bl[See ver. 33 above]

Deuteronomy 4:1-40

Moses Commands Obedience

1“And now, O Israel, listen to athe statutes and the rules
Or just decrees; also verses 5, 8, 14, 45
that I am teaching you, and do them, cthat you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
2 dYou shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. 3Your eyes have seen what the Lord did eat Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. 5See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 fKeep them and do them, for gthat will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7For hwhat great nation is there that has ia god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so jrighteous as all this law that I set before you today?

9 kOnly take care, and lkeep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. mMake them known to your children and your children’s children 10how on nthe day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, oGather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, pso that they may learn to fear qme all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11And ryou came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while sthe mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12Then tthe Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, ubut saw no form; vthere was only a voice. 13 wAnd he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, xthe Ten Commandments,
Hebrew words
zand he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
14And aathe Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

15 ab“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since acyou saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16beware adlest you act corruptly aeby making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, afthe likeness of male or female, 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see agthe sun and the moon and the stars, ahall the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20But the Lord has taken you and aibrought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, ajto be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21Furthermore, akthe Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22For I must die in this land; alI must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of amthat good land. 23 anTake care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and aomake a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24For apthe Lord your God is a consuming fire, aqa jealous God.

25When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, arif you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and asby doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26I atcall heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27And the Lord auwill scatter you among the peoples, avand you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28And awthere you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, axthat neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 ayBut from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you azin the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31For the Lord your God is baa merciful God. bbHe will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

The Lord Alone Is God

32For bcask now of 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 such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 bdDid any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, beby signs, by wonders, and bfby war, bgby a mighty hand and bhan outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35To you it was shown, bithat you might know that the Lord is God; bjthere is no other besides him. 36 bkOut of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and blyou heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37And because bmhe loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them
Hebrew his offspring after him
and brought you out of Egypt bowith his own presence, by his great power,
38 bpdriving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that bqthe Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; brthere is no other. 40 bsTherefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, btthat it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

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