Much to you”
- Deuteronomy 3:27 Literally “lift up your eyes”
- Deuteronomy 3:27 Literally “look”
- Deuteronomy 3:28 Emphatic use of the pronoun
- Deuteronomy 4:1 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 4:2 Or “observe”
- Deuteronomy 4:3 Literally “your eyes the seeing what”
- Deuteronomy 4:3 Or “in”
- Deuteronomy 4:3 Literally “every one of”
- Deuteronomy 4:4 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 4:5 Or “I have taught” (compare NASB, NEB)
- Deuteronomy 4:6 Literally “you must observe and you must do”
- Deuteronomy 4:7 Literally “in every matter/every time we call ”
- Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “which/that is for him it”
- Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “as”
- Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “all of”
- Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “to the face of”
- Deuteronomy 4:8 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 4:9 Literally “watch”
- Deuteronomy 4:9 Or “soul”
- Deuteronomy 4:9 Literally “the children of your children”
- Deuteronomy 4:10 Literally “to the face of”
- Deuteronomy 4:10 Literally “when to say Yahweh”
- Deuteronomy 4:11 Literally “darkness, cloud, and very thick darkness”
- Deuteronomy 4:12 Literally “you were hearing”
- Deuteronomy 4:12 Literally “you were not seeing”
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Literally “the ten words”
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Literally “to do”
- Deuteronomy 4:14 Literally “for your doing them”
- Deuteronomy 4:14 Literally “about to cross into there”
- Deuteronomy 4:15 Literally “watch yourselves diligently with respect to your souls”
- Deuteronomy 4:15 Or “have not seen”
- Deuteronomy 4:16 Literally “corrupt yourselves”
- Deuteronomy 4:18 Literally “under”
- Deuteronomy 4:19 Literally “And lest you lift up”
- Deuteronomy 4:19 Literally “see”
- Deuteronomy 4:20 Or “for”; a people of inheritance = a people who is his very own possession
- Deuteronomy 4:20 Literally “as the day the this” = as you are now
- Deuteronomy 4:21 Literally “because of your matter”
- Deuteronomy 4:21 Literally “not I to cross the Jordan”
- Deuteronomy 4:21 Literally “not I going to the land”
- Deuteronomy 4:23 Literally “cut”
- Deuteronomy 4:23 Literally “has commanded you about”
- Deuteronomy 4:24 Or “zealous” or “impassioned”
- Deuteronomy 4:25 Literally “children of children”
- Deuteronomy 4:26 Or “I shall call to witness”
- Deuteronomy 4:26 Literally “you will not extend days”
- Deuteronomy 4:27 Literally “people of number,” as opposed to people without number
- Deuteronomy 4:27 Literally “he will lead Yahweh you there”
- Deuteronomy 4:28 Literally “the work of the hands of human”
- Deuteronomy 4:29 Or “inner self”
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Literally “In the distress for you”
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Hebrew “and”
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Literally “in the last of the days”
- Deuteronomy 4:30 Hebrew “and”
- Deuteronomy 4:31 Literally “will not leave you alone”
- Deuteronomy 4:31 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 4:32 Literally “that they were to the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 4:32 Literally “was it ever”
- Deuteronomy 4:32 Literally “was it ever heard as it”
- Deuteronomy 4:34 Hebrew “for him”
- Deuteronomy 4:35 Emphatic use of pronoun; plural meaning implied
- Deuteronomy 4:35 The definite article indicates that Israel’s God is alone the true God and the one who revealed himself to them
- Deuteronomy 4:35 Literally “except him” or “to him alone”
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Literally “seed”
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Literally “with his faces”
- Deuteronomy 4:38 Literally “from your face”
- Deuteronomy 4:39 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 4:39 Literally “you shall bring back to your heart”
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Literally “he/it is good”
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Or “descendants”
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Literally “you may make long/prolong days”
- Deuteronomy 4:41 Literally “in the beyond of the Jordan”
- Deuteronomy 4:41 Literally “toward rising of the sun”
- Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “a killer of a man”
- Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “without previous knowledge”
- Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “the day before yesterday”
- Deuteronomy 4:42 Literally “and live”
- Deuteronomy 4:43 Or “desert”
- Deuteronomy 4:43 Hebrew “Reubenite”
- Deuteronomy 4:43 Hebrew “Gadite”
- Deuteronomy 4:43 Hebrew “Manassite”
- Deuteronomy 4:44 Hebrew “the torah” = teaching, instruction, law
- Deuteronomy 4:44 Literally “before the faces of”
- Deuteronomy 4:44 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 4:45 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 4:45 Literally “at their going out from Egypt”
- Deuteronomy 4:46 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Deuteronomy 4:46 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Deuteronomy 4:46 Literally “at their going out from Egypt”
- Deuteronomy 4:47 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Deuteronomy 4:47 Literally “toward the rising of the sun”
- Deuteronomy 4:48 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
- Deuteronomy 4:49 Or “valley” in this instance
- Deuteronomy 4:49 Commonly known today as the Dead Sea
- Deuteronomy 5:1 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 5:1 Literally “you shall observe them carefully to do them”
- Deuteronomy 5:3 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 5:4 Literally “Faces to faces”
- Deuteronomy 5:5 Literally “between Yahweh and between you”
- Deuteronomy 5:5 Or “declare”
- Deuteronomy 5:5 Literally “the faces of”
- Deuteronomy 5:5 Literally “To say”
- Deuteronomy 5:7 Literally “before my face”
- Deuteronomy 5:12 Literally “the day of the Sabbath”
- Deuteronomy 5:12 Or “to sanctify it”
- Deuteronomy 5:14 Literally “gates”
- Deuteronomy 5:15 Literally “the day of the Sabbath”
- Deuteronomy 5:16 Or “it may go well for you”
- Deuteronomy 5:16 Literally “on the ground”
- Deuteronomy 5:21 Literally “that is for your neighbor”
- Deuteronomy 5:22 Literally “and not he added”
- Deuteronomy 5:23 Literally “And it happened”
- Deuteronomy 5:23 Literally “and as/when you heard” or “at the moment of your hearing”
- Deuteronomy 5:24 Or “saw”
- Deuteronomy 5:24 Literally “and he lives”
- Deuteronomy 5:25 Literally “we do again to hear”; or “we are doing again to hear”
- Deuteronomy 5:26 Literally “and lives”
- Deuteronomy 5:27 Literally “all of that which”
- Deuteronomy 5:28 Literally “in/at you to speak to me”
- Deuteronomy 5:29 Literally “Who gives/will give”
- Deuteronomy 5:29 Literally “it would be their heart this to them”
- Deuteronomy 5:29 Literally “all the days”
- Deuteronomy 5:29 Literally “he/it is good”
- Deuteronomy 5:29 Literally “to eternity”
- Deuteronomy 5:33 Literally “In all the way/path”
- Deuteronomy 5:33 Literally “and good it is”
- Deuteronomy 5:33 Literally “you may make long”
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software