1“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules[1] that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. (Le 18:4; De 6:24; De 8:1)2You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. (De 12:32; Jos 1:7; Pr 30:6; Re 22:18)3Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. (Nu 23:28; Nu 25:3)4But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.5See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.6Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ (De 29:9; Job 28:28; Ps 111:10; Pr 1:7; Pr 9:10)7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? (2Sa 7:23; Ps 34:18; Ps 46:1; Ps 145:18; Ps 148:14; Jas 4:8)8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? (Ro 7:12)9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— (Ge 18:19; De 4:23; De 6:7; De 11:19; De 32:46; Ps 78:4; Pr 4:23)10how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ (Ex 19:9; Ex 19:16; De 12:1; De 14:23; De 17:19; De 31:12; De 31:13; 1Ki 8:40; Heb 12:18)11And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. (Ex 19:17; Ex 19:18; Ex 20:18; Ex 20:21; Ex 24:16; De 5:22)12Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. (Ex 20:1; Ex 20:19; Ex 20:22; De 4:15; De 4:33; De 4:36; De 5:4; De 5:22; 1Ki 19:12; Job 4:16)13And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments,[2] and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. (Ex 24:12; Ex 34:28; De 9:9; De 9:11)14And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
Idolatry Forbidden
15“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, (De 4:12; Jos 23:11)16beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, (Ex 20:4; De 4:23; De 4:25; De 5:8; Ac 17:29; Ro 1:23)17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.19And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (Ge 2:1; De 17:3; 2Ki 17:16; 2Ki 21:3; Job 31:26)20But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. (De 9:29; De 32:9; 1Ki 8:51; Jer 11:4)21Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. (De 1:37)22For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. (De 3:25; De 3:27)23Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. (Ex 20:4; De 4:9; De 5:8; Ac 17:29)24For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Ex 20:5; Ex 24:17; De 9:3; Isa 10:16; Isa 29:6; Isa 30:27; Isa 30:30; Isa 42:8; Zep 1:18; Heb 12:29)25“When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, (De 4:16; De 9:18; 2Ki 17:17)26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. (De 30:18; De 31:28; De 32:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 2:12; Jer 6:19; Mic 6:2)27And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. (Le 26:33; De 28:62)28And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. (De 28:36; De 28:64; Ps 115:4; Ps 135:15; Isa 44:9; Isa 46:7; Jer 16:13)29But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Le 26:40; De 30:2; 2Ch 15:4; Ne 1:9; Isa 55:6; Jer 29:13)30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. (Ge 49:1)31For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. (Ex 34:6; De 31:6; De 31:8; Jos 1:5; 1Ch 28:20; 2Ch 30:9; Ne 9:31; Jon 4:2)
The Lord Alone Is God
32“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. (Job 8:8)33Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? (Ge 32:30; Ex 3:6; Ex 19:21; Ex 24:11; Ex 33:20; Ex 33:23; De 4:12; De 5:24; De 5:26; Jud 6:22; Jud 13:22)34Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? (Ex 6:6; Ex 7:3; Ex 15:3; De 7:8; De 11:2; De 26:8; De 34:12; Jer 32:21)35To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. (Ex 10:2; De 4:39; 1Sa 2:2; 2Sa 22:32; Isa 45:5; Isa 45:18; Isa 45:22; Isa 46:9; Mr 12:32)36Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. (Ex 19:9; Ex 19:19; De 4:33; Ne 9:13)37And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them[3] and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, (Ex 33:14; De 10:15; Isa 63:9)38driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, (Ex 23:27; Ex 34:24; De 7:1; De 9:1; De 11:23)39know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. (Jos 2:11; 1Sa 2:2; 2Sa 22:32; 1Ki 8:23; 2Ch 20:6; Ec 5:2; Isa 45:5; Isa 45:18; Isa 45:22; Isa 46:9; Mr 12:32)40Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” (Le 22:31; De 5:16; De 6:2; De 11:9; De 12:25; De 12:28; De 22:7; Pr 3:1; Pr 10:27)
Cities of Refuge
41Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, (Nu 35:6; Nu 35:14)42that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: (De 19:4)43Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. (De 3:10; Jos 20:8; Jos 21:36; 1Ch 6:78)
Introduction to the Law
44This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.45These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,46beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. (Nu 21:24; De 1:4; De 3:29)47And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; (Nu 21:33; Nu 21:35; De 3:3)48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion[4] (that is, Hermon), (De 2:36; De 3:9)49together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. (De 3:17)
Deuteronomy 4
New International Version
Obedience commanded
1Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.2Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.3You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,4but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.5See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.6Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’7What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?8And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?9Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.10Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.’11You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.12Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.13He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.14And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
Idolatry forbidden
15You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,16so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,17or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,18or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.19And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavenly array – do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshipping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.20But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.21The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance.22I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.23Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden.24For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.25After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time – if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger,26I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.27The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.28There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.29But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.30When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.31For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.
The Lord is God
32Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?33Has any other people heard the voice of God[1] speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?34Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?35You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.36From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.37Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,38to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.39Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.40Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
Cities of refuge
41Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,42to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbour without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life.43The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
Introduction to the law
44This is the law Moses set before the Israelites.45These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt46and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt.47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.48This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion[2] (that is, Hermon),49and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,[3] below the slopes of Pisgah.
Deuteronomy 4
King James Version
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.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.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.4But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.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 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.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 nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?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;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.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.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.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.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.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:16Lest ye corrupt yourselves , and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,17The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,18The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: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.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.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:22But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess 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.24For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.25When thou shalt beget children, and children' 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: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.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.28And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men' hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor 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.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;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.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?33Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?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?35Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside 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.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;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.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.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 severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;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: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.44And this is the law which Moses set before the children 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,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: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;48From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,49And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
Deuteronomy 4
New International Reader’s Version
Obey the Lord
1Now, Israel, listen to the rules and laws I’m going to teach you. Obey them and you will live. You will go in and take over the land. The LORD was the God of your people of long ago. He’s giving you the land.2Don’t add to what I’m commanding you. Don’t subtract from it either. Instead, obey the commands of the LORD your God that I’m giving you.3Your own eyes saw what the LORD your God did at Baal Peor. He destroyed every one of your people who worshipped the Baal that was worshipped at Peor.4But all of you who remained true to the LORD your God are still alive today.5I have taught you rules and laws, just as the LORD my God commanded me. Obey them in the land you are entering to take as your very own.6Be careful to keep them. That will show the nations how wise and understanding you are. They will hear about all these rules. They’ll say, ‘That great nation certainly has wise and understanding people.’7The LORD our God is near us every time we pray to him. What other nation is great enough to have its gods that close to them?8I’m giving you the laws of the LORD today. What other nation is great enough to have rules and laws as fair as these?9Don’t be careless. Instead, be very careful. Don’t forget the things your eyes have seen. As long as you live, don’t let them slip from your mind. Teach them to your children and their children after them.10Remember the day you stood at Mount Horeb. The LORD your God was there. He said to me, ‘Bring the people to me to hear my words. I want them to learn to have respect for me as long as they live in the land. I want them to teach my words to their children.’11You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain. It blazed with fire that reached as high as the very heavens. There were black clouds and deep darkness.12Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of his words. But you didn’t see any shape or form. You only heard a voice.13He announced his covenant to you. That covenant is the Ten Commandments. He commanded you to obey them. Then he wrote them down on two stone tablets.14At that time the LORD instructed me to teach you his rules and laws. You must obey them in the land you are crossing the River Jordan to take as your own.
Don’t make or worship statues of gods
15The LORD spoke to you at Mount Horeb out of the fire. But you didn’t see any shape or form that day. So be very careful.16Make sure you don’t commit a horrible sin. Don’t make for yourselves a statue of a god. Don’t make a god that looks like a man or woman or anything else.17Don’t make one that looks like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the sky.18Don’t make a statue that looks like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish that swims in the water.19When you look up at the heavens, you will see the sun and moon. And you will see huge numbers of stars. Don’t let anyone tempt you to bow down to the sun, moon or stars. Don’t worship things the LORD your God has provided for all the nations on earth.20Egypt was like a furnace that melts iron down and makes it pure. But the LORD took you and brought you out of Egypt. He wanted you to be his very own people. And that’s exactly what you are.21The LORD was angry with me because of what you did. He promised that he would never let me go across the River Jordan. He promised that I would never enter that good land. It’s the land the LORD your God is giving you as your own.22I’ll die here in this land. I won’t go across the Jordan. But you are about to cross over it. You will take that good land as your own.23Be careful. Don’t forget the covenant the LORD your God made with you. Don’t make for yourselves a statue of any god at all. He has told you not to. So don’t do it.24The LORD your God is like a fire that burns everything up. He wants you to worship only him.25So don’t make a statue of a god. Don’t commit that horrible sin. Don’t do it even after you have had children and grandchildren. Don’t do it even after you have lived in the land a long time. If you do, that will be an evil thing in the sight of the LORD your God. You will make him angry.26Today I’m calling out to the heavens and the earth to be witnesses against you. Suppose you do these things. Then you will quickly die in the land you are going across the River Jordan to take over. You won’t live there very long. You will certainly be destroyed.27The LORD will drive you out of your land. He will scatter you among the nations. Only a few of you will remain alive there.28There you will worship gods that men have made out of wood and stone. Those gods can’t see, hear, eat or smell.29Perhaps while you are there, you will seek the LORD your God. You will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.30All the things I’ve told you about might happen to you. And you will be in trouble. But later you will return to the LORD your God. You will obey him.31The LORD your God is tender and loving. He won’t leave you or destroy you. He won’t forget the covenant he made with your people of long ago. He gave his word when he made it.
The Lord is God
32Ask now about the days of long ago. Find out what happened long before your time. Ask about what has happened since the time God created human beings on the earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened? Has anything like it ever been heard of?33You heard the voice of God speaking out of fire. And you lived! Has that happened to any other people?34Has any god ever tried to take one nation out of another to be his own? Has any god done it by testing his people? Has any god done it with signs and amazing deeds or with war? Has any god reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm? Or has any god shown his people his great and wonderful acts? The LORD your God did all those things for you in Egypt. With your very own eyes you saw him do them.35The LORD showed you those things so that you might know he is God. There is no other God except him.36From heaven he made you hear his voice. He wanted to teach you. On earth he showed you his great fire. You heard his words coming out of the fire.37He loved your people of long ago. He chose their children after them. So he brought you out of Egypt. He used his great strength to do it.38He drove out nations to make room for you. They were greater and stronger than you are. He will bring you into their land. He wants to give it to you as your very own. The whole land is as good as yours right now.39The LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Today you must agree with that and take it to heart. There is no other God.40I’m giving you his rules and commands today. Obey them. Then things will go well with you and your children after you. You will live a long time in the land. The LORD your God is giving you the land for all time to come.
Cities to run to for safety
41Then Moses set apart three cities east of the River Jordan.42Suppose someone killed a person they didn’t hate and without meaning to do it. That person could run to one of those cities and stay alive.43Here are the names of the cities. Bezer was for the people of Reuben. It was in the high plains in the desert. Ramoth was for the people of Gad. It was in Gilead. Golan was for the people of Manasseh. It was in Bashan.
Moses gives the law to Israel
44Here is the law Moses gave the Israelites.45Here are its terms, rules and laws. Moses gave them to the people when they came out of Egypt.46They were now east of the River Jordan in the valley near Beth Peor. They were in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He ruled in Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites won the battle over him after they came out of Egypt.47They captured his land and made it their own. They also took the land of Og, the king of Bashan. Sihon and Og were the two Amorite kings east of the River Jordan.48Their land reached from Aroer on the rim of the River Arnon valley to Mount Hermon.49It included the whole Arabah Valley east of the Jordan. It included land all the way to the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.