Beginning

8 Be thou ware diligently (Be thou careful), that thou do each commandment which I command to thee today, (so) that ye may live, and be multiplied, and that ye enter, and wield the land, for which the Lord swore to your fathers.

² And thou shalt have mind of all the way, by which thy Lord God led thee by forty years, in (the) desert, that he should torment thee, and should assay thee; and that those things that were treated in thy soul should be known, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, either nay. (And thou shalt remember all the way, by which the Lord thy God led thee for forty years, in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to try, or to test, thee; so that those things that were treated in thy soul could be known, yea, whether thou wouldest obey his commandments, or not.)

³ And he tormented thee with neediness, and he gave to thee meat, manna to eat, which thou knewest not, and thy fathers knew not, that he should show to thee, that a man liveth not in bread alone, but in each word that cometh out of the Lord’s mouth. (And so he humbled thee with neediness, or with want, and he gave thee food, manna to eat, which thou knewest not, nor thy fathers knew, to show thee, that a man liveth not by bread alone, but by each word that cometh out of the mouth of the Lord.)

⁴ Thy cloak, with which thou were covered, failed not for eldness, and thy foot was not bruised underneath, lo! the fortieth year is (lo! this is the fortieth year);

⁵ that thou think in thine heart, for as a man teacheth his son, so thy Lord God hath taught thee, (so that thou remember in thy heart, that like a man teacheth his son, so the Lord thy God hath taught thee,)

⁶ that thou keep the commandments of thy Lord God, and go in his ways, and dread him. (and that thou obey the commandments of the Lord thy God, and go in his ways, and fear him/and revere him.)

⁷ For thy Lord God shall lead thee into a good land, into the land of rivers, and of standing waters, and of wells, in whose fields and mountains the depths of floods break out; (For the Lord thy God shall lead thee into a good land, a land of rivers, and ponds, and springs, and underground streams, gushing forth onto its fields and mountains;)

⁸ into the land of wheat, of barley, and of vines, in which land fig trees, and pomegranates, and olives come forth; into the land of oil, and honey;

⁹ where thou shalt eat thy bread without neediness, and thou shalt use the plenty of all things; of which land the stones be iron, and metals of tin be digged (out) of the hills thereof; (where thou shalt eat thy bread without any neediness, or want, and thou shalt make use of the plenty of all things; in which land the stones be made out of iron, and brass can be dug out of its hills;)

¹⁰ that when thou hast eaten, and art full-filled, thou bless thy Lord God for the best land which he hath given to thee. (so that when thou hast eaten, and art filled full, thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for this best land which he hath given thee.)

¹¹ Therefore keep thou, and beware, lest any time thou forget thy Lord God, and despise his commandments, and dooms, and ceremonies, which I command to thee today; (And so remember thou, and be careful, lest any time thou forget the Lord thy God, and fail to obey his commandments, and laws, or judgements, and statutes, which I command to thee today;)

¹² lest after that thou hast eaten, and art full-filled (and art filled full), (and) hast builded fair houses, and hast dwelled in them,

¹³ and hast droves of oxen (and hast herds of oxen), and flocks of sheep, and plenty of silver, and of gold, and of all things,

¹⁴ thine heart be then raised, and thou think not upon thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, and from the house of servage, (then thy heart be raised up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, and from the house of servitude, or of slavery,)

¹⁵ and he was thy leader in the great wilderness and fearful, in which wilderness was a serpent burning with blast, and a scorpion, and (a) dipsas, that is, an adder, that maketh them whom he stingeth to die for thirst, and utterly no waters were in the desert, the which Lord brought out streams of the hardest stone, (for he was thy leader in the great and fearful wilderness, in which wilderness there were poisonous serpents, and scorpions, and dipsas, that is, snakes that make those that they sting to die from thirst, and when there was utterly no water in that wilderness, the Lord brought forth streams out of the hardest stone,)

¹⁶ and he fed thee with manna (there) in the wilderness, which manna thy fathers knew not. And after that the Lord had tormented thee, and proved thee, at the last he had mercy on thee (And after that the Lord had humbled thee, and had tested thee, finally he had mercy on thee),

¹⁷ lest thou wouldest say in thine heart, My strength, and the might of mine hand, hath given all these things to me. (lest thou shouldest say in thy heart, My own strength, and the might of my own hand, hath given me all these things.)

¹⁸ But think thou upon thy Lord God, that he hath given strengths to thee (to become prosperous), that he should fulfill his covenant, of which he swore to thy fathers, as this present day showeth. (But rather, remember the Lord thy God, that it is he who hath given thee the power to become prosperous, in order to fulfill his covenant which he swore to thy fathers, as he doeth in this present day.)

¹⁹ Forsooth if thou forgettest thy Lord God, and followest alien gods, and worshippest them in (thine) heart, and honourest [them] withoutforth, lo! now I before-say to thee, that thou shalt perish utterly; (But if thou forgettest the Lord thy God, and followest foreign, or other, gods, and worshippest them inwardly, and honourest them outwardly, lo! I now say to thee beforehand, that is, I warn thee, that thou shalt utterly perish;)

²⁰ as [the] heathen men perished, which the Lord did away in thine entering, so also ye shall perish, if ye shall be unobedient to the voice of your Lord God. (as the heathen shall perish, whom the Lord shall do away when thou shalt enter into the land, so also ye shall perish, if ye do not obey the voice of the Lord your God.)

9 Hear thou, Israel; thou shalt pass (the) Jordan today, that thou wield the most nations, and stronger than thou; great cities, and walled till to heaven; (Hear, O Israel; thou shalt cross over the Jordan River today, to take over nations greater and stronger than thou; yea, great cities, that be walled unto the heavens;)

² a great people, and high; the sons of Anakim, which thyself hast seen, and heard, which no man may against-stand in the contrary part. (a great and tall people; the sons of the Anakim, that is, the giants, whom thou hast seen, and heard, and whom no one can stand against.)

³ Therefore thou shalt know today that thy Lord God himself shall pass before thee; he is a fire devouring and wasting, that shall all-break them, and he shall do them away, and destroy them before thy face swiftly, as he spake to thee. (And so know thou today that the Lord thy God himself shall go ahead of thee; he is a devouring and wasting fire, and he shall all-break them before thy face, and then ye shall do them away, and swiftly destroy them, as he promised thee.)

⁴ Say thou not in thine heart, when thy Lord God hath done them away in thy sight, For my rightwiseness the Lord hath brought me in hither, that I should wield the land; since these nations be done away for their wickednesses. (But when the Lord thy God hath done them away before thee, do not thou say in thy heart, Because of my righteousness, the Lord hath brought me here, so that I could take this land; since these nations shall be done away because of their own wickednesses.)

⁵ For not for thy rightwiseness, and for the equity of thine heart thou shalt enter, that thou wield their land; but for they did wickedly, they were done away (by thy Lord God), when thou enteredest, and that the Lord should [ful]fill his word which he promised under an oath to thy fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (For it is not because of thy own righteousness, or the integrity of thy own heart, that thou shalt enter to take their land; but they shall be done away before thee by the Lord thy God, because they did wickedly, and so that the Lord would fulfill his word which he promised under an oath to thy fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.)

⁶ Therefore know thou that not for thy rightwisenesses thy Lord God hath given to thee this best land into possession, since thou art a people of most hard noll. (And so know thou that the Lord thy God hath not given thee this best land for a possession because of thy own righteousness, since thou art a most stubborn, or a stiff-necked, people.)

⁷ Have thou (in) mind, and forget not (Remember, and do not forget), how in the wilderness thou stirredest thy Lord God to great wrath; (and) from that day in which thou wentest out of Egypt till to this place, thou hast striven ever[more] against the Lord.

⁸ For why also in Horeb, thou stirredest him (to wrath), and he was wroth, and would have done thee away, (Yea, also at Mount Sinai, thou stirredest him to anger, and he was so angry that he would have done thee away;)

⁹ and when I went up into the hill, that I should take (the) two tables of stone, the tables of (the) covenant which the Lord made with you, and I abode in the hill forty days and forty nights, and I ate not bread, and I drank not water. (and when I went up the mountain, so that I could receive the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, and I ate no bread, and I drank no water.)

¹⁰ And the Lord gave to me two tables of stone, ever either written with God’s finger, and containing all the words which he spake to you in the hill, from the midst of the fire, when the company of people was gathered together. (And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, each written with the finger of God, and containing all the words which he spoke to you from the midst of the fire, when the congregation of the people was gathered together there at the mountain.)

¹¹ And when forty days and so many nights had passed, the Lord gave to me (the) two tables of stone, (the) tables of the bond of peace; (And so when forty days and as many nights had passed, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, yea, the tablets of the covenant;)

¹² and he said to me, Rise thou, and go down from hence soon, for thy people, that thou hast led out of Egypt, have forsaken swiftly the way that thou showedest to them, and they have made to them[selves] a molten calf. (and he said to me, Rise thou up, and quickly go down from here, for thy people, whom thou hast led out of Egypt, have already forsaken the way that thou hast shown them, and they have cast an idol for themselves, yea, a metal calf.)

¹³ And again the Lord said to me, I see that this people is of an hard noll; (And again the Lord said to me, I see that this people be stubborn/be stiff-necked;)

¹⁴ suffer thou me, that I all-break him, and do away his name from under heaven; and I shall ordain thee on a folk which is greater and stronger than this folk. (allow me to all-break them, and do away their name from under heaven; and then I shall ordain thee upon a nation which shall be greater and stronger than this nation.)

¹⁵ And when I came down from the hill burning, and I held with either hand the two tables of the bond of peace, (And when I came down from the burning mountain, and I held in my hands the two tablets of the covenant,)

¹⁶ and I saw, that ye had sinned to your Lord God, and had made to you a molten calf, and that ye had forsaken swiftly the way of God that he had showed to you, (and I saw that ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had cast an idol, yea, a metal calf, for yourselves, and that ye had already forsaken the way of God that he had shown you,)

¹⁷ then I threw down the tables from mine hands, and I brake those tables in your sight. (then I threw down the tablets from my hands, and I broke those tablets in front of you.)

¹⁸ And I felled down before the Lord as before, in forty days and forty nights, and I ate not bread, and drank not water, for all your sins which ye did against the Lord, and stirred him to great wrath; (And I fell down before the Lord as I did before, for forty days and forty nights, and I ate no bread, and drank no water, for all your sins which ye did against the Lord, and so had stirred him to such great anger;)

¹⁹ for I dreaded the indignation and the wrath of the Lord, by which he was stirred against you, and would do you away. And the Lord heard me also in this time praying for you (But once again the Lord listened to me praying for you).

²⁰ Also the Lord was wroth greatly against Aaron, and would have all-broken him, and I prayed in like manner for him. (And the Lord was also greatly angered with Aaron, and would have killed him, and I prayed for him in like manner.)

²¹ Forsooth I took your sin which ye made, that is, the calf, and burnt it in fire, and I all-brake it into gobbets, and drove (it) utterly into dust, and I cast it forth into the strand, that came down from the hill. (And I took that sinful thing which ye had made, that is, the idol of the calf, and I burned it with fire, and I broke it all up into pieces, and drove it down utterly into dust, and then I threw it forth into the river that came down from the mountain.)

²² Also in the burning, and in the temptation at the waters of against-saying, and in the Sepulchres of Covetousness, ye stirred the Lord (to wrath); (And ye also stirred the Lord to anger at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah;)

²³ and when I sent you from Kadeshbarnea, and said, Go ye up, and wield ye the land which I have given to you, and ye despised the commandment of your Lord God, and ye believed not to him, neither ye would hear his voice; (and again when the Lord sent you out from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go ye up, and take ye the land which I have given you, and ye disobeyed the command of the Lord your God, and ye did not trust him, nor would ye listen to his voice;)

²⁴ but ever[more] ye were rebel, from the day in which I began to know you. (but ye were always rebellious against the Lord, yea, from the day in which I first began to know you.)

²⁵ And I lay before the Lord forty days and forty nights, in which I besought him meekly, that he should not do away you, as he menaced. (And so for forty days and forty nights I lay before the Lord, in which time I meekly besought him not to destroy you, as he had threatened.)

²⁶ And I prayed him, and said, Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thine heritage, which thou again-boughtest in thy greatness, which thou leddest out of Egypt in (a) strong hand. (And I prayed to him, and said, Lord God, do not destroy thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast bought back, or hast redeemed, or ransomed, by thy great power, and whom thou hast led out of Egypt with thy strong hand.)

²⁷ Have thou mind of thy servants, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; behold thou not the hardness of this people, and the wickedness, and the sin thereof, (Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not thou look upon the stubbornness of this people, and their wickedness, and their sin,)

²⁸ lest peradventure the dwellers of the land, out of which thou leddest us, say, The Lord might not bring them into the land which he promised to them, and he hated them; therefore he led them out that he should slay them in (the) wilderness; (lest the inhabitants of the land, out of which thou hast led us, shall say, The Lord could not bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath led them out so that he could kill them in the wilderness;)

²⁹ and Lord, they be thy people, and thine heritage, which thou leddest out in thy great strength, and in thine arm stretched forth. (but Lord, they be thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast led out with thy great strength, and thy outstretched arm.)

10 In that time the Lord said to me, Hew thou two tables of stone to thee, as the former were; and go thou up to me into the hill. And thou shalt (also) make an ark, either a coffer, of wood, (And at that time the Lord said to me, Cut thou two stone tablets, like the first ones; and then come thou up to me on the mountain. And thou shalt also make an Ark, or a Box, out of wood,)

² and I shall write in the tables, the words that were in these tables which thou brakest before; and thou shalt put those tables into the ark. (and I shall write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which thou hast broken; and thou shalt put these tablets into the Ark, or the Box.)

³ Therefore I made an ark of the wood of shittim, and when I had hewn the two tables of stone, at the likeness of the former tables, I went up into the hill, and I had the tables in mine hands. (And so I made the Ark out of shittim wood, or acacia wood, and when I had cut the two stone tablets, like the first tablets, I went up the mountain, with the tablets in my hands.)

⁴ And he wrote in the tables, by that that he had written before, the ten words, which the Lord spake to you in the hill, from the midst of the fire, when the people was gathered, and the Lord gave the tables to me. (And he wrote on the tablets, what he had written before, the Ten Words, that is, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord spoke to you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, when the people was gathered there, and then the Lord gave those tablets to me.)

⁵ And I turned again from the hill, and came down, and I put the tables into the ark that I had made, which tables be there hitherto, as the Lord commanded to me. (And I turned, and came down from the mountain, and I put the tablets into the Ark that I had made, as the Lord commanded to me, and they still be there to this day.)

⁶ And the sons of Israel moved their tents from Beeroth of the sons of Jaakan into Mosera, where Aaron was dead, and buried, (and) for whom his son Eleazar was set in priesthood. (And the Israelites moved their tents from Beeroth of the sons of Jaakan to Mosera, where Aaron died, and was buried, and his son Eleazar took his place in the priesthood.)

⁷ From thence they came into Gudgodah; from which place they went forth, and setted tents in Jotbathah, in the land of waters and of strands. (And from Mosera, they came to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah they went forth, and pitched their tents at Jotbathah, a land of many rivers.)

⁸ In that time I separated the lineage of Levi, that it should bear the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, and it should stand before him in service, and should bless in his name, into this present day. (At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and to stand before him in service, that is, to minister to him, and to bless in his name, which they continue to do unto this present day.)

⁹ For which thing Levi had no part, neither possession with his brethren, for the Lord himself is his possession, as thy Lord God promised to him. (That is why the Levites have no part, nor possession, with their brothers, for the Lord himself is their possession, as the Lord thy God promised them.)

¹⁰ And I stood in the hill as I did before, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord heard me also in this time, and he would not lose thee. (And I stayed on the mountain like I did before, for forty days and forty nights, and once again the Lord listened to me, and he consented not to destroy thee.)

¹¹ And he said to me, Go thou, and go before this people, that it enter, and wield the land which I swore to their fathers, that I should give to them. (And he said to me, Go thou, and lead this people, so that they enter now, and take the land which I swore to their fathers, that I would give them.)

¹² And now, Israel, what asketh thy Lord God of thee, but that thou dread thy Lord, and go in his ways, and that thou love him, and serve thy Lord God in all thine heart, and in all thy soul (and that thou love him, and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul);

¹³ and that thou keep the commandments of thy Lord God, and the ceremonies of him, which I command to thee today, that it be well to thee. (and that thou obey the commandments of the Lord thy God, and his statutes, which I command to thee today, so that it be well with thee.)

¹⁴ Lo! heaven is of thy Lord God, and heaven of heaven; the earth and all things that be therein be his; (Lo! all of heaven is the Lord thy God’s, yea, the Heaven of Heavens, that is, the Highest Heaven; and the earth, and all the things that be in it, also be his;)

¹⁵ and nevertheless the Lord was joined (by fervent affection) to thy fathers, and he loved them, and he chose their seed after them, and you of all folks, as it is proved today. (yet nevertheless the Lord was joined by fervent affection to thy fathers, and he loved them, and he chose their descendants after them, that is, you, out of all the nations, as ye be this day.)

¹⁶ Therefore circumcise ye the prepuce, that is, the uncleanness, of your heart, and no more make ye hard your noll (and no more be ye stubborn, or stiff-necked).

¹⁷ For your Lord God himself is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, and mighty, and fearful, which taketh not a person, neither gifts, but justly he deemeth rich and poor. (For the Lord your God himself is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, and mighty, and fearful, who respecteth not a person’s rank, or status, nor accepteth any gift, or bribe, but justly judgeth the rich and the poor.)

¹⁸ He maketh doom to the fatherless, and motherless, and to the widow; he loveth a pilgrim, and giveth to him lifelode and clothing. (He getteth justice for the fatherless or the motherless child, and the widow; he loveth the foreigner, or the stranger, and giveth him sustenance and clothing.)

¹⁹ And therefore love ye pilgrims, for also ye were comelings in the land of Egypt. (And so love ye foreigners, or strangers, for ye were also newcomers in the land of Egypt.)

²⁰ Thou shalt dread thy Lord God, and thou shalt serve him alone, and thou shalt cleave to him, and thou shalt swear in his name. (Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God/Thou shalt revere the Lord thy God, and thou shalt serve him alone, and thou shalt cleave to him, and thou shalt swear by his name.)

²¹ He is thy praising, and thy God, that made to thee these great works, and fearful, which thine eyes have seen. (He is thy praise, and thy God, who did for thee these great and fearful things, which thine eyes have seen.)

²² In seventy men thy fathers went down into Egypt, and lo! now thy Lord God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven. (For only seventy men of thy fathers went down to Egypt, but lo! now the Lord thy God hath made thee as innumerable as the stars in the heavens.)