Deuteronomy 4
4
1‘And now, Israel, hearken unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that ye live, and have gone in, and possessed the land which Jehovah God of your fathers is giving to you.
2Ye do not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor diminish from it, to keep the commands of Jehovah your God which I am commanding you.
3‘Your eyes are seeing that which Jehovah hath done in Baal-Peor, for every man who hath gone after Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed him from thy midst;
4and ye who are cleaving to Jehovah your God, [are] alive, all of you, to-day.
5‘See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as Jehovah my God hath commanded me — to do so, in the midst of the land whither ye are going in to possess it;
6and ye have kept and done [them] (for it [is] your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Only, a people wise and understanding [is] this great nation.
7‘For which [is] the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Jehovah our God, in all we have called unto him?
8and which [is] the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?
9‘Only, take heed to thyself, and watch thy soul exceedingly, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from thy heart, all days of thy life; and thou hast made them known to thy sons, and to thy sons' sons.
10‘The day when thou hast stood before Jehovah thy God in Horeb — in Jehovah's saying unto me, Assemble to Me the people, and I cause them to hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they are alive on the ground, and their sons they teach; —
11and ye draw near and stand under the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire unto the heart of the heavens — darkness, cloud, yea, thick darkness:
12‘And Jehovah speaketh unto you out of the midst of the fire; a voice of words ye are hearing and a similitude ye are not seeing, only a voice;
13and He declareth to you His covenant, which He hath commanded you to do, the Ten Matters, and He writeth them upon two tables of stone.
14‘And me hath Jehovah commanded at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land whither ye are passing over to possess it;
15and ye have been very watchful of your souls, for ye have not seen any similitude in the day of Jehovah's speaking unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
16lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female —
17a form of any beast which [is] in the earth — a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens —
18a form of any creeping thing on the ground — a form of any fish which [is] in the waters under the earth;
19‘And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.
20‘And you hath Jehovah taken, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people — an inheritance, as [at] this day.
21‘And Jehovah hath shewed himself wroth with me because of your words, and sweareth to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going in unto the good land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance;
22for I am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, and ye are passing over, and have possessed this good land.
23‘Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He hath made with you, and have made to yourselves a graven image, a similitude of anything [concerning] which Jehovah thy God hath charged thee:
24for Jehovah thy God is a fire consuming — a zealous God.
25‘When thou begettest sons and sons' sons, and ye have become old in the land, and have done corruptly, and have made a graven image, a similitude of anything, and have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger: —
26I have caused to testify against you this day the heavens and the earth, that ye do perish utterly hastily from off the land whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it; ye do not prolong days upon it, but are utterly destroyed;
27and Jehovah hath scattered you among the peoples, and ye have been left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah leadeth you,
28and ye have served there gods, work of man's hands, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29‘And — ye have sought from thence Jehovah thy God, and hast found, when thou seekest Him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
30in distress [being] to thee, and all these things have found thee, in the latter end of the days, and thou hast turned back unto Jehovah thy God, and hast hearkened to His voice;
31for a merciful God [is] Jehovah thy God; He doth not fail thee, nor destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which He hath sworn to them.
32‘For, ask, I pray thee, at the former days which have been before thee, from the day that God prepared man on the earth, and from the [one] end of the heavens even unto the [other] end of the heavens, whether there hath been as this great thing — or hath been heard like it?
33Hath a people heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, thou — and doth live?
34Or hath God tried to go in to take to Himself, a nation from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by a stretchedout arm, and by great terrors — according to all that Jehovah your God hath done to you, in Egypt, before your eyes?
35Thou, thou hast been shewn [it], to know that Jehovah He [is] God; there is none else besides Him.
36‘From the heavens He hath caused thee to hear His voice, to instruct thee, and on earth He hath shewed thee His great fire, and His words thou hast heard out of the midst of the fire.
37‘And because that He hath loved thy fathers, He doth also fix on their seed after them, and doth bring thee out, in His presence, by His great power, from Egypt:
38to dispossess nations greater and stronger than thou, from thy presence, to bring thee in to give to thee their land — an inheritance, as [at] this day.
39‘And thou hast known to-day, and hast turned [it] back unto thy heart, that Jehovah He [is] God, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath — there is none else;
40and thou hast kept His statutes and His commands which I am commanding thee to-day, so that it is well to thee, and to thy sons after thee, and so that thou prolongest days on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — all the days.’
41Then Moses separateth three cities beyond the Jordan, towards the sun-rising,
42for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, who slayeth his neighbour unknowingly, and he is not hating him heretofore, and he hath fled unto one of these cities, and he hath lived:
43Bezer, in the wilderness, in the land of the plain, of the Reubenite; and Ramoth, in Gilead, of the Gadite; and Golan, in Bashan, of the Manassahite.
44And this [is] the law which Moses hath set before the sons of Israel;
45these [are] the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses hath spoken unto the sons of Israel, in their coming out of Egypt,
46beyond the Jordan, in the valley over-against Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel have smitten, in their coming out of Egypt,
47and they possess his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, [towards] the sun-rising;
48from Aroer, which [is] by the edge of the brook Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which [is] Hermon —
49and all the plain beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
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Deuteronomy 4: YLT98
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D'varim (Deu) 4
4
1“Now, Isra’el, listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so that you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land that Adonai, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2In order to obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and do not subtract from it. 3You saw with your own eyes what Adonai did at Ba‘al-P‘or, that Adonai destroyed from among you all the men who followed Ba‘al-P‘or; 4but you who stuck with Adonai your God are still alive today, every one of you. (ii) 5Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as Adonai my God ordered me, so that you can behave accordingly in the land where you are going in order to take possession of it. 6Therefore, observe them; and follow them; for then all peoples will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘This great nation is surely a wise and understanding people.’ 7For what great nation is there that has God as close to them as Adonai our God is, whenever we call on him? 8What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today? 9Only be careful, and watch yourselves diligently as long as you live, so that you won’t forget what you saw with your own eyes, so that these things won’t vanish from your hearts. Rather, make them known to your children and grandchildren — 10the day you stood before Adonai your God at Horev, when Adonai said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, and I will make them hear my very words, so that they will learn to hold me in awe as long as they live on earth, and so that they will teach their children.’ 11You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain; and the mountain blazed with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, clouds and thick mist. 12Then Adonai spoke to you out of the fire! You heard the sound of words but saw no shape, there was only a voice. 13He proclaimed his covenant to you, which he ordered you to obey, the Ten Words; and he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14At that time Adonai ordered me to teach you laws and rulings, so that you would live by them in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.
15“Therefore, watch out for yourselves! Since you did not see a shape of any kind on the day Adonai spoke to you in Horev from the fire, 16do not become corrupt and make yourselves a carved image having the shape of any figure — not a representation of a human being, male or female, 17or a representation of any animal on earth, or a representation of any bird that flies in the air, 18or a representation of anything that creeps along on the ground, or a representation of any fish in the water below the shoreline. 19For the same reason, do not look up at the sky, at the sun, moon, stars and everything in the sky, and be drawn away to worship and serve them; Adonai your God has allotted these to all the peoples under the entire sky. 20No, you Adonai has taken and brought out of the smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of inheritance for him, as you are today.
21“But Adonai was angry with me on account of you and swore that I would not cross the Yarden and go into that good land, which Adonai your God is giving you to inherit. 22Rather, I must die in this land and not cross the Yarden; but you are to cross and take possession of that good land. 23Watch out for yourselves, so that you won’t forget the covenant of Adonai your God, which he made with you, and make yourself a carved image, a representation of anything forbidden to you by Adonai your God. 24For Adonai your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25“When you have had children and grandchildren, lived a long time in the land, become corrupt and made a carved image, a representation of something, and thus done what is evil in the sight of Adonai your God and provoked him; 26I call on the sky and the earth to witness against you today that you will quickly disappear from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess. You will not prolong your days there but will be completely destroyed. 27Adonai will scatter you among the peoples; and among the nations to which Adonai will lead you away, you will be left few in number. 28There you will serve gods which are the product of human hands, made of wood and stone, which can’t see, hear, eat or smell. 29However, from there you will seek Adonai your God; and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and being. 30In your distress, when all these things have come upon you, in the acharit-hayamim, you will return to Adonai your God and listen to what he says; 31for Adonai your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.
32“Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born: since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it? 33Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive? 34Or has God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the very bowels of another nation, by means of ordeals, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and great terrors — like all that Adonai your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35This was shown to you, so that you would know that Adonai is God, and there is no other beside him. 36From heaven he caused you to hear his voice, in order to instruct you; and on earth he caused you to see his great fire; and you heard his very words coming out from the fire. 37Because he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt with his presence and great power, 38in order to drive out ahead of you nations greater and stronger than you, so that he could bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is the case today; 39know today, and establish it in your heart, that Adonai is God in heaven above and on earth below — there is no other. 40Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land Adonai your God is giving you forever.”
(A: iii) 41Then Moshe separated three cities on the east side of the Yarden, toward the sunrise, 42to which a killer might flee, that is, someone who kills by mistake a person whom he did not previously hate, and upon fleeing to one of these cities might live there. 43The cities were Betzer in the desert, in the flatland, for the Re’uveni; Ramot in Gil‘ad for the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan for the M’nashi.
44This is the Torah which Moshe placed before the people of Isra’el — 45these are the instructions, laws and rulings which Moshe presented to the people of Isra’el after they had come out of Egypt — 46beyond the Yarden River, in the valley across from Beit-P‘or, in the land of Sichon king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moshe and the people of Isra’el defeated when they came out of Egypt; 47and they took possession of his land and the land of ‘Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Emori, who were beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise; 48from ‘Aro‘er on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Si’on,” that is, Mount Hermon, 49“with all the ‘Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, all the way to the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
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