Deuteronomy 10-14
The Tablets Rewritten
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘aCut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to Me on the mountain, and bmake an ark of wood for yourself. 2 aI will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered, and byou shall put them in the ark.’ 3 So aI made an ark of acacia wood and bcut out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 He wrote on the tablets, like the former writing, athe Ten Commandments bwhich the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire con the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and acame down from the mountain and bput the tablets in the ark which I had made; cand there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”
6 (Now the sons of Israel set out from Beeroth aBene-jaakan to Moserah. bThere Aaron died and there he was buried and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his place. 7 aFrom there they set out to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. 8 aAt that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord bto serve Him and to bless in His name until this day. 9 aTherefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God spoke to him.)
10 “aI, moreover, stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time, and the Lord listened to me that time also; the Lord was not willing to destroy you. 11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, proceed on your journey ahead of the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’
12 “aNow, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and blove Him, and to serve the Lord your God with call your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, ato the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, bthe earth and all that is in it. 15 aYet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 aSo circumcise your heart, and bstiffen your neck no longer. 17 aFor the Lord your God is the God of gods and the bLord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God cwho does not show partiality nor dtake a bribe. 18 He executes justice for athe orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 19 aSo show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and acling to Him, and byou shall swear by His name. 21 He is ayour praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. 22 aYour fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, band now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Rewards of Obedience
“You shall therefore alove the Lord your God, and always bkeep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. 2 Know this day athat I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm, 3 and aHis signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; 4 and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, awhen He made the water of the Red Sea to engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord completely destroyed them; 5 and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6 and awhat He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and bevery living thing that followed them, among all Israel— 7 but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.
8 “You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, aso that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; 9 aso that you may prolong your days on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, ba land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden. 11 But athe land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; athe eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.
13 “It shall come about, aif you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, bto love the Lord your God and to serve Him cwith all your heart and all your soul, 14 that aHe will give the rain for your land in its season, the bearly and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 aHe will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and byou will eat and be satisfied. 16 aBeware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17 Or athe anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will bshut up the heavens cso that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and dyou will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
18 “aYou shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 19 aYou shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 aYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that ayour days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as blong as the heavens remain above the earth. 22 For if you are acareful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, bto love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and chold fast to Him, 23 then the Lord will adrive out all these nations from before you, and you will bdispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 aEvery place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; byour border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea. 25 aNo man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.
26 “aSee, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the ablessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the acurse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.
29 “It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, athat you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not across the Jordan, west of the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite aGilgal, beside bthe oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and ayou shall possess it and live in it, 32 and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.
Laws of the Sanctuary
“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess aas long as you live on the earth. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the ahigh mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 aYou shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and bobliterate their name from that place. 4 You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God. 5 aBut you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6 There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ayour tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 There also you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and arejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you have not as yet come to athe resting place and the binheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and aHe gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, 11 athen it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall arejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the bLevite who is within your gates, since che has no portion or inheritance with you.
13 “aBe careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
15 “aHowever, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of bthe gazelle and the deer. 16 aOnly you shall not eat the blood; byou are to pour it out on the ground like water. 17 aYou are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the contribution of your hand. 18 But ayou shall eat them before the Lord your God in bthe place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the cLevite who is within your gates; and you shall drejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. 19 aBe careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
20 “When the Lord your God extends your border aas He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, whatever you desire. 21 If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire. 22 Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23 Only be sure anot to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. 25 You shall not eat it, so that ait may be well with you and your sons after you, for byou will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26 aOnly your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses. 27 And ayou shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and byou shall eat the flesh.
28 “Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that ait may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
29 “When athe Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31 aYou shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for bthey even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
32 “aWhatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; byou shall not add to nor take away from it.
Shun Idolatry
“aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘aLet us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is atesting you to find out if byou love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 aYou shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and bcling to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be aput to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, bto seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. cSo you shall purge the evil from among you.
6 “aIf your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘bLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 ayou shall not yield to him or listen to him; band your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 aBut you shall surely kill him; byour hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 So you shall stone him to death because he has sought ato seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 Then aall Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, 15 ayou shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. 16 aThen you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from aHis burning anger and bshow mercy to you, and have compassion on you and cmake you increase, just das He has sworn to your fathers, 18 if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Clean and Unclean Animals
“You are athe sons of the Lord your God; byou shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2 For you are aa holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a bpeople for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 “aYou shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 aThese are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
9 “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 But athese are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 “aYou shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are ba holy people to the Lord your God. cYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You ashall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, aat the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may blearn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses ato set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and athere you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect athe Levite who is in your town, bfor he has no portion or inheritance among you.
28 “aAt the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29 The Levite, abecause he has no portion or inheritance among you, and bthe alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and ceat and be satisfied, in order that dthe Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
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