Deuteronomy 4

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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.	1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the precepts and judgments which I am teaching to you, so that, by doing these, you may live, and you may enter and possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, will give to 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.	2 You shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it. Preserve the commandments of the Lord your God which I am teaching to you.
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;	3 Your eyes have seen all that the Lord has done against Baal-peor, in what manner he has crushed all of his worshippers from among you.
4 but you, who clung to the LORD, your God, are all alive today.	4 But you who adhere to the Lord your God are all still alive, to the present day.
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.	5 You know that I have taught you precepts as well as justices, just as the Lord my God has commanded me. And so shall you do in the land that you will possess.
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.'	6 And you shall observe and fulfill these in practice. For this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, so that, upon hearing all these precepts, they may say: ‘Lo, a wise and understanding people, a great nation.’
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?	7 Neither is there any other nation so great, which has its gods so near to them, as our God is present to all our petitions.
8 Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?	8 For what other nation is there so renowned as to have ceremonies, and just judgments, and the entire law that I will set forth today before your eyes?
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.	9 And so, guard yourself and your soul carefully. You should not forget the words that your eyes have seen, and do not let them be cut away from your heart, throughout all the days of your life. You shall teach them to your sons and to your grandsons,
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.'	10 from the day on which you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying: ‘Gather the people to me, so that they may listen to my words, and may learn to fear me, throughout all the time that they are alive on earth, and so that they may teach their children.’
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.	11 And you approached the base of the mountain, which was burning even toward heaven. And there was a darkness upon it, and a cloud, and a mist.
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.	12 And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you did not see any form at all.
13 He proclaimed to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep: the ten commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone.	13 And he revealed his covenant to you, which he instructed you to carry out, and the ten words which he wrote on two tablets of stone.
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.	14 And he commanded me, at that time, that I should teach you the ceremonies and judgments which you must carry out, in the land that you shall possess.
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,	15 And so, guard your souls carefully. You saw no likeness on the day that the Lord God spoke to you on Horeb from the midst of fire.
16 not to degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman,	16 Otherwise, perhaps being deceived, you might have made a graven image, or an image of male or female,
17 of any animal on the earth or of any bird that flies in the sky,	17 a likeness of any of the beasts, which are upon the earth, or of birds, which fly under heaven,
18 of anything that crawls on the ground or of any fish in the waters under the earth.	18 or of reptiles, which move across the earth, or of fish, which abide in the waters under the earth.
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;	19 Otherwise, perhaps lifting up your eyes to heaven, you might look upon the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error, you might adore and worship these things, which the Lord your God created for the service of all the nations, which are under heaven.
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.	20 But the Lord has taken you up, and led you away from the iron furnaces of Egypt, in order to have a people of inheritance, just as it is to the present day.
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,	21 And the Lord became angry against me because of your words, and he swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent land, which he will give to you.
22 I myself shall die in this country without crossing the Jordan; but you will cross over and take possession of that good land.	22 Behold, I shall die on this soil. I shall not cross over the Jordan. You shall cross it, and you shall possess the singular land.
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.	23 Be careful, lest you at sometime forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he has formed with you, and lest you make for yourselves a graven likeness of those things which the Lord has prohibited to be made.
24 For the LORD, 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 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,	25 When you will have conceived sons and grandsons while abiding in the land, and if, having been deceived, you make for yourselves any likeness, accomplishing evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to wrath,
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.	26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses this day, that you shall quickly perish from the land, which, when you have crossed over the Jordan, you will possess. You will not live in it for a long time; instead, the Lord will destroy 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.	27 And he will scatter you among all the nations, and few of you will remain among those nations, to which the Lord will lead you.
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.	28 And there, you will serve gods which were fabricated by the hands of men: gods of wood and of stone, who neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
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.	29 And when you will seek the Lord your God in that place, you shall find him, if only you seek him with all your heart, and in all the tribulation of your soul.
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.	30 After all these things which have been foretold have found you, in the end time, you shall return to the Lord your God, and you will hear his voice.
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.	31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, nor will he entirely destroy you, nor will he forget the covenant, which he swore to your fathers.
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?	32 Inquire concerning the days of antiquity, which were before you, from the day when God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to another, if anything similar has ever occurred, or whether any such thing has ever been known,
33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?	33 that a people would hear the voice of God, speaking from the midst of fire, just as you have heard it, and live,
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?	34 whether God has acted so as to enter and take for himself a nation from the midst of the nations, by means of tests, signs, and wonders, by means of fighting, and a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and terrible visions, in accord with all the things which the Lord your God has accomplished for you in Egypt, in the sight of your eyes.
35 All this you were allowed to see that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.	35 So may you know that the Lord himself is God, and there is no other beside him.
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.	36 He has caused you to hear his voice from heaven, so that he might teach you. And he showed you his exceedingly great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the midst of the fire.
37 For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,	37 For he loved your fathers, and he chose their offspring after them. And he led you away from Egypt, advancing before you with his great power,
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.	38 so as to wipe away, upon your arrival, nations, very great and stronger than you, and so as to lead you in, and to present to you their land as a possession, just as you discern in the present day.
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.	39 Therefore, know on this day and consider in your heart, that the Lord himself is God in heaven above, and on earth below, and there is no other.
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."	40 Keep his precepts and commandments, which I am teaching to you, so that it may be well with you, and with your sons after you, and so that you may remain for a long time upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.”
41 Then Moses set apart three cities in the region east of the Jordan,	41 Then Moses set aside three cities, across the Jordan toward the eastern region,
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:	42 so that anyone might flee to these if he has killed his neighbor unwillingly, who was not his enemy a day or two earlier, and so that he would be able to escape to one of these cities:
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.	43 Bezer in the wilderness, which is situated in the plains of the tribe of Ruben; and Ramoth in Gilead, which is in the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, which is in the tribe of Manasseh.
44 This is the law which Moses set before the Israelites.	44 This is the law, which Moses set forth before the sons of Israel.
45 These are the ordinances, statutes and decrees which he proclaimed to them when they had come out of Egypt	45 And these are the testimonies and ceremonies as well as judgments, which he spoke to the sons of Israel, when they departed from 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.	46 across the Jordan, in the valley opposite the shrine of Peor, in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses struck down. Accordingly, the sons of Israel, having departed from Egypt,
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:	47 possessed his land, and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the land of the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun:
48 from Aroer on the edge of the Wadi Arnon to Mount Sion (that is Hermon)	48 from Aroer, which is situated above the bank of the torrent Arnon, as far as Mount Zion, which is also called Hermon,
49 and all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Arabah Sea under the slopes of Pisgah.	49 the entire plain across the Jordan, from its eastern region, as far as the sea of the wilderness, and even to the base of Mount Pisgah.