1And now , O Israel , hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances , which I teach you , to do them ; that ye may live , and go in and possess the land which Jehovah , the God of your fathers, giveth you . 2Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you , neither shall ye diminish from it , that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you . 3Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor ; for all the men that followed Baal-peor , Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee . 4But ye that did cleave unto Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day . 5Behold , I have taught you statutes and ordinances , even as Jehovah my God commanded me , that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it . 6Keep therefore and do them ; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples , that shall hear all these statutes , and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people . 7For what great nation is there , that hath a god so nigh unto them , as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him ? 8And what great nation is there , that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law , which I set before you this day ?
The Consequences of Disobedience
9Only take heed to thyself , and keep thy soul diligently , lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw , and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life ; but make them known unto thy children and thy children ’s children ; 10the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb , when Jehovah said unto me , Assemble me the people , and I will make them hear my words , that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children . 11And ye came near and stood under the mountain ; and the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven , with darkness , cloud , and thick darkness . 12And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words , but ye saw no form ; only ye heard a voice . 13And he declared unto you his covenant , which he commanded you to perform , even the ten commandments ; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances , that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it .
The Greatness of God
15Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves ; for ye saw no manner of form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire; 16lest ye corrupt yourselves , and make you a graven image in the form of any figure , the likeness of male or female , 17the likeness of any beast that is on the earth , the likeness of any winged bird that flieth in the heavens , 18the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 19and 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 , thou be drawn away and worship them , and serve them , which Jehovah thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven . 20But Jehovah hath taken you , and brought you forth out of the iron furnace , out of Egypt , to be unto him a people of inheritance , as at this day . 21Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes , and sware that I should not go over the Jordan , and that I should not go in unto that good land , which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance : 22but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan ; but ye shall go over , and possess that good land. 23Take heed unto yourselves , lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God , which he made with you , and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee . 24For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God .
The Call to Remember and Teach
25When thou shalt beget children , and children ’s children , and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves , and make a graven image in the form of anything , and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God , to provoke him to anger ; 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day , that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it ; ye shall not prolong your days upon it , but shall utterly be destroyed . 27And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples , and ye shall be left few in number among the nations , whither Jehovah shall lead you away . 28And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands , wood and stone, which neither see , nor hear , nor eat, nor smell . 29But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God , and thou shalt find him , when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul . 30When thou art in tribulation , and all these things are come upon thee , in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God , and hearken unto his voice : 31for Jehovah thy God is a merciful God ; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them .
God's Mercy and Justice
32For ask now of the days that are past , which were before thee , since the day that God created man upon the earth , and from the one end of heaven unto the other , whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is , or hath been heard like it ? 33Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard , and live ? 34Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation , by trials , by signs, and by wonders , and by war , and by a mighty hand , and by an outstretched arm , and by great terrors , according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes ? 35Unto thee it was showed , that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God ; there is none else besides him . 36Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice , that he might instruct thee : and upon earth he made thee to see his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them , and brought thee out with his presence , with his great power , out of Egypt ; 38to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou , to bring thee in , to give thee their land for an inheritance , as at this day . 39Know therefore this day , and lay it to thy heart , that Jehovah he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath ; there is none else . 40And thou shalt keep 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 in the land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee , for ever .
The Cities of Refuge
41Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising ; 42that the manslayer might flee thither , that slayeth his neighbor unawares , and hated him not in time past ; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live : 43namely , Bezer in the wilderness , in the plain country, for the Reubenites ; and Ramoth in Gilead , for the Gadites ; and Golan in Bashan , for the Manassites . 44And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel : 45these are the testimonies , and the statutes , and the ordinances , which Moses spake unto the children of Israel , when they came forth out of Egypt , 46beyond the Jordan , in the valley over against Beth-peor , in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon , whom Moses and the children of Israel smote , when they came forth out of Egypt . 47And they took his land in possession , and the land of Og king of Bashan , the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising ; 48from Aroer , which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even unto mount Sion ( the same is Hermon ), 49and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward , even unto the sea of the Arabah , under the slopes of Pisgah .