DEUTERONOMY - Chapter 4

"Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which YAHWEH Elohim of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of YAHWEH your Elohim which I command you.

Your eyes have seen what YAHWEH did at Baal Peor; for YAHWEH your Elohim has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to YAHWEH your Elohim are alive today, every one of you. Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as YAHWEH my Elohim commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.

Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has Elohim so near to it, as YAHWEH our Elohim is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?

Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before YAHWEH your Elohim in Horeb, when YAHWEH said to me, 'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'

"Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And YAHWEH spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.

"So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. And YAHWEH commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

"Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when YAHWEH spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth.

"And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which YAHWEH your Elohim has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.

"But YAHWEH has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.

"Furthermore YAHWEH was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance. But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land.

Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of YAHWEH your Elohim which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which YAHWEH your Elohim has forbidden you. For YAHWEH your Elohim is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

"When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of YAHWEH your Elohim to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

"And YAHWEH will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where YAHWEH will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek YAHWEH your Elohim, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

"When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to YAHWEH your Elohim and obey His voice (for YAHWEH your Elohim is a merciful Elohim), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

"For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that Elohim created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. Did any people ever hear the voice of Elohim speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or did Elohim ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that YAHWEH your Elohim did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

"To you it was shown, that you might know that YAHWEH Himself is Elohim; there is none other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.

"And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that YAHWEH Himself is Elohim in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

"You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you for all time."

Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, on this side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt.

And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah. 

Chapter 5

And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. YAHWEH our Elohim made a covenant with us in Horeb. YAHWEH did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.

YAHWEH talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. I stood between YAHWEH and you at that time, to declare to you the word of YAHWEH; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:

'I am YAHWEH your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

'You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, YAHWEH your Elohim, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

'You shall not take the name of YAHWEH your Elohim in vain, for YAHWEH will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as YAHWEH your Elohim commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of YAHWEH your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YAHWEH your Elohim brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore YAHWEH your Elohim commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

'Honor your father and your mother, as YAHWEH your Elohim has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you.

'You shall not murder.

'You shall not commit adultery.

'You shall not steal.

'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'

"These words YAHWEH spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

"So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said: 'Surely YAHWEH our Elohim has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of YAHWEH our Elohim anymore, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? You go near and hear all that YAHWEH our Elohim may say, and tell us all that YAHWEH our Elohim says to you, and we will hear and do it.'

"Then YAHWEH heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and YAHWEH said to me: 'I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! Go and say to them, "Return to your tents."

'But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.'

"Therefore you shall be careful to do as YAHWEH your Elohim has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which YAHWEH your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

HalleluYah!