| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 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, 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 which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which 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 has destroyed from among you all the men who followed 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 alive today, every one of you. | 4but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still 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. | 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. |
| 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.’ | 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." |
| 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? | 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 such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? | 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? |
| 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 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. |
| 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.’ | 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." |
| 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 foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. |
| 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 out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no 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 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 judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross 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“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, | 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, |
| 16lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image 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 or 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 or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. | 18or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. |
| 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. | 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 His people, an 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 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 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. |
| 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 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 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; 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 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, | 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 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 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, 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 or hear or 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 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 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, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God 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. | 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 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. | 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 God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? | 33Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of 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? | 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 Himself is God; there is none 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 instruct you; on earth He showed you 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, 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 ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, |
| 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 into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. |
| 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. | 39Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the 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 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 on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, | 41Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, |
| 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: | 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 plateau 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. |
| 44Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. | 44This is the law Moses set before 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 stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when 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. | 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 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 east of the Jordan. |
| 48from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), | 48This land extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion (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 included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. 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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