| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1“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 the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. | 1Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you. |
| 2You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. | 2You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the LORD your God I am giving you. |
| 3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. | 3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor. |
| 4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you. | 4But you who have remained faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today. |
| 5“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. | 5Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. |
| 6Therefore 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.’ | 6Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, 'This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.' |
| 7“For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? | 7For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call to Him? |
| 8And 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? | 8And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?" |
| 9Only 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, | 9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don't forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don't slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren. |
| 10especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD 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.’ | 10The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 'Assemble the people before Me, and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.' |
| 11“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. | 11You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a dense, black cloud. |
| 12And the LORD 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. | 12Then the LORD spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn't see a form; there was only a voice. |
| 13So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. | 13He declared His covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which He wrote on two stone tablets. |
| 14And the LORD 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. | 14At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess." |
| 15“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, | 15For your own good, be extremely careful--because you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb-- |
| 16lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, | 16not to act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, |
| 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, | 17or the form of any beast on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, |
| 18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. | 18any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth. |
| 19And 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 the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. | 19When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars--all the array of heaven--do not be led astray to bow down and worship them. The LORD your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven. |
| 20But the LORD 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. | 20But the LORD selected you and brought you out of Egypt's iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today." |
| 21Furthermore the LORD 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 the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. | 21The LORD was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. |
| 22But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land. | 22I won't be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land. |
| 23Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you. | 23Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything 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, a jealous God." |
| 25“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 the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger, | 25When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, provoking Him to anger, |
| 26I 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. | 26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed. |
| 27And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. | 27The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the LORD your God will drive you. |
| 28And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. | 28There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. |
| 29But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. | 29But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul. |
| 30When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice | 30When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the LORD your God in later days and obey Him. |
| 31(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. | 31He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the LORD your God is a compassionate God." |
| 32“For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God 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. | 32Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created man on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of? |
| 33Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? | 33Has a people heard God's voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived? |
| 34Or did God 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 the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? | 34Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? |
| 35To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. | 35You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. |
| 36Out 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. | 36He let you hear His voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you His great fire on earth, and you heard His words from the fire. |
| 37And 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, | 37Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power, |
| 38driving 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. | 38to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place. |
| 39Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. | 39Today, recognize and keep in mind that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other. |
| 40You 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 the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” | 40Keep His statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time." |
| 41Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, | 41Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east. |
| 42that 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: | 42Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive: |
| 43Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. | 43Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites. |
| 44Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. | 44This is the law Moses gave the Israelites. |
| 45These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, | 45These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt, |
| 46on 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. | 46across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt. |
| 47And 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, | 47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east, |
| 48from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), | 48from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon) |
| 49and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah. | 49and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah. |
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