Deuteronomy 4

ve'attah yisra'el shema el-hakhuqqim ve'el-hammishpatim asher anokhi melammed etkhem la'asot lema'an tikhyu uvatem virishtem et-ha'arets asher Adonai elohe avotekhem noten lakhem

And now, O Israel, give heed to the laws and rules that I am instructing you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the ETERNAL, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

lo tosifu al-haddavar asher anokhi metsavveh etkhem velo tigre'u mimmennu lishmor et-mitsvot Adonai elohekhem asher anokhi metsavveh etkhem

You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the ETERNAL your God that I enjoin upon you.

enekhem haro'ot et asher-asah Adonai beva'al pe'or ki khol-ha'ish asher halakh akhare va'al-pe'or hishmido Adonai elohekha miqqirbekha

You saw with your own eyes what GOD did in the matter of Baal-peor, that the ETERNAL your God wiped out from among you every person who followed Baal-peor;

ve'attem haddeveqim ba-Adonai elohekhem khayyim kullekhem hayyom

while you, who held fast to the ETERNAL your God, are all alive today.

re'eh limmadti etkhem khuqqim umishpatim ka'asher tsivvani Adonai elohay la'asot ken beqerev ha'arets asher attem ba'im shammah lerishtah

See, I have imparted to you laws and rules, as the ETERNAL my God has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.

ushemartem va'asitem ki hiv khokhmatkhem uvinatkhem le'ene ha'ammim asher yishme'un et kol-hakhuqqim ha'elleh ve'ameru raq am-khakham venavon haggoy haggadol hazzeh

Observe them faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, “Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.”

ki mi-goy gadol asher-lo elohim qerovim elayw ka-Adonai elohenu bekhol-qorenu elayw

For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as is the ETERNAL our God whenever we call?

umi goy gadol asher-lo khuqqim umishpatim tsaddiqim kekhol hattorah hazzot asher anokhi noten lifnekhem hayyom

Or what great nation has laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?

raq hishamer lekha ushemor nafshekha me'od pen-tishkakh et-haddevarim asher-ra'u enekha ufen-yasuru millevavekha kol yeme khayyekha vehodatam levanekha velivne vanekha

But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children:

yom asher amadta lifne Adonai elohekha bekhorev be'emor Adonai elay haqhel-li et-ha'am ve'ashmi'em et-devaray asher yilmedun leyirah oti kol-hayyamim asher hem khayyim al-ha'adamah ve'et-benehem yelammedun

The day you stood before the ETERNAL your God at Horeb, when GOD said to me, “Gather the people to Me that I may let them hear My words, in order that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live on earth, and may so teach their children.”

vattiqrevun vatta'amdun takhat hahar vehahar bo'er ba'esh ad-lev hashamayim khoshekh anan va'arafel

You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with flames to the very skies, dark with densest clouds.

vayedabber Adonai alekhem mittokh ha'esh qol devarim attem shome'im utemunah enekhem ro'im zulati qol

GOD spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice.

vayyagged lakhem et-berito asher tsivvah etkhem la'asot aseret haddevarim vayyikhtevem al-shene lukhot avanim

The covenant that you were commanded to observe, the Ten Commandments, was declared to you; and [God] inscribed them on two tablets of stone.

ve'oti tsivvah Adonai ba'et hahiv lelammed etkhem khuqqim umishpatim la'asotekhem otam ba'arets asher attem overim shammah lerishtah

At the same time GOD commanded me to impart to you laws and rules for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.

venishmartem me'od lenafshotekhem ki lo re'item kol-temunah beyom dibber Adonai alekhem bekhorev mittokh ha'esh

For your own sake, therefore, be most careful—since you saw no shape when GOD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire—

pen-tashkhitun va'asitem lakhem pesel temunat kol-samel tavnit zakhar o neqevah

not to act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness whatever: the form of a man or a woman,

tavnit kol-behemah asher ba'arets tavnit kol-tsippor kanaf asher ta'uf bashamayim

the form of any animal on earth, the form of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

tavnit kol-romes ba'adamah tavnit kol-dagah asher-bammayim mittakhat la'arets

the form of anything that creeps on the ground, the form of any fish that is in the waters below the earth.—

ufen-tissa enekha hashamaymah vera'ita et-hashemesh ve'et-hayyareakh ve'et-hakkokhavim kol tseva hashamayim veniddakhta vehishtakhavita lahem va'avadtam asher khalaq Adonai elohekha otam lekhol ha'ammim takhat kol-hashamayim

And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These the ETERNAL your God allotted to other peoples everywhere under heaven—

ve'etkhem laqakh Adonai vayyotsi etkhem mikkur habbarzel mimmitsrayim lihyot lo le'am nakhalah kayyom hazzeh

whereas you were taken and brought out of Egypt, that iron blast furnace, to be GOD’s very own people, as is now the case.

va-Adonai hitannaf-bi al-divrekhem vayyishava levilti ovri et-hayyarden ulevilti-vo el-ha'arets hattovah asher Adonai elohekha noten lekha nakhalah

Now GOD was angry with me on your account and swore that I should not cross the Jordan and enter the good land that the ETERNAL your God is assigning you as a heritage.

ki anokhi met ba'arets hazzot enenni over et-hayyarden ve'attem overim virishtem et-ha'arets hattovah hazzot

For I must die in this land; I shall not cross the Jordan. But you will cross and take possession of that good land.

hishameru lakhem pen-tishkekhu et-berit Adonai elohekhem asher karat immakhem va'asitem lakhem pesel temunat kol asher tsivvekha Adonai elohekha

Take care, then, not to forget the covenant that the ETERNAL your God concluded with you, and not to make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness, against which the ETERNAL your God has enjoined you.

ki Adonai elohekha esh okhelah hu el qanna

For the ETERNAL your God is a consuming fire, an impassioned God.

ki-tolid banim uvene vanim venoshantem ba'arets vehishkhattem va'asitem pesel temunat kol va'asitem hara be'ene Adonaielohekha lehakhiso

When you have begotten children and children’s children and are long established in the land, should you act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness, causing the ETERNAL your God displeasure and vexation,

ha'idoti vakhem hayyom et-hashamayim ve'et-ha'arets ki-avod tovedun maher me'al ha'arets asher attem overim et-hayyarden shammah lerishtah lo-ta'arikhun yamim aleha ki hishamed tishamedun

I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you that you shall soon perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess; you shall not long endure in it, but shall be utterly wiped out.

vehefits Adonai etkhem ba'ammim venishartem mete mispar baggoyim asher yenaheg Adonai etkhem shammah

GOD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a scant few of you shall be left among the nations to which GOD will drive you.

va'avadtem-sham elohim ma'aseh yede adam ets va'even asher lo-yirun velo yishme'un velo yokhelun velo yerikhun

There you will serve gods of wood and stone, made by human hands, that cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

uviqqashtem misham et-Adonai elohekha umatsata ki tidreshennu bekhol-levavekha uvekhol-nafshekha

But if you search there, you will find the ETERNAL your God, if only you seek with all your heart and soul—

batsar lekha umetsa'ukha kol haddevarim ha'elleh be'akharit hayyamim veshavta ad-Adonai elohekha veshamata beqolo

when you are in distress because all these things have befallen you and, in the end, return to and obey the ETERNAL your God.

ki el rakhum Adonai elohekha lo yarpekha velo yashkhitekha velo yishkakh et-berit avotekha asher nishba lahem

For the ETERNAL your God is a compassionate God, who will not fail you nor let you perish. The covenant made on oath with your fathers will not be forgotten.

ki she'al-na leyamim rishonim asher-hayu lefanekha lemin-hayyom asher bara elohim adam al-ha'arets ulemiqtseh hashamayim ve'ad-qetseh hashamayim hanihyah kaddavar haggadol hazzeh o hanishma kamohu

You have but to inquire about bygone ages that came before you, ever since God created humankind on earth, from one end of heaven to the other: has anything as grand as this ever happened, or has its like ever been known?

hashama am qol elohim medabber mittokh-ha'esh ka'asher-shamata attah vayyekhi

Has any people heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have, and survived?

o hanissah elohim lavo laqakhat lo goy miqqerev goy bemassot be'otot uvemofetim uvemilkhamah uveyad khazaqah uvizroa netuyah uvemora'im gedolim kekhol asher-asah lakhem Adonai elohekhem bemitsrayim le'enekha

Or has any deity ventured to go and take one nation from the midst of another by prodigious acts, by signs and portents, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and awesome power, as the ETERNAL your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

attah horeta lada'at ki Adonai hu ha'elohim en od millevaddo

It has been clearly demonstrated to you that the ETERNAL alone is God; there is none else.

min-hashamayim hishmi'akha et-qolo leyasserekka ve'al-ha'arets herakha et-isho haggedolah udevarayw shamata mittokh ha'esh

From the heavens you could hear the divine voice to discipline you; on earth you could see the great divine fire; and from amidst that fire you heard God’s words.

vetakhat ki ahav et-avotekha vayyivkhar bezaro akharayw vayyotsi'akha befanayw bekhokho haggadol mimmitsrayim

And out of love for your ancestors, [God] chose their heirs after them—directly leading you out of Egypt with great might,

lehorish goyim gedolim va'atsumim mimmekha mippanekha lahavi'akha latet-lekha et-artsam nakhalah kayyom hazzeh

to drive from your path nations greater and more populous than you, to take you into their land and assign it to you as a heritage, as is still the case.

veyadata hayyom vahashevota el-levavekha ki Adonai hu ha'elohim bashamayim mimma'al ve'al-ha'arets mittakhat en od

Know therefore this day and keep in mind that the ETERNAL alone is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.

veshamarta et-khuqqayw ve'et-mitsvotayw asher anokhi metsavvekha hayyom asher yitav lekha ulevanekha akharekha ulema'an ta'arikh yamim al-ha'adamah asher Adonai elohekha noten lekha kol-hayyamim

Observe God’s laws and commandments, which I enjoin upon you this day, that it may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may long remain in the land that the ETERNAL your God is assigning to you for all time.

az yavdil mosheh shalosh arim be'ever hayyarden mizrekhah shamesh

Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan

lanus shammah rotseakh asher yirtsakh et-re'ehu bivli-da'at vehu lo-sone lo mittemol shilshom venas el-akhat min-he'arim ha'el vakhay

to which a manslayer could escape, one who unwittingly slew another person without having been an enemy in the past; that person could flee to one of these cities and live:

et-betser bammidbar be'erets hammishor laruveni ve'et-ramot baggilad laggadi ve'et-golan babbashan lamnashi

Bezer, in the wilderness in the Tableland, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth, in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; and Golan, in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.

vezot hattorah asher-sam mosheh lifne bene yisra'el

This is the Teaching that Moses set before the Israelites:

elleh ha'edot vehakhuqqim vehammishpatim asher dibber mosheh el-bene yisra'el betsetam mimmitsrayim

these are the decrees, laws, and rules that Moses addressed to the people of Israel, after they had left Egypt,

be'ever hayyarden baggay mul bet pe'or be'erets sikhon melekh ha'emori asher yoshev bekheshbon asher hikkah mosheh uvene yisra'el betsetam mimmitsrayim

beyond the Jordan, in the valley at Beth-peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the Israelites defeated after they had left Egypt.

vayyireshu et-artso ve'et-erets og melekh-habbashan shene malkhe ha'emori asher be'ever hayyarden mizrakh shamesh

They had taken possession of his country and that of King Og of Bashan—the two kings of the Amorites—which were on the east side of the Jordan

me'aro'er asher al-sefat-nakhal arnon ve'ad-har si'on hu khermon

from Aroer on the banks of the wadi Arnon, as far as Mount Sion, that is, Hermon;

vekhol-ha'aravah ever hayyarden mizrakhah ve'ad yam ha'aravah takhat ashdot happisgah

also the whole Arabah on the east side of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.