Third Millennium Bible TMB
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 "Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I teach you to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
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Israel, listen to the laws and rules I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you will live and be able to enter and take possession of the land that the LORD God of your ancestors is giving you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
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Never add anything to what I command you, or take anything away from it. Then you will be able to obey the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.
3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor; for all the men who followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
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With your own eyes you saw what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal while you were at Peor.
4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
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But you were loyal to the LORD your God and are still alive today.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
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I have taught you laws and rules as the LORD my God commanded me. You must obey them when you've entered the land and taken possession of it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations who shall hear all these statutes, and say, `Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'
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Faithfully obey these laws. This will show the people of the world your wisdom and insight. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, "What wise and insightful people there are in this great nation!"
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?
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What great nation ever had their gods as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we pray to him?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?
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Or what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as all these teachings I am giving you today?
9 "Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them to thy sons and thy sons' sons,
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However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you don't forget the things which you have seen with your own eyes. Don't let them fade from your memory as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
10 especially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, `Gather Me the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.'
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Never forget the day you stood in front of the LORD your God at Mount Horeb. The LORD had said to me, "Assemble the people in front of me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on earth, and they will teach their children the same thing."
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
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So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, which was on fire with flames shooting into the sky. It was dark, cloudy, and gloomy.
12 And the LORD spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire. Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
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The LORD spoke to you from the fire. You heard a voice speaking but saw no one. There was only a voice.
13 And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tablets of stone.
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The LORD told you about the terms of his promise, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to do. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets.
14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
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The LORD also commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey after you cross [the Jordan River] and take possession of the land.
15 "Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves (for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire),
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You didn't see the LORD the day he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb. So be very careful
16 lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image: the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
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that you don't become corrupt and make your own carved idols. Don't make statues that represent men or women,
17 the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
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any animal on earth, any creature with wings that flies,
18 the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth;
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any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water.
19 and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath imparted unto all nations under the whole heaven.
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Don't let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky--the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. The LORD your God has given them to all people everywhere.
20 But the LORD hath taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
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But you are the people the LORD brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.
21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
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The LORD was angry with me because of you. So the LORD your God took an oath that I wouldn't cross the Jordan River and enter the good land he is giving you as your property.
22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but ye shall go over and possess that good land.
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I'm going to die in this land and not cross the Jordan River, but you're going to go across and take possession of that good land.
23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make yourselves a graven image or the likeness of any thing which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
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Be careful that you don't forget the promise that the LORD your God made to you. Don't make your own carved idols or statues that represent anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
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The LORD your God is a raging fire, a God who does not tolerate rivals.
25 "When thou shalt beget children and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God to provoke Him to anger,
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Even when you have children and grandchildren and have grown old in that land, don't become corrupt and make carved idols or statues that represent anything. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today: If you do this thing that the LORD your God considers evil, making him furious,
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
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you will quickly disappear from the land you're going to possess on the other side of the Jordan River. You won't live very long there. You'll be completely wiped out.
27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen whither the LORD shall lead you.
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The LORD will scatter you among the people of the world, and only a few of you will be left among the nations where the LORD will force you to live.
28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
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There you will worship wooden and stone gods made by human hands. These gods can't see, hear, eat, or smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
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But if you look for the LORD your God when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation and all these things have come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God and shalt be obedient unto His voice
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When you're in distress and all these things happen to you, then you will finally come back to the LORD your God and obey him.
31 (for the LORD thy God is a merciful God), He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He swore unto them.
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The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that he swore he would keep.
32 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
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Search the distant past, long before your time. Start from the very day God created people on earth. Search from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened before, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
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Have any [other] people ever heard God speak from a fire and lived? You did!
34 Or hath God deigned to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
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Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? The LORD your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you.
35 Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the LORD He is God: there is none else besides Him.
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You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God. There is no other god.
36 Out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice, that He might instruct thee; and upon earth He showed thee His great fire, and thou heardest His words out of the midst of the fire.
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He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire.
37 And because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt
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Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power.
38 to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
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He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.
39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
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Remember today, and never forget that the LORD is God in heaven above and here on earth. There is no other god.
40 Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes and His commandments which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever."
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Obey his laws and commands which I'm giving you today. Then things will go well for you and your descendants. You will live for a long time in the land. The LORD your God is giving you the land for as long as you live.
41 Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising,
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Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River.
42 that the slayer might flee thither who should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past, and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live,
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Those who unintentionally killed someone whom they had never hated could flee to one of these cities and save their lives.
43 namely: Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country of the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.
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The cities were Bezer on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
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This is what Moses taught the people of Israel.
45 These are the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which Moses spoke unto the children of Israel after they came forth out of Egypt,
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These are the commandments, laws, and rules Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt.
46 on this side of the Jordan in the valley opposite Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote after they had come forth out of Egypt.
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He gave these to the people when they were east of the Jordan River in the valley near Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses and Israel defeated him after they left Egypt.
47 And they possessed his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising,
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They took possession of his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were east of the Jordan River.
48 from Aroer, which is by the bank of the River Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon,
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This land went from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Siyon (that is, Mount Hermon).
49 and all the plain on this side of the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
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It included all the plains on the east side of the Jordan River as far as the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.