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Deuteronomy 4

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1Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you.

2You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.

3Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you.

4But you who were faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive this day.

5Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it.

6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

7For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?

8What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;

10the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.”

11You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

12Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice.

13He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets.

14Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.

15Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,

16lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;

19and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

20But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.

21Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance;

22but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.

23Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.

24For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

25When you shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger;

26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.

27Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.

28There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice.

31For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

32For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?

33Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

34Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.

36Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire.

37Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;

38to 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.

39Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else.

40You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever.

41Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;

42that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

43Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

45These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,

46beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came out of Egypt.

47They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;

48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (also called Hermon),

49and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

Commentary

CHAPTER 4De 4:1-13. An Exhortation to Obedience.1. hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you—By statutes were meant all ordinances respecting religion and the rites of divine worship; and by judgments, all enactments relative to civil matters. The two embraced the whole law of God.

4:1-23 The power and love of God to Israel are here made the ground and reason of a number of cautions and serious warnings; and although there is much reference to their national covenant, yet all may be applied to those who live under the gospel. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed? Our obedience as individuals cannot merit salvation; but it is the only evidence that we are partakers of the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ, Considering how many temptations we are compassed with, and what corrupt desires we have in our bosoms, we have great need to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright, who walk carelessly. Moses charges particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry. He shows how weak the temptation would be to those who thought aright; for these pretended gods, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord their God had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to worship them; shall we serve those that were made to serve us? Take heed lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God. We must take heed lest at any time we forget our religion. Care, caution, and watchfulness, are helps against a bad memory.

Chapter 4 In this chapter we have, I. A most earnest and pathetic exhortation to obedience, both in general, and in some particular instances, backed with a great variety of very pressing arguments, repeated again and again, and set before them in the most moving and affectionate manner imaginable (v. 1–40). II. The appointing of the cities of refuge on that side Jordan (v. 41–43). III. The particular description of the place where Moses delivered the following repetition of the law (v. 44, etc.).Verses 1-40 This most lively and excellent discourse is so entire, and the particulars of it are so often repeated, that we must take it altogether in the exposition of it, and endeavour to digest it into proper heads, for we cannot divide it into paragraphs.I. In general, it is the use and application of the foregoing history; it comes in by way of inference from it: Now therefore harken, O Israel, v. 1. This use we should make of the review of God’s providences concerning us, we should by them be quickened and engaged to duty and obedience. The histories of the years of ancient times should in like manner be improved by us.II. The scope and drift of his discourse is to persuade them to keep close to God and to his service, and not to forsake him for any other god, nor in any instance to decline from their duty to him. Now observe what he says to them, with a great deal of divine rhetoric, both by way of exhortation and direction, and also by way of motive and argument to enforce his exhortations.1. See here how he charges and commands them, and shows them what is good, and what the Lord requires of them.(1.) He demands their diligent attention to the word of God, and to the statutes and judgments that were taught them: Hearken, O Israel. He means, not only that they must now give him the hearing, but that whenever the book of the law was read to them, or read by them, they should be attentive to it. "Hearken to the statutes, as containing the great commands of God and the great concerns of your own souls, and therefore challenging your utmost attention." At Horeb God had made them hear his words (v. 10), hear them with a witness; the attention which was then constrained by the circumstances of the delivery ought ever after to be engaged by the excellency of the things themselves. What God so spoke once, we should hear twice, hear often.(2.) He charges them to preserve the divine law pure and entire among them, v. 2. Keep it pure, and do not add to it; keep it entire, and do not diminish from it. Not in practice, so some: "You shall not add by committing the evil which the law forbids, nor diminish by omitting the good which the law requires." Not in opinion, so others: "You shall not add your own inventions, as if the divine institutions were defective, nor introduce, much less impose, any rites of religious worship other than what God has appointed; nor shall you diminish, or set aside, any thing that is appointed, as needless or superfluous." God’s work is perfect, nothing can be put to it, nor taken from it, without making it the worse. See Eccl. 3:14. The Jews understand it as prohibiting the alteration of the text or letter of the law, even in the least jot or tittle; and to their great care and exactness herein we are very much indebted, under God, for the purity and integrity of the Hebrew code. We find a fence like this made about the New Testament in the close of it, Rev. 22:18, 19.(3.) He charges them to keep God’s commandments (v. 2), to do them (v. 5, 14), to keep and do them (v. 6), to perform the covenant, v. 13. Hearing must be in order to doing, knowledge in order to practice. God’s commandments were the way they must keep in, the rule they must keep to; they must govern themselves by the moral precepts, perform their devotion according to the divine ritual, and administer justice according to the judicial law. He concludes his discourse (v. 40) with this repeated charge: Thou shalt keep his statutes and his commandments which I command thee. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed?(4.) He charges them to be very strict and careful in their observance of the law (v. 9): Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently; and (v. 15), Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves; and again (v. 23), Take heed to yourselves. Those that would be religious must be very cautious, and walk circumspectly.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG አሁንም፥ እስራኤል ሆይ፥ እንድታደርጉአቸው በሕይወትም እንድትኖሩ፥ የአባቶቻችሁም አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ወደሚሰጣችሁ ምድር ገብታችሁ እንድትወርሱ፥ የማስተምራችሁን ሥርዓትና ፍርድ ስሙ። አማርኛ ENGNIV Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and ta… English BCV “ሕዚ ድማ፥ ኦ እስራኤል! ምእንቲ ብህይወት ክትነብሩን ናብታ እግዚኣብሄር ኣምላኽ ኣቦታትኩም ዝህበኩም ምድሪ ኽትኣትዉን ክትወርስዋን፥ ነዝ ኣነ ኽትገብርዎ ኢለ ዝምህረኩም ዘለኹ ሕግጋትን ፍ… ትግርኛ GAZBIB Museen itti fufee saba sanaan,“Ammas isin yaa saba Israa'el, akka jiraattaniif, biyya Waaqayyo gooftaan inni kan abboot… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወይእዜኒ እስራኤል ስምዑ ኵነኔሁ ወፍትሖ ዛእሜህረክሙ አነ ዮም ከመ ትግበሩ ወትኅየው ወትትባዝኁ ወትባኡ ወትትዋረስዋ ለምድር እንተ ይሁበክሙ እግዚአብሔር አምላኮሙ ለአበዊክሙ። giz GAZGAZ Museen itti fufee saba sanaan,“Ammas isin yaa saba Israa'el, akka jiraattaniif, biyya Waaqayyo gooftaan inni kan abboot… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum “ሕዚ ድማ፥ ኦ እስራኤል! ምእንቲ ብህይወት ክትነብሩን ናብታ እግዚኣብሄር ኣምላኽ ኣቦታትኩም ዝህበኩም ምድሪ ኽትኣትዉን ክትወርስዋን፥ ነዝ ኣነ ኽትገብርዎ ኢለ ዝምህረኩም ዘለኹ ሕግጋትን ፍ… ትግርኛ AMHNIV አሁንም እስራኤል ሆይ፤ በሕይወት እንድትኖሩ፣ የአባቶቻችሁ አምላክእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ወደሚሰጣችሁ ምድር እንድትገቡና እንድትወርሱ የማስተምራችሁን ሥርዐትና ሕግ ስሙ፤ ጠብቋቸውም። አማርኛ