Deuteronomy 4

Now listen, Israel, to the rules and decisions I am teaching you to follow. Keep them so you may live, and go in and take the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

1Now 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.

Note"Rules and decisions" translates a standard Hebrew pair: *chuqqim*, fixed decrees laid down by authority, and *mishpatim*, rulings of the kind a judge gives in a particular case. Together they cover the whole body of law, both the standing statutes and the case-by-case judgments.

2Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away from it. Keep the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving 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.

Note"Do not add or take away" was a set formula in the ancient Near East. It was written into treaties, law collections and monument inscriptions to warn scribes and later officials against tampering with the text. It is a preservation clause, not a comment on the content.

3You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal-peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you every man who followed the Baal of Peor.

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.

NoteBaal-peor was a place east of the Jordan; "Baal" means "lord" or "master" and was the title of the local god worshiped there, so "the Baal of Peor" means "the lord-god of the place called Peor." The event referred to is told in Numbers 25: Israelites joined in the worship and feasts of that god, and a plague followed.

4But every one of you who held tightly to the LORD your God is still alive today.

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

5Look, I have taught you rules and decisions, just as the LORD my God commanded me, so you can follow them in the land you are going in to take.

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.

6Keep them and do them. This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of other nations. They will hear all these rules and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

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.

7What other nation is so great that it has a god as near to it as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him?

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?

8And what other nation is so great that it has rules and decisions as fair as this whole law that I am setting before you today?

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?

9Only be careful, and watch yourself closely, so you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so they do not slip out of your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

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;

10Remember above all the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, "Gather the people to me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and they will teach their children."

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.

NoteHoreb is the name Deuteronomy normally uses for the mountain that other books call Sinai. The two names refer to the same place.

11You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain burned with fire that rose high into the sky, with darkness, clouds, and deep gloom.

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.

12The LORD spoke to you out of the middle of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but you saw no shape of any kind. There was only a voice.

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.

NoteThe Hebrew word *qol* means both "sound" and "voice," and the verse plays on it: the people heard the noise of speech, words they could make out, but nothing they could see.

13He told you the terms of his covenant, the agreement he commanded you to keep: the Ten Commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets.

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.

NoteA covenant was a formal binding agreement, the same kind of document used between a great king and a lesser one, with terms, witnesses and consequences spelled out. What the King James calls "ten commandments" is literally "the ten words" in Hebrew.

14At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you rules and decisions to follow in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to take.

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.

15So watch yourselves very carefully. You saw no shape of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the middle of the fire.

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:

16Do not ruin yourselves by making a carved idol for yourselves in any shape at all, whether in the form of a man or a woman,

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

NoteA "carved idol" (Hebrew *pesel*) is a figure cut from wood or stone, as opposed to one cast from metal. In the surrounding cultures such an image stood in a temple and was treated as the place where the god was present and could be fed, washed and addressed.

17or the form of any animal on the earth, or any bird that flies in the sky,

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

18or the form of anything that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters below.

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

19And when you look up at the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, the whole array of the sky, do not be pulled into bowing down to them and serving them. The LORD your God has given them to all the peoples under the whole sky.

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.

Note"The whole array of the sky" is literally "the host of heaven", the sun, moon and stars pictured as an assembled army or royal court. In Egypt, Babylon and Canaan these were worshiped as gods. The second half of the verse is genuinely ambiguous in Hebrew and has been read two ways: that God assigned the heavenly bodies to all peoples for their use and benefit, or that he allotted them to the other nations as objects of their worship.

20But the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be his own people, the people he keeps as his share, as you are today.

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.

NoteAn "iron furnace" is a smelting furnace used to refine metal ore, not a household oven. The image is of extreme, sustained heat.

21Also, the LORD was angry with me because of you. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and would not go into that good land the LORD your God is giving you to hold as your own.

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:

NoteThe incident referred to is in Numbers 20, at the waters of Meribah, where Moses struck the rock and was told he would not lead the people into the land. "Because of you" points to the people's quarreling that led to it.

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

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

23Be careful not to forget the covenant that the LORD your God made with you. Do not make a carved idol for yourselves in the shape of anything, because the LORD your God has forbidden it.

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.

24For the LORD your God is a fire that burns things up. He is a jealous God.

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

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "jealous" (*qanna*) describes the refusal to share what belongs exclusively to oneself, the way a husband or wife will not share a spouse. It is not envy of what someone else has.

25After you have children and grandchildren, and you have lived in the land a long time, you may ruin yourselves by making a carved idol in the shape of anything. That is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, and it will make him angry.

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:

26If you do that, I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you today: you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to take. You will not live long there. You will be completely destroyed.

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.

NoteCalling heaven and earth as witnesses was the standard closing move of an ancient treaty. Because a treaty between kings could not be enforced in any human court, permanent features of the world (sky, earth, mountains, rivers) were named as the parties who would see and remember whether the terms were kept.

27The LORD will scatter you among the peoples. Only a few of you will be left among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

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.

28There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

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

29But from there you will look for the LORD your God, and you will find him, if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

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.

30When you are in deep trouble and all these things have happened to you, then in the days to come, if you turn back to the LORD your God and obey his voice, this is what you can count on:

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;

Note"In the days to come" is literally "in the end of the days," a Hebrew phrase meaning simply a later time, further along in the future. It does not by itself mean the end of the world.

31The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant he swore to your ancestors.

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.

32Ask about the days long before you, going back to the day God created human beings on the earth, and ask from one end of the sky to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

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?

33Has any people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the middle of a fire, as you have, and stayed alive?

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

34Or has a god ever tried to go and take one nation out of another nation for himself, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying acts, the way the LORD your God did for you in Egypt while you watched?

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?

Note"A strong hand and an outstretched arm" was ordinary Egyptian and Hebrew wording for military might; Egyptian kings were described the same way. "Trials" translates a word meaning tests or ordeals. The Hebrew in the first line, *elohim*, can mean either "God" or "a god," so the question can be read as "has any god ever tried this" or "has God ever tried this", translations differ.

35You were shown these things so you would know that the LORD is God. There is no other besides him.

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

36From heaven he let you hear his voice, to teach and correct you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words coming out of the middle of the fire.

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.

37Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He himself brought you out of Egypt with his great power.

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;

Note"He himself brought you out" renders a Hebrew phrase that literally reads "by his face" or "with his presence." Ancient copies differ slightly here, and it has also been read as "by his own power" or "with his presence going before you."

38He did this to drive out ahead of you nations greater and stronger than you, to bring you in, and to give you their land as your own, as he has done to this day.

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.

39So know today, and take it to heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

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.

40Keep his rules and his commands, which I am giving you today, so things will go well for you and for your children after you, and so you may live a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

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.

41Then Moses set apart three cities on the east side of the Jordan River, the side where the sun rises.

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

NoteThese are what the law elsewhere calls cities of refuge. In this society a killing was avenged by the dead person's nearest male relative, who was expected to hunt down the killer; there was no police force or public prosecution. A designated city gave someone who had killed by accident a safe place to reach before the avenger caught him, so that the case could be judged rather than settled by immediate revenge.

42A person could run to one of them if he had killed his neighbor by accident and had not hated him before. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive.

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:

43The cities were Bezer in the wilderness, on the flat highland, for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.

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.

NoteAll three are east of the Jordan, in the territory Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh had just taken and asked to settle in. Three more such cities were to be set apart later on the western side.

44This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.

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

45These are the reminders, the rules, and the decisions that Moses spoke to the people of Israel after they came out of Egypt.

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,

Note"Reminders" translates a word (*edot*) used for the stipulations of a covenant, the terms formally testified to and kept on record, like the clauses of a treaty.

46He spoke them east of the Jordan, in the valley across from Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. Moses and the people of Israel defeated Sihon 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:

NoteSihon and the Amorites: a kingdom east of the Jordan, with its capital at Heshbon, defeated on the way north (Numbers 21). Beth-peor is "the house/shrine of Peor," the same place named in verse 3.

47They took his land and the land of Og king of Bashan. These were the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, on the side where the sun rises.

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;

NoteOg of Bashan ruled the territory further north, east of the Sea of Galilee; his defeat is told alongside Sihon's in Numbers 21.

48Their land ran from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, all the way to Mount Sion, which is Mount Hermon,

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

NoteAroer sat on the rim of the Arnon, a deep river gorge running into the Dead Sea that formed the southern boundary of this territory. "Mount Sion" here is another name for Mount Hermon in the far north, and has nothing to do with Zion in Jerusalem, which is a different word in Hebrew despite the similar English spelling.

49and it included all the flat land east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Plain, below the slopes of Pisgah.

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

Note"The flat land" is the Arabah, the long rift valley running the length of the Jordan; the "Sea of the Plain" is the Dead Sea at its lower end. Pisgah is the ridge overlooking the valley from the east, from which Moses later views the land.