Deuteronomy

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

1Listen now, Israel. Here are the rules I am teaching you. Follow them, and you will live. You will go in and take the land. The LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving it to you.

2Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

2Do not add anything to what I command you. Do not take anything away either. Just keep the commands of the LORD your God.

3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

3You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal-peor. Some men there bowed down to a false god called Baal. The LORD your God destroyed every one of those men.

4But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

4But you held on tight to the LORD your God. Every one of you is still alive today.

5Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

5Look, I have taught you these rules. The LORD my God told me to teach them. Follow them in the land you are going to take.

6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

6Keep them and do them. That is how you will be wise. Other nations will hear these rules. They will say, "This great nation is wise and understanding."

7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

7No other nation has a God so close to them. The LORD our God comes near whenever we call to him.

8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

8And no other nation has rules as fair as this law. I am putting it in front of you today.

9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

9Only be careful, and watch yourself closely. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen. Keep them in your heart your whole life. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

10Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

10Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Horeb. The LORD said to me, "Gather the people together for me. I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to respect me all their lives. And they will teach their children too."

11And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

11You came close and stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain burned with fire that reached up to the sky. There were black clouds and deep darkness.

12And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

12The LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words. But you saw no shape at all. There was only a voice.

13And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

13He told you his covenant, which is his solemn agreement with you. He told you to keep it. It was the Ten Commandments. He wrote them on two flat stones.

14And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

14At that time the LORD told me to teach you more rules. You are to follow them in the land across the Jordan River.

15Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

15So be very careful with yourselves. You saw no shape of any kind that day. The LORD spoke to you at Horeb from inside the fire.

16Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

16Do not ruin yourselves by making an idol. An idol is a statue that people bow down to. Do not shape one like a man or a woman.

17The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

17Do not shape one like any animal on the earth. Do not shape one like any bird that flies.

18The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

18Do not shape one like anything that crawls on the ground. Do not shape one like any fish in the water.

19And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

19Be careful when you look up at the sky. You will see the sun, the moon, and the stars. Do not let them pull you into bowing down to them. The LORD your God gave those lights to every nation on earth.

20But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

20But the LORD took you and brought you out of Egypt. Egypt was like a furnace, a very hot oven for melting iron. He brought you out to be his own people. That is what you are today.

21Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

21The LORD was angry with me because of you. He promised that I would not cross the Jordan River. I will not go into that good land. The LORD your God is giving it to you to keep.

22But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

22I must die in this land. I will not cross the Jordan. But you will cross over and take that good land.

23Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

23Be careful. Do not forget the covenant the LORD your God made with you. Do not make an idol shaped like anything. The LORD your God has told you not to.

24For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

24The LORD your God is like a fire that burns things up. He is a jealous God.

Note"Jealous" here does not mean God envies people. It means he will not share his people's worship with anything else.

25When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

25Someday you will have children and grandchildren. You will have lived in the land a long time. Then you might ruin yourselves and make an idol. That is evil to the LORD your God, and it makes him angry.

26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

26Today I call heaven and earth to be witnesses against you. If you do that, you will quickly be lost from the land. You are crossing the Jordan to take that land. You will not stay there long. You will be completely destroyed.

27And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.

27The LORD will scatter you among other nations. Only a few of you will be left. You will live among the people the LORD sends you to.

28And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

28There you will serve gods made by human hands. They are only wood and stone. They cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

29But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

29But even from there you can look for the LORD your God. You will find him if you look with your whole heart and your whole self.

30When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

30Trouble will come to you, and all these things will happen. But later on you will turn back to the LORD your God. You will listen to his voice.

31(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

31The LORD your God is a kind and forgiving God. He will not leave you or destroy you. He will not forget the covenant he promised your fathers.

32For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

32Ask about the days that came long before you. Start from the day God made people on the earth. Ask from one end of the sky to the other. Has anything this great ever happened? Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

33Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

33Has any people ever heard God's voice speaking out of a fire? You heard it, and you stayed alive.

34Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

34Has any god ever tried to take one nation out of another nation? The LORD did that for you. He used hard tests, signs, and wonders. He used war, a strong hand, and a powerful arm. He did great and frightening things in Egypt, right in front of your eyes.

NoteThe old word "temptations" in this verse means hard tests and troubles. It does not mean being tempted to do something wrong.

35Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.

35God showed you all this for a reason. He wanted you to know that the LORD is God. There is no other God besides him.

36Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

36From heaven he let you hear his voice, to teach you. On earth he showed you his great fire. You heard his words come out of that fire.

37And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

37He loved your fathers, so he chose their children after them. He himself brought you out of Egypt with his great power.

38To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

38He drove out nations bigger and stronger than you. He brought you in and gave you their land to keep. That is what has happened.

39Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

39So know it today, and think about it in your heart. The LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

40Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.

40Keep his rules and commands that I give you today. Then things will go well for you and your children. You will live a long time in the land. The LORD your God is giving it to you.

41Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

41Then Moses set apart three cities. They were east of the Jordan River.

42That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

42A person might kill his neighbor by accident. He did not hate him before. That person could run to one of these cities. There he would be safe and stay alive.

43Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

43The cities were Bezer, out in the wilderness on flat high ground, in Reuben's family land; Ramoth in Gilead, in Gad's family land; and Golan in Bashan, in Manasseh's family land.

44And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

44This is the law that Moses gave to the people of Israel.

45These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,

45These are the teachings and rules Moses spoke to them. He spoke them after they came out of Egypt.

46On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:

46They were east of the Jordan, in the valley across from Beth-peor. This was the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites. He lived in a city called Heshbon. Moses and Israel had beaten him after they left Egypt.

47And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

47They took his land. They also took the land of Og, king of Bashan. These two Amorite kings ruled east of the Jordan.

48From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

48Their land went from Aroer, beside the edge of the Arnon valley. It reached all the way to Mount Sion, which is also called Hermon.

49And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

49It included all the flat valley east of the Jordan. It reached the sea in that valley, below the slopes of Pisgah.

Note"The plain" is the low, flat land along the Jordan River. "The sea of the plain" is the Dead Sea.