Deu_3:1-29; Deu_4:1-49; Deu_5:1-33; Deu_6:1-25; Deu_7:1-26

AND I prayed before the Lord at that time, saying: O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness and Thy mighty hand; for Thou art God, whose Shekinah is in the heavens above, and Thou rulest in the earth, and none can do according to Thy greatness or Thy might. Let me, I pray, go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and the place of the sanctuary. But there was displeasure with the Lord against me on your account, and He heard me not; but said to me, It is enough for, thee; add not to speak again before Me of this thing: go up to the summit of the height, and lift up thy eyes to the west, the north, the south, and the east, and see with thy eyes; for thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. But instruct Jehoshua, and fortify, and make him strong; for he shall go over before this people, and put them in possession of the land which thou wilt see. And we dwelt in the valley over against Beth Peor.

IV. And now, Israel, hear the statutes and the judgments which I am to teach you to do, that you may live, and go in to inherit the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you. Ye shall not add to the word that I command you, nor diminish from it, to keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord hath done with the worshippers of Baala Peor; for all the men who went after Baala Peor the Lord thy God hath destroyed from among you. But you who have cleaved to the fear of the Lord your God, are alive all of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you may so do in the land to which you go to possess it. And observe, and perform; for this is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations who will hear all these statutes, and say, Most surely this great people is a wise and understanding people. For what people so great who hath God so nigh unto it to hearken to their prayer in the time of their tribulation, as the Lord our God (is to us) in every time that we pray before Him? Or what people so great which hath statutes and judgments so true as all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and diligently keep thy soul, all the days of thy life, lest thou forget the things which thy eyes have seen, and they pass away from thy heart. But make them known to thy children, and to thy children’s children, (as was said) on the day when thou stoodest before the Lord thy God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, Gather the people together before Me, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days which they live on the earth, and may teach their children. And you came near, and stood at the lower parts of the mountain, and the mount burned with fire to the height of the heavens, in darkness, clouds, and shadow. And the Lord spake with you from the midst of the fire; you heard a voice of words, but you beheld no similitude; (there was) only the Voice. And He proclaimed to you His covenant which He commanded you to do, (even) the Ten Words; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments for you to perform in the land whither you pass over to possess it. But take heed to your souls; for you saw no likeness in the day that the Lord spake with you from the midst of the fire; lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you an image, or the likeness of any form, the likeness of male or female, of any beast on the ground, or of any bird which flieth in the air of the expanse of the skies, of any reptile of the earth, or any fish of the waters, under the earth; and lest thou lift up thine eyes to the heavens, and behold the sun, or moon and stars, all the host of the heavens, and go astray and worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath not appointed for any of the nations that are under the whole heavens. But you hath the Lord drawn nigh unto His service, and brought you out from the iron furnace, (even) from Mizraim, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as at this day. But towards me the Lord had displeasure, on account of your words, and He sware that I should not go over Jordan, nor enter the good land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit. For I must die in this land; I am not to pass over the Jordan; but you are to pass over, and inherit that good land. Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He hath concluded with you, and you make an image for you, the likeness of anything about which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. For the Word of the Lord thy God is a consuming fire: He is a jealous God. When thou shalt have begotten sons and daughters, and have grown old in the land, and thou become corrupt, and make an image, the likeness of anything, or do what is evil before the Lord thy God, to cause displeasure before Him; I call, this day, the heavens and earth to witness that you will surely perish from off the land whither you go over the Jordan to possess it: you will not prolong days upon it, for with destruction you will be destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the nations, and you will remain a numbered people^{[1] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} among the nations whither the Lord shall lead you. And there will you serve the peoples who are worshippers of idols, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

Yet if from thence thou seek the fear of the Lord thy God, thou shalt find, if thou seek for Him with thy heart, and with all thy soul. When thou wilt be in trouble, and all these words will have found thee, in the end of the days, and thou wilt turn unto the fear of the Lord thy God, and be obedient to His Word, because the Lord thy God is a merciful God; He will not forsake thee, nor destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them. For ask now of the ancient days that have been before thee, from the day that the Lord created man upon the earth, and (ask) from one end of the heavens to the other, if there hath been so great a thing as this, or any heard like it, whether a people have heard the voice of the Word of the Lord speaking from the midst of the fire as thou didst hear, and have lived. Or (if any have seen) like miracles which the Lord hath wrought, in being revealed to redeem to Himself a people from among a people, by miracles, signs, and wonders, and with war, and by a mighty hand and uplifted arm, and by grand visions, according to all that the Lord your God hath done for you in Mizraim before your eyes. Unto thee hath it been shown, that thou mayest know that the Lord He is God, there is none beside Him. From the heavens thou didst hear the voice of His Word, that He might teach thee, and upon earth He showed thee His great fire, and thou heardest His words from the midst of the fire. And because He loved thy fathers, and had pleasure in their children after them, He brought thee out by His Word, by His mighty power, from Mizraim, to drive out nations greater and stronger than thou from before thee, to bring thee in, to give thee their land to inherit, as at this day.

Know then, this day, and revolve it in thy heart, that the Lord He is God, whose glory is in the heavens above, and who ruleth upon the earth beneath, (and that) there is none but He; and keep His statutes and His commandments that I teach thee this day, that it may be well with thee, and thy sons after thee, and thou mayest prolong days on the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, all the days.

Then Mosheh separated three cities on the other side of the Jordan (toward) the sunrise, that the slayer may escape thither who may kill his neighbour unawares, not having hated him yesterday, or before it; and that, escaping to one of those cities, he may live: Bezer, in the wilderness, in the plain land of the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth, in Gilead, of the tribe Gad; and Golan, in Mathnan, of the tribe of Menasheh. And this is the law which Mosheh set in order before the children of Israel: these are the testimonies, statutes, and judgments, which Mosheh spake to the children of Israel, on their coming forth from Mizraim; on the other side of Jordan, in the vale over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amoraah, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Mosheh and the children of Israel smote when they had come out of Mizraim. And they took possession of his land, and the land of Og king of Mathnan, two kings of the Amoraah, who were beyond Jordan, toward the sunrise; from Aroer, upon the bank of the river Arnon to the mountain of Siaon, which is Hermon; and all the plain beyond Jordan eastward unto the sea of the plain at the declivity of the heights.

V. And Mosheh called all Israel, and said to them: Listen, Israel, to the statutes and judgments which I speak before you this day, and learn them, and keep them to do them. The Lord our God confirmed a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord confirmed not this covenant with our fathers, but with us who are here all of us living this day: word with word hath the Lord spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire, (I stood between the Word of the Lord and you, to announce to you at that time the word of the Lord; for you were afraid in presence of the fire, and went not up to the mountain,) saying: I am the Lord thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Mizraim, from the house of bondage; there shall not be with thee another god beside Me. Thou shalt not make to thee an image or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth; thou shalt not worship them or serve them: for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the guilt of fathers upon rebellious children, upon the third generation and upon the fourth of them that hate Me, when the children complete the sins of their fathers; but doing good unto (thousands of) generations of those who love Me, and keep My commandments. Thou shalt not swear by the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not acquit him who shall swear by His Name falsely. Keep the day of Shabbatha to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt work, and do all thy labour; but the seventh day is the Sabbath before the Lord thy God: thou shalt not perform any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant, thy handmaid, thy ox, thy ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy sojourner who is in thy gates; that thy servant and handmaid may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Mizraim, and that the Lord brought thee out from thence with a mighty hand and uplifted arm; therefore the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to observe the Sabbath day. Honour thy father and mother, as the Lord hath commanded, that thou mayest prolong thy days, and it may be well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee. Thou shalt not kill life, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness against thy neighbour. Nor shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, nor covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his servant, or his handmaid, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbourÕs.

These words spake the Lord with all your congregation at the mount, from the midst of the fire, the clouds and the darkness, with a great voice, and hath not ceased.^{[2] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} And He wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them to me. But it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the fire and darkness, the mount burning with fire, all the chiefs of your tribes and your elders drew near to me; and you said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed to us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard the voice of His Word out of the midst of the fire; this day have we seen that the Lord speaketh with a man,^{[3] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} and he liveth. But now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us: if we go on to hear the voice of the Word of the Lord our God, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who can hear the voice of the Word of the Living God speaking from the midst of fire (in the manner) that we have, and can live? Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou with us all that the Lord our God shall speak with thee, and we will hearken and will do. And the voice of your words was heard before the Lord when you spake with me, and the Lord said to me, The voice of the words of this people which they have spoken with thee is heard before Me; all (the words) they have spoken are right. O that they may have such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments all days, that it may be well with them and their children for ever. Go, and say to them, Return to your tents. But thou, stand here before Me, and I will tell thee all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land that I will give them to possess it. And you shall observe to do as the Lord your God hath commanded you, nor decline to the right hand or to the left. In all the way which the Lord your God hath commanded you shall ye walk, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and you may lengthen out your days in the land which you are to inherit.

VI. And this is the commandment, (these are) the statutes and the judgments, which the Lord your God hath commanded (me) to teach you to perform in the land to which you go over to possess it, that thou mayest fear before the Lord thy God, and keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command thee; thou, thy sons, and thy sons’ son, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged. And thou, Israel, shalt receive, and keep, and perform, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest increase greatly, as the Lord God of thy fathers bath said to thee, (in) the land which produceth milk and honey.

HEAR, ISRAEL;^{[4] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy substance. And these words that command thee this day shall be upon thy heart. And thou shalt deliver them to thy children, and talk of them when thou art sitting in thy house, and when thou goest in the way, and in thy lying down, and thy rising up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for tephillin^{[5] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} between thine eyes; and thou shalt write them upon the doorposts, and affix them to the lintels^{[6] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} of thy house, and upon thy gates. And it shall be, when the Lord thy God will have brought thee into the land which He covenanted to thy fathers, to Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildedst not, and houses full of goods that thou didst not fill, and cisterns hewn which thou hewedst not, vineyards and olive trees which thou didst not plant, and thou have eaten and be full; beware, lest thou forget the fear of the Lord who brought thee out from the land of Mizraim, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve before Him, and swear by His Name. You shall not go after the idols of the Gentiles, the idols of the peoples who surround you (for the Lord thy God is a jealous God, His Shekinah dwelleth in the midst of thee,) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and He destroy thee from off the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in the temptation: keeping you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes He hath commanded thee, and do what is right and well ordered before the Lord, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest enter ill and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to break all thy enemies before thee, as He hath said. When thy son shall ask thee in time to come, (mehar, to-morrow,) saying, What are the testimonies, statutes, and judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say, We were servants to Pharoh in Mizraim; and the Lord brought us out of Mizraim with a mighty hand, and put forth miracles great and sore upon Pharoh, and all the men of his house, before our eyes; and He brought us out from thence, to bring us in, to give us the land which He sware to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to perform all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, that all days it may be well with us, (and) that He may preserve us alive as at this day. And it shall be our righteousness to observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.

VII. When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land into which thou goest to possess it, and cast out many peoples from before thee, the Hittites Girgashites, Amorites, Kenaanites, Pherizites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations, greater and mightier than thou, and shall deliver them up before thee; then thou shalt smite and utterly consume them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy upon them. Neither shalt thou intermarry with them; thou shalt not give thy daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for thy son. For they will cause thy son to go astray from serving Me, and they will worship the idols of the Gentiles, and the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will destroy thee speedily. But thus shall you do to them: you shall pull down their altars, break their statues in pieces, cut down their (sacred) groves and burn their images with fire. For thou art a people consecrated before the Lord thy God, thee hath the Lord thy God chosen to be to Him a people more beloved than all peoples upon the face of the earth. Not because you were greater than any of the peoples, bath the Lord chosen and befriended you, for you were smaller than any of the peoples; but because the Lord had mercy on you, and that He would keep the covenant He sware to your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed thee from the house of bondage, out of the hand of Pharoh, the king of Mizraim. Know, then, that the Lord thy God, He is God, a faithful God, keeping covenant and mercy for them who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations, but repaying them who hate Him the good which they have done before Him in their lives, to destroy them (in the life to come ?). He delayeth not to do good to His enemies for the good they may have wrought before Him in their lives, to repay them. Thou shalt therefore observe the commandments, statutes, and judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.