Deuteronomy 4:9-14
World English Bible
9 Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 11 You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12 Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.
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Deuteronomy 4:9-14
New English Translation
Reminder of the Horeb Covenant
9 Again, however, pay very careful attention,[a] lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. 10 You[b] stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he[c] said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands.[d] Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” 11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it[e] and yet dark with a thick cloud.[f] 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything—only a voice was heard.[g] 13 And he revealed to you the covenant[h] he has commanded you to keep, the Ten Commandments,[i] writing them on two stone tablets. 14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land that you are about to enter and possess.[j]
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- Deuteronomy 4:9 tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
- Deuteronomy 4:10 tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
- Deuteronomy 4:10 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 4:3.
- Deuteronomy 4:10 tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
- Deuteronomy 4:11 tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
- Deuteronomy 4:11 tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
- Deuteronomy 4:12 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
- Deuteronomy 4:13 sn This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (berit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, TDOT 2:255.
- Deuteronomy 4:13 tn Heb “the ten words.”
- Deuteronomy 4:14 tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”
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