Deuteronomy 4

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 'And now, Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observingthem, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, isgiving you.	1 "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
2 You must add nothing to what I command you, and take nothing from it, but keep the commandmentsof Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you.	2 In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.
3 You can see for yourselves what Yahweh has done about the Baal of Peor; Yahweh your God hasdestroyed al those of you who fol owed the Baal of Peor;	3 You have seen with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal-peor: the LORD, your God, destroyed from your midst everyone that followed the Baal of Peor;
4 but those of you who stayed faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today.	4 but you, who clung to the LORD, your God, are all alive today.
5 Look: as Yahweh my God commanded me, I have taught you laws and customs, for you to observe inthe country of which you are going to take possession.	5 Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
6 Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Oncethey know what al these laws are, they wil exclaim, "No other people is as wise and prudent as this greatnation!"	6 Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
7 And indeed, what great nation has its gods as near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever we cal tohim?	7 For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?
8 And what great nation has laws and customs as upright as the entirety of this Law which I am layingdown for you today?	8 Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?
9 'But take care, as you value your lives! Do not forget the things which you yourselves have seen, or letthem slip from your heart as long as you live; teach them, rather, to your children and to your children's children.	9 "However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children.
10 The day you stood at Horeb in the presence of Yahweh your God, Yahweh said to me, "Summon thepeople to me; I want them to hear me speaking, so that they will learn to fear me al the days they live on earth,and teach this to their children."	10 There was the day on which you stood before the LORD, your God, at Horeb, and he said to me, 'Assemble the people for me; I will have them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me as long as they live in the land and may so teach their children.'
11 So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a skydarkened by cloud, murky and thunderous.	11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, which blazed to the very sky with fire and was enveloped in a dense black cloud.
12 Yahweh then spoke to you from the heart of the fire; you heard the sound of words but saw no shape;there was only a voice.	12 Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
13 He revealed his covenant to you and commanded you to observe it, the Ten Words which he inscribedon two tablets of stone.	13 He proclaimed to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep: the ten commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone.
14 Yahweh then ordered me to teach you the laws and customs that you were to observe in the countryinto which you are about to cross, to take possession of it.	14 The LORD charged me at that time to teach you the statutes and decrees which you are to observe over in the land you will occupy.
15 'Hence, be very careful what you do. Since you saw no shape that day at Horeb when Yahweh spoketo you from the heart of the fire,	15 "You saw no form at all on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. Be strictly on your guard, therefore,
16 see that you do not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the shape of anything whatever: be itstatue of man or of woman,	16 not to degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman,
17 or of any animal on the earth, or of any bird that flies in the heavens,	17 of any animal on the earth or of any bird that flies in the sky,
18 or of any reptile that crawls on the ground, or of any fish in the waters under the earth.	18 of anything that crawls on the ground or of any fish in the waters under the earth.
19 When you raise your eyes to heaven, when you see the sun, the moon, the stars -- the entire array ofheaven -- do not be tempted to worship them and serve them. Yahweh your God has al otted these to al theother peoples under heaven,	19 And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or any star among the heavenly hosts, do not be led astray into adoring them and serving them. These the LORD, your God, has let fall to the lot of all other nations under the heavens;
20 but Yahweh has chosen you, bringing you out of the iron-foundry, Egypt, to be his own people, hisown people as you stil are today.	20 but you he has taken and led out of that iron foundry, Egypt, that you might be his very own people, as you are today.
21 'Yahweh is angry with me because of you; he has sworn that I shall not cross the Jordan or enter thefine country which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.	21 Since the LORD was angered against me on your account and swore that I should not cross the Jordan nor enter the good land which he is giving you as a heritage,
22 Yes, I am to die in this country; I shal not cross this Jordan; you wil go over and take possession ofthat rich land.	22 I myself shall die in this country without crossing the Jordan; but you will cross over and take possession of that good land.
23 Be careful not to forget the covenant which Yahweh your God has made with you, by sculpting animage or making a statue of anything, since Yahweh your God has forbidden this;	23 Take heed, therefore, lest, forgetting the covenant which the LORD, your God, has made with you, you fashion for yourselves against his command an idol in any form whatsoever.
24 for Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.	24 For the LORD, your God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 'When you have fathered children and grandchildren and have grown old in the country, when youhave grown corrupt and made some image, doing what Yahweh regards as wrong and so provoking his anger-	25 "When you have children and grandchildren, and have grown old in the land, should you then degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol in any form and by this evil done in his sight provoke the LORD, your God,
26 today I cal heaven and earth to witness against you -- you wil quickly vanish from the country whichyou are crossing the Jordan to possess. Your days will not be prolonged there, for you wil be utterly destroyed.	26 I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that you shall all quickly perish from the land which you will occupy when you cross the Jordan. You shall not live in it for any length of time but shall be promptly wiped out.
27 Yahweh wil scatter you among the peoples, and only a smal number of you wil remain among thenations where Yahweh wil have driven you.	27 The LORD will scatter you among the nations, and there shall remain but a handful of you among the nations to which the LORD will lead you.
28 There you wil serve gods made by human hand, of wood and of stone, that cannot see or hear, eat orsmel .	28 There you shall serve gods fashioned by the hands of man out of wood and stone, gods which can neither see nor hear, neither eat nor smell.
29 'If, however, from there you start searching once more for Yahweh your God, and if you search for himhonestly and sincerely, you will find him.	29 Yet there too you shall seek the LORD, your God; and you shall indeed find him when you search after him with your whole heart and your whole soul.
30 You wil suffer; everything I have said wil befal you, but in the final days you wil return to Yahwehyour God and listen to his voice.	30 In your distress, when all these things shall have come upon you, you shall finally return to the LORD, your God, and heed his voice.
31 For Yahweh your God is a merciful God and wil not desert or destroy you or forget the covenantwhich he made on oath with your ancestors.	31 Since the LORD, your God, is a merciful God, he will not abandon and destroy you, nor forget the covenant which under oath he made with your fathers.
32 'Put this question, then, to the ages that are past, that have gone before you, from when God createdthe human race on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Wasanything like it ever heard?	32 "Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?
33 Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you haveheard it, and remain alive?	33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
34 Has it ever been known before that any god took action himself to bring one nation out of another one,by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors -- al of which thingsYahweh your God has done for you before your eyes in Egypt?	34 Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
35 'This he showed you, so that you might know that Yahweh is the true God and that there is no other.	35 All this you were allowed to see that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
36 To instruct you, he made you hear his voice from heaven, and on earth he let you see his great fire,and from the heart of the fire you heard his words.	36 Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
37 Because he loved your ancestors and, after them, chose their descendants, he has brought you out ofEgypt, displaying his presence and mighty power,	37 For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
38 dispossessing for you nations who were larger and stronger than you, to make way for you and to giveyou their country as your heritage, as it still is today.	38 driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
39 'Hence, grasp this today and meditate on it careful y: Yahweh is the true God, in heaven above as onearth beneath, he and no other.	39 This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.
40 Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children afteryou may prosper and live long in the country that Yahweh your God is giving you for ever.'	40 You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."
41 Moses then set aside three towns in the east, beyond the Jordan,	41 Then Moses set apart three cities in the region east of the Jordan,
42 to which any kil er might flee who had accidental y, without any previous feud, killed his fel ow; by taking refuge in one of these towns he could save his life.	42 that a homicide might take refuge there if he unwittingly killed his neighbor to whom he had previously borne no malice, and that he might save his life by fleeing to one of these cities:
43 These were, for the Reubenites, Bezer in the desert on the tableland; for the Gadites, Ramoth inGilead; for the Manassehites, Golan in Bashan.	43 Bezer in the desert, in the region of the plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.
44 This is the Law which Moses presented to the Israelites.	44 This is the law which Moses set before the Israelites.
45 These are the stipulations, the laws and the customs which Moses gave the Israelites after they hadleft Egypt,	45 These are the ordinances, statutes and decrees which he proclaimed to them when they had come out of Egypt
46 beyond the Jordan in the val ey near Beth-Peor, in the country of Sihon the Amorite king who hadlived at Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites had defeated him when they left Egypt,	46 and were beyond the Jordan in the ravine opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon and whom Moses and the Israelites defeated after coming out of Egypt.
47 and had taken possession of his country, as wel as that of Og king of Bashan -- two Amorite kings tothe east beyond the Jordan,	47 They occupied his land and the land of Og, king of Bashan, as well--the land of these two kings of the Amorites in the region east of the Jordan:
48 from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Val ey, al the way to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon) -	48 from Aroer on the edge of the Wadi Arnon to Mount Sion (that is Hermon)
49 and of the whole Arabah east of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopesof Pisgah.	49 and all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Arabah Sea under the slopes of Pisgah.