5.
1 And Moses
called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and
judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be
careful to observe 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, those who are
here today, all of us who are alive.
4 "The
LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.
5 "I stood
between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD;
for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He
said:
6 'I am the
LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage.
7 'You shall
have no other gods before Me.
8 'You shall
not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth;
9 you shall not
bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth
generations of those who hate Me,
10 but showing
mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 'You shall
not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.
12 'Observe the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
13 Six days you
shall labor and do all your work,
14 but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work:
you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female
servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your
stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female
servant may rest as well as you.
15 And remember
that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you
out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD
your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 'Honor your
father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days
may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your
God is giving you.
17 'You shall
not murder.
18 'You shall
not commit adultery.
19 'You shall
not steal.
20 'You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 'You shall
not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house,
his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or
anything that is your neighbor's.'
22 "These
words the LORD spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of
the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no
more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
23 "So it
was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the
mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your
tribes and your elders.
24 "And
you said: 'Surely the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness,
and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day
that God speaks with man; yet he still lives.
25 'Now
therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear
the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we shall die.
26 'For who is
there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the
midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 'You go near
and hear all that the LORD our God may say, and tell us all that the LORD our
God says to you, and we will hear and do it.'
28 "Then
the LORD heard the voice 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 are right in all that they have spoken.
29 'Oh, that
they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My
commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
30 'Go and say
to them, "Return to your tents."
31 'But as for
you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the
statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe
them in the land which I am giving them to possess.'
32
"Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded
you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33 "You
shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you
may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days
in the land which you shall possess.
6.
1 "Now
this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the
LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land
which you are crossing over to possess,
2 "that
you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments
which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your
life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3 "Therefore
hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and
that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised
you--'a land flowing with milk and honey.'
4 "Hear, O
Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5 "You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with
all your strength.
6 "And
these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7 "You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall 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 "You
shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
your eyes.
9 "You
shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 "So it
shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to
your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful
cities which you did not build,
11 "houses
full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did
not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant--when you have eaten
and are full--
12 "then
beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage.
13 "You
shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
14 "You
shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you
15 '(for the
LORD your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the LORD your God
be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 "You
shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
17 "You
shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies,
and His statutes which He has commanded you.
18 "And
you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be
well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the
LORD swore to your fathers,
19 "to
cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.
20 "When
your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is the meaning of the
testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has
commanded you?'
21 "then
you shall say to your son: 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD
brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;
22 'and the
LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt,
Pharaoh, and all his household.
23 'Then He
brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of
which He swore to our fathers.
24 'And the
LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for
our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.
25 'Then it
will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these
commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.'
7.
1 "When
the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has
cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the
Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the
Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
2 "and
when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and
utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to
them.
3 "Nor
shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their
son, nor take their daughter for your son.
4 "For
they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the
anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
5 "But
thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down
their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved
images with fire.
6 "For you
are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be
a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of
the earth.
7 "The
LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number
than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 "but
because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore
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
"Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who
keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and
keep His commandments;
10 "and He
repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack
with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
11
"Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments
which I command you today, to observe them.
12 "Then
it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do
them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy
which He swore to your fathers.
13 "And He
will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of
your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your
oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land
of which He swore to your fathers to give you.
14 "You
shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren
among you or among your livestock.
15 "And
the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none
of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on
all those who hate you.
16 "And
you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you;
your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that
will be a snare to you.
17 "If you
should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I
dispossess them?'--
18 "you
shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God
did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
19 "the
great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand
and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall
the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
20
"Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those
who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.
21 "You
shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome
God, is among you.
22 "And
the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you
will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too
numerous for you.
23 "But
the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon
them until they are destroyed.
24 "And He
will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from
under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have
destroyed them.
25 "You
shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the
silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared
by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.
26 "Nor
shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to
destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it
is an accursed thing.