Deuteronomy 4
Moses Commands Obedience
“And now, O Israel, listen to athe statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, bthat you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 aYou 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. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did aat Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. 5 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. 6 aKeep them and do them, for bthat 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.’ 7 For awhat great nation is there that has ba god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so arighteous as all this law that I set before you today?
9 a“Only take care, and bkeep 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. cMake them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how on athe day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, b‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, cso that they may learn to fear dme all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11 And ayou came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while bthe mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then athe Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, bbut saw no form; cthere was only a voice. 13 aAnd he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, bthe Ten Commandments, cand he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And athe 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
15 a“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since byou saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware alest you act corruptly bby making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, cthe likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see athe sun and the moon and the stars, ball 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. 20 But the Lord has taken you and abrought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, bto be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, athe 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. 22 For I must die in this land; aI must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of bthat good land. 23 aTake care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and bmake a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For athe Lord your God is a consuming fire, ba jealous God.
25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, aand you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and bby doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I acall 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. 27 And the Lord awill scatter you among the peoples, band you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And athere you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, bthat neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 aBut 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. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you ain the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is aa merciful God. bHe will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
The Lord Alone Is God
32 “For aask 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. 33 aDid any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, aby signs, by wonders, and bby war, cby a mighty hand and dan outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, athat you might know that the Lord is God; bthere is no other besides him. 36 aOut of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and byou heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because ahe loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt bwith his own presence, by his great power, 38 adriving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that athe Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; bthere is no other. 40 aTherefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, bthat 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
41 Then Moses aset apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, 42 that athe 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: 43 aBezer in the wilderness on the btableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
Introduction to the Law
44 This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan ain the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, bwhom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land aof Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; 48 afrom Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount bSirion (that is, cHermon), 49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as athe Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.