Moses Commands Obedience
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"And now, O Israel, listen to 1the statutes and the rulesa that I am teaching you, and do them, 2that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
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3You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.
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Your eyes have seen what the LORD did 4at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor.
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But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today.
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See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
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5Keep them and do them, for 6that 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.'
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For 7what great nation is there that has 8a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?
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And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so 9righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
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10"Only take care, and 11keep 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. 12Make them known to your children and your children's children--
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how on 13the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 14'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, 15so that they may learn to fear 16me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'
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And 17you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while 18the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
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Then 19the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, 20but saw no form; 21there was only a voice.
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22And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, 23the Ten Commandments,b24and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
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And 25the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
Idolatry Forbidden
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26"Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since 27you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
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beware 28lest you act corruptly 29by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, 30the likeness of male or female,
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the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,
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the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
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And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see 31the sun and the moon and the stars, 32all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
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But the LORD has taken you and 33brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, 34to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
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Furthermore, 35the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
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For I must die in this land; 36I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of 37that good land.
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38Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and 39make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.
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"When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, 42if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and 43by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger,
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I 44call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
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And the LORD 45 will scatter you among the peoples, 46and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
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And 47there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, 48that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
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49But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
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When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you 50in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.
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For the LORD your God is 51a merciful God. 52He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
The Lord Alone Is God
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"For 53ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.
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54Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
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Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, 55by signs, by wonders, and 56by war, 57by a mighty hand and 58an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
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To you it was shown, 59that you might know that the LORD is God; 60there is no other besides him.
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61Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and 62you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
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And because 63he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after themc and brought you out of Egypt 64with his own presence, by his great power,
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65driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,
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know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that 66the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; 67there is no other.
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68Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, 69that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time."
Cities of Refuge
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Then Moses 70set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,
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that 71the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life:
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72Bezer in the wilderness on the 73tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
Introduction to the Law
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This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.
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These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
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beyond the Jordan 74in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, 75whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.
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And they took possession of his land and the land 76of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;
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77from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount 78Siriond (that is, 79Hermon),
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together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as 80the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)