H.
Moses' hearty advice to the children of Israel
4:1-40
Deut. 4
:1
4:1
And now, O Israel, listen to the
1statutes and the
1ordinances which I am teaching you to do, in order that you may
alive and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Deut. 4
:2
4:2
You shall
anot add to the word which I am commanding you, nor shall you
btake away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I am commanding you.
Deut. 4
:3
4:3
Yours are the eyes that have seen that which Jehovah has done in
aBaal-peor; for all the men who went after Baal-peor, Jehovah your God has destroyed from your midst.
Deut. 4
:4
4:4
But you who
ajoined yourselves to Jehovah your God are alive, all of you, today.
Deut. 4
:5
4:5
See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as Jehovah my God commanded me, so that you would do them within the land which you are going in to possess.
Deut. 4
:6
4:6
Keep and do
them therefore; for this will be your wisdom and prudence in the sight of the peoples who hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and prudent people.
Deut. 4
:7
4:7
For what great
anation is there that has a god so
bnear to it as Jehovah our God is whenever we
1ccall upon Him?
Deut. 4
:8
4:8
And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I am setting before you today?
Deut. 4
:9
4:9
But be careful and guard your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; rather, make them known to your children and to your grandchildren.
Deut. 4
:10
4:10
Especially do not forget the day when you stood before Jehovah your God at Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live upon the earth and may teach their children
as much.
Deut. 4
:11
4:11
And you came near and
astood at the foot of the mountain; and the mountain was burning with
bfire up into the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and deep darkness
there.
Deut. 4
:12
4:12
And Jehovah spoke to you from the midst of the fire. The
asound of words could you hear, but no
bform could you see;
there was only a voice.
Deut. 4
:13
4:13
And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to do,
aten 1commandments; and He wrote them upon two
btablets of stone.
Deut. 4
:14
4:14
And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to do in the land which you are about to cross over into to possess.
Deut. 4
:15
4:15
So take careful heed to your souls, for you did not see any form at all on the day when Jehovah spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire,
Deut. 4
:16
4:16
So that you do not spoil yourselves and make for yourselves an
aidol, a form of any image, a figure of male or female,
Deut. 4
:17
4:17
A figure of any animal which is on the earth, a figure of any winged bird which flies in the sky,
Deut. 4
:18
4:18
A figure of anything that crawls on the ground, a figure of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
Deut. 4
:19
4:19
And take heed that, when you lift up your eyes to the sky and see the
asun and the moon and the stars, all the
bhost of heaven, you are not drawn away in worship to them and that you do not serve them, which Jehovah your God has assigned to all the peoples under all heaven.
Deut. 4
:20
4:20
But Jehovah has taken you and brought you forth from the
airon furnace, from Egypt, that you would be to Him a people for
His inheritance, as
you are this day.
Deut. 4
:21
4:21
But Jehovah was
aangry with me on your account and swore that I would
bnot cross over the Jordan and that I would not enter the good land which Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Deut. 4
:22
4:22
For I am to die in this land; I am
anot to cross over the Jordan. But you are crossing over and you will possess this good land.
Deut. 4
:23
4:23
Take heed to yourselves that you do not forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He has made with you, and make for yourselves an idol, the form of anything, which Jehovah your God has forbidden you
to make.
Deut. 4
:24
4:24
For Jehovah your God is a
aconsuming fire, a
bjealous God.
Deut. 4
:25
4:25
When you have brought forth children and grandchildren and have
1languished in the land, and you have spoiled yourselves by making an idol, the form of anything, and have done that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah your God so as to anger Him;
Deut. 4
:26
4:26
I call
aheaven and earth to witness against you today that surely you will soon perish from off the land into which you are crossing over the Jordan to possess; you will not extend your days upon it, but you will be utterly destroyed.
Deut. 4
:27
4:27
And Jehovah will
ascatter you among the peoples, and you will be left
bfew in number among the nations to which Jehovah will drive you.
Deut. 4
:28
4:28
And there you will serve gods
which are the work of human
ahands,
mere wood and stone, which do not see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Deut. 4
:29
4:29
And from there you will
aseek Jehovah your God, and you will find
Him if you search for Him with
ball your heart and with all your soul.
Deut. 4
:30
4:30
When you are in distress and all these things happen to you,
when you are in the last days, you will return to Jehovah your God and listen to His voice.
Deut. 4
:31
4:31
For Jehovah your God is a
acompassionate God; He will
bnot fail you nor let you perish nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
Deut. 4
:32
4:32
For ask now regarding the former days, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and
ask from one end of heaven to the other, Has anything as great as this ever happened, or has anything like this ever been heard of?
Deut. 4
:33
4:33
Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the
afire, as you have heard, and lived?
Deut. 4
:34
4:34
Has God ever ventured to go and take to Himself a nation from the midst of
another nation by trials, by signs and wonders, and by war and a
amighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, like all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Deut. 4
:35
4:35
You were shown
these things that you might know that it is Jehovah who is God; there is
ano other besides Him.
Deut. 4
:36
4:36
From heaven He let you hear His voice that He might discipline you, and upon the earth He showed you His great fire, and His words you heard from the midst of the fire.
Deut. 4
:37
4:37
And because He
aloved your fathers, He chose their seed after them and brought you out by His presence, by His great power, from Egypt,
Deut. 4
:38
4:38
aDriving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in
and give you their land as an inheritance, as
it is today.
Deut. 4
:39
4:39
Know therefore today and bring
it to heart that Jehovah is God in
aheaven above and upon the earth below; there is no other.
Deut. 4
:40
4:40
Therefore keep His statutes and His commandments, which I am commanding you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, so that you may extend your days upon the land which Jehovah your God is giving you
1forever.
I.
Moses setting apart three cities of refuge east of Jordan
4:41-43
Deut. 4
:41
4:41
Then Moses set apart three
1cities across the Jordan toward the rising of the sun,
Deut. 4
:42
4:42
That the
amanslayer might flee there, who slays his neighbor without intent and did not hate him previously, and in fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
Deut. 4
:43
4:43
Bezer in the wilderness, in the land of the Plateau, belonging to the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.
II.
The rehearsal of the law
4:44—26:19
A.
The rehearsing of the Ten Commandments
4:44—5:31
Deut. 4
:44
4:44
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel;
Deut. 4
:45
4:45
These are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they had gone out from Egypt,
Deut. 4
:46
4:46
Across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of
aSihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel slew when they had gone out from Egypt.
Deut. 4
:47
4:47
And they possessed his land and the land of
aOg the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan toward the rising of the sun,
Deut. 4
:48
4:48
From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the
aArnon, even unto Mount
1Sirion, that is, Hermon,
Deut. 4
:49
4:49
And all the Arabah across the Jordan on the east even to the
1sea of the Arabah at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
