Deuteronomy 4:1–14

Moses Commands Obedience

4“And now, O Israel, listen to ^wthe statutes and the rules¹ that I am teaching you, and do them, ^xthat you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ^2yYou 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. ³Your eyes have seen what the Lord did ^zat Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 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. ^6aKeep them and do them, for ^bthat 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.’ ⁷For ^cwhat great nation is there that has ^da god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? ⁸And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so ^erighteous as all this law that I set before you today?

^9f“Only take care, and ^gkeep 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. ^hMake them known to your children and your children’s children— ¹⁰how on ⁱthe day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ^j‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, ^kso that they may learn to fear ^lme all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ ¹¹And ^myou came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while ⁿthe mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. ¹²Then ^othe Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, ^pbut saw no form; ^qthere was only a voice. ^13rAnd he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, ^sthe Ten Commandments,^{2 t}and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴And ^uthe 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.