Deuteronomy 4:44–11:32
44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel;
45 these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from Egypt,
46 across the Jordan, in the valley aopposite Beth-peor, in the land of bSihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel 1defeated when they came out from Egypt.
47 They took possession of his land and the land of aOg king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the 1east,
48 from aAroer, which is on the edge of the 1valley of Arnon, even as far as bMount Sion (that is, Hermon),
49 with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, 1at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
1 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your 1hearing, that you may learn them and observe 2them carefully.
2 “The Lord our God made aa covenant with us at Horeb.
3 “aThe Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of 1us alive here today.
4 “The Lord spoke to you aface to face at the mountain bfrom the midst of the fire,
5 while aI was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; bfor you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. 1He said,
6 ‘aI am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 1slavery.
7 ‘aYou shall have no other gods 1before Me.
8 ‘aYou shall not make for yourself 1an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above 2or on the earth beneath 2or in the water under the earth.
9 ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, avisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
10 but ashowing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘aYou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not 1leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘aObserve the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
13 ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14 but athe seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who 1stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 ‘aYou shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
16 ‘aHonor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, bthat your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
17 ‘aYou shall not murder.
18 ‘aYou shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘aYou shall not steal.
20 ‘aYou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 ‘aYou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. aHe wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
23 “And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
24 “You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.
25 ‘aNow then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die.
26 ‘For awho is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 ‘1Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, aand the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.
29 ‘aOh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and bkeep all My commandments always, that cit may be well with them and with their sons forever!
30 ‘Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.”
31 ‘aBut as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.’
32 “So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; ayou shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.
33 “aYou shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, bthat you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,
2 so that you and your son and your grandson might afear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, ball the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3 “O Israel, you should listen and 1be careful to do it, that ait may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in ba land flowing with milk and honey.
4 “aHear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the bLord is one!
5 “aYou shall love the Lord your God bwith all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 “aThese words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 “aYou shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 “aYou shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as 1frontals 2on your forehead.
9 “aYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, agreat and splendid cities which you did not build,
11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and ayou eat and are satisfied,
12 then watch yourself, that ayou do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of 1slavery.
13 “aYou shall 1fear only the Lord your God; and you shall 2worship Him and bswear by His name.
14 “aYou shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,
15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a ajealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will 1wipe you off the face of the earth.
16 “aYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test, bas you tested Him at Massah.
17 “aYou should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.
18 “You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that ait may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to give your fathers,
19 by driving out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
20 “aWhen your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’
21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand.
22 ‘Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household;
23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’
24 “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, ato fear the Lord our God for our good always and bfor our survival, as it is today.
25 “aIt will be righteousness for us if we 1are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.
1 “aWhen the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, bseven nations greater and stronger than you,
2 and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you 1defeat them, athen you shall 2utterly destroy them. bYou shall make no covenant with them cand show no favor to them.
3 “Furthermore, ayou shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your 1daughters to 2their sons, nor shall you take 3their daughters for your 4sons.
4 “For 1they will turn your 2sons away from 3following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and aHe will quickly destroy you.
5 “But thus you shall do to them: ayou shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their 1Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
6 “For you are aa holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be ba people for His 1own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the 2earth.
7 “aThe Lord did not set …