The Fifth Book of Moses Deuteronomy

• Author: Moses
• Place Written: Plains of Moab
• When Written: c. 1470 B.C.E.

CHAPTER 1

Leaving Mount Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph,[1] between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. ³ And it came about that in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, according to all that Jehovah had given him in commandment to them; ⁴ after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth,[2] at Edrei. ⁵ Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, ⁶ “Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have dwelt long enough in this mountain. ⁷ Turn and take your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negev[3] and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸ Look, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that Jehovah swore[4] to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Chiefs and Judges Appointed

⁹ “And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear you myself alone. ¹⁰ Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and look, you are this day like the stars of the heavens for multitude. ¹¹ May Jehovah, the God of your forefathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! ¹² How can I myself alone bear the burden of you and the load of you and your strife? ¹³ Choose for yourselves men wise, understanding, and experienced from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ ¹⁴ And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ ¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. ¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the sojourner who is with him. ¹⁷ You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Disobedience at Kadesh-Barnea

¹⁹ “And we journeyed from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. ²⁰ And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God is giving us. ²¹ Look, Jehovah your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of your forefathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ ²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ ²³ The thing pleased me, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. ²⁴ And they turned and went up into the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. ²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land which Jehovah our God is giving us.’

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

²⁶ “Yet you would not go up but rebelled against the command of Jehovah your God. ²⁷ And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because Jehovah hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. ²⁸ Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the heavens. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ²⁹ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or be afraid of them. ³⁰ Jehovah your God who goes before you, he will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness, where you have seen how Jehovah your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ ³² But through all of this you did not trust in Jehovah your God, ³³ who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

³⁴ “And Jehovah heard your words and was angered, and he swore, saying, ³⁵ ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your forefathers, ³⁶ except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed Jehovah!’ ³⁷ Jehovah was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘You also shall not enter there. ³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ³⁹ Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn around and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Reeds.’[5]

Unsuccessful Conquest of Canaan

⁴¹ “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against Jehovah. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as Jehovah our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war and you regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. ⁴² And Jehovah said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ ⁴³ So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of Jehovah and presumptuously went up into the hill country. ⁴⁴ And the Amorites, who dwelt in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. ⁴⁵ And you returned and wept before Jehovah; but Jehovah did not listen to your voice, nor gave ear to you. ⁴⁶ So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

CHAPTER 2

Wanderings in the Wilderness for Thirty-Eight Years

2 “Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Reeds,[6] as Jehovah spoke to me, and we traveled for many days around Mount Seir. ² And Jehovah spoke to me, saying, ³ ‘You have gone around this mountain long enough. Now turn north. ⁴ Command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. ⁵ Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ You shall purchase food from them with money, so that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, so that you may drink. ⁷ For Jehovah your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years Jehovah your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’ ⁸ So we passed by, away from our brothers, the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber.

“And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ And Jehovah said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot for a possession.’ ¹⁰ (The Emim formerly dwelt there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² The Horites also dwelt in Seir formerly, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which Jehovah gave to them.) ¹³ ‘Now rise up and go and cross over the Wadi[7] of Zered.’ So we crossed over the Wadi of Zered. ¹⁴ Now The time it took us to walk from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi of Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation of the men of war had perished from the camp, just as Jehovah had sworn to them. ¹⁵ Moreover the hand of Jehovah was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they had perished.

¹⁶ “So it came about, when all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, ¹⁷ that Jehovah spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸ ‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And when you come near to the sons of Ammon, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly dwelt there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ²¹ a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Jehovah destroyed them before them; and they dispossessed them, and dwelt in their place, ²² as he did for the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ As for the Avvim, who dwelled in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim,[8] who came from Caphtor,[9] destroyed them and settled in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and pass through the Wadi[10] of the Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession and engage with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples who are under the heavens, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

Defeating King Sihon of Heshbon

²⁶ “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ ‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only along the road;[11] I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. ²⁸ You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink, only let me pass through on foot, ²⁹ as the sons of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God is giving to us.’ ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as he is this day. ³¹ And Jehovah said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’

³² “Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. ³³ And Jehovah our God delivered him over to us; and we defeated him, and his sons,[12] and all his people. ³⁴ And we captured all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. ³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi[13] of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Jehovah our God delivered all into our hands. ³⁷ Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, nor wherever according to all[14] Jehovah our God had commanded us.

CHAPTER 3

Conquests Recounted

3 “Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ² And Jehovah said to me, ‘Do not fear him; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’ ³ So Jehovah our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we struck him down until he had no survivor remaining. ⁴ And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city that we did not take from them: sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many rural villages.[15] ⁶ And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. ⁷ But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder.

⁸ And so we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Wadi[16] of the Arnon to Mount Hermon ⁹ (Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),[17] ¹⁰ all the cities of the plateau, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ (For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Look, his bed was a bed of iron; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits,[18] and its width four cubits according to the cubit of a man.)[19]

¹² “And so we took possession of this land at that time, from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi of Arnon, and[20] also half of the hill country of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites. ¹³ And the rest of Gilead and all Bashan of the kingdom of Og I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. All the region of Argob, even all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim. ¹⁴ Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them Bashan after his own name, Havvoth-jair,[21] to this day. ¹⁵ And I gave Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead even as far as the Wadi of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon; ¹⁷ the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth even as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah toward the sunrising.[22]

¹⁸ “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘Jehovah your God has given you this land to possess. All your sons of valor[23] shall cross over armed before your brothers, the sons of Israel. ¹⁹ Only your wives, your little children, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, ²⁰ until Jehovah gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that Jehovah your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you shall return every man to his possession, which I have given you.’ ²¹ And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God has done to these two kings: so shall Jehovah do to all the kingdoms into which you will cross over. ²² You shall not fear them, for it is Jehovah your God who fights for you.’

²³ “And I pleaded with Jehovah at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Sovereign Lord Jehovah, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand: for what god is there in the heavens or on the earth, who can do according to your works, and according to your mighty acts? ²⁵ Let me pass over, please, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But Jehovah was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And Jehovah said to me, ‘Enough from you! Never speak to me again about this matter. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. ²⁸ But instruct Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall cross over at the head of this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.’ ²⁹ So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

CHAPTER 4

A Call to Obey God’s Law

4 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgment decisions that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which Jehovah, the God of your forefathers, is giving you. ² You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you. ³ Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did in the case of the Baal of Peor; for all the men that followed Baal of Peor, Jehovah your God has annihilated from your midst. ⁴ But you who held fast to Jehovah your God are all alive today. ⁵ Look, I have taught you statutes and judgment decisions, as Jehovah my God commanded me, that you should observe them in the midst of the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ⁶ Keep them and observe 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.’ ⁷ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as Jehovah our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? ⁸ And what great nation is there, that has statutes and judgment decisions so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?

Do Not Forget God’s Acts

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 sons and your sons’ sons. ¹⁰ Remember the day that you stood before Jehovah your God at Horeb[24] when Jehovah 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 sons so.’ ¹¹ And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the heavens, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and thick gloom. ¹² And Jehovah spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard a sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³ And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the ten words,[25] and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgment decisions, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Jehovah Expects Exclusive Devotion

¹⁵ “Pay close attention diligently to your souls. Since you saw no form on the day that Jehovah spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ that you may not act corruptly by making for yourselves any carved image in the form of any figure of any likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹ And beware not to lift up your eyes to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which Jehovah your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heavens. ²⁰ But Jehovah 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. ²¹ Furthermore, Jehovah 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 which Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance. ²² For 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. ²³ Watch out for yourselves so that you do not forget the covenant of Jehovah your God that he had made with you and make for yourselves a carved image of the form of anything that Jehovah your God has forbidden you. ²⁴ For Jehovah your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

²⁵ “When you[26] become father to sons and sons’ sons, 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 eyes of Jehovah your God, so as to provoke him to anger, ²⁶ I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You shall not prolong your days on it but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷ And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations where Jehovah shall lead you. ²⁸ And there you shall serve gods, the work of the hands of man, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ²⁹ But from there you shall seek Jehovah your God, and you shall find him, when you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to Jehovah your God and listen to his voice. ³¹ For Jehovah your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your forefathers which he swore to them.

Jehovah Alone Is God

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 the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is or has been heard like it. ³³ Did any people ever hear the voice of God[27] speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? ³⁴ Or has God attempted to go and take himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ To you it was shown that you might know that Jehovah is God; there is no other besides him. ³⁶ Out of the heavens 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. ³⁷ And because he loved your forefathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them,[28] and brought you out with his presence, by his great power, out of Egypt, ³⁸ to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day. ³⁹ Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that Jehovah, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath; there is none else. ⁴⁰ And you shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your sons after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Jehovah your God is giving, forever.”

Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising, ⁴² that the manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor, and was not hating him previously; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: ⁴³ namely, Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

⁴⁴ This is the law that Moses set before the sons of Israel. ⁴⁵ These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgment decisions, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt, ⁴⁶ beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising; ⁴⁸ from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi[29] of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion[30] (that is, Hermon), ⁴⁹ and all of the Arabah beyond the Jordan, eastward, and as far as the Sea of the Arabah under the slopes of Pisgah.

CHAPTER 5

Jehovah’s Covenant at Horeb

5 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the regulations and the judicial decisions that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. ² Jehovah our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. ³ It was not with our forefathers that Jehovah made this covenant, but with us, all of us alive here today. ⁴ Jehovah spoke face to face with you in the mountain, out of the fire, ⁵ while I was standing between Jehovah and you at that time, to declare to you the word[31] of Jehovah; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up on the mountain. He said,[32]

The Ten Commandments Restated

⁶ “‘I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

⁷ “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

⁸ “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or a likeness[33] of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I Jehovah your God am a jealous God, visiting the error of fathers upon the sons, on the third and the fourth generations[34] of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but showing loyal love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ “ ‘You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain, for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

¹² “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Jehovah your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Jehovah your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male slave or your female slave, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, Jehovah your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “‘Honor your father and your mother, as Jehovah your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you.

¹⁷ “‘You shall not murder.

¹⁸ “‘Neither shall you[35] commit adultery.

¹⁹ “‘Neither shall you steal.

²⁰ “‘Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.[36]

²¹ “‘Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male slave or his female slave, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

Moses Intervened When the People Became Fearful at Mount Sinai

²² “These words Jehovah spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And it came about that as soon as you had heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘Look, Jehovah our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, yet he lives. ²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die. ²⁶ For who is there of all flesh, which has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? ²⁷ You go near and hear all that Jehovah our God shall say, and then speak to us all that Jehovah our God shall speak to you, and we shall listen, and we shall do it.’

²⁸ “And Jehovah heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, and Jehovah said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. ²⁹ Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But as for you, stand here by me, and I will speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgment decisions which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.’ ³² You shall be careful therefore to do just as Jehovah your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³³ You shall walk in all the way which Jehovah your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

CHAPTER 6

Love Jehovah Your God with All Your heart

6 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgment decisions, that Jehovah your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that you may fear Jehovah your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as Jehovah, the God of your forefathers, has promised you, in a land[37] flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel

⁴ “Hear, O Israel! Jehovah our God is one Jehovah! ⁵ You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets bands between your eyes.[38] ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Do Not Forget Jehovah Your God

¹⁰ “And it must occur that when Jehovah your God will bring you into the land that he swore to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give you, with great and good cities which you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are full, ¹² then take care lest you forget Jehovah, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³ It is Jehovah your God you shall fear; and you shall serve[39] him and by his name you shall swear. ¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you, ¹⁵ for Jehovah your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise, the anger of Jehovah your God will be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

Do Not Put Jehovah to the Test

¹⁶ “You shall not put Jehovah your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.[40] ¹⁷ You shall diligently keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ¹⁸ And you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Jehovah, so that it shall go well for you and so that you may go, and you may take possession of the good land which Jehovah swore for your forefathers, ¹⁹ by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as Jehovah has spoken.

Make Jehovah Known to the Next Generation

²⁰ “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the judgment decisions that Jehovah our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² And Jehovah showed signs and wonders, great and devastating, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. ²³ And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land which he swore to give to our forefathers. ²⁴ And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. ²⁵ And it shall be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as he has commanded us.’

CHAPTER 7

Seven Nations to Be Destroyed

7 “When Jehovah your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, ² and when Jehovah your God shall deliver them over to you, and you shall defeat them; then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them. ³ You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son. ⁴ For he will turn your son away from following me, that they may serve other gods: and the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly. ⁵ But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherah poles[41] and burn their graven images with fire. 

Why Israel Was Chosen

⁶ “For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God: Jehovah your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. ⁷ Jehovah did not set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples, ⁸ but because Jehovah loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your forefathers, Jehovah has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know, therefore, that Jehovah your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loyal love with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, ¹⁰ and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face. ¹¹ You shall, therefore, keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the judgment decisions, which I command you this day, to do them.

Obedience Leads to Success

¹² “And it shall come about, because you listen to these judgment decisions, and keep and do them, that Jehovah your God will keep with you the covenant and the loyal love which he swore to your forefathers. ¹³ And he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. ¹⁴ You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. ¹⁵ And Jehovah will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. ¹⁶ And you shall consume all the peoples that Jehovah your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

¹⁷ “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ ¹⁸ you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what Jehovah your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, ¹⁹ the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which Jehovah your God brought you out. So shall Jehovah your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ²⁰ Moreover, Jehovah your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. ²¹ You shall not be in dread of them, for Jehovah your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. ²² Jehovah your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not put an end to them quickly, lest the wild beasts of the field grow too numerous for you. ²³ But Jehovah your God will deliver them over to you and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. ²⁴ And he will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name to perish from under heaven: there shall be no man able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them. ²⁵ The graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to Jehovah your God. ²⁶ And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction[42] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

CHAPTER 8

Jehovah’s Gracious Dealings Reviewed

8 “All the commandments which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah swore to your forefathers. ² And you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test[43] you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³ And he humbled you, and let you go hungry, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your forefathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Jehovah does man live. ⁴ Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. ⁵ And you should know with your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Jehovah your God disciplines you. ⁶ And you shall keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. ⁷ For Jehovah your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; ⁹ a land where you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁰ And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Jehovah your God for the good land he has given you.

Do Not Forget Jehovah

¹¹ Beware lest you forget Jehovah your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgment decisions, and his statutes, which I command you this day; ¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built good houses, and dwelt in them, ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart be lifted up, and you forget Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵ who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions,[44] and thirsty ground where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint, ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your forefathers did not know; that he might humble you, and that he might test you, to do good for you at your end. ¹⁷ If you should say in your heart, ‘My own power and the strength of my own hand have produced this wealth for me,’ ¹⁸ But you shall remember Jehovah your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your forefathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ And it shall be, if you shall forget Jehovah your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ Like the nations that Jehovah makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God.

CHAPTER 9

Why Israel Was Given the Land

9 “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, ² a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ ³ Know, therefore, this day, that Jehovah your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you: so you shall drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as Jehovah has spoken to you.

⁴ “Do not say in your heart, after Jehovah your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Jehovah is driving them out before you. ⁵ It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Jehovah your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which Jehovah swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ⁶ Know, therefore, that Jehovah your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.

Israel Provokes Jehovah Four Times to Wrath

⁷ “Remember, do not forget how you provoked Jehovah your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Jehovah. ⁸ Even at Horeb you provoked Jehovah to wrath, and Jehovah was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. ⁹ When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ¹⁰ And Jehovah gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which Jehovah had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. ¹¹ And it came about at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Jehovah gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then Jehovah said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast metal image for themselves.’

Moses Pleads on Israel’s Behalf

¹³ “Furthermore, Jehovah spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and look, it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁴ Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ ¹⁵ So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶ And I saw, and look, you had sinned against Jehovah your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that Jehovah had commanded you. ¹⁷ And I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. ¹⁸ And then I fell down before Jehovah as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed, in doing what was evil in the eyes of Jehovah to provoke him to anger. ¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Jehovah was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but Jehovah listened to me that time also. ²⁰ And Jehovah was so angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ²¹ And I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.

²² “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked Jehovah to wrath. ²³ And when Jehovah sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God; you neither believed him nor listened to his voice. ²⁴ You have been rebellious against Jehovah from the day that I knew you.[45]

²⁵ “So I fell down before Jehovah the forty days and forty nights, which I fell down, because Jehovah had said he would destroy you. ²⁶ And I prayed to Jehovah, and said, ‘O Sovereign Lord Jehovah, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷ Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin, ²⁸ lest the land from which you brought us out say, “Because Jehovah was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.” ²⁹ Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’

CHAPTER 10

The Two Tablets Rewritten

10 “At that time Jehovah said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood. ² And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’ ³ So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ And he wrote upon the tablets according to the first writing, the ten words[46] that Jehovah spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly, and Jehovah gave them to me. ⁵ And I turned, and I came down from the mountain, and I put the tablets in the ark that I had made, and they are there, just as Jehovah commanded me.”

⁶ And the sons of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar, his son, served as a priest in place of him. ⁷ From there they journeyed to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. ⁸ At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. ⁹ Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. Jehovah is his inheritance, as Jehovah your God said to him.

¹⁰ “And I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and Jehovah listened to me that time also. Jehovah was unwilling to destroy you. ¹¹ And Jehovah said to me, ‘Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I swore to their forefathers to give to them.’

What Jehovah Requires

¹² “And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God require from you, but to fear Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways and love him, and to serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the commandments of Jehovah and his statutes which I am commanding you this day for your good? ¹⁴ Look, to Jehovah your God belong the heavens, even the heavens of the heavens, the earth, with all that is in it. ¹⁵ Only Jehovah had a delight in your forefathers to love them, and he chose their offspring after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and no longer be stiffnecked. ¹⁷ For Jehovah your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the fear-inspiring[47] God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. ¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you shall love the sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ You shall fear Jehovah your God; him you shall serve; and to him you shall cling, and by his name you shall swear. ²¹ He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done with you these great and fear-inspiring[48] things that your eyes have seen. ²² Your forefathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now Jehovah your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

CHAPTER 11

Jehovah’s Greatness

11 “And you shall love Jehovah your God, and you shall keep his obligations and his statutes and his regulations and his commandments always. ² And you know this day: for I speak not with your sons that have not known, and that have not seen the discipline of Jehovah your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm, ³ and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land, ⁴ and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to flow over them as they pursued after you, and how Jehovah has destroyed them to this day, ⁵ and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, ⁶ and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. ⁷ but your own eyes have seen all the great work of Jehovah which he did.

The Promised Land

⁸ “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land to which you are going over to possess it, ⁹ and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Jehovah swore to your forefathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ For the land which you are entering there to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot,[49] like a garden of vegetables. ¹¹ But the land which you are going over there to possess it is a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, ¹² a land which Jehovah your God cares for: the eyes of Jehovah your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.

Rewards for Obedience

¹³ “And it shall come about, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments[50] which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹⁴ that I[51] will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. ¹⁵ And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. ¹⁶ Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; ¹⁷ and then the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which Jehovah is giving you.

God’s Word to be Inculcated in Hearts

¹⁸ “You must impress these words of mine on your heart and your soul and bind them as a reminder on your hand, and they should be like a headband between your eyes. ¹⁹ You shall teach them to your sons, speaking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. ²⁰ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ so that you and your sons may live long in the land that Jehovah swore to give to your forefathers, for as long as the heavens are over the earth. ²² For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you to do, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him, ²³ then Jehovah will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. ²⁴ Every place where the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border. ²⁵ There shall be no man able to stand before you: Jehovah your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread, as he has spoken to you.

²⁶ “Look, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: ²⁷ the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you this day, ²⁸ and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known. ²⁹ And it shall come about, when Jehovah your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰ Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?[52] ³¹ For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving you, and you shall possess it, and dwell in it, ³² and you shall be careful to do all the rules and the regulations that I am setting before you this day.

CHAPTER 12

Worship at the Place God Chooses

12 “These are the statutes and judgment decisions that you shall carefully observe in the land that Jehovah, the God of your forefathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. ² You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. ³ You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherah poles[53] with fire. You shall cut down the graven images of their gods and you shall destroy their name out of that place. ⁴ You shall not do so to Jehovah your God. ⁵ But to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there for his habitation you shall seek, you shall go there, ⁶ and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the contribution of your hand that you offer, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. ⁷ And there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.

⁸ “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes, ⁹ for you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Jehovah your God is giving you. ¹⁰ But when you cross over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you dwell in safety, ¹¹ then it shall come about that to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice vow offerings which you vow to Jehovah. ¹² And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, you and your sons, and your daughters, and your male slaves, and your female slaves, and the Levite that is within your gates,[54] forasmuch as he has no portion nor inheritance with you. ¹³ Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, ¹⁴ but in the place which Jehovah shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

Slaughtering Animals for Food

¹⁵ “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates,[55] as much as you desire, according to the blessing of Jehovah your God which he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer. ¹⁶ Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. ¹⁷ You are not allowed to eat in your towns the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all of your vow offerings that you vowed and your freewill offerings or the contribution of your hand, ¹⁸ but you shall eat them before Jehovah your God in the place which Jehovah your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male slave and your female slave, and the Levite who is within your gates. And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God in all that you undertake. ¹⁹ Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.

²⁰ “When Jehovah your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat whenever your soul desires. ²¹ If the place which Jehovah your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you shall slaughter any of your herd or your flock, which Jehovah has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates whenever your soul desires. ²² Just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you shall eat of it. The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. ²³ Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the soul with the flesh. ²⁴ You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. ²⁵ You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your sons after you, when you do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah. ²⁶ But the holy things which are due from you, and your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place which Jehovah will choose, ²⁷ and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, but the flesh you may eat. ²⁸ Be careful to listen to all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your sons after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of Jehovah your God.

Warning Against Idolatry

²⁹ “When Jehovah your God cuts off from you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, ³⁰ take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ ³¹ You shall not do so toward Jehovah your God: for every detestable thing, which Jehovah hates, have they done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.[56]

³² “Every word that I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

CHAPTER 13

Shun Apostates

13 “If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For Jehovah, your God is testing you, to know whether you love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after Jehovah your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cling to him. ⁵ And that prophet or that dreamer of the dream should be put to death, because he has spoken of rebellion against Jehovah your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt and has redeemed you from the house of slaves, to turn you from the way in which Jehovah your God has commanded you to walk; and you must clear out what is evil from your midst.

⁶ “If your brother, the son of your mother,[57] or your son or your daughter or the wife of your bosom or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your forefathers have known, ⁷ some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth, ⁸ you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. ⁹ But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹ And all Israel will hear and become afraid, and they shall not do any such wickedness as this in your midst.

¹² “If you shall hear it said in one of your cities, which Jehovah your God is giving you to dwell there, ¹³ that certain men sons of worthlessness[58] have gone out from among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, ¹⁴ then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And look, if it be true and certain that such a detestable thing has been done in the midst of you, ¹⁵ you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶ And then you shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be built again. ¹⁷ And your hand shall take nothing that was made sacred by ban; so that Jehovah may turn from his burning anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your forefathers, ¹⁸ if you shall listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah your God.

CHAPTER 14

Clean and Unclean Animals

14 “You are the sons of Jehovah your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. ² For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God, and Jehovah has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are on the face of the earth.

³ “You shall not eat any detestable thing. ⁴ These are the beasts which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ Every beast that parts the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews[59] the cud, among the beasts, you may eat. ⁷ However, you must not eat the following beasts that chew the cud or that have split hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not have split hooves. They are unclean for you. ⁸ And the pig because it has a split hoof but does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat their flesh or touch their carcasses.

⁹ “These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat. ¹⁰ And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹ “You may eat all clean birds. ¹² But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the osprey, the black vulture, ¹³ and the red kite[60] and the black kite and the glede according to its kind; ¹⁴ and every raven in its kind, ¹⁵ and the ostrich and the owl[61] and the gull and the falcon according to its kind; ¹⁶ the little owl, the long-eared owl, the swan,[62] ¹⁷ and the pelican and the vulture and the cormorant, ¹⁸ and the stork and the heron according to its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat. ¹⁹ And every winged swarming creature[63] is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. ²⁰ Any clean flying creature you may eat.

²¹ “You shall not eat anything that dies of itself.[64] You may give it to the sojourner who is inside your gates, and he may eat it, or it may be sold to a foreigner. For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²² “You shall surely give a tenth[65] all the produce from your seed,[66] which comes out of the field every year. ²³ You shall eat in the presence of Jehovah your God, at the place where he[67] chooses to make his name dwell there, the tenth part of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear Jehovah your God always. ²⁴ And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tenth part, since the place where Jehovah your God chooses to set his name is too far away from you when Jehovah your God blesses you, ²⁵ then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that Jehovah your God chooses. ²⁶ You may spend the money for whatever your soul[68] desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your soul asks of you;[69] and there you shall eat in the presence of Jehovah your God and rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ And the Levite that is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

²⁸ “At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tenth part of your produce in the same year and shall lay it up within your gates. ²⁹ And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow that are within your gates shall come and shall eat and be satisfied; so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

CHAPTER 15

The Sabbath Year – Debt Canceled Every Seventh Year

15 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. ² And this is the manner of the release: every owner of a debt of his hand shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because Jehovah’s release has been proclaimed. ³ Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. ⁴ However, there will be no poor among you, since Jehovah will surely bless you in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, ⁵ if only you will closely listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe carefully to do all this commandment which I command you this day. ⁶ For Jehovah your God will bless you, as he promised you: and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

⁷ “If there is among you a poor man, one of your brothers, within any of your gates[70] in your land which Jehovah your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ But you shall surely open your hand to him and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he is in want of. ⁹ Beware that there be not a wicked[71] thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is near; and your eye is evil[72] toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cries to Jehovah against you, and it will be a sin on you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because for this thing Jehovah your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to do. ¹¹ For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, ‘You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

¹² “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As Jehovah your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God redeemed you; therefore, I command you this word today. ¹⁶ But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, because for double the wage of a hired worker he served you six years. So, Jehovah your God will bless you in all that you do.

¹⁹ “All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall sanctify to Jehovah your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰ You shall eat it before Jehovah your God year by year in the place which Jehovah shall choose you and your household. ²¹ But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Jehovah your God. ²² You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

CHAPTER 16

The Passover

16 “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to Jehovah your God, for in the month of Abib Jehovah your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² And you shall sacrifice the Passover to Jehovah your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that Jehovah will choose, to make his name dwell there. ³ You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste, that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ⁴ And there shall be no leaven seen with you in all your territory seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice in the evening on the first day, remain all night until the morning. ⁵ You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates,[73] which Jehovah your God is giving you, ⁶ but at the place which Jehovah your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in it, there you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening, as the sun sets, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt. ⁷ And you shall cook and eat it in the place which Jehovah your God shall choose: and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be an assembly[74] for Jehovah your God; you shall not do work.

The Feast of Weeks

⁹ “Seven weeks you should count for yourself. From when the sickle is first put to the standing grain you will start to count seven weeks. ¹⁰ And you shall keep the feast of weeks to Jehovah your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give, just as Jehovah your God blesses you. ¹¹ And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male slave and your female slave, the Levite who is within your gates, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that Jehovah your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. ¹² You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Booths

¹³ “You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. ¹⁴ And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male slave and your female slave, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. ¹⁵ For seven days you shall keep the feast to Jehovah your God at the place that Jehovah shall choose, because Jehovah your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

¹⁶ “Three times a year all your males shall appear before Jehovah your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths, and hey shall not appear before Jehovah empty-handed. ¹⁷ Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Jehovah your God that he has given you.

Appointing Judges

¹⁸ “Judges and officers you shall appoint in all your gates, which Jehovah your God is giving you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that Jehovah your God is giving you.

Forbidden Objects of Worship

²¹ “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah[75] of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God, which you shall make for yourself. ²² And you shall not set up a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates.

CHAPTER 17

Sacrifices to be Without Defect

17 “You shall not sacrifice to Jehovah your God an ox or a sheep in which has a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is a detestable thing to Jehovah your God.

Dealing with Apostasy

² “If there is found in your midst, in any of your gates, which Jehovah your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of Jehovah your God, by transgressing his covenant, ³ and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the army of the heavens, which I have not commanded, ⁴ and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and look, if it is true and the thing is certain that such a detestable thing has been done in Israel, ⁵ then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. ⁶ On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses he who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness. ⁷ The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Difficult Judgments

⁸ “If there arise a matter too hard for your judgment decision, between blood and blood, between legal claim and legal claim, and between violent deed and violent deed,[76] being matters of controversy within your gates; then you shall arise and get you up to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose. ⁹ And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they will declare to you the verdict in the case. ¹⁰ Then you shall do in accordance with the word that they will hand down to you from that place which Jehovah will choose; and you shall be careful to do according to all that they instruct you. ¹¹ In accordance with the law that they will point out to you, and according to the judgment decision that they will say to you, you should do. You must not turn aside from the word that they will hand down to you, to the right or to the left. ¹² And the man who acts presumptuously in not listening to the priest who is standing to minister there to Jehovah your God or to the judge, that man must die; and you shall purge what is bad from Israel. ¹³ And all the people shall hear and be afraid, and they will not act presumptuously anymore.

Guidelines for a Future King

¹⁴ “When you come to the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you whom Jehovah your God shall choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor make the people go back to Egypt in order to multiply horses; since Jehovah has said to you, ‘you shall never go back again by this way.’ ¹⁷ He shall not multiply wives for himself, that his heart may not turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

¹⁸ And it shall come about that when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll before the Levitical priests.[77] ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons, in the midst of Israel.

CHAPTER 18

Portion of the Priests and Levites

18 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat Jehovah’s offerings made by fire as his[78] inheritance. ² They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; Jehovah is their inheritance, as he promised them.

³ And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. ⁴ The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. ⁵ For Jehovah[79] your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of Jehovah, him and his sons forever.

⁶ And if a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which Jehovah shall choose, ⁷ then he shall minister in the name of Jehovah his God, as all his brothers, the Levites, who stand there before Jehovah. ⁸ They shall have equal portions to eat, besides the things he sells according to the forefathers.

Spiritism Forbidden

⁹ “When you enter into the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, you shall not learn to do according to the detestable things of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹² For whoever does these things is detestable to Jehovah; and because of these detestable things Jehovah your God will drive them out before you. ¹³ You shall prove yourself blameless before Jehovah your God. ¹⁴ For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice magic[80] and divination, but as for you, Jehovah your God has not allowed you to do this.

A Prophet Like Moses

¹⁵ “Jehovah your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers to him you shall listen. ¹⁶ This is according to all that you asked of Jehovah your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire anymore, so that I do not die.’ ¹⁷ Then Jehovah said to me, ‘They have rightly said in all that they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. ¹⁹ And it shall come about that the man who will not listen to my words that he will speak in my name, I shall myself require an account from him. ²⁰ But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ ²¹ You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Jehovah has not spoken?’ ²² When a prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that Jehovah has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

CHAPTER 19

Bloodguilt and Cities of Refuge

19 “When Jehovah your God shall cut off[81] the nations whose land Jehovah your God is giving you and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and their houses, ² you shall set apart three cities in the midst of your land which Jehovah your God is giving you to possess. ³ You shall prepare the roads for yourselves, and you shall divide the territory of the land which Jehovah your God shall give you as a possession into three parts and prepare the roads so that any manslayer may flee there.

⁴ “Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there in order to live: When he strikes[82] his fellow man unintentionally and he did not previously hate him; ⁵ as when a man goes with his fellow man into the forest to cut wood and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his fellow man and he dies, the manslayer shall flee to one of these cities and live. ⁶ lest the avenger of blood[83] pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot,[84] and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he did not previously hate his fellow man. ⁷ Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall set apart three cities.’ ⁸ If Jehovah your God enlarges your territory as he swore to your forefathers and he has given you all the land that he promised to give to your forefathers, ⁹ if you shall faithfully observe all this commandment, which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then you shall add three cities more for you, besides these three, ¹⁰ that no innocent blood may be spilled in the midst of your land that Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance, and no blood[85] has to be upon you.

¹¹ “But if a man hates his fellowman and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes his soul fatally and he dies, and the man has fled to one of these cities, ¹² the elders of his city shall then send and take him from there, and they must deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he must die. ¹³ Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Boundary Markers not to Be Moved

¹⁴ “You shall not move the boundary marks of your neighbor, when the ancestors will have set the boundaries in your inheritance that you will inherit in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you to take possession of it.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

¹⁵ “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any error or any sin, in the case of any sin that he may commit. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses the matter shall be established. ¹⁶ If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who shall be in office in those days. ¹⁸ The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ²⁰ And the rest shall hear and fear and shall never again commit any such evil in your midst. ²¹ Your eye shall not pity. It shall be soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

CHAPTER 20

Laws of Warfare

20 “When you go to war against your enemies and you see their horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for Jehovah your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt is with you. ² When you are about to go into battle, the priest should approach and speak to the people. ³ He shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are drawing near for battle against your enemies this day: let not your heart be faint. You shall not be afraid, you shall not be terrified, you shall not tremble because of them, ⁴ for Jehovah your God is he that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to deliver you.’ ⁵ And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that hath built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. ⁶ And who is the man that has planted a vineyard, and has not used the fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit ⁷ And who is the man that has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.’ ⁸ And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, ‘Who is the man that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return to his house, lest he cause the heart of his brothers to melt as his own heart.’ ⁹ And it shall occur that when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of the armies at the head of the people.[86]

¹⁰ “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. ¹¹ and it shall be, if it answers you with peace, and has opened to you, then it has come to pass, all the people who are found in it are forced labor to you and shall serve you. ¹² And if it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it. ¹³ And when Jehovah your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male there with the edge of the sword, ¹⁴ but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which Jehovah your God has given you. ¹⁵ That is the way you shall do to all the cities very far away from you, which are not of the cities of these nations here. ¹⁶ But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes.[87] ¹⁷ But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, just as Jehovah your God has commanded you, ¹⁸ so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against Jehovah your God.

¹⁹ “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? ²⁰ Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you shall destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.

CHAPTER 21

Atonement for Unsolved Murders

21 “If someone is found slain in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has struck him, ² then your elders and your judges shall go out, and they shall measure the distance to the cities which are round the slain one. ³ And it shall be that the city, which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked, and which has not pulled in a yoke. ⁴ And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, because they are the ones Jehovah your God has chosen to minister to him and to bless in the name of Jehovah and at whose mouth every dispute and assault[88] shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. ⁸ Forgive, O Jehovah, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not let guilt for innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. ⁹ So you shall remove the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

Marrying Female Captives

¹⁰ “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and Jehovah your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, ¹¹ and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, ¹² then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. ¹³ She shall also remove the garments of her captivity and shall remain in your house and mourn her father and mother a month of days;[89] and after that you may go into her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever to her own soul;[90] but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not enslave her,[91] because you have humbled her.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

¹⁵ “If a man comes to have two wives, the one loved and the other hated,[92] and they, the loved one and the hated[93] one, have borne sons to him, and the firstborn son has come to be of the hated[94] one, ¹⁶ then on the day that he gives his inheritance to his sons, he will not be allowed to treat the son of the loved one as his firstborn at the expense of the son of the hated [95] one, the firstborn, ¹⁷ but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated,[96] by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

A Stubborn Son

¹⁸ “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, he will not listen to them, ¹⁹ then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, ²⁰ and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ ²¹ Then all the men of the city[97] shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed

²² “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³ his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed of God;[98] you shall not defile your land that Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance.

CHAPTER 22

Respect for Neighbors’ Animals

22 “You shall not see your brother’s ox, or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them:[99] you shall surely bring them back to your brother. ² And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it, and you shall restore it to him. ³ And so you shall do with his donkey; and so you shall do with his garment; and so you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself.[100] ⁴ You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them:[101] you shall surely help him to lift them up again.

Wearing Garments of the Opposite Sex

⁵ “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for whoever does these things is a detestable to Jehovah your God.

Kindness to Animals

⁶ “If a bird’s nest happens to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground with young ones or eggs, and the mother is sitting upon the young ones or the eggs, you shall not take the mother along with the young. ⁷ You shall surely let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself; in order that it may go well with you, and you may prolong your days.

Parapet for the Roof

⁸ “If you build a new house, you must also make a parapet for your roof, that you may not place blood[102] upon your house because of someone falling from it.

Improper Mixtures

⁹ “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield become holy,[103] the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard. ¹⁰ You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. ¹¹ You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.

Tassels on Clothing

¹² “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.

Laws on Sexual Immorality

¹³ “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her, ¹⁴ and he accuses her of shameful deeds and brings a bad name upon her and has said, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, and I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ ¹⁵ then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. ¹⁶ And then the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he hates her, ¹⁷ and look, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. ¹⁸ Then the elders of that city shall take the man and discipline him, ¹⁹ and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver[104] and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. ²⁰ But if this thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, ²¹ then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by committing prostitution in the house of her father. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

²² “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman, so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

²³ “If there is a girl who is a virgin betrothed to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her,[105] ²⁴ then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the young woman, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

²⁵ “But if in the field a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her,[106] then only the man who lay with her shall die. ²⁶ But you shall do nothing to the young woman. The young woman has no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises up against his fellow man and murders him, a soul, so it is with this case, ²⁷ for he found her in the field, the betrothed young woman cried, and there was no one to save her.

²⁸ “If a man finds a virgin who is not engaged and seizes her and lies with her[107] and they are discovered, ²⁹ then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver,[108] and she shall become his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.[109]

³⁰ “No man shall take his father’s wife, that he may not uncover the skirt of his father.[110]

CHAPTER 23

Persons Excluded from the Assembly

23 “No man who has been castrated by having his testicles crushed or who has had his male organ cut off shall come into the assembly[111] of Jehovah. 

² “No illegitimate son shall come into the assembly of Jehovah. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants shall come into the assembly of Jehovah. 

³ “No Ammonite or Moabite shall come into the assembly of Jehovah. Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall ever come into the assembly of Jehovah, ⁴ because they did not come to meet you with bread and water when you were on the way going out of Egypt, and because they hired[112] against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-Naharaim[113] to curse you. ⁵ But Jehovah your God would not listen to Balaam; instead, Jehovah your God changed the curse into a blessing for you, because Jehovah your God loved you. ⁶ You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land. ⁸ The sons of the third generation who are born to them shall enter the assembly of Jehovah.

Cleanliness of the Camp

⁹ “If you go out to encamp against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.

¹⁰ If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come within the camp. ¹¹ but it shall be, when evening falls, he shall bathe himself in water; and at the setting of the sun, he shall come into the midst of the camp.

¹² “You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out there. ¹³ and you shall have a peg among your tools,[114] and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ Because Jehovah your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see in you the nakedness of a thing[115] and turn away from you.

Fugitive Slaves

¹⁵ “You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your gates,[116] wherever it pleases him. You shall not oppress him.

Prostitution Forbidden

¹⁷ “None of the daughters of Israel shall become a temple prostitute, neither shall anyone of the sons of Israel become a temple prostitute.[117] ¹⁸ You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute or the wages of a dog[118] into the house of Jehovah your God for any vow, because both of them are something detestable to Jehovah your God.

Interest and Vows

¹⁹ “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that Jehovah your God may bless you in every undertaking of yours on the land to which you are going so as to take possession of it.

²¹ “If you make a vow to Jehovah your God, you shall not delay about paying it. For Jehovah, your God will surely require it of you, and it shall be a sin for you. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, you shall not be guilty of sin. ²³ What has passed your lips you shall be careful to do for you have vowed a voluntary offering to Jehovah your God what you have promised with your mouth.

What Those Passing by are Allowed to Eat

²⁴ “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you satisfy your soul, but you shall not put any in your basket.[119]

²⁵ “When you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.

CHAPTER 24

Laws Concerning Marriage and Divorce

24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if she shall find no favor in his eyes because he has found the nakedness of a thing[120] about her, he shall write out a certificate of divorce for her and put it in her hand and dismiss her from his house, ² and she goes from his house, and she goes out and becomes another man’s wife, ³ and if the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and put it in her hand and dismissed her from his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, ⁴ then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination[121] before Jehovah. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance.

⁵ “When a man takes a new wife he shall not go out with the army, and he shall not be obligated with any duty; he shall remain exempt for one year and stay at home and bring joy to his wife whom he has taken.

Respect for Life

⁶ “No man shall[122] seize a hand mill or its upper millstone as a pledge, for that would be a soul that he is seizing as a pledge.

⁷ “If a man is caught kidnapping a soul of his brothers of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief will die; so you shall purge the evil from among you.

⁸ “Take care, in a case of leprous[123] disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. ⁹ Remember what Jehovah your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt.

Showing Concern for the Poor

¹⁰ “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to take his pledge. ¹¹ You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. ¹² And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. ¹³ You shall return the pledge to him as soon as the sun sets, and he must go to bed in his garment, and he must bless you; and it will mean righteousness for you before Jehovah your God.

¹⁴ “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your gates. ¹⁵ On his day you shall give him his wages that the sun shall not go down on it, for he is poor and is lifting up his soul to his wages;[124] that he may not cry out to Jehovah against you, and it must become sin on your part.

¹⁶ “The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, neither shall sons be put to death[125] for the fathers; every man shall be put to death[126] for his own sin.

¹⁷ “You shall not pervert the justice due a sojourner[127] or the fatherless boy,[128] nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. ¹⁸ But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that Jehovah your God redeemed you from there; therefore, I am commanding you to do this.

Rules on Gleaning

¹⁹ “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless boy, and for the widow, in order that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless boy, and the widow.

²¹ “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless boy, and for the widow. ²² You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore, I command you to do this.

CHAPTER 25

Flogging Regulated

25 “If there is a dispute between men and they have presented themselves for the judgment, and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. ² And it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten,[129] the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten in his presence, with the number of strokes according to the wickedness of his deed. ³ Forty strokes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more strokes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.

Do not Muzzle a Threshing Bull

⁴ “You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.

Brother-In-Law Marriage

⁵ “If brothers dwell together and one of them dies without having a son, the wife of the dead man should not marry a stranger outside the family. Her husband’s brother  should go to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.[130] ⁶ It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. ⁷ And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

Improper Grabbing in Fights

¹¹ “If a man and his brother struggle with each other and the wife of the one man comes near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him and she puts out her hand and she seizes his genitals, ¹² then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall have no pity.

Honest Weights and Measures

¹³ “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. ¹⁴ You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. ¹⁵ A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you. ¹⁶ For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly, is something detestable to Jehovah your God.

Revenge on the Amalekites

¹⁷ “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, ¹⁸ how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore it shall come about when Jehovah your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which Jehovah your God gives you as an inheritance to possess it, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

CHAPTER 26

Offerings of First Fruits and Tithes

26 “And it shall be, when you come into the land  that Jehovah your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, ² that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Jehovah your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place where Jehovah your God shall choose, to make his name to dwell there. ³ And you shall come to the priest who is in office in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare this day to Jehovah your God,[131] that I have entered the land which Jehovah swore to our fathers to give us. ⁴ Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of Jehovah your God. 

⁵ “And you shall make response before Jehovah your God, ‘My father was a perishing Aramean.[132] And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ⁶ And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us and laid on us hard labor. ⁷ Then we cried to Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression; ⁸ and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; ⁹ and he has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which you, O Jehovah have given me.’ And you shall set it down before Jehovah your God, and worship before Jehovah your God; ¹¹ and you shall rejoice in all the good that Jehovah your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is in your midst.

A Second Tithe

¹² “When you finish tithing the entire tenth of your produce in the third year, the year of the tenth, you will give it[133] to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless boy, and the widow, and they will eat their fill within your gates. ¹³ You shall say before Jehovah your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the sojourner, the fatherless boy and the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of your commandments. ¹⁴ I have not eaten of it while mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of Jehovah my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me. ¹⁵ Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Israel, a Special Property to Jehovah

¹⁶ “This day Jehovah your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ You have declared today that Jehovah is your God, and that you would walk in his ways and keep his statutes, his commandments and his ordinances, and listen to his voice. ¹⁸ And Jehovah has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments; ¹⁹ and that he will set you[134] high above all nations which he has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a holy[135] people to Jehovah your God, as he has spoken.”

CHAPTER 27

The Law to Be Written on Stones

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. ² And on the day, you cross over the Jordan to the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and coat them with plaster. ³ And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Jehovah, the God of your fathers, has spoken to[136] you. ⁴ And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal,[137] and you shall cover them with plaster. ⁵ And there you shall build an altar to Jehovah your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them; ⁶ you shall build an altar to Jehovah your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to Jehovah your God, ⁷ and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God. ⁸ And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

Curses from Mount Ebal

⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of Jehovah your God. ¹⁰ “You shall listen to the voice of Jehovah your God and keep his commandments and his regulations which I command you today.”

At Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim

¹¹ And Moses charged the people on that day, saying, ¹² “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴ And the Levites shall answer, and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice:

The Curses Detailed

¹⁵ “‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved image or a cast metal image, a thing detestable to Jehovah, the workmanship of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer, saying, ‘Amen!’

¹⁶ “‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

¹⁷ “‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁸ “‘Cursed is he who misleads[138] a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁹ “‘Cursed is he who distorts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰ “‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered the skirt of his father.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²¹ “‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²² “‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²³ “‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴ “‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁵ “‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to strike down a soul of innocent blood.’[139] And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁶ ‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

CHAPTER 28

Blessings for Obedience

28 “And it shall occur, if you shall diligently listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to be careful to do all his commandments that I am commanding you this day, Jehovah your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth ² And all these blessings shall come upon you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Jehovah your God. ³ Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. ⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ⁵ Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ⁶ Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷ “Jehovah will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. ⁸ “Jehovah will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you. ⁹ Jehovah will establish you as a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Jehovah your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Jehovah, and they shall be afraid of you. ¹¹ And Jehovah will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that Jehovah swore to your forefathers to give you. ¹² Jehovah will open for you his good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³ And Jehovah will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them, ¹⁴ and you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵ “But it shall occur, if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you, and overtake you. ¹⁶ Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the field. ¹⁷ Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ¹⁸ Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ¹⁹ Cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰ “Jehovah will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. ²¹ Jehovah will cause the pestilence to cling to you until he has exterminated you from off the ground to which you are going to take possession of it. ²² Jehovah will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation, and fiery heat, and with the sword[140] and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. ²³ And the skies that are over your head shall be copper, and the earth under you shall be iron. ²⁴ Jehovah will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from the heavens it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

²⁵ Jehovah shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them; and you shall be an object of horror to all the earth’s kingdoms. ²⁶ And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷ Jehovah will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, from which you cannot be healed. ²⁸ Jehovah will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart, ²⁹ and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to deliver you. ³⁰ You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall rape her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not begin to use it. ³¹ Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to deliver you. ³² Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but your hands[141] will be powerless. ³³ A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always, ³⁴ You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you shall see. ³⁵ Jehovah will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 

³⁶ “Jehovah will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your forefathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword[142] among all the peoples where Jehovah shall lead you away. ³⁸ You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. ³⁹ You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. ⁴⁰ You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. ⁴¹ You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. ⁴² All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the swarms of insects[143] possess. ⁴³ The sojourner who is in your midst shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵ “And all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not listen the voice of Jehovah your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. ⁴⁶ And they shall be a sign and a wonder on you and your offspring forever. ⁴⁷ Because you did not serve Jehovah your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, ⁴⁸ therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Jehovah will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. ⁴⁹ Jehovah will raise up against you a distant nation, from the end of the earth; as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a nation fierce in appearance that will show no regard to the old or favor to the young. ⁵¹ And it shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 

⁵² And it shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which Jehovah your God has given you. ⁵³ And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom Jehovah your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. ⁵⁴ The man who is very delicate and sensitive among you, his eye will be evil toward his brother and his cherished wife and the remainder of his sons whom he has remaining, ⁵⁵ so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his sons that he will eat, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates. ⁵⁶ And the delicate and sensitive woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, her eye will be evil toward her husband and her son and her daughter, ⁵⁷ and toward the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and toward the sons she bears, for she will secretly eat them because of the severity of the siege and the distress your enemy inflicts on your gates.

⁵⁸ “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this glorious and awesome name, Jehovah your God, ⁵⁹ then Jehovah will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your offspring, great and lasting plagues, and miserable and long-lasting sicknesses. ⁶⁰ And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. ⁶¹ Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, Jehovah will bring on you until you are destroyed. ⁶² And you will be very few people, although you have become like the stars of the heavens for multitude, because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God. ⁶³ And just as Jehovah once delighted to make you prosper and to multiply you, so Jehovah will delight to destroy you and to annihilate you; and you shall be plucked from the land that you are entering to possess it. 

⁶⁴ “And Jehovah will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your forefathers have known. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there Jehovah will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. ⁶⁶ And your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day and shall have no assurance of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it was evening!’ and in the evening you shall say ‘If only it was morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. ⁶⁸ And Jehovah will bring you back to Egypt by ships by the way about which I have said to you, ‘You will never see it again,’ and you will have to sell yourselves there to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

CHAPTER 29

The Covenant for Israel at Moab

29 These are the words of the covenant which Jehovah commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.[144]

² And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that Jehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, ³ the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. ⁴ But to this day Jehovah has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. ⁵ And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your garments have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. ⁶ You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Jehovah your God. ⁷ And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. ⁸ And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. ⁹ Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

¹⁰ “You stand this day, all of you, before Jehovah your God: your heads, your tribes,[145] your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, ¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in the midst of your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, ¹² that you may enter into the covenant with Jehovah your God, and into his oath which Jehovah your God is making with you this day, ¹³ that he may establish you this day as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Warning Against Disobedience

¹⁴ “Now it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this oath,[146] ¹⁵ but it is with those standing here with us this day before Jehovah our God and with those who are not here with us this day. 

¹⁶ for you yourselves know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. ¹⁷ And you have seen their detestable things, their disgusting idols[147] of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. ¹⁸ Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or family or tribe whose heart is turning away today from Jehovah our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood,[148] ¹⁹ And it must occur that when someone has heard the words of this curse, and he has blessed himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, although I shall walk in the stubbornness of my heart,’ in order to destroy the well-watered land with the dry, ²⁰ Jehovah shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of Jehovah and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book shall settle upon him, and Jehovah will blot out his name from under heaven. ²¹ And Jehovah will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. ²² And the next generation to come, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of the land and the diseases with which Jehovah has afflicted on it, will say, ²³ ‘All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger and in his wrath.’ ²⁴ All the nations will say, ‘Why has Jehovah done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ ²⁵ Then men will say, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their forefathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. ²⁷ Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses written in this book, ²⁸ and Jehovah uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’

²⁹ “The secret things belong to Jehovah our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our sons[149] forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

CHAPTER 30

Returning to Jehovah

30 ““And it must occur that when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where Jehovah your God has driven you, ² and shall return to Jehovah your God, and shall listen to his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your sons, with all your heart, and with all your soul, ³ that then Jehovah your God will restore you from your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, where Jehovah your God has scattered you. ⁴ If your outcasts are at the extremity of the heavens, from there Jehovah your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. ⁵ And Jehovah your God will bring you into the land which your forefathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good and multiply you above your forefathers. ⁶ And Jehovah your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live. ⁷ And Jehovah your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ And you shall return and listen to the voice of Jehovah and do all his commandments which I command you this day. ⁹ And Jehovah your God will make you prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your belly and the fruit of your cattle and the fruitage of your ground, for Jehovah will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your forefathers, ¹⁰ if you shall listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.

Jehovah’s Commands Not Too Difficult

¹¹ “For this commandment which I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Choose of Life or Death

¹⁵ “See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil. ¹⁶ In that I command you this day[150] to love Jehovah your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgment decisions, that you may live and multiply, and that Jehovah your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you will not listen but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. ¹⁹ I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; and you must choose life so that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰ by loving Jehovah your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that Jehovah swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

CHAPTER 31

Moses’ Last Counsel Before His Death

31 So Moses went and spoke these words[151] to all Israel. ² And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to go out and come in, and Jehovah has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³ Jehovah your God is the one crossing before you. He himself will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will go over ahead of you, just as Jehovah has spoken. ⁴ And Jehovah will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵ And Jehovah will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is Jehovah your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷ Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people[152] into the land which Jehovah has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. ⁸ Jehovah is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Public Reading of the Law

⁹ So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before Jehovah your God at the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before of all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Assemble the people, the men, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourner within your gates, that they may hear and learn to fear Jehovah your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their sons, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Jehovah your God, as long as you live in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess it.”

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴ And Jehovah said to Moses, “Look, the days approach when you must die ; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ And Jehovah appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the tent. 

Israel’s Rebelliousness Foretold

¹⁶ And Jehovah said to Moses, “Look, you are about to lie down with your forefathers. Then this people will rise and play the prostitute after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil which they shall have done, because they have turned to other gods.

A Song to Teach Israel

¹⁹ “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. ²⁰ For when I shall have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their forefathers, and they shall have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. ²¹ And it must occur that when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall also testify before them as a witness, because it should not be forgotten out of the mouth of their offspring, for I well know their inclination that they are developing today before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”[153] ²² So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua Appointed

²³ And Jehovah commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

²⁴ It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, ²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying, ²⁶ “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant[154] of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know your rebelliousness and your stiff neck. If while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against Jehovah, how much more so after my death! ²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the eyes of Jehovah, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

³⁰ So Moses spoke into the ears of the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete:

CHAPTER 32

The Song of Moses

32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
² My instruction will drip as the rain,
    my words will trickle as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
    and like showers upon the herb.
³ For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah;
    ascribe greatness to our God!

Jehovah, the Rock

⁴ “The Rock, his work is perfect,[155]
    for all his ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
    Righteous and upright is he.
⁵ They have[156] dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children because of their blemish;[157]
    they are a crooked and twisted generation.
⁶ Do you thus repay Jehovah,
    you foolish and unwise people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
    who made you and established you?
⁷ Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you.
⁸ When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,[158]
    when he separated the sons of Adam,[159]
he set the boundaries of the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.[160]
⁹ For Jehovah’s portion is[161] his people,
    Jacob is his allotted inheritance.

¹⁰ “He found him[162] in a desert land,
    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
    he kept him as the apple of his eye.
¹¹ Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
    that flutters over its young,
he spread his wings, catching them,
    he carried them on his pinions,
¹² Jehovah alone guided him,
    and there was no foreign god with him.
¹³ He made him ride on the high places of the land,
    and he ate[163] the produce of the field,
and he made him suck out of the rock,
    and oil out of the flinty rock.
¹⁴ Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
    with the very finest of the wheat,
    and you drank wine from the blood of grapes.

¹⁵ “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;[164]
    you grew fat, stout, and bloated;
then he forsook God who made him
    and scoffed at the Rock[165] of his salvation.
¹⁶ They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
    with detestable things they provoked him to anger.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
    to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
    whom your forefathers had not known.

Israel forgets its Rock
¹⁸ You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
    and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹ “Jehovah saw[166] it and spurned them,
    because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
²⁰ And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;
    I will see what their end shall be,
for they are a perverse generation,
    sons in whom is no faithfulness.
²¹ They have made me jealous with what is no god;
    they have provoked me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
    I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
²² For a fire is kindled by my anger,
    and it burns to the depths of Sheol,[167]
devours the earth and its increase,
    and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³ “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
    my arrows I will spend on them;
²⁴ they shall be exhausted with hunger,
    and consumed by plague
    and poisonous pestilence;
I will send the teeth of beasts against them,
    with the venom of crawling things in the dust.
²⁵ Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
    and indoors, there is terror,
for young man and virgin,
    the infant with gray-haired man.
²⁶ I would have said, “I will scatter them;[168]
    I will make the memory of them cease from among men,”
²⁷ had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
    lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, “Our hand[169] is triumphant,
    it was not Jehovah who did all this.”’

²⁸ “For they are a nation void of counsel,
    and there is no understanding in them.
²⁹ If they were wise, they would ponder over this;
    they would discern their latter end!
³⁰ How could one chase a thousand,
    and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,[170]
    and Jehovah had given them up?[171]
³¹ For their rock is not as our Rock;[172]
    even our enemies themselves are judges.[173]
³² For their vine is from the vine of Sodom
    and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
    their clusters are bitter;
³³ their wine is the poison of serpents
    and the cruel venom of asps.

³⁴ “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up in my treasuries?

Vengeance is mine
³⁵ Vengeance is mine, and recompense,[174]
    for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes quickly.’
³⁶ For Jehovah will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their strength is gone
    and there is none remaining, bond or free.
³⁷ And he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
    the rock in which they took refuge,[175]
³⁸ who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you;
    let them be your place of refuge!

³⁹ “‘See now that I, even I, am he,
    and there is no god beside me;
I put to death, and I make alive;
    I wound and I heal;
    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
⁴⁰ For I lift up my hand to heaven
    and swear, As I live forever,
⁴¹ if I sharpen my flashing sword
    and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and will repay those who hate me.
⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    and my sword shall devour flesh,
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the long-haired leaders of the enemy.’

⁴³ “Be glad, you nations, with his people;[176]
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants,
and he will repay vengeance to his adversaries
    and will make atonement for the land of his people.[177]

⁴⁴ Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua[178] the son of Nun. ⁴⁵ And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶ he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your sons, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. ⁴⁷ For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

⁴⁸ And Jehovah spoke to Moses that same day, saying, ⁴⁹ “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰ And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹ because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. ⁵² For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel.”

CHAPTER 33

The Blessing of Moses

33 And this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death. ² He said,

“Jehovah came from Sinai
    and dawned from Seir upon us;[179]
    he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,
    with flaming fire at his right hand.
³ Yes, he loved his people,[180]
    all his holy ones were in his hand;
so they followed in your steps,[181]
    everyone received your words,
⁴ when Moses commanded us a law,
    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
⁵ And he[182] was king in Jeshurun,[183]
    when the heads of the people were gathered,
    all the tribes of Israel together.

⁶ “Let Reuben live, and not die,
    nor let his men be few.”

⁷ And this is the blessing of Judah:

“Hear, O Jehovah, the voice of Judah,
    and bring him back to his people.
With your hands contend for him,
    and be a help against his adversaries.”

⁸ And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi your Thummim,
    and your Urim to your godly one,
whom you tested at Massah,
    whom you contended with at the waters of Meribah;
⁹ who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I have not regarded them’;
his brothers he did not acknowledge
    and his sons he did not know.
For they observed your word
    and your covenant they observed.
¹⁰ They shall teach Jacob your ordinances
    and Israel your law;
they shall put incense before you
    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
¹¹ Bless, O Jehovah, his substance,
    and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
    of those who hate him, that they rise up not again.”

¹² Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of Jehovah dwells in safety.
He shelters him the whole day,
    and dwells between his shoulders.”

¹³ And of Joseph he said,

“May his land be blessed by Jehovah,
    with the choice things of heaven, with dew,
    and with the deep lying beneath,
¹⁴ with choice things produced by the sun
    and the rich yield of the months,
¹⁵ with the choicest things from the ancient mountains
    and with the choice things of the eternal hills,
¹⁶ and with the choice things of the earth and its fullness
    and with the approval of the One who dwelt in the bush.
May they come upon the head of Joseph,
    and on the crown of the head of the one singled out from his brothers.
¹⁷ As the firstborn of a bull his splendor is,
    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall gore the peoples,
    all together, to the ends of the earth;
and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹⁸ And of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
    and Issachar, in your tents.
¹⁹ They shall call peoples to their mountain;
    there they sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness;
for they will suck the abundance of the seas
    and the hidden treasures of the sand.”

²⁰ And of Gad he said,

“Blessed is the one widening the borders of Gad!
    He lies there like a lion;
    he tears off the arm, yes, the crown of the head.
²¹ And he will see the first part is his,
    for there the portion of a lawgiver is reserved;
and he came with the heads of the people,
    the righteousness of Jehovah he will execute,
    and his judgment decisions for Israel.”

²² And of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s cub
    that leaps from Bashan.”

²³ And of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,
    and full of the blessing of Jehovah,
    The sea[184] and the south he will take possession of.”

²⁴ And of Asher he said,

“Blessed with sons is Asher;
    let him be the favorite of his brothers,
    and let him dip his foot in oil.
²⁵ Your bars[185] shall be iron and copper,
    and like your days will be your strength.

²⁶ “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
    who rides through heaven to your help,
    and through the skies in his majesty.
²⁷ The eternal God is a dwelling place,
    and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he drove out the enemy from before you
    and said, ‘Destroy.’
²⁸ So Israel dwells in security,
    and the fountain of Jacob secluded,
in a land of grain and new wine,
    whose heavens drop down dew.
²⁹ Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
    a people saved by Jehovah,
the shield of your help,
    and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies will cringe before you,[186]
    and you shall tread upon their backs.”

CHAPTER 34

Jehovah Shows Moses the Land

34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And Jehovah showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, ² and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea,[187] ³ and the Negev[188] and the plain in the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. ⁴ And Jehovah said to him, saying, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”

 Death of Moses

⁵ So Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah, ⁶ and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. ⁷ And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old at his death. His eye had not grown dim, and his natural strength had not fled. ⁸ So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

⁹ Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses. ¹⁰ Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face, ¹¹ for all the signs and wonders which Jehovah sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, ¹² and for the mighty hand[189] and for all the great wonders which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

[1] MT SP SYR “Suph” LXX AT VG “the Red Sea.” Apparently LXX AT VG translators thought yam, “sea,” had been split off from Suph, thinking that it originally read Yam Suph, “Red Sea.” If this were the case, the reference would then be to the Gulf of ‘Aqaba.

[2] LXX SYR VG have “and” after Ashtaroth. If “and” is original, then Ashtaroth and Edrei was being thought of as two separate places as opposed to considering Ashtaroth within Edrei.

[3] Or the south. That is the southern part of the Promised Land. The Negev was an arid region in the southern part of Palestine, and its name came to mean south.

[4] MT “Jehovah swore” LXX SP “I swore”

[5] MT “Reed Sea” or “Sea of Reeds” LXX “Red Sea”

[6] MT “Reed Sea” or “Sea of Reeds” LXX “Red Sea”

[7] That is, a stream, valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season

[8] That is, Philistines

[9] That is, Crete

[10] That is, a stream, valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season

[11] MT SP LXX “Road” VG “public way”

[12] MT^margin SP LXX SYR VG “Sons”

[13] That is, a stream, valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season

[14] MT “according to all” LXX AT “just as”

[15] Or unwalled villages. This was a rural area outside of cities and towns that did not possess a wall for protection.

[16] That is, a stream, valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season

[17] “Sirion . . . Senir.” These names are found in the Ugaritic texts, which were discovered at Ras Shamra, Syria, as well as in the documents from Bogazköy, Turkey.

[18] A cubit equaled 44.5 cm (17.5 in.).

[19] That is, a man’s forearm (from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger)

[20] MT LXX SYR “and,” VG “as far as”

[21] Meaning the towns of Jair

[22] That is, toward the east

[23] Or men of valor

[24] LXX adds “in the day of the assembly”

[25] That is, the Ten Commandments: also known as the Decalogue

[26] MT LXX sing. “you,” SP SYR IT VG pl. “you”

[27] MT VG “God,” SP LXX “the living God”

[28] SP LXX SYR VG “their seed after them” MT “his seed after him”

[29] That is, a stream, valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season

[30] MT SP LXX VG “Si­on” SYR “Sirion” See Deut. 3:9 f.n.

[31] MT “word,” DSS SP LXX SYR VG “words”

[32] Lit saying

[33] MT “any likeness”  SP AT^J LXX SYR VG, 61 Heb. MSS and Ex 20:4 “or a likeness.”

[34] MT “and on the third and the fourth generations” SP T^J LXX SYR VG, 57 Heb. MSS and Ex 20:5 “on the third and the fourth generations”

[35] MT VG “Neither shall you” SP LXX SYR and Ex 20:14-17, “You shall not”

[36] MT “your companion” (fellow countryman, local friends, neighbor) LXX VG “your neighbor”

[37] MT SP “to you, a land” LXX “to give to you a land” SYR “to you, that he would give you a land”

[38] That is, on your forehead

[39] You shall serve (the sense here is one’s serving is to worship) (Heb., תַעֲבֹד ta·abod)

[40] Massah means testing, trial

[41] Asherah poles:  The Hebrew word (אֲשֵׁרָה Asherah) refers to (1) a sacred wooden pole used in the worship of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess of fertility, or (2) an Asherah image of the goddess. These were upright poles made of wood.​ – Deut. 16:21; Judges 6:26; 1Ki 15:13.

[42] MT (חֵרֶם cherem) “devoted to destruction” LXX VG, (ἀνάθημα anathema) “an accursed thing.”

[43] Jehovah tested the Israelites to refine them and to expose their true nature, including their imperfections, faults, and other qualities.

[44] LXX “stinging; biting” VG “fiery (burning) breath”

[45] LXX SP “he has known you”

[46] That is, the Ten Commandments: also known as the Decalogue

[47] The sense here for (יָרֵא yare) is inspiring awe by way of reverential fear.

[48] The sense here for (יָרֵא yare) is inspiring awe by way of reverential fear.

[49] That is, by some kind of power that came about through the use of the foot, which could have been on a waterwheel or by forming and opening water channels with tools or one’s foot.

[50] MT “my commandments” LXX has “his commandments”

[51] MT SYR “I” SP LXX VG^c “he”

[52] SP adds “in front of Shechem”

[53] Asherah poles:  The Hebrew word (אֲשֵׁרָה Asherah) refers to (1) a sacred wooden pole used in the worship of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess of fertility, or (2) an Asherah image of the goddess. These were upright poles made of wood.​ – Deut. 16:21; Judges 6:26; 1Ki 15:13.

[54] MT SP LXX “gates” SYR VG “cities”

[55] MT SP “any of your gates” LXX “every city” SYR VG “(all) your cities”

[56] MT LXX end chapter 12 here

[57] MT “the son of your mother” LXX “from your father or from your mother” DSS SP “If the son of your father or the son of your mother”

[58] Lit sons of Belial

[59] Lit bringing up, regurgitating

[60] SP LXX and Lev. 11:14 “The red kite” The Hebrew suggests a bird of prey, a particular kind of hawk that feed on insects and small animals, a swooping or darting flight, possibly red.

[61] LXX VG “Night owl”

[62] LXX VG “Ibis”

[63] Or insect

[64] That is, any animal found dead

[65] Or a tithe

[66] Or what you sow

[67] MT SYR VG “he” SP LXX “Jehovah your God”

[68] Or heart

[69] Or desires

[70] LXX SYR “cities,” MT SP “gates” VG “within the gates of your city”

[71] Or “a word of belial (worthlessness), morally objectional thinking that does not conform to the right standard, so it is worthless.

[72] The Hebrew noun (בְּלִיַּעַל beliyyaal) has the sense of evil, morally objectional behavior. This would be whatever does not conform to the correct standard, making it worthless, ethically bad. This is doing wrong to do harm.

[73] LXX SYR VG “One of your cities” MT “one of your gates” by a figure of speech in which a part (gates) is made to represent the whole (city).

[74] Assembly: (עֲצָרָה atsarah or עֲצֶרֶת atsereth) This is a gathering of people, a congregation, namely, a crowd or group of persons that meet together. In the Hebrew Scriptures, this often refers to the gathering of the Israelites at their religious festivals or any event of great national significance. – Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; Deut. 16:8; 2 Ki 10:20; 2 Ch. 7:9; Neh. 8:18; Isa 1:13; Jer. 9:1; Joel 1:14; 2:15; Am 5:21.

[75] The Hebrew word (אֲשֵׁרָה Asherah) refers to a sacred pole that represented Asherah, the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El, goddess of fertility. Or it was an image of the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah herself. The Asherah pole is a sacred carved tree or pole that stood upright near Canaanite religious locations, which were made of wood.

[76] That is, between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another

[77] MT “a copy of this law from before the priests, the Levites,” LXX “this second law (deuteronomion) into a book from the priests, the Levites.” VG “a deuteronomium of this law, a copy from the priests the Levites.”

[78] MT SYR VG “his inheritance” LXX “their inheritance”

[79] LXX^{P. Fouad Inv. 266} “Jehovah” a Greek papyrus fragment with the Tetragrammaton appears in square Heb. script in the text, dating to the first century B.C.E.

[80] The Hebrew verb (עָנַן anan) has the sense of someone who foretells (predicts) the future using magic.

[81] That is, destroy

[82] Here it is to unintentionally strike someone with enough force that you accidently kill him, which is manslaughter, not murder.

[83] MT “he avenger of blood” VG “the neighbor of him whose blood was shed”

[84] That is, in the heat of anger

[85] Lit bloods (דָּמִים damim) bloodshed or bloodguilt

[86] VG “Then each one will prepare his wedge-shaped divisions to do battle”

[87] LXX “you shall not let anything of them that breathes remain alive” MT SP SYR “you shall not save alive anything that breathes”

[88] A form of hendiadys in which two words are connected by “and,” but one idea is meant. (e.g., nice and warm).

[89] That is, a full month

[90] Or wherever she wishes

[91] Or mistreat her

[92] That is unloved, loves less, or scorned

[93] That is unloved, loves less, or scorned

[94] That is unloved, loves less, or scorned

[95] That is unloved, loves less, or scorned

[96] That is unloved, loves less, or scorned

[97] The LXX lacks “all” before “the men of the city”

[98] MT “for a hanged man is cursed of God” SP “he who is hanged is accursed of God” LXX “for everyone that is hung on a tree is cursed of God.” Paul follows the Septuagint reading in Galatians 3:13.

[99] That is, deliberately ignore them

[100] That is, deliberately ignore them

[101] That is, deliberately ignore them

[102] That is, bloodguilt

[103] That is, forfeited to the sanctuary, become part of the sanctuary’s share

[104] VG “Silver shekels” MT SP “silver pieces” LXX “shekels”

[105] That is, has sex with her

[106] That is, has sex with her

[107] That is, has sex with her

[108] VG “Silver shekels” MT “silver pieces” LXX “silver didrachmas”

[109] MT SP LXX end chapter 22 here

[110] That is, not lie with his father’s wife or not have sex with his father’s wife

[111] Assembly: (עֲצָרָה atsarah or עֲצֶרֶת atsereth) This is a gathering of people, a congregation, namely, a crowd or group of persons that meet together. In the Hebrew Scriptures, this often refers to the gathering of the Israelites at their religious festivals or any event of great national significance. – Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; Deut. 16:8; 2 Ki 10:20; 2 Ch. 7:9; Neh. 8:18; Isa 1:13; Jer. 9:1; Joel 1:14; 2:15; Am 5:21.

[112] LXX VG “they hired” MT SP SYR “he hired; there was hired”

[113] LXX “Mesopotamia” VG “Mesopotamia of Syria” MT SP SYR “Aram-Naharaim”

[114] MT “among your tools,” LXX VG “on your belt”

[115] That is, that he may not see anything indecent among you

[116] That is, towns

[117] That is, a boy kept for purposes of sexual perversion

[118] That is, a male prostitute, one who has anal intercourse, especially with a boy.

[119] Or vessel

[120] That is, some shameful/repulsive thing

[121] Abomination: (תּוֹעֵבָה toebah or תֹּעֵבָה toebah) It is a repulsion, abhorrence, that is, an object or person that is loathsome or repulsive. The sense of toebah is a detestable thing or person, which causes horror and disgust in another person. – Dt 32:16; 2Ch 34:33; Jer 16:18; Eze 5:9; 7:20; 11:18, 21; 16:36.

[122] MT SP “No man (one) shall” LXX SYR VG “You must not”

[123] Leprosy: (צָרַעַת tsaraath; λεπρός lepros) is a disease mainly affecting the skin and nerves that can cause tissue change and, in severe cases, loss of sensation and disfigurement. In Bible times, it could affect homes and clothing as well as humans. It is transmitted following close personal contact and has an incubation period of 1-30 years. – Lev. 13:1-46; Deut. 24:8; 2 Ki 5:3, 6, 7, 27; 2 Ch. 26:19; Matt. 8:2; 10:8; 11:5; 26:6; Mark 1:40; 14:3; Lu 4:27; 7:22; 17:12.

[124] That is, because he is poor, and his life depends on his wages

[125] MT SP VG “shall not be put to death” LXX SYR “shall not die”

[126] MT SP “shall be put to death”  LXX SYR VG “shall die”

[127] Foreign Resident: the Hebrew noun (גֵּר ger) refers to anyone who is not an Israelite by blood, who did not enjoy the civil rights of the nation of Israel. Some foreigners who settled in the land of Israel were considered proselytes or worshipers of the God of Israel. In contrast, others lived among Israel, obeying the laws but not fully worshipping the Israelite God. – Gen 15:13; Deut. 24:17, 19.

[128] Fatherless Child: (יָתוֹם yathom) is an orphan with a dead father living with his widowed mother, who is helpless and without resources, making them subject to oppression and difficulties. Thus, under the Law, they were a protected group, including provisions for their sustenance. – Ex. 22:22-24; Deut. 10:18; 24:17-21.

[129] Lit one is a son of beating

[130] Brother-In-Law Marriage: (יָבַם yabam) The Hebrew term literally means “and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.” This was a custom that would later be added into the Mosaic Law, whereby a man would marry his deceased brother’s widow if she were sonless to continue the lineage of the brother. This is also known as levirate marriage. – Gen. 38:8; Deut. 25:5.

[131] MT “your God” LXX “my God” SYR “your God” after the second “Jehovah”

[132] That is, a wandering Aramean

MT SP “My father was a perishing Aramaean” SYR “My father was led to Aram” LXX “My father cast off Syria” Aram; Aramaeans: (אֲרַמִּי Arammi) These were the descendants of Shem’s son Aram, who mainly lived in various regions N of Israel, running from the Lebanon Mountains across to Mesopotamia and from the Taurus Mountains in the north down to Damascus. The Aramaeans hardly ever formed any kind of nation-state; instead, they lived as self-governing, autonomous towns and tribes settled by nomads before 1000 B.C.E. However, if they were threatened, they were quick to form alliances with neighboring towns of Aramaeans and even other countries. However, once the threat was over, they went back to their independence, fighting amongst themselves. In Hebrew, the area known as Aram would later be referred to as Syria, and its people as the Syrians. – Gen. 25:20; Deut. 26:5; Hos 12:12.

[133] MT SP SYR VG “The year of the tenth, you must also give it” LXX “you will give the second tenth”

[134] Lit and to set you

[135] Or consecrated; pertaining to what is dedicated in service to God

[136] That is, promised

[137] MT LXX SYR VG “Ebal” SP “Gerizim”

[138] The Hebrew (שָׁגָה shagah)  can mean mislead, lead astray, let stray, i.e., guide someone in linear movement, focusing that the leading is in an intentionally wrong direction. This can refer to misleading or deceiving another in an improper belief or thought. – Dt 27:18; Pr 28:10.

[139]  MT SP LXX SYR VG “a soul of innocent blood”

[140] MT “Sword” with a change in the vowel pointing, “dryness; drought” VG “heat” LXX^B lacks.

[141] SYR 46 Heb. MSS “hands”; MT SP LXX VG “hand”

[142] That is, a cause for ridicule among all the peoples

[143] The identity of the insect is unknown.

[144] MT SP LXX end chapter 28 here, with this as vs 69.

[145] LXX SYR AT “the heads of your tribes” MT SP “your heads, your tribes” VG “your princes and tribes”

[146] Or “cursing” in which the one swearing the oath makes himself accountable by disobeying his oath.

[147] Disgusting idols: The Hebrew term (גִּלּוּלִים gillûlîm) rendered “disgusting idols” is an important term in Ezekiel. The prophet prefers it to specify pagan gods or idols. It occurs forty-nine times in the Old Testament, thirty-nine of which are here in Ezekiel. The term has had a particularly scathing and excremental sense. It may have the same root as the word for “dung” and is used to express disgust. The term conveys an excessive way of identifying pagan idols as dung. It appears to be a specially coined term of disdain. – Ezek. 6:4, 5, 6, 13; 14:3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 16:36; 18:6, 12, 15; 20:7, 8, 16, 18, 24, 31, 39; 22:3, 4; 23:7, 30, 37, 39, 49; 30:13; 33:25; 36:18, 25; 37:23; Jer. 50:2; Deut. 29:17; Lev. 26:30; 1 Kings 15:12; 21:26; 2 Kings 17:12; 21:11, 21; 23:24.

[148] Wormwood: (לַעֲנָה laanah) Numerous woody plants having a strong bitter taste and a powerful pungent odor. Wormwood is used figuratively in the Bible to represent the bitter consequences of immorality, enslavement, injustice, and apostasy. At Revelation 8:11, “wormwood” has the sense of a bitter and poisonous substance, also called (ἄψινθος apsinthos). – Deut. 29:18; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; Am 5:7.

[149] Or “The secret things belong to Jehovah our God, and the things that are revealed. To us and to our sons it belongs forever that we may do all the words of this law.” In AC and Leningrad B 19^A the words “to us and to our sons,” and in AC, the first consonant of the subsequent Heb. preposition “to,” have extraordinary points over them. In the MT, these words are marked with extraordinary points by the Sopherim. Later, scribes were reluctant to remove the words, so they put dots over them. This is a suggestion by some that this is an interpolation (added material) in the original text, so for them, these words should either be omitted or not be emphasized. Still, these words were written in LXX^{P. Fouad Inv. 266} of the first cent. B.C.E. This is one of the 15 passages in MT of extraordinary points where certain words are mark with stigmata or dotted.

[150] LXX adds the following to the beginning of this verse, “If you will listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God” MT SP SYR VG lack it.

[151] MT “and Moses went and spoke these words” DSS LXX “When Moses had finished speaking all these words”

[152] MT “you shall go with this people” SP SYR VG Five Heb. MSS “you will bring this people” LXX “you will go before the face of” Compare vs 23

[153] MT “I have sworn” LXX SYR “which I swore to their forefathers” SP “which I swore to his forefathers” VG “I have promised him”

[154] Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah: (אֲר֥וֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָ֖ה berith Jehovah; Gr. κιβωτός διαθήκη kibōtos diathēkē) The original chest was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. The cover was of solid gold with two cherubs facing each other, which the Israelites kept in the Most Holy of the tabernacle and later in the Most Holy of the temple that Solomon built. It contained the Ten Commandments and was associated with God’s presence. –  Deut. 31:26; 1 Ki 6:19; Heb. 9:4.

[155] MT “The Rock, his work is perfect” LXX “God, his works are true” SYR “For without blemish (spotless) are his works” VG “God’s works are perfect”

[156] SP LXX SYR VG “They have” MT “He has”

[157] LXX “blemished children, not his, have sinned, a generation, crooked and perverse.”

[158] LXX SYR VG “When the Most High divided the nations.” Or “When the Most High distributed nations.” Apparently, the translators of these versions concluded that the Heb. verb came from a similar-looking root that means “to sift; to pass through a sieve.”

[159] That is, humankind, the human race

[160] The Masoretic Text (MT) has the reading “sons of Israel” (בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל) in verse 8 of Deuteronomy chapter 32. The Dead Sea Scrolls (QT) has the reading “sons of God” (בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים) in verse 8 of Deuteronomy chapter 32. Most of the Greek Septuagint (LXX) manuscripts have “angels of God” (ἀγγέλων θεοῦ) in verse 8 of Deuteronomy chapter 32. However, it should be noted that the Septuagint manuscript of Aquila (Codex X), Symmachus (also Codex X), and Theodotion also read “according to the number of the sons of Israel.”

[161] LXX “And Jehovah’s share became”

[162] LXX SP “He sustained him”

[163] MT “and he ate the produce of the field” VG “he ate the fruit of the fields” SP “he shall feed him the produce of the field” LXX “he fed them with the fruits of the fields”

[164] LXX “And Jakob ate and was filled, and the beloved one kicked” SP “Jacob shall eat and be filled. Israel shall grow fat and kick” VG “The dear one got fat and kicked.”

[165] MT “the Rock of” LXX VG “God” SYR “Strong (Mighty) One.”

[166] DSS LXX add “and was jealous” after “Jehovah saw”

[167] LXX “to Hades below”

[168] LXX “scatter them”

[169] SP LXX SYR VG many Heb. MSS “our hand” MT “our hands,” but it has a sing. verb.

[170] LXX “had delivered them up”

[171] VG “had shut them up”

[172] LXX “For their gods are not like our God” VG^c “For our God is not like their gods”

[173] VG “And our enemies are judges” LXX “but our enemies are senseless”

[174]  LXX SP “On a day of vengeance I will recompense”

[175] LXX “Where are their gods on whom they trusted?” VG “Where are their gods in whom they had confidence?”

[176] LXX “Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice you nations, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him.” Compare Heb 1:6.

[177] SP LXX VG “For the land of his people,” MT “for his land, for his people” SYR “for his land and for his people.”

[178] MT “Hoshea” LXX SP SYR VG “Joshua”

[179] MT “them” LXX SYR VG “us”

[180] LXX “his people” MT SP SYR VG “peoples” a reference to the Israelite tribes or their ancestors.

[181] Or possibly “so they reclined at your feet” The meaning of the Hebrew verb is uncertain. LXX “even these are under you” VG “and they who approach his feet”

[182] “Here “he” is referring to Jehovah. Jehovah has not been mentioned since the beginning of verse 2. In verse 4 Moses becomes the subject, the focus of the conversation “when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.” Then the next words in verse five “And he was king in Jeshurun” is referring back to the initial subject Jehovah (VSS 2-3), not to Moses of verse 4.

[183] Meaning “Upright One,” an honorary title for Israel.

[184] That is, the west

[185] That is, a metal bar as part of the gate locks

[186] That is, pretending to be obedient

[187] That is, the Great Sea, the Mediterranean

[188] Or the south. That is the southern part of the Promised Land. The Negev was an arid region in the southern part of Palestine, and its name came to mean south.

[189] That is, mighty power