| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. | 1Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. |
| 2Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. | 2Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am delivering to you. |
| 3You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, | 3You have witnessed what the LORD did at Baal Peor, how he eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. |
| 4but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today. | 4But you who remained faithful to the LORD your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. |
| 5See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. | 5Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in the land you are about to enter and possess. |
| 6Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." | 6So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, "Indeed, this great nation is a very wise people." |
| 7What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? | 7In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the LORD our God whenever we call on him? |
| 8And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? | 8And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this whole law that I am about to share with you today? |
| 9Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. | 9Again, however, pay very careful attention, lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. |
| 10Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children." | 10You stood before the LORD your God at Horeb and he said to me, "Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children." |
| 11You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. | 11You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud. |
| 12Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. | 12Then the LORD spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything--only a voice was heard. |
| 13He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. | 13And he revealed to you the covenant he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, writing them on two stone tablets. |
| 14And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. | 14Moreover, at that same time the LORD commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. |
| 15You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, | 15Be very careful, then, because you saw no form at the time the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. |
| 16so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, | 16I say this so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, |
| 17or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, | 17any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, |
| 18or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. | 18anything that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. |
| 19And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. | 19When you look up to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars--the whole heavenly creation--you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, for the LORD your God has assigned them to all the people of the world. |
| 20But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are. | 20You, however, the LORD has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, to be his special people as you are today. |
| 21The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance. | 21But the LORD became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he is about to give you. |
| 22I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. | 22So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that good land. |
| 23Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. | 23Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he has forbidden you. |
| 24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. | 24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. |
| 25After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time--if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and arousing his anger, | 25After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind and do other evil things before the LORD your God that enrage him, |
| 26I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. | 26I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be removed from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be annihilated. |
| 27The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. | 27Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you among the nations where the LORD will drive you. |
| 28There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. | 28There you will worship gods made by human hands--wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. |
| 29But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. | 29But if you seek the LORD your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. |
| 30When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. | 30In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, if you return to the LORD your God and obey him |
| 31For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath. | 31(for he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them. |
| 32Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? | 32Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it. |
| 33Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? | 33Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? |
| 34Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? | 34Or has God ever before tried to deliver a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, signs, wonders, war, strength, power, and other very terrifying things like the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? |
| 35You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. | 35You have been taught that the LORD alone is God--there is no other besides him. |
| 36From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. | 36From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire from which you also heard his words. |
| 37Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, | 37Moreover, because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power |
| 38to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. | 38to dispossess nations greater and stronger than you and brought you here this day to give you their land as your property. |
| 39Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. | 39Today realize and carefully consider that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below--there is no other! |
| 40Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time. | 40Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you as a permanent possession. |
| 41Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, | 41Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east. |
| 42to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. | 42Anyone who accidentally killed someone without hating him at the time of the accident could flee to one of those cities and be safe. |
| 43The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites. | 43These cities are Bezer, in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites. |
| 44This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. | 44This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. |
| 45These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt | 45These are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites after he had brought them out of Egypt, |
| 46and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. | 46in the Transjordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. (It is he whom Moses and the Israelites attacked after they came out of Egypt. |
| 47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. | 47They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan--both of whom were Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east. |
| 48This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon), | 48Their territory extended from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon valley as far as Mount Siyon--that is, Hermon-- |
| 49and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah. | 49including all the Arabah of the Transjordan in the east to the sea of the Arabah, beneath the watershed of Pisgah.) |
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