4 Now therefore hearken, O Israel,
unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them,
that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your
fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall
not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought
from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you. 3 Your
eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that
followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4 But
ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this
day. 5 Behold,
I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded
me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep
therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in
the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say,
Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For
what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD
our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And
what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous
as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only
take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the
things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all
the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10 Specially
the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD
said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my
words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live
upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11 And
ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with
fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And
the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice
of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And
he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even
ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And
the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments,
that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15 Take
ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the
fire: 16 Lest
ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any
figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 The
likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl
that flieth in the air, 18 The
likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish
that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 And
lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and
the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven
to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto
all nations under the whole heaven. 20 But
the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace,
even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this
day. 21 Furthermore
the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go
over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the
LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22 But
I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over,
and possess that good land. 23 Take
heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God,
which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of
any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For
the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. 25 When
thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained
long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image,
or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD
thy God, to provoke him to anger:
26
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon
utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess
it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And
the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in
number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. 28 And
there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which
neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But
if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if
thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When
thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in
the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient
unto his voice; 31 (For
the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy
thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. 32 For
ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day
that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven
unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing
is, or hath been heard like it? 33 Did
ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire,
as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or
hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation,
by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand,
and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that
the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto
thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there
is none else beside him. 36 Out
of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and
upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out
of the midst of the fire. 37 And
because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them,
and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 To
drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to
bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this
day. 39 Know
therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is
God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. 40 Thou
shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command
thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after
thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD
thy God giveth thee, for ever. 41 Then
Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 42 That
the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares,
and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities
he might live: 43 Namely,
Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth
in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites. 44 And
this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: 45 These
are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake
unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt. 46 On
this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon
king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children
of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: 47 And
they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of
the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 From
Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which
is Hermon, 49 And
all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain,
under the springs of Pisgah.