(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Va’etchanan
3:23. “And I implored the LORD* at that time saying, 24. ‘LORD* God, You have begun to show Your greatness and Your mighty hand to Your servant, for what god is in heaven or on earth that can do according to Your words and according to Your might? 25. Ipray You, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain and Lebanon.’ 26. But the LORD* ignored, passed by, my plea for your sake and would not hear me. And the LORD* said to me, ‘Let it be enough for you! Speak no more to Me of this matter. 27. Get up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward, northward, southward, and eastward and behold with your eyes, for you will not go over this Jordan. 28. But charge Joshua, encourage him and strengthen him, for he will go over before this people and he will cause them to inherit the land, which you will see.’
3:29. “So we Stayed in the valley over against Beit-Peor.”
Moses Summarizes the Commandments
4.1. “Now therefore listen, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I am teaching you, to do them, so you will live and go in and possess the land which the LORD* God of your fathers gives you. 2. You will not add to the word which I command you, neither will you take anything from it, so you can keep the commandments of the LORD* your God which I command you. (Rev. 22:19) 3. Your eyes have seen what the LORD* did because of Baal-Peor, for all the men who followed Baal-Peor, the LORD* your God has destroyed them from among you. 4. But you who grasped the LORD* your God are alive, everyone of you this day. 5. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD* my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it.
6. Therefore keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples that will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7. For what nation is there so great that God is so near to them, as the LORD* our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?’ 8. And what nation is there so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Torah, which I AM giving you this day? 9. Only take heed to yourself and keep your inner beings diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life, but make them known to your sons and your sons’ sons. 10. The day that you stood before the LORD* your God in Horeb, when the LORD* said to me, ‘Gather the people together for Me and I shall make them hear My words so they can learn to revere Me all the days that they will live upon the earth, and so they can teach their children.’ 11. And you came near and stood under the mountain and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12. And the LORD* spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no other person, only a voice.
4:13. “And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, ten statements, and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14. And the LORD* commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so you could do them in the land where you go to possess it. 15. Therefore take good heed to yourselves, for you saw no manner of a person or figure on the day the LORD* spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16. lest you corrupt yourselves, and make for yourselves a graven image, the likeness of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17. the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air, 18. the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth, 19. and lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, and are led astray to worship them and serve them, which the LORD* your God has divided to all people under the whole heaven. 20. But the LORD* has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of inheritance, as you are this day. 21. Furthermore the LORD* was angry with me for your sake and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which the LORD* your God gives you for an inheritance, 22. but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you will go over and possess that good land. 23. Be careful for yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD* your God, which He made with you and you make a graven image, the likeness of anything, which the LORD* your God has forbidden you. 24. For the LORD* your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Heb. 12:29)
4:25. “When you beget children and children’s children and you have remained long in the land and corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, the likeness of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD* your God, to provoke Him to anger, 26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27. And the LORD* will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD* will lead you. 28. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29. But if from there you will seek the LORD* your God, you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with your whole being. 30. When you are in tribulation and all these things have come upon you in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD* your God, and are obedient to His voice, 31. for the LORD* your God is a compassionate God, He will not forsake you or destroy you or forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
4:32. “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it? 33. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34. Or has God attempted to take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD* your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35. It was shown to you so you would know that the LORD*, He is God. There is no one else besides Him. 36. He made you to hear His voice out from heaven so He could instruct you, and upon earth He showed you His great fire and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37. And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them and in His sight He brought you out from Egypt with His mighty power 38. to drive out nations from before you, greater and mightier than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance as it is this day. 39. Know therefore this day and consider it in your heart, that the LORD* He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath. There is no other. 40. Therefore you will keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you this day, so it will go well with you and with your children after you, and that you will prolong your days upon the earth, which the LORD* your God gives you forever.
Three Cities of Refuge in the East
4:41. Then Moses set apart three cities on the east side of the Jordan toward the sunrising 42. so the slayer could flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares and did not hate him in times past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43. Bezer in the wilderness in the plain country of the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.”
4:44. And this is the teaching which Moses set before the children of Israel.
45. These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt 46. on this side of the Jordan, in the valley over against Beit-Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck after they had come out of 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, 48. from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even to Mount Sion, which is Hermon, 49. and all the plain on this side of the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the plain under the slopes of Pisgah.
Resuming the Commandments
5.1. And Moses called all Israel and said to them, “Listen! Obey, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day so you can learn them and keep and do them! 2. The LORD* our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3. The LORD* did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4. The LORD* talked with you face to face on the mountain out of the midst of the fire. 5. I was standing between the LORD* and you at that time, to tell you the Word of the LORD*, for you were afraid by reason of the fire, and did not go up on the mountain. He was saying,
The Ten Statements
5:6. “I AM the LORD* your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
5:7. “You will have no other gods before Me.
5:8. “You will not make for yourself any carved or molded image, or any likeness of anything that is in the sky above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the waters beneath the earth.
5:9. “You will not bow down yourself to them, or serve them, for I AM the LORD* your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 10. and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
5:11. “You will not take the name of the LORD* your God in vain, for the LORD* will not hold guiltless who takes His name in vain.
5:12. “Keep the Sabbath to sanctify it, as the LORD* your God has commanded you. 13. Six days you will labor and do all your work, 14. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD* your God, you will not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your ox, your donkey, any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. 15. And remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD* your God brought you out from there through a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD* your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
5:16. “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD* your God has commanded you, so your days may be prolonged and so it may go well with you in the land which the LORD* your God gives you. (Eph. 6:3)
5:17. “You will not murder.
“Neither will you commit adultery.
“Neither will you steal:
“Neither will you bear false witness against your neighbor.
5:18. “Neither will you desire your neighbor’s wife, nor will you covet your neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
5:19. “The LORD* spoke these words to all your assembly in the mountain out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness with a great voice, and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and delivered them to me.
5:20. “And it was, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain burned with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders 21. and you said, ‘Behold, the LORD* our God has shown us His glory and His greatness and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God does talk with man, and he lives. 22. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the LORD* our God any more, then we will die. 23. For who is there of all flesh, who has heard the voice of the Living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have, and lived? 24. Go near and hear all that the LORD* our God will say and speak to us everything that the LORD* our God will speak to you and we will hear it and do it.’
5:25. “And the LORD* heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me and the LORD* said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken. 26. Othat there were such a heart in them that they would revere Me and keep all My commandments always, so it would be well with them and with their children forever. 27. Go! Say to them, “Get into your tents again!” 28. But as for you, stand here by Me and I shall speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which you will teach them, so they may do them in the land which I AM giving them to possess. 29. You will observe to do therefore as the LORD* your God has commanded you: you will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 30. You will walk in all the Ways which the LORD* your God has commanded you, so you can live and that it may be well with you and you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.’”
Commandments, Statutes, and Judgments
6.1. “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD* Your God commanded to teach you, so you would do them in the land where you go to possess it, 2. so you would revere the LORD* your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you: you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life and so your days may be prolonged. 3. Therefore hear, O Israel and observe to do it, so it may be well with you, and so you may increase mightily as the LORD* God of your fathers has promised you in the land that flows with milk and honey.”
The Sh’ma
6:4. “Listen! Obey, O Israel! The LORD* is our God! The LORD* is One!
5. And you will love the LORD* your God with all your heart, with your very being, and with all your might. (Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27) 6. And these words, which I am commanding you this day, will be in your heart 7. and you will teach them diligently to your children, and you will talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8. And you will bind them as a sign upon your hand (Pro. 7:3), and they will be as frontlets between your eyes. 9. And you will write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
6:10. “And it will be, when the LORD* your God has brought you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give you great and good cities which you did not build, 11. and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and wells dug, which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant. When you have eaten and are full, 12. watch out for yourselves so you do not forget the LORD*, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13. You will revere the LORD* your God, serve Him, and will swear by His name. (Matt. 4:10, Luke 4:8) 14. You will not go after other gods, of the gods of the people that are all around you, 15. for the LORD* your God is a jealous God among you, or the anger of the LORD* your God will be kindled against you and destroy you from off the face of the earth.
6:16. “You will not tempt the LORD* your God, (Matt. 4:7, Luke 4:12) as you tempted Him in Massah. (Exod. 17:7) 17. You will diligently keep the commandments of the LORD* your God, His testimonies, and His statutes, which He has commanded you. 18. And you will do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD*, so it will be well with you and so you can go in and possess the good land which the LORD* swore to your fathers, 19. to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD* has spoken.
6:20. “And when your son asks you in time to come saying, “What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD* our God has commanded you? 21. Then you will say to your son, we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and the LORD* brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, 22. and the LORD* showed signs and wonders, great and bad upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household before our eyes. 23. And He brought us out from there, so He could bring us in to give us the land which He swore to our fathers. 24. And the LORD* commanded us to do all these statutes, to revere the LORD* our God for our good always, so He could preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25. And it will be our acts of loving kindness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD* our God, as He has commanded us.”
Deal With Your Conquered Foes
7.1. “When the LORD* your God brings you into the land where you are going to possess it and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, the Gergashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2. and when the LORD* your God delivers them before you and you strike them, utterly destroying them, you will make no covenant with them or show them favor. 3. Neither will you make marriages with them! You will not give your daughter to his son, nor will you take his daughter for your son. 4. For they will turn away your son from following Me so they may serve other gods, so the anger of the LORD* will be kindled against you and destroy you suddenly. 5. But this is how you will deal with them: you will destroy their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. 6. For you are a holy people to the LORD* your God. The LORD* your God has chosen you to be special people for Himself, above all the people that are on the face of the earth.
7. The LORD* did not set His love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people, 8. but because the LORD* loved you and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers, the LORD* has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9. Know therefore that the LORD* is your God! He is God, the Faithful God Who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations 10. and repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to the one who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11. Therefore you will keep the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which I command you this day, to do them.”
Next week’s Torah readings: Eikev