“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which ^aI am teaching you to perform, so that ^byou may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 ^aYou shall not add to the word which ^bI am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3 ^aYour eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed ¹them from among you. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.

5 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments ^ajust as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 So keep and do them, ^afor that 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.’ 7 For ^awhat great nation is there that has a god ^bso near to it as is the LORD our God ^cwhenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation is there that has ^astatutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

9 “Only ^agive heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart ^ball the days of your life; but ^cmake them known to your sons and your grandsons. 10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words ^aso they may learn to ¹fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may ^bteach their children.’ 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, ^aand the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. 12 Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, ^athe Ten ¹Commandments; and ^bHe wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it.

15 “So ^awatch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any ^bform on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not ^aact corruptly and ^bmake a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of ^aany winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19 And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, ^aall the host of heaven, ^band be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of ^athe iron furnace, from Egypt, to ^bbe a people for His own possession, as today.

21 “^aNow the LORD was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For ^aI will die in this land, I shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this ^bgood land. 23 So watch yourselves, ^athat you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and ^bmake for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. 24 For the LORD your God is a ^aconsuming fire, a ^bjealous God.

25 “When you ¹become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and ^aact corruptly, and ^bmake an ²idol in the form of anything, and ^cdo that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26 I ^acall heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will ^bsurely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not ¹live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The LORD will ^ascatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you. 28 ^aThere you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, ^bwood and stone, ^cwhich neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 ^aBut from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him ^bwith all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you ^aare in distress and all these things have come upon you, ^bin the latter days ^cyou will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a ^acompassionate God; ^bHe will not fail you nor ^cdestroy you nor ^dforget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

32 “Indeed, ^aask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the ^bday that God created ¹man on the earth, and inquire ^cfrom one end of the heavens to the other. ^dHas anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 ^aHas any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34 ^aOr has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation ^bby trials, by signs and wonders and by war and ^cby a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, ¹as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; ^athere is no other besides Him. 36 ^aOut of the heavens He let you hear His voice ^bto discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 ^1aBecause He loved your fathers, therefore He chose ²their descendants after them. And He ^3bpersonally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and ^ato give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that ^athe LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 ^aSo you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am ¹giving you today, that ^bit may go well with you and with your children after you, and ^cthat you may ²live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

41 ^aThen Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the ¹east, 42 that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 ^aBezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 45 these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley ^aopposite Beth-peor, in the land of ^bSihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel ¹defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of ^aOg king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the ¹east, 48 from ^aAroer, which is on the edge of the ¹valley of Arnon, even as far as ^bMount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, ¹at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

“Now, O Israel, listen and pay attention to the statutes and the judgments (God’s legal decisions) which ^aI am teaching you to do, so that ^byou may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 ^aYou shall not add to the word which ^bI am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I am commanding you. 3 ^aYour eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor; for all the men who followed and participated in the worship of Baal of Peor, the LORD your God destroyed them from among you, Num 25:1-9 4 but you who held tightly to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.

5 “Look, I have taught you statutes and judgments ^ajust as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may do them in the land which you are entering to possess. 6 So keep and do them, ^afor that 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.’ 7 For ^awhat great nation is there that has a god ^bso near to it as the LORD our God is to us ^cwhenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation has ^astatutes and judgments so righteous (upright, just) as this whole law which I am ¹placing before you today?

9 “Only ^apay attention and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart ^ball the days of your life. ^cMake them known to your children and your grandchildren impressing these things on their mind and penetrating their heart with these truths— 10 especially the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai) , when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me and I will let them hear My words, so ^athat they may learn to fear Me with awe-filled reverence and profound respect all the days they live on the land, and so that they may ^bteach their children.’ 11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, ^aand the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. 12 Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to follow, ^1athe Ten Commandments; and ^bHe wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you the statutes and judgments, so that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.

15 “So ^apay attention and watch ¹yourselves carefully—for you did not see any ^bform of God on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire— 16 so that you do not ^aact corruptly and ^bmake for yourselves a carved or sculpted image to worship in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, or of ^aany winged bird that flies in the ¹sky, 18 the likeness of anything that crawls on the ground, or of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth. 19 And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, ^aall the host of heaven, and ^blet yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, mere created bodies which the LORD your God has allotted to serve and benefit all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of ^athe iron smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to ^bbe a people for His own possession, as you are this day.

21 “^aNow the LORD was angry with me at the waters of Meribah because of you, and He swore an oath that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For ^aI am going to die in this land, I am not going to cross the Jordan, but you shall cross over and take possession of this ^bgood land. 23 So be on your guard and watch yourselves, ^aso that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He has made with you, and ^bmake for yourselves a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a ^aconsuming fire; He is a ^1bjealous (impassioned) God demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His.

25 “When you become the father of children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, then if you ^acorrupt yourselves by ^bmaking a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything for the purpose of worship, and ^cdo evil things in the sight of the LORD your God, provoking Him to anger, 26 I ^acall heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will soon ^butterly perish from the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The LORD will ^ascatter and disperse you among the peoples (pagan nations) , and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you. 28 ^aAnd there you will serve false and foreign gods, the work of human hands, lifeless images of ^bwood and stone, ^cwhich neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell the offerings of food given to them. 29 ^aBut from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him ^bwith all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you ^aare in distress and tribulation and all these things come on you, ^bin the latter days ^cyou will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a ^amerciful and compassionate God; ^bHe will not fail you, nor ^cdestroy you, nor ^dforget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

32 “Indeed, ^aask now about the days that are past, those days which were before you, since the ^bday that God created man on the earth, and ask ^cfrom one end of the heavens to the other. ^dHas anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 ^aDid any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you heard, and still live? 34 ^aOr has any man-made god ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from within another nation ^bby trials, by signs and wonders and by war and ^cby a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 It was shown to you so that you might have personal knowledge and comprehend that the LORD is God; ^athere is no other besides Him. 36 ^aOut of the heavens He let you hear His voice ^bto discipline and admonish you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 And ^abecause He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants who followed them, and ^bbrought you from Egypt with His Presence, with His great and awesome power, 38 dispossessing and driving out from before you nations, nations that were greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, ^ato give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know and understand today, and take it to your heart, that ^athe LORD is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 ^aSo you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you today, so that ^bit may go well with you and with your children after you, and so ^cthat you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

41 ^aThen Moses set apart three cities of refuge beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun (eastward) , 42 so that someone who committed manslaughter could flee there, that is, a person who killed his neighbor unintentionally and without previously having hostility toward him, and that by escaping to one of these cities he might claim the right of asylum and save his life: 43 ^aBezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

44 This is the law which Moses placed before the sons of Israel; 45 these are the testimonies (legal provisions) and the statutes and the judgments which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan in the Valley ^aopposite Beth-peor, in the land of ^bSihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of ^aOg king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who reigned across the Jordan to the east, 48 from ^aAroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the river Arnon, as far as ^bMount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah (desert lowlands) across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) , at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.