Deuteronomy 4
1 And now, Israel, hear the ordinances
and judgments, all that I teach you this day to do: that ye may live, and be
multiplied, and that ye may go in and inherit the land, which the Lord God of
your fathers gives you. 2 Ye shall not
add to the word which I command you, and ye shall not take from it: keep the
commandments of the Lord our God, all that I command you this day.
3 Your eyes have seen all that the
Lord our God did in the case of Beel-phegor; for
every man that went after Beel-phegor, the Lord your God has utterly destroyed
him from among you. 4 But ye that kept
close to the Lord your God are all alive to-day.
5 Behold, I have shewn you ordinances
and judgments as the Lord commanded me, that ye should do so in the land into
which ye go to inherit it. 6 And ye
shall keep and do them: for this is your wisdom and understanding before all
nations, as many as shall hear all these ordinances; and they shall say,
Behold, this great nation is a wise and understanding
people. 7 For what manner of nation
is so great, which has God so near to them as the
Lord our God is in all things in whatsoever we may
call upon him? 8 And what manner of
nation is so great, which has righteous ordinances
and judgments according to all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Take heed to thyself, and keep thy
aGr. soul.heart diligently: forget not any of the things, which thine eyes have seen,
and let them not depart from thine heart all the days of thy life; and thou
shalt teach thy sons and thy sons' sons,
10 even the things that happened in the day in which ye
stood before the Lord our God in Choreb in the day of the assembly; for the
Lord said to me, Gather the people to me, and let them hear my words, that
they may learn to fear me all the days which they live upon the earth, and
they shall teach their sons. 11 And
ye drew nigh and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire
up to heaven: there was darkness, blackness,
and tempest.
12 And the Lord spoke to you out of
the midst of the fire a voice of words, which ye heard: and ye saw no
likeness, only ye heard a voice.
13 And he announced to you his
covenant, which he commanded you to keep, even the ten
bGr. words or sayings.commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that
time, to teach you ordinances and judgments, that ye should do them on the
land, into which ye go to inherit it.
15 And take good heed to your hearts,
for ye saw no similitude in the day in which the Lord spoke to you in Choreb
in the mountain out of the midst of the fire:
16 lest ye transgress, and make to
yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 the likeness of any beast of those
that are on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird which flies under
heaven, 18 the likeness of any
reptile which creeps on the earth, the likeness of any fish of those which are
in the waters under the earth; 19 and
lest having looked up to the sky, and having seen the sun and the moon and the
stars, and all the
cGr. order of heaven.heavenly bodies, thou shouldest go astray and worship them, and serve them,
which the Lord thy God has distributed to all the nations under heaven.
20 But God took you, and led you
forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be
to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
21 And the Lord God was angry with me
for the things said by you, and sware that I should not go over this Jordan,
and that I should not enter into the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee
for an inheritance. 22 For
dGr. I die.I am to die in this land, and shall not pass over this Jordan; but ye are to
pass over, and shall inherit this good land.
23 Take heed to yourselves, lest ye
forget the covenant of the Lord our God, which he made with you, and ye
transgress, and make to yourselves a graven image of any of the things
concerning which the Lord thy God commanded thee.
24 For
eHeb. 12. 29.
the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 And when thou shalt have begotten
sons, and shalt have sons' sons, and ye shall have dwelt a long time on the
land, and shall have transgressed, and made a graven image of any thing, and
shall have done wickedly before the Lord your God to provoke him;
26 I call heaven and earth this day
to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into
which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days
upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.
27 And the Lord shall scatter you
among all nations, and ye shall be left few in number among all the nations,
among which the Lord shall bring you.
28 And ye shall there serve other
gods, the works of the hands of men, wood and stones, which
fGr. shall not see, etc.cannot see, nor can they hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 And there ye shall seek the Lord
your God, and ye shall find him whenever ye shall seek him with all
gGr. thy.your heart, and with all
hGr. thy.your soul in
iGr. thy.your affliction. 30 And
jGr. all these words shall find you. Hebraism.all these things shall come upon thee in the last days, and thou shalt turn
to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice.
31 Because the Lord thy God
is a God of pity: he will not forsake thee, nor
destroy thee; he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers, which the Lord
sware to them.
32 Ask of the former days which were
before thee, from the day when God created man upon the earth, and
beginning at the one end of
heaven to the other end of heaven, if there has happened any thing like to
this great event, if such a thing has been heard:
33 if a nation have heard the voice
of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard
and hast lived; 34 if God has assayed
to go and take to himself a nation out of the midst of
another nation with trial, and with signs, and with
wonders, and with war, and with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with
great sights, according to all the things which the Lord our God did in Egypt
kGr. before thee seeing.in thy sight. 35 So that thou
shouldest know that the Lord thy God he is God, and there is none beside him.
36 His voice was made audible from
heaven to instruct thee, and he shewed thee upon the earth his great fire, and
thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
37 Because he loved thy fathers, he
also chose you their seed after them, and he brought thee himself with his
great strength out of Egypt, 38 to
destroy nations
lOr, greater.great and stronger than thou before thy face, to bring thee in, to give thee
their land to inherit, as thou hast it this day.
39 And thou shalt know this day, and
shalt consider in thine heart, that the Lord thy God he
is God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath, and
there is none else but he. 40 And
keep ye his commandments, and his ordinances, all that I command you this day;
that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, that ye may be
long-lived upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for ever.
41 Then Moses separated three cities
beyond Jordan on the east, 42 that
the slayer might flee thither, who should have slain his neighbour
unintentionally, and should not have hated him
mGr. before yesterday and the third day. Hebraism.in times past, and he shall flee to one of these cities and live:
43 Bosor in the wilderness, in the
plain country of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad
belonging to
nOr, the Gaddite.Gad, and Gaulon in Basan belonging to Manasse.
44 This
is the law which Moses set before the children of
Israel. 45 These
are the testimonies, and the ordinances, and the
judgments, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out of the
land of Egypt: 46 on
oi. e. the east side.the other side of Jordan, in the valley near the house of Phogor, in the land
of Seon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Esebon, whom Moses and the sons of
Israel smote when they came out of the land of Egypt.
47 And they inherited his land, and
the land of Og king of Basan, two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond
Jordan eastward. 48 From Aroer, which
is on the border of the brook Arnon, even to the mount of Seon, which is
Aermon. 49 All
pHeb. the plain.Araba beyond Jordan eastward under Asedoth
qOr, the quarried rock. Heb. Ashdoth Pisgah.hewn in the rock.
Footnotes
a4:9 Gr. soul.
b4:13 Gr. words or sayings.
c4:19 Gr. order of heaven.
d4:22 Gr. I die.
e4:24 Heb. 12. 29.
f4:28 Gr. shall not see, etc.
g4:29 Gr. thy.
h4:29 Gr. thy.
i4:29 Gr. thy.
j4:30 Gr. all these words shall find you. Hebraism.
k4:34 Gr. before thee seeing.
l4:38 Or, greater.
m4:42 Gr. before yesterday and the third day. Hebraism.
n4:43 Or, the Gaddite.
o4:46 i. e. the east side.
p4:49 Heb. the plain.
q4:49 Or, the quarried rock. Heb. Ashdoth Pisgah.