| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. | 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. |
| 2You 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. | 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. |
| 3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. | 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, |
| 4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. | 4but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still 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. | 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. |
| 6Keep them and do them, for that 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.’ | 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." |
| 7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? | 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? |
| 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? | 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? |
| 9“Only take care, and keep 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. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— | 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. |
| 10how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ | 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." |
| 11And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. | 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. |
| 12Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. | 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. |
| 13And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. | 13He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. |
| 14And the 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. | 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. |
| 15“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, | 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, |
| 16beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, | 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, |
| 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, | 17or like any animal on earth or any 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. | 18or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. |
| 19And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all 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. | 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. |
| 20But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. | 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. |
| 21Furthermore, the 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. | 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. |
| 22For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. | 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. |
| 23Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. | 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. |
| 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 father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, | 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, |
| 26I call 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. | 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. |
| 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 only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. |
| 28And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. | 28There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. |
| 29But 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. | 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. |
| 30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. | 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. |
| 31For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. | 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. |
| 32“For ask 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. | 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? |
| 33Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? | 33Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? |
| 34Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? | 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? |
| 35To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. | 35You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. |
| 36Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. | 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. |
| 37And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, | 37Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, |
| 38driving 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, | 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. |
| 39know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. | 39Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. |
| 40Therefore you shall 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 that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” | 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. |
| 41Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, | 41Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, |
| 42that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: | 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. |
| 43Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. | 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. |
| 44This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. | 44This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. |
| 45These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, | 45These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt |
| 46beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came 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. |
| 47And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; | 47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. |
| 48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon), | 48This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon), |
| 49together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. | 49and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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