Deuteronomy 5–6

¹And Moses calleth unto all Israel, and saith unto them, ‘Hear, Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I am speaking in your ears to-day, and ye have learned them, and have observed to do them. ²Jehovah our God made with us a covenant in Horeb; ³not with our fathers hath Jehovah made this covenant, but with us; we—these—here to-day—all of us alive. ⁴Face to face hath Jehovah spoken with you, in the mount, out of the midst of the fire; ⁵I am standing between Jehovah and you, at that time, to declare to you the word of Jehovah, for ye have been afraid from the presence of the fire, and ye have not gone up into the mount; saying:

⁶‘I Jehovah am thy God, who hath brought thee out from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants.

⁷‘Thou hast no other gods in My presence.

⁸‘Thou dost not make to thee a graven image, any similitude which is in the heavens above, and which is in the earth beneath, and which is in the waters under the earth; ⁹thou dost not bow thyself to them nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God am a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on children, and on a third generation, and on a fourth, to those hating Me; ¹⁰and doing kindness to thousands, to those loving Me, and to those keeping My commands.

¹¹‘Thou dost not take up the Name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah doth not acquit him who taketh up His Name for a vain thing.

¹²‘Observe the day of the sabbath—to sanctify it, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee; ¹³six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work, ¹⁴and the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle, and thy sojourner who is within thy gates; so that thy man-servant, and thy handmaid doth rest like thyself; ¹⁵and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God is bringing thee out thence by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm; therefore hath Jehovah thy God commanded thee to keep the day of the sabbath.

¹⁶‘Honour thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee, so that thy days are prolonged, and so that it is well with thee, on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.

¹⁷‘Thou dost not murder.

¹⁸‘Thou dost not commit adultery.

¹⁹‘Thou dost not steal.

²⁰‘Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour—a false testimony.

²¹‘Thou dost not desire thy neighbour’s wife; nor dost thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, and his man-servant, and his handmaid, his ox, and his ass, and anything which is thy neighbour’s.

²²‘These words hath Jehovah spoken unto all your assembly, in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness—a great voice; and He hath not added, and He writeth them on two tables of stone, and giveth them unto me.

²³‘And it cometh to pass as ye hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and of the mountain burning with fire, that ye come near unto me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders, ²⁴and say, Lo, Jehovah our God hath shewed us His honour, and His greatness; and His voice we have heard out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God doth speak with man—and he hath lived.

²⁵‘And, now, why do we die? for consume us doth this great fire—if we add to hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more—then we have died. ²⁶For who of all flesh is he who hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire like us—and doth live? ²⁷Draw near thou, and hear all that which Jehovah our God saith, and thou, thou dost speak unto us all that which Jehovah our God speaketh unto thee, and we have hearkened, and done it.

²⁸‘And Jehovah heareth the voice of your words, in your speaking unto me, and Jehovah saith unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee; they have done well in all that they have spoken. ²⁹O that their heart had been thus to them, to fear Me, and to keep My commands all the days, that it may be well with them, and with their sons—to the age!

³⁰‘Go, say to them, Turn back for yourselves, to your tents; ³¹and thou here stand thou with Me, and let Me speak unto thee all the command, and the statutes, and the judgments which thou dost teach them, and they have done in the land which I am giving to them to possess it.

³²‘And ye have observed to do as Jehovah your God hath commanded you, ye turn not aside—right or left; ³³in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded you ye walk, so that ye live, and it is well with you, and ye have prolonged days in the land which ye possess.

Chapter 6

¹‘And this is the command, the statutes and the judgments which Jehovah your God hath commanded to teach you, to do in the land which ye are passing over thither to possess it, ²so that thou dost fear Jehovah thy God, to keep all His statutes and His commands, which I am commanding thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all days of thy life, and so that thy days are prolonged.

³‘And thou hast heard, O Israel, and observed to do, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest multiply exceedingly, as Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath spoken to thee, in the land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴‘Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; ⁵and thou hast loved Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, ⁶and these words which I am commanding thee to-day have been on thine heart, ⁷and thou hast repeated them to thy sons, and spoken of them in thy sitting in thine house, and in thy walking in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up, ⁸and hast bound them for a sign upon thy hand, and they have been for frontlets between thine eyes, ⁹and thou hast written them on door-posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

¹⁰‘And it hath been, when Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land which He hath sworn to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to thee—cities great and good, which thou hast not built, ¹¹and houses full of all good things which thou hast not filled, and wells digged which thou hast not digged, vineyards and olive-yards which thou hast not planted, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied;

¹²‘Take heed to thyself lest thou forget Jehovah who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants; ¹³Jehovah thy God thou dost fear, and Him thou dost serve, and by His name thou dost swear; ¹⁴ye do not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you; ¹⁵for a zealous God is Jehovah thy God in thy midst—lest the anger of Jehovah thy God burn against thee, and He hath destroyed thee from off the face of the ground.

¹⁶‘Ye do not try Jehovah your God as ye tried in Massah.

¹⁷Ye do diligently keep the commands of Jehovah your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes which He hath commanded thee, ¹⁸and thou hast done that which is right and good in the eyes of Jehovah, so that it is well with thee, and thou hast gone in and possessed the good land which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers, ¹⁹to drive away all thine enemies from thy presence, as Jehovah hath spoken. ²⁰‘When thy son asketh thee hereafter, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you? ²¹then thou hast said to thy son, Servants we have been to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Jehovah bringeth us out of Egypt by a high hand; ²²and Jehovah giveth signs and wonders, great and sad, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; ²³and us He hath brought out thence, in order to bring us in, to give to us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. ²⁴And Jehovah commandeth us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for good to ourselves all the days, to keep us alive, as at this day; ²⁵and righteousness it is for us, when we observe to do all this command before Jehovah our God, as He hath commanded us.

Chapter 7