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¤1 °1
These are the words that
Moses spoke to all Israel, at the other side of the Jordan River, in the
Arabah desert. They were facing Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth
and Dizahab. °2 From Mount Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea they
had had a journey of eleven days through the mountains of Seir. °3 But now it was the first day of the eleventh month
of the fortieth year after they left Egypt, when Moses told the children of
Israel all that Yahweh had commanded him regarding them. °4 After defeating Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who
lived in Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan who ruled in Ashtaroth and in
Edrei, °5 Moses began to explain this law. They
were in the land of Moab, at the other side of the Jordan. § First discourse of Moses: the judges°6 Moses said, “Yahweh, our God, spoke to us at Mount
Horeb: ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. °7 Leave this place and go into the territory of the
Amorites and to its neighboring peoples in the Arabah, the Mountains, the
Lowlands, the Negeb and the seacoast, into the land of Canaan and Lebanon up
to the great Euphrates River. °8 Look: I offer you this land; you will take
possession of it and live in the land which Yahweh swore to give to your
fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to all their descendants.’ °9 I said to you at that time: ‘I alone cannot be
responsible for all of you. °10 Yahweh, your God, has multiplied you, and
now, you are as numerous as the stars in heaven. °11 May
Yahweh, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times more and bless
you just as he promised. °12 But how can I alone resolve all your problems and
disputes? °13 Look for intelligent, keen-sighted and
experienced men from each of your tribes, and I will place them over the
people.’ °14 And you answered: ‘What you ask us to do is right.’ °15 Thus, I chose from among the heads of your tribes
wise and experienced men and placed them over you as leaders of the
thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as secretaries for each
tribe. °16 And I gave this order to the judges:
‘Attend to the complaints of your brothers, and judge with justice the
lawsuit between an Israelite and his brother, or between an Israelite and a
foreigner who lives in your midst. °17 Do not be influenced by anyone when you judge, but
listen to the poor and the rich alike, to the powerful as well as the weak,
and do not be afraid of anyone because you act in place of God. And if there
arises a very difficult case for you, refer this to me and I will attend to
it.’ °18 At that time, I established what you had to do. § Rebellion at Kadesh
°19 Finally, having left Horeb, we passed through that
wide and terrible desert that we saw, on the way to the hill country of the
Amorites, as Yahweh had commanded us, and arriving at Kadesh-Barnea, °20 I said to you: ‘We
have come to the mountain of the Amorites which Yahweh, our God, gives us. °21 Look, Israel, at the land which Yahweh gives you;
take possession of that which was promised to your ancestors. Do not be
afraid or discouraged.’ °22 Then all of you gathered around me and said to me:
‘Better send some men before us to explore the land and map out the roads
leading to the cities where we are to go.’ °23 That was a good suggestion, so I took twelve men
from among you, one from each tribe, °24 who set
out and climbed the mountains on foot until they came to the Valley of the
Grapevines. °25 And once there, they took with them the
fruits of the valley, and upon their return recounted to us what they had
seen. They told us: ‘The land which Yahweh gives us is a good land.’ °26 Nevertheless, you did not want to go up into the
mountains but rebelled against the commands of Yahweh. °27 And you began to murmur in your tents: ‘Yahweh does
not like us; he made us leave Egypt to turn us over to the Amorites who in
turn will kill us all. °28 Where shall we go? The messengers have
frightened us with what they told us: The people who live in the land are
greater and taller than us. The cities are great and are fortified with high
walls. We have seen giants there as in times past.’ °29 Then I said to you: ‘Have no fear and do not be
afraid of them. °30 Yahweh who leads you will likewise fight
for you as he did in Egypt. °31 You have also seen what he did in the
desert where he carried you all the way just as a father carries his son,
until we came to this place.’ °32 But still you would not believe Yahweh, our God, °33 who went before you in all your journeys, and has
instructed you where to set up camp; by night he has shown you the way with
fire and by day with a cloud. °34 And when Yahweh heard the rumblings of your
complaints, he was angry and he swore: °35 Not
one from this perverse generation will see the beautiful land which I swore
to give to your ancestors °36 except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He
shall see it and I will give him and his children the land upon which he trod
because he has faithfully followed Yahweh. °37 Yahweh was angry with me as well because of your
fault, and he said to me: ‘Neither will you enter there; °38 but your assistant, Joshua, the son of Nun, will
enter. Encourage him because he will be the one to give Israel its
inheritance. °39 Your children will enter there; to them
will I give the land, and they will possess it although you feared they would
become the prey of your enemies. °40
But as for you, go
back into the desert by the Red Sea.’ °41 And you answered me: ‘We have sinned against Yahweh,
our God. Now, we will go and fight as he has commanded us.’ So each one took
his weapons and thought it easy to climb the mountains. °42 But Yahweh told me: ‘Tell them not to go and fight
because I am not with them, or else they will be defeated by the enemy.’ °43 I told you this but you did not listen. You
disobeyed the order of Yahweh and went up to the mountains instead. °44 Then the Amorites who live on those mountains came
out to meet you; they struck you and pursued you like bees from Seir to
Hormah. °45 And you returned with much weeping in the
presence of Yahweh who did not want to hear you nor listen to your voice. °46 So you were to remain at Kadesh for many days; and
you know how long it was. § Through the desert
¤2 °1
We, therefore, turned
back and set out towards the desert by the way leading to the Red Sea, as
Yahweh had commanded me, and we walked around the mountains of Seir for a
long time. °2 Then, Yahweh said to me: °3 ‘You
have been going around these mountains for a long time; now, go north. °4 Give this command to the people: You are to pass
through the territory of your brothers, the children of Esau, who live in
Seir. They will be afraid of you, °5
but be very careful
that you do not attack them because I will not give you even the parcel of
land on which you stand. Know that I have given to Esau the mountains of Seir
as a possession. °6 You shall buy food and water from them
with your silver. °7 Think of all the blessings that Yahweh
has bestowed on you in all our work and how he has been present in your
journey through the desert. Yahweh has been with you for forty years, and
never have you been in want. °8 So we passed through the land of our brothers, the
children of Esau who live in Seir. We left the Arabah road that led to Elath
and Ezion-Geber, and we took the road going into the desert of Moab. °9 Then Yahweh said to me: ‘Do not attack Moab or
provoke them to fight since I will not give you any of their land. Know that
I have given Ar to the children of Lot as a possession.’ °10 (The Emim formerly lived there – a great and
numerous people, and tall as the Anakim. °11 And
just like the Anakim, they were also known as giants, but the Moabites called
them Emim. °12 And the Horites also used to live in Seir
but the children of Esau drove them out, killed them and settled in their
place, as Israel did in the land they possess and which Yahweh gave them.) °13 And now rise up and pass through the brook of
Zered.’ We
then went to the brook of Zered. °14
We walked for
thirty-eight years from Kadesh-Barnea until we crossed the brook, until the
entire generation of the men old enough to fight had perished just as Yahweh
said. °15 Even the hand of Yahweh was against them,
dealing them their death in the camps until all of them perished. °16 When finally all those who were old enough to fight
died, °17 Yahweh said to me: °18 ‘Today you will pass through the frontiers of Moab,
facing the city of Ar, °19 and you will meet these people. Do not
attack or defy them for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites.
Know that I have given that land to the children of Lot.’ °20 (This land was also considered the land of the
giants who formerly lived there and whom the Ammonites called Zummim. °21 They were a great and numerous people, tall and of
enormous stature, similar to the Anakim. But Yahweh destroyed them through
the hand of the Ammonites, and in their place he made the Ammonites to dwell
in the land. °22 He did the same with the people of Esau
who dwell in Seir. They destroyed the Horites and took possession of their
land up to this very day. °23 He dealt in the same manner with the
Avvim who lived in the camps as far as Gaza. They were expelled by the
Caphtorim who killed them and occupied their place.) °24 Rise up and go to the brook of Arnon. Look, I give
into your hands Sihon the Amorite, the king of Heshbon, and all his land. °25 Begin, right now, to occupy his land and fight. And
I, for my part, will begin to instill among all the peoples under heaven the
dread and fear of you. They will tremble when they hear your name; they will
tremble like a woman in childbirth and they will lose courage when they face
you. § Victory over Sihon and Og°26 From the desert of Kedemoth, I sent messengers to
Sihon, the king of Heshbon, with these words of peace: °27 “I wish to pass through your land but I will go only
by the road without turning aside either to the right or to the left. °28 We ask you to sell us food for money that we may
eat, and water that we may drink. And let us only pass through as the
children of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for
us, °29 until we come to the Jordan and enter the
land which Yahweh, our God, gives to us.” °30 But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, would not let us
pass through his land, (and Yahweh made him stubborn so that our God might
give him into our hands.) °31 And Yahweh said to me: “You have to know that I have
begun to give Sihon and his land over to you; begin conquering his land.” °32 Then, Sihon came out with all his men to meet us in
battle at Jahaz. °33 And Yahweh, our God, gave him over to us
and we defeated him together with his sons and all his men. °34 At that time we captured all their cities and
pronounced an anathema over them, killing all their inhabitants, men, women
and children without sparing anyone, °35 except
the animals which were part of the plunder of the cities you have occupied. °36 From Aroer, the city at the edge of the brook Arnon,
up to Galaad, there was neither a village nor a city which we did not
capture. Yahweh, our God, gave everything over to us, °37 except the land of the Ammonites which we did not
touch, the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities in the mountains, that
is, all the places which Yahweh, our God, forbade us to take. ¤3 °1
On turning back, we
went up the way to Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people came
out to fight us in Edrei. °2 Then Yahweh said to me: “Do not be afraid
because I am giving him into your hands together with his people and his
land, that you may do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who
lived in Heshbon.” °3 And Yahweh gave Og, the king of Bashan,
and all his people into our hands; and sparing no one, we killed everyone by
the sword. °4 We took possession of all their cities; there was
not one of them that escaped us. We captured the sixty cities: the whole of
the Argob region – the kingdom of Og, in Bashan. °5 All
these were cities fortified with high walls, with gates and bars, besides the
innumerable villages in the open fields. °6 We completely destroyed them for the honor of
Yahweh, killing all the people, as we had done with Sihon, the king of
Heshbon: we wiped out all the cities, men, women and children. °7 The only things that we spared and kept for
ourselves were the livestock and the plunder from the cities. °8 We took possession of the land occupied by the two
Amorite kings, the land beyond the Jordan, from the brook of Arnon up to the
Mount of Hermon °9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion while
the Amorites call it Senir.) °10 And we captured all the cities on the
plateau and all the land of Galaad and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei,
cities in the kingdom of Og, in Bashan. °11 (Og, the king of Bashan, was the last survivor in
the race of the giants. His iron bed, which is four and a half meters long
and two meters wide, can be seen in Rabbah, a city of the Ammonites.) °12 Then, we took possession of that land. I gave to the
tribes of Reuben and Gad half of the mountains of Gilead with their cities,
from Aroer situated at the edge of the brook of Arnon. °13 And I gave to half of Manasseh’s tribe the other
half of the kingdom of Gilead and the whole kingdom of Og, or Bashan with the
whole of the Argob region. The whole land of Bashan was called the land of
the giants. °14 Jair, a son of Manasseh, took all the territories of
Argob up to the boundaries of Gesuri and Maacati. And he gave his name to
these cities which until today are called villages of Jair. °15 I gave part of Gilead to Makhir. °16 And to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, I gave the
territory from Gilead up to the brook of Arnon (the boundary lies halfway
along the brook) and up to the river Jabbok, the boundary of the territory of
the sons of Ammon. °17 It is bounded by the Arabah in the west,
and in the east by the Jordan, from Kinnereth up to the sea in the desert,
known as the Salt Sea, at the foot of Mount Pisgah. °18 Then I gave you these orders: “Yahweh, our God, has
given you this land to own. °19 But only your women, your children and
your livestock, your numerous livestock, will remain in the cities which I
have given you. °20 All the strong men will go armed ahead of
their Israelite brothers until Yahweh gives them a place where they can rest
as he has given you, and they too possess the land which I will give you at
the other side of the Jordan. Then each one of you will return to his own
inheritance which I have given you.” °21 I also gave the following order to Joshua: “You have
seen with your own eyes what Yahweh has done with those two kings, and he
will do the same to the kingdoms where you shall go. °22 Do not be afraid because Yahweh will fight for you.” °23 Then I asked Yahweh: °24 “Yahweh,
my Lord, you have begun to manifest your greatness and the power of your
hand. For what God in the heavens and on the earth can do such works and
deeds as you have done? °25 Do let me go and see that splendid land
at the other side of the Jordan, those mountains without comparison and
Lebanon, too.” °26 But because of your fault, Yahweh was angry with me
and did not hear me. And Yahweh said to me: “It is enough, speak no more of this
to me, °27 but climb to the top of Mount Pisgah and
from there look to the west and to the north, to the south, and to the east.
You shall see the land, but you shall not cross over the Jordan. °28 Give your orders to Joshua, encourage him and
strengthen him because he will be the one to bring this people across and
distribute to them the land which you see.” °29 We, then, remained in the valley opposite Bethpeor. § The Law: true wisdom
¤4 °1 And now, Israel, listen to the norms and laws which I teach that you may put them into practice. And you will live and enter and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you. °2 Do not add anything to what I command you nor take anything away from it. But keep the commandments of Yahweh, your God, as I command you. °3 You have seen with your own eyes what Yahweh has done with Baal-Peor and with those who served him. Yahweh has destroyed them. °4 But you who have been faithful to Yahweh, your God, are all alive today. °5 See, as Yahweh, my God, ordered me, I am teaching you the norms and the laws that you may put them into practice in the land you are going to enter and have as your own. °6 If you observe and practice them, other peoples will regard you as wise and intelligent. When they come to know of all these laws, they will say, “There is no people as wise and as intelligent as this great nation.” °7 For in truth, is there a nation as great as ours, whose gods are as near to it as Yahweh, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? °8 And is there a nation as great as ours whose norms and laws are as just as this Law which I give you today? °9 But be careful and be on your guard. Do not forget these things which your own eyes have seen nor let them depart from your heart as long as you live. But on the contrary, teach them to your children and to your children’s children. °10 You were in the presence of Yahweh at Mount Horeb when he spoke to me, “Gather the people before me that they may hear my words. Thus they will fear me as long as they live in that land and will teach these words to their children.” °11 Then you came nearer and stood at the foot of the mountain. It was burning in flames reaching up to heaven amid the dense fog and the dark clouds. °12 And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words but did not see any figure; you only heard a voice. °13 And Yahweh spoke to you that you might know his Covenant by which he commanded you to keep his ten commandments, which he had written on two slabs of stone. °14 And as for me, he commanded me to teach you the norms and laws that you might put them into practice in the land which is going to be yours. °15 Think well about what you are to do. You did not see any form on that day when Yahweh spoke to you at Mount Horeb from the midst of the fire. °16 Therefore, do not become corrupted: do not make an idol or a god carved in the form of a man or of a woman, °17 or in the form of any animal that lives on the earth, or of any kind of bird that flies in the sky, °18 or of any reptile that crawls on the earth, or of any fish that lives in the water under the earth. °19 When you look at the heavens and you see the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the heavenly bodies, do not prostrate yourselves to adore and serve them as gods. °20 Yahweh, your God, has left those for the rest of the peoples, but he has chosen you and has brought you from the fiery crucible, that is Egypt, to be his own people as you are now. °21 Through your fault, Yahweh became angry with me and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan nor enter into the beautiful land which he gives you as an inheritance. °22 I will die in this land and not be able to cross the Jordan. You, in turn, will cross over and possess that beautiful land. °23 So, be careful not to forget the Covenant which Yahweh has made with you and do not make any kind of idols, as Yahweh, your God, has commanded you. °24 Know that Yahweh, your God, is a devouring fire, Yahweh is a jealous God. °25 When you have children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, do not be corrupted by having idols and doing that which offends Yahweh. If you anger him, you will perish from the land which is going to be yours after crossing the Jordan. °26 Heaven and earth are witness to my warning: you will all be destroyed. °27 Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples and only a few of you will remain among the nations where Yahweh will bring you. °28 There you will be obliged to serve their gods, gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, which do not see or hear, or eat or feel. °29 There you will look for Yahweh, your God, and you will encounter him if you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul in the midst of your anguish. °30 When this happens in the last days, you will return to Yahweh, and you will listen to his voice. °31 Because Yahweh, your God, is a merciful God who will not reject you nor destroy you all, nor forget the Covenant he swore to your fathers. § Chosen by God
°32 Ask of the times past. Inquire from the day when God created man on earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other: Has there ever been anything as extraordinary as this? °33 Has anything like this been heard of before? Has there ever been a people who remained alive after hearing as you did the voice of the living God from the midst of the fire? °34 Never has there been a God who went out to look for a people and take them out from among the other nations by the strength of trials and signs, by wonders and by war, with a firm hand and an outstretched arm. Never has there been any deed as tremendous as those done for you by Yahweh in Egypt, which you saw with your own eyes. °35 You saw this that you might know that Yahweh is God and that there is no other besides him. °36 He let you hear his voice from heaven that you might fear him; on earth he let you see his blazing fire and from the midst of the fire you heard his word. °37 Because of the love he had for your fathers, he chose their descendants after them, and he himself made you leave Egypt with his great power. °38 He expelled before you peoples more numerous and stronger than you, and he has made you occupy their land: today he has given this to you as an inheritance.°39 Therefore, try to be convinced that Yahweh is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other. °40 Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today, and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So you will live long in the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you forever.” § Second discourse of Moses
°41 Moses designated three
cities at the other side of the Jordan, on the east, °42 where one who involuntarily
kills his neighbor may find refuge, one who has never been his enemy before.
He should flee into one of those cities and so save himself. °43 These are the cities: Bezer
on the desert plateau for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe
of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh. °44 This is the Law which Moses gave to the children of
Israel. °45 These are the precepts, decrees, and laws
which Moses made known to the children of Israel after their departure from
Egypt, °46 at the other side of the Jordan, in the valley
opposite Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. This
Sihon, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated by Moses and the children of Israel
after their departure from Egypt °47
and they took
possession of his land, as they had done with Og, the king of Bashan. The two
Amorite kings ruled at the east of the Jordan, °48 from
Aroer at the boundary of the brook of Arnon, up to Mount Sirion, also called
Hermon °49 that is, the whole plain to the east of
the Jordan up to the Dead Sea at the foot of Mount Pisgah. § The Ten Commandments
¤5 °1
Moses gathered the
whole of Israel and said to them: “Listen, Israel, to the laws and norms
which I teach you this day. Learn them and be careful to put them into
practice. °2 Yahweh, our God, made a covenant with us
in Horeb, and his covenant °3 was not only with our fathers, but with
us as well who are all alive here today. °4 Yahweh spoke with us face to face from
the midst of the fire in the mountain. °5 And I stood between Yahweh and you to
transmit his word to you, since you could not go up the mountain for fear of
the great fire. These were his words: °6 I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, the house of slavery. °7 Do not
have other gods before me. °8 Do not have idols, do not make any figure
of things in the heaven or here below on the earth, or in the waters under
the earth. °9 Do not kneel before them or worship them,
because I, Yahweh, am your God, a jealous God who punishes the children until
the third and fourth generation for the wickedness of their parents who hate
me. °10 But I am merciful to the thousandth
generation to those who love me and obey my commandments. °11 Do not take the name of Yahweh, your God, in vain because
Yahweh will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain. °12 Take care to keep holy the sabbath day, as Yahweh,
your God, commands you. °13 You have six days to work and do your
tasks. °14 But the seventh day is the Day of Rest in
honor of Yahweh, your God. Do not do any work, you or your child, or your
servant, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your animals. Neither will the
foreigner who lives in your land work. Your servant will rest just like you. °15 Remember that you were once enslaved in the land of
Egypt from where Yahweh, your God, brought you out with his powerful hand and
outstretched arm. For that reason, Yahweh, your God, commands you to observe
the sabbath. °16 Honor your father and your mother as Yahweh, your
God, has commanded, and you will live long and it will be well with you in
the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you. °17 Do not kill. °18 Do not commit adultery. °19 Do not steal. °20 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. °21 Do not desire the wife of your neighbor. Do not
covet the house of your neighbor, or his field, or his servant, or his ox, or
his donkey, or anything that is his. °22 These are the words of Yahweh said to the whole
assembly on the mountain when he spoke from the midst of the fire and the
thick cloud. He said only this and he wrote these words on the two slabs of
stone which he gave to me. °23 You heard that voice in the midst of
darkness, while the mountain was becoming resplendent. Then all the heads of
the tribes together with the elders gathered around me °24 and said: ‘See, Yahweh, our God, has shown us his
glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire.
We now know that the word of Yahweh is life for man. °25 We are, nevertheless, going to die devoured by this
terrible fire if we keep listening to the voice of Yahweh, our God. °26 For who can remain alive after listening to the
voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as he has now
done for us? °27 Better that you go nearer to hear all the
things that Yahweh, our God, will say to you. Then tell these to us that we
may put them into practice.’ °28 Yahweh heard your words and said to me, “I have
heard what this people said and they have spoken well. °29 May they always have the same spirit, fear me and
observe all my precepts that all may go well with you and with your children
for all time. °30 Rise up and tell them to return to their
tents in the fields. °31 But as for you, remain here with me that I may teach
you all the commandments, precepts and laws which you have to teach that they
may put them into practice in the land that I will give them for their
possession.” °32 Observe and carry out the things that Yahweh has
commanded us. Do not turn aside from them either to the right or to the left.
°33 Follow all the way which Yahweh has
marked out for you, and you will live and be happy and you will live long in
the land you are going to conquer. § Listen Israel: Yahweh is the Only One¤6 °1 These are the commandments, the norms and the laws that Yahweh, your God, has commanded me to teach you so that you may observe them in the land which is going to be yours. °2 Fear Yahweh, observe his commandments all the days of your life and his norms that I teach you today. So also for your children and your children’s children that they may live long. °3 Listen, then, Israel, observe these commandments and put them into practice. If you do this, you will be well and you will multiply in this land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, promised you. °4 Listen, Israel: Yahweh, our God, is One Yahweh. °5 And you shall love Yahweh, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. °6 Engrave on your heart the commandments that I pass on to you today. °7 Repeat them over and over to your children, speak of them when you are at home and when you travel, when you lie down and when you rise. °8 Brand them on your hand as a sign, and keep them always before your eyes. °9 Engrave them on your doorposts and on your city gates. °10 Do not forget Yahweh when he has led you into the land which he promised to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; for he will give you great and prosperous cities which you did not build, °11 houses filled with everything good which you did not provide, wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. So when you have eaten and have been satisfied, °12 do not forget Yahweh who brought you out from Egypt where you were enslaved. °13 Fear Yahweh, your God, serve him and call on his Name when you have to swear an oath. °14 Do not go after other gods; do not serve any of the gods of the nations around you, °15 because your God, who is in your midst, is a jealous God. And when he burns in anger, you shall disappear from the face of the earth. °16 You shall not put Yahweh, your God, to the test, as you did in Massah. °17 Observe the precepts, the commandments and the norms that Yahweh has commanded you. °18 You shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Yahweh that you may be happy and may come to possess the splendid land which he swore to your fathers °19 he would give you after having destroyed all your enemies before you. °20 And when your child asks you one day: What are these
precepts, these commandments and these norms which Yahweh has commanded us? °21 You shall answer your child: We were Pharaoh’s
slaves in Egypt, but Yahweh led us out of Egypt with prodigious deeds. °22 And we have seen the great and wonderful things, the
awesome marvels he has done against Pharaoh and all his people. °23 And he took us out from there to lead us into the
land which he promised to our fathers. °24 Yahweh
has commanded us to put into practice all these precepts and to fear him, our
God. Because of this, we are happy and alive today, °25 and we shall be perfect in his eyes if we observe
and practice these commandments as he has told us to do. ¤7 °1 When Yahweh, your God, has brought you into the land
where you are going and which you will conquer; when he drives away before
you many peoples – the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites and the
Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites – seven nations
that are much more numerous and more powerful than you; °2 when he has given them into your hand and you defeat
them, you must destroy them all according to the law of anathema. °3 Do not make any covenant with them or have
compassion on them. °4 Do not intermarry with them, giving your
daughters to their sons, or taking their daughters for your sons, because
they would seduce your children to abandon me and adore strange gods for
which the anger of Yahweh would burn against you, and then he would destroy
you. °5 On the contrary, this is what you must
do: destroy their altars and break their sacred pillars into pieces, demolish
their poles and burn their idols. § How God rewards his faithful ones°6 You are a people consecrated to Yahweh, your God. Yahweh has chosen you from among all the peoples on the face of the earth, that you may be his own people. °7 Yahweh has bound himself to you and has chosen you, not because you are the most numerous among all the peoples (on the contrary, you are the least). °8 Rather, he has chosen you because of his love for you and to fulfill the oath he made to your fathers. Therefore, with a firm hand Yahweh brought you out from slavery in Egypt, from the power of Pharaoh. °9 So know that Yahweh, your God, is the true and faithful God. He keeps his covenant, and his love reaches to the thousandth generation for those who love him and fulfill his commandments, °10 but he punishes in their own persons those who hate him and he repays them without delay. °11 So keep the commandments, the norms and the laws that today I command you to practice. °12 If you observe these norms, if you keep and practice them, Yahweh will be faithful to his Covenant and will show you the love he promised to your fathers. °13 He will love you, bless you and multiply you. He will bless you with many children and abundant harvests: wheat, wine and oil; he will multiply the young of your cattle and of your sheep in the land that he promised your fathers he would give you. °14 You shall be more favored than all the peoples; there will be no sterile male or female among your people or in your livestock. °15 Yahweh will remove from you all infirmities, he will not let any of the plagues of Egypt which you have known fall upon you. But he will inflict them upon those who hate you. °16 So, destroy all the peoples which Yahweh, your God, will put in your power. Do not have pity on them or serve their gods: this would be a trap for you. °17 Perhaps you will say in your heart: “These nations
are more numerous than I am, how then am I going to drive them away?” °18 Do not be afraid, remember what Yahweh, your God,
has done with Pharaoh and with the Egyptians, °19 those
terrible trials which you saw with your eyes and the marvels and signs, the
strong hand and outstretched arm with which Yahweh, your God, has freed you. °20 He will do the same with all the people whom you
fear. Yahweh will even send wasps to destroy those who remain and hide
themselves to escape from you. °21 Do not be afraid of them because Yahweh, your God,
is in your midst. He is a great and terrible God. °22 It is he who will drive out these nations little by
little before your eyes. If you were to destroy them all at once, the wild
beasts would multiply and cause you trouble. °23 Yahweh, your God, will give these people over to you
and he will fill them with fear until they all perish. °24 Yahweh will give their kings into your hands so that
you may strike out their name from under heaven, and nothing will stand
before you until you have destroyed them. °25 Burn
the images of their gods and do not covet the gold or silver that covers
them. Do not take it for yourself lest you be trapped by it, because Yahweh
hates it. °26 None of these shall enter your house, for
as they are accursed, the curse might return to you. Regard these as
abominable because they are indeed “anathema” or accursed. § Do not forget God when you have everything¤8 °1 Be careful to fulfill all the commandments which I give you today, that you may live and increase, and conquer the land which Yahweh promised on oath to your fathers. °2 Remember how Yahweh, your God, brought you through the desert for forty years. He humbled you, to test you and know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. °3 He made you experience want, he made you experience hunger, but he gave you manna to eat which neither you nor your fathers had known, to show you that man lives not on bread alone, but that all that proceeds from the mouth of God is life for man. °4 Your garment did not even fray, or your foot swell all these forty years. °5 Understand, then, that Yahweh has taught you in the same way that a father teaches his child. °6 Observe the commandments of Yahweh, your God; follow
his ways and revere him. °7 For Yahweh, your God, will bring you into
that good land, a land of streams and rivers, of subterranean waters that
gush forth in the valleys and mountains, °8 a land
of wheat and barley, of grapes and figs, of pomegranates and olives, a land
of oil and honey, °9 a land where the bread you eat is not
rationed and where you will lack nothing, a land with iron in stones and
copper mines in the mountains. °10 You shall eat until you are satisfied, and you shall
bless Yahweh for the good land he has given you. °11 So take care that you do not forget Yahweh, your
God, by neglecting the commandments, norms and laws that I give you today. °12 And when you have eaten and have been satisfied,
when you have built comfortable homes and live in them, °13 when your livestock have multiplied, when you have
silver and gold in abundance, and an increase of good things of every kind, °14 then do not let your heart become proud and do not
forget Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house
of slavery. °15 It is he who has led you across this
great and terrible desert, full of fiery serpents and scorpions, an arid land
where there is no water. But for you he made water gush forth from the
hardest rock. °16 And he fed you in the desert with manna
which your fathers did not know. He
made you experience want and put you to the test, so that it would be for
your good later on, °17 lest you say, “With my own strength I
have attained all these good things.” °18 Remember
Yahweh, your God, the one who gave you power to become prosperous, as you are
today, in fulfillment of the Covenant he promised under oath to your fathers. °19 But if you forget Yahweh and follow other gods, if
you pay them homage and bow before them, I warn you right now that you will
surely perish. °20 In the same way that Yahweh destroyed the
nations that stood in your way, so will he destroy you if you disobey Yahweh,
your God. ¤9 °1 Listen, Israel: you are to cross the Jordan today to
take the land of greater and stronger nations than yourself, nations with
grand cities whose walls reach up to heaven. °2 They
are a great people, they are tall – the Anakites whom you have seen and of
whom you heard it said that nothing can overcome them. °3 But today you will see Yahweh, your God, crossing
the Jordan before you. He will destroy them all and he will subject them to
you. Then, you will seize the land from them and make them perish, as Yahweh
promised you. °4 When Yahweh, your God, has destroyed them in your
presence, do not think: ‘Yahweh brought me to this land and gave it to me
because of my own goodness.’ Yahweh drove those nations out because of their
wickedness. °5 It is not by your merits nor because you
are good that you will conquer the land: Yahweh will deprive them of the land
because they have done evil, and also to fulfill the promise he swore to your
ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. § You are a stiff-necked people
°6 Know, therefore, that Yahweh has given you your
inheritance, this excellent land, not because of any merit of yours since you
are a rebellious people.
°7 Remember and do not forget that it was
because you rebelled that Yahweh became angry with you in the desert, for you
have been rebellious towards Yahweh from the day you left Egypt until you
arrived here. °8 Then at Horeb, you provoked his anger and he was
ready to destroy you. °9 When I went up the mountain to receive
the slabs of stone, the tables of the Covenant that Yahweh made with you, I
stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights without eating or
drinking. °10 And Yahweh gave me the two slabs of stone
written with his finger, containing all the words that he told you on the
mountain, from the midst of the fire, on the day of the Assembly. °11 And when Yahweh gave me the two slabs of stone, the
tables of the Covenant, at the end of the forty days and forty nights, °12 he said to me: “Go down from this mountain at once
because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt, they
have suddenly abandoned the way that I taught them and they have made an idol
for themselves.” °13 And Yahweh also said to me: “I see this people; they
are a rebellious people. °14 Let me alone and I will destroy them and
wipe out their name from under heaven. And out of you, I will make another
people more numerous and greater than they.” °15 I,
therefore, went down from the mountain, from the summit which was burning,
holding in my hands the two tables of the Covenant. °16 And I saw that you had sinned against Yahweh, your God,
and that you had made a molten calf. °17 How
suddenly had you turned aside from the way which Yahweh had taught you!
Holding the two slabs with both hands, I hurled them down and broke them into
pieces in the sight of all. °18 Then I fell prostrate before Yahweh and, as before,
I passed forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking, for the sin
which you had committed by doing evil in the sight of Yahweh and arousing his
anger. °19 I was afraid that the wrath and anger of
Yahweh against you had reached the point that he wanted to destroy you. And
Yahweh listened to me, once more. °20 Yahweh was also very angry with Aaron and he was
ready to destroy him. In the same way, I interceded for Aaron also. °21 Regarding the sin, that calf which you had made – I
threw it in the fire, broke it into pieces and ground it until it was fine as
dust. Then I threw the dust into the brook that flows down from the mountain. °22 At Taberah and at Massah, and at Kibroth-Hattavah,
you provoked the wrath of Yahweh. °23
And when he wanted
you to leave Kadesh-Barnea saying,“Go up and take possession of the land that
I have given you,” you rebelled again. You did not believe Yahweh nor did you
want to listen to his voice. °24 You have been rebellious against Yahweh
ever since I have known you. °25 So, I lay prostrate before Yahweh for forty days and
forty nights because he said he would destroy you. °26 I
prayed to Yahweh and said to him: “O Lord God, do not destroy your people and
your inheritance, whom you redeemed with your might, whom you brought out of
Egypt with the strength of your hand. °27 Remember
your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of
this people, or on their wickedness, or on their sins, °28 that it may not be said in the land from which you
brought us out: ‘Yahweh was not able to bring them to the land which he had
promised them. He does not like them, so he brought them out of Egypt to slay
them in the desert.’ °29 Do not forget that they are your people
and your possession whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and
outstretched arm.” ¤10 °1 At that time, Yahweh said to me, “Make two slabs of
stone like the first ones and come up to me. And make an ark of wood also. °2 I shall write on the slabs the words that were on
the first slabs which you broke. Then you shall put them in the ark.” °3 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and made two slabs
of stone like the first. And I climbed up the mountain carrying these. °4 He wrote on the slabs, just as he had done with the
first, the ten sayings that he spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of
the fire, on the day of the Assembly; and Yahweh gave them to me. °5 Upon my return, coming down from the mountain, I
placed the tables in the ark which I made, and there they are as Yahweh
commanded me. °6 The children of Israel left for the wells of
Bene-Jaakan, going through Moserah. Aaron died and was buried there, and his
son Eleazar succeeded him.
°7 From there, they went to Gudgodah, and
from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks and springs. °8 It was then that Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi
to carry the Ark of the Covenant, to become his servants, to stand before the
Lord, and to give blessings by calling on his name, as they do until this
day. °9 For that reason, Levi has no share in the
inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, as Yahweh, your
God, told him. °10 I therefore stayed on the mountain for forty days
and forty nights as I did the first time. Yahweh again listened to my prayer
and gave up his plan to destroy you. °11 And
Yahweh said to me: “Rise up and lead this people that they may go and take
possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them as an
inheritance.” § Serve and Love God
°12 So now, Israel, what is it that Yahweh, your God, asks of you but to fear him and follow all his ways? Love him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. °13 Observe the commandments of Yahweh and his laws which I command you today, for your good. °14 See: the heavens, those that are seen and those that are unseen, the earth and all that is in it, everything belongs to Yahweh, your God. °15 Nevertheless, it was on your fathers that Yahweh set his heart. He loved them, and after them, he chose their descendants – you – preferring you to all the peoples, as you can see this day. °16 Purify your hearts, then, and do not be defiant towards Yahweh because °17 Yahweh is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. He is the great God, the strong and terrible God. When he judges, he treats everyone equally; he does not let himself be bought by gifts. °18 He renders justice to the orphan and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him bread and clothing. °19 Love the stranger then, because you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt. °20 Fear Yahweh, your God, serve him, follow him and call on his name when you have to make an oath. °21 He is your pride and he is your God, who has done those amazing things for you. °22 When you went down to Egypt, your ancestors were no more than seventy persons, but now, Yahweh, your God, has made you as many as the stars of heaven. ¤11 °1 So, love Yahweh, your God, and observe all that he has commanded you: his laws, norms and commandments. °2 You, with whom I am speaking, understand all this. Perhaps this may be more difficult for your children who have not known the teaching of Yahweh or seen his greatness and strength. °3 But you saw the signs and the marvels he did in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land, °4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and chariots, when he buried them in the waters of the Red Sea, destroying them as they pursued us. °5 Remember, too, all that Yahweh did for you in the
desert, until you came to this place, °6 what he
did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, from the tribe of Reuben, when
the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with all their families, their
tents and their followers, in the midst of all Israel. °7 You have seen with your eyes all these great wonders
that Yahweh has done. °8 Therefore, observe all these commandments
that I give you, that you may gather strength and occupy the land which you
are going over to possess. °9 And you will live long in the land which
Yahweh swore to give to your ancestors and to their descendants, a land
flowing with milk and honey. °10 For the land you are to enter and possess is not
like the land of Egypt which you left, where after having sown your seeds, you
had to water them like a vegetable garden with your feet on the water wheel, °11 but a land of mountains and valleys, which drinks
water from the rain that comes from the heavens. °12 Yahweh,
your God, cares for this land and his eyes are constantly fixed on it from
the beginning of the year until its end. °13 If you truly obey the commandments that I give you
today, if you love Yahweh and serve me with all your heart and with all your
soul, °14 I will give rain to your land in season, both
in autumn and in spring, that you may harvest your wheat, wine and oil. °15 Your field will give you grass for your cattle, and
you will eat until you are satisfied. °16 But if
you turn aside, if you serve other gods and bow before them, °17 the anger of Yahweh will break out against you. He
will close up the heavens and it will cease to rain; the land will not yield
its fruit and you will suddenly perish in that beautiful land which Yahweh
gives you. °18 Engrave these words of mine on your heart and in
your soul, brand them on your hand as a sign, and keep them always before
your eyes. °19 Teach them to your children. Speak of
them when you are at home and when you travel, when you lie down and when you
rise. °20 Engrave them on your doorposts and on your
city gates. °21 Then your days and the days of your
children will be multiplied in the land which Yahweh swore to give to your
fathers, and you will dwell in that land as long as the heavens are above the
earth. °22 For if you observe the commandments that I command
you to practice, if you love Yahweh and follow his ways, clinging to him, °23 Yahweh will destroy all those nations before you and
you will seize the land from greater and more powerful nations. °24 Every place where you set foot will be yours; your
territory will be from the desert up to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River
up to the Western Sea. °25 No one will be able to stand against you.
In all the land that you tread, Yahweh will make the peoples fear and be
afraid when they hear of you, as he himself has said. § There will be one sanctuary
°26 See that on this day, I set before you a blessing
and a curse. °27 A blessing if you obey the commandments
of Yahweh that I command you today; °28 a
curse if you disobey these commandments and turn aside from the way that I
show you now, to follow strange gods which are not yours. °29 When Yahweh, your God, has brought you into the land
you are going to conquer, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and
the curse on Mount Ebal. °30 (Those mountains are at the other side of
the Jordan, beyond the western road, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell
in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oak of Moreh.) °31 Now you are going to cross the Jordan to take
possession of the land which Yahweh gives you. You are to possess it and live
in it, °32 and be careful to carry out all the laws
and precepts which I now set before you. ¤12 °1 These are the precepts, the norms and the laws that you shall endeavor to put into practice all the days of your life in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you. °2 Totally destroy all the places where the peoples you are going to drive away had worshiped their gods. Do this in the high mountains as well as in the hills and under every green tree. °3 Destroy their altars, smash their pedestals, burn their sacred pillars, and break into pieces the images of their gods. Wipe out in those places even the name of their gods. °4 Do not build similar sanctuaries for Yahweh, °5 for he himself has already chosen a place among all the tribes to put his Name there and dwell in it. There you will go and look for Yahweh. °6 To that place you will bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, tithes and offerings. There you will present the offerings that you promised to God and those which you voluntarily offer, as well as the firstlings of your cattle and sheep. °7 There you shall eat in the presence of Yahweh and feast together with your families, enjoying everything you have reaped through the blessing of Yahweh. °8 You shall not do there as we do here. For now everyone does what seems best for him, °9 because we have not yet come to the place of rest, that is, the land which Yahweh is giving you as your inheritance. °10 When you cross the Jordan and settle in the land
which Yahweh will give you, when he has delivered you from all your enemies,
you will at last find rest. °11 Then you shall bring to the place chosen
by Yahweh as a dwelling place for his Name, everything which I commanded: the
burnt offerings, the sacrifices, the tithes and the first-fruits of the work
of your hand, and the selected offerings which you promised by vow to Yahweh:
°12 There you shall celebrate your banquets
before Yahweh: you and your children, your servants as well as the Levites
who live among you, since they have no portion or inheritance as you have. °13 Be careful not to offer your holocaust in any place.
°14 Only in the place chosen by Yahweh in the
land of one of your tribes are you to offer your holocaust, and only there
will you do all that I command you. °15 However,
in all your cities you may slaughter and eat meat, as much as you like of the
animals Yahweh has blessed you with. Both the clean and the unclean may eat
of it, just as you would eat gazelle or deer. °16 Only
you must not eat the blood but pour it out upon the earth like water. °17 You may not eat in your cities the tithes of your
wheat, wine and oil, or the firstlings of your herd or your flock, or any of
the things which you have offered to Yahweh either freely or by vow. °18 These you are to eat before Yahweh in the place
Yahweh has chosen, together with your children and your servants, and you
will feast before Yahweh, your God, enjoying the fruit of your labor. °19 Be careful not to forget the Levite as long as you
live. °20 When Yahweh has extended your boundaries as he
promised you, and you would like to eat meat, you may do so whenever you
like. °21 If the place chosen by Yahweh for his
dwelling is too far, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which
Yahweh has given you, in the manner that I have prescribed for you. °22 You may eat it within your cities as much as you
like, but you shall eat it just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten: all may
equally eat of it – the clean and the unclean. °23 Only
take care not to eat the blood because blood and life are one and you must
not eat the life with the flesh. °24
Do not eat it but
pour it as water is poured upon the land, °25 that all
may go well with you and with your children after you, doing what is pleasing
in the eyes of Yahweh. °26 In turn, you shall bring with you the things you
have consecrated and offered by vow to Yahweh and go to the place chosen by
Yahweh. °27 There you will sacrifice your holocausts,
the flesh as well as the blood, on the altar of Yahweh, your God. Pour out
the blood on the altar, and then eat the flesh. °28 Be careful to obey all that I command you, and all
shall always be well with you and with your children after you, for doing
what is right and good in the eyes of Yahweh. °29 Yahweh, your God, will destroy before you the
nations you drive away. When you have destroyed them and dwell in their land,
be careful after having destroyed them. °30 Let it
not be that you fall in the trap and follow their example. Do not look at
their gods saying: “How did this nation serve their gods? We will do the
same.” °31 This you shall not do, even to honor Yahweh your
God, since in order to honor their gods, °32 they
have done everything that Yahweh abhors, including burning their children in
honor of their gods. § Do not be led astray¤13
°1 Do all that I command you with out adding
or taking anything away from it. °2 What about the prophet or the professional dreamer who
gives you signs or miracles? °3 If these signs or these marvels happen,
and he takes advantage of them to say: “Come and let us follow other gods
(gods which are not ours), and let us serve them,” °4 do not
pay attention to the words of this prophet or dreamer; because Yahweh, your
God, is testing you to know if you really love him with all your heart and
with all your soul. °5 It is Yahweh, your God, you will follow
and him will you fear. Obey his commandments and listen to his voice. Serve
him and cling to him. °6 As for the prophet or dreamer, he must die because
he has spoken to draw you away from Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of
Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. This prophet must die
because he wanted you to stray from the path that Yahweh has commanded you to
follow. In this way you will purge the evil from your midst. °7 If your brother, the child of your father, or if
your son or daughter, or the woman you love or your close friend secretly
tries to lure you, saying: “Come, let us serve other gods,” gods whom neither
you nor your ancestors have known, °8 the
gods of either the neighboring nations that surround you along the boundaries
of your land or those far away, °9
do not yield to him
or listen to him. Do not pity him, or pardon him or cover up for him, °10 but denounce him. You shall deal him his death and
your hand shall be the first raised against him, and then the hand of all the
people. °11 You shall kill him by stoning because he
tried to draw you away from Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of the land
of Egypt, from that house of slavery. °12 All in
Israel will hear of this and they will fear, and never dare to do such evil. °13 You may hear that in some of the cities that Yahweh
will give you to dwell in, °14 some evil people have appeared. You will
perhaps hear that they have perverted their fellow residents and have invited
them to serve new and strange gods. °15 Then
carefully inquire about them and try to discover the truth of the matter. If
it is certain and you have confirmed that such a shameful thing has indeed
been done, °16 you shall kill by the sword all the
inhabitants of that city. You shall curse the city and all that is in it,
even the animals. °17 Then you shall pile up all the plunder in
the center of the square and set the city on fire with all the plunder so as
to fulfill the curse of Yahweh. This city will forever be a heap of ruins,
and will never again be rebuilt. °18 You shall not take hold of anything from this city,
not even the smallest thing, in order to appease the wrath of Yahweh, and
that he may have mercy on you. Then he will bless you and fulfill the promise
he has sworn to your ancestors °19
if you listen to the
voice of Yahweh, observing all his commandments that I command you today, and
doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh, your God. ¤14 °1 Yahweh
holds you as his people, so you will not cut yourselves or cut the hair on
your forehead for the dead. °2 You are a people, holy and consecrated to Yahweh,
your God. Yahweh has chosen you from among all the peoples on the face of the
earth to be his very own people. § Animals “clean” and “unclean”
°3 Do not eat anything that is unclean. °4 These are the animals that you may eat: ox, sheep,
goat, °5 deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex,
antelope, and mountain sheep. °6 You may eat any animal that chews the cud
and has a split hoof. °7 But of those that chew cud or have a split hoof, you
may not eat the following: camel, hare, and rock badger, because they do chew
the cud but do not have a divided hoof – these are unclean for you. Neither
shall you eat the meat °8 of the pig because although it has a
split hoof, it does not chew the cud. Regard it as unclean: do not eat their
meat or touch their carcass. °9 Of all the animals that live in the water, you may
eat the following: all that has fins and scales, °10 but
not those that do not have fins and scales. Consider them as unclean. °11 You may eat all clean birds. °12 But do not eat the following: eagle, vulture,
osprey, °13 buzzard, kite, the different kinds of
falcons, °14 all kinds of ravens, – °15 ostrich, nighthawk, sea gull, and all the different
kinds of hawk, °16 eagle, owl and ibis, swan, °17 pelican, purple gallinule, cormorant, °18 stork, the different kinds of heron, hoopoe, and
bat. °19 Consider as unclean all winged insects.
Do not eat them. °20 But you may eat all clean birds. °21 Do not eat any animal that you find dead. You may
give it to the foreigner who lives in your city, or sell it to the stranger,
for you are a people consecrated to Yahweh, your God. Do
not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. § Tithes°22 Every year separate the tenth part from the yield of
what you have sown in your fields. °23 In the
presence of Yahweh, in the place he has chosen as the dwelling place for his
Name, you shall eat the tithe of your wheat, your oil and your wine, and the
firstlings of your herd and flock that you may learn to honor Yahweh, your
God, all the days of your life. °24 The journey may be too long for you to bring those
tithes to the place Yahweh has chosen as a dwelling place for his Name. In
that case, when Yahweh your God, blesses you, exchange them all for money. °25 Take the money in your hand and go to the place
chosen by Yahweh. °26 There you shall buy whatever you like –
oxen or sheep, or wine or strong drink – anything you like. And there you
shall eat in the presence of Yahweh, and shall rejoice – you and your
household. °27 And do not forget the Levite who dwells
in your cities, since he has nothing of his own and no inheritance as you
have. °28 Every three years, separate the tithes of all the
year’s harvest but store them in the city. °29 Then
the Levite among you who has no inheritance of his own, and the foreigner,
the orphan and the widow who live in your cities may come and eat, and be
satisfied. So Yahweh will bless all the works of your hands, all that you
undertake. § The year of forgiveness
¤15 °1 Every
seven years you shall pardon debts. °2 You
shall do this in the following manner: the creditor shall pardon any debt of
his neighbor or brother, and shall stop exacting it of him because Yahweh’s
pardon has been proclaimed. °3 You may demand that a foreigner pay back
his debts but you shall pardon the debt of your brother. °4 However you should have no poor in your midst for
Yahweh will give you prosperity in the land that you have conquered. °5 If you listen to the voice of Yahweh, your God, and
obey all that he has commanded you, which I now remind you of, he will bless
you as he promised. °6 You shall lend to many nations but you
shall not borrow; you shall drive away many nations and they shall not have
dominion over you. § The poor and enslaved°7 If there is anybody poor among your brothers, who lives in your cities in the land that Yahweh gives you, do not harden your heart or close your hand, °8 but be open-handed and lend him all that he needs. °9 Be careful that you do not harbor in your heart these perverse thoughts: “The seventh year, the year of pardon, is near,” so you look coldly at your poor brother and lend him nothing. He may cry to Yahweh against you, and you will be guilty. °10 When you give anything, give it willingly, and Yahweh, your God, will bless you for this in all your work and in all that you undertake. °11 The poor will not disappear from this land. Therefore I give you this commandment: you must be open-handed to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land. °12 If your fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you as a slave, he shall serve you for six years, and in the seventh, you shall set him free. °13 When you set him free, do not let him go empty-handed, °14 but give him something from your flock, from your store of wheat and wine, something from the good things that Yahweh has blessed you with. °15 Remember that you too were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh, your God, has given you freedom. Because of this, I give you this commandment. °16 But if your slave says: “I do not want to leave,” because he loves you and your household and knows that he will be well off with you, °17 you shall then take an awl and thrust it through his ear into the door of your house, and he will serve you forever. You shall do likewise with your maidservant. °18 Do not think it hard on you to give him freedom, because for six years you have gained from him twice as much as from a hired servant. °19 You shall consecrate to Yahweh all the male
firstlings that are born of your cattle or sheep. You shall not use the
firstling of your cattle for work, nor shear the firstling of your sheep. °20 You shall eat these every three years in the
presence of Yahweh with all your family in the place Yahweh has chosen. °21 You shall not sacrifice an animal to Yahweh if it
has any defect, if it is lame or blind, °22 but
shall eat it in your house; the clean as well as the unclean may eat of it,
as you would eat a gazelle or a deer. °23 Only
take care that you do not eat the blood, you shall pour it out on the ground
like water. § Israel’s three feasts
¤16 °1 Observe
the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover in honor of Yahweh since it was
in this month that Yahweh, your God, brought you out of Egypt by night. °2 On the Passover, you shall sacrifice oxen and sheep to
Yahweh in the place he has chosen for his Name to dwell. °3 For the Passover supper, you are not to eat leavened
bread, but for seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread, the bread of
affliction, because you left Egypt hastily. So you shall remember all the
days of your life the day on which you left Egypt. °4 For seven days, no leaven shall be seen throughout
your territory; nor shall any of the flesh you sacrificed on the evening of
the first day be left for the following day. °5 You may not offer the Passover sacrifice in any city
which Yahweh gives you, °6 but only in the place chosen by Yahweh as
the dwelling place for his Name. Sacrifice
the Passover in the evening, at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. °7 You shall roast it and eat it in the place chosen by
Yahweh, your God. And then, in the morning you shall return to your house. °8 You shall eat unleavened bread for six days, and on
the seventh, you shall celebrate a solemn assembly in honor of Yahweh and you
shall not work. °9 You shall count seven weeks, beginning from the day
you start cutting the standing wheat. °10 Then
you shall celebrate the Feast of the Seven Weeks for Yahweh, your God, making
a voluntary offering from your harvest in proportion to the way Yahweh, your
God, blesses you. °11 At the place Yahweh has chosen as the dwelling place
for his Name, you shall feast, you and your children, your servants, the
Levite who lives in your cities, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow who
live among you. °12 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt
and be careful to put these precepts into practice. °13 Celebrate too the Feast of the Tents for seven days,
after gathering the produce of your threshing floor and of your winepress. °14 Rejoice during this feast – you and your children,
your servants, the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow who live
in your city. °15 You shall feast for seven days in honor
of Yahweh at the place chosen by him; because Yahweh will bless you in all
your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy may be
complete. °16 Three times a year all your men shall present
themselves before Yahweh, your God, in the place chosen by him: on the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Tents. And
you shall not present yourselves empty-handed, °17 but
each one will offer in proportion to what he has, according to the blessing
that Yahweh has bestowed upon you. § Regarding justice
°18 Appoint judges and secretaries for your tribes in
every city which Yahweh gives you, that they may judge the people according
to justice. °19 You shall not bend the law or show partiality. Do
not accept gifts because gifts blind the eyes of the wise and subvert the
cause of the righteous. °20 Justice! Seek justice if you want to live
and inherit the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you. °21 Do not plant any tree or sacred pillar near the
altar of your God. °22 Do not put up there the sacred stones
that Yahweh hates. ¤17 °1 You
shall not sacrifice to Yahweh, your God, an ox or a sheep that has any
blemish or defect because Yahweh abhors this. °2 If there is among you, in any of the cities which
Yahweh will give you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of
Yahweh to the point of breaking his covenant, °3 if they
go to serve other gods and bow before them – to the sun, or the moon, or the
stars of heaven – which I have forbidden, °4 and
this has been reported to you or you learn of it, you shall begin to
investigate the matter well. If you have proved that this abomination has
indeed been committed in Israel, °5
you shall bring to
the gates of the city that man or woman who committed the misdeed, and you
shall stone him or her to death. °6
But you will need the
testimony of two or three witnesses to condemn a person to death. No one will
be condemned by the accusation of only one witness. °7 The hands of the witnesses shall throw the first
stones to kill the accused. Afterwards all the people shall stone him. In
this way, you will make the evil disappear from your midst. °8 If a very difficult case is presented to you which
you cannot resolve in the city tribunal, either about murder, a legal dispute
or a quarrel because of injuries, you shall go up to the place chosen by
Yahweh, your God; °9 you shall approach the Levite priests and
the judge in office at that time. You shall consult them and they will point
out to you the decision on the case. °10 You
shall carry out the decision that they have made for you in that place chosen
by Yahweh, and you shall act in accordance with what they have instructed
you. °11 You shall follow the instructions or the
verdict they have given you without turning aside either to the right or to
the left from the decision they made for you. °12 He who dares to act in another way and does not
listen to the priest who stands there in the service of Yahweh, or to the
judge, that man will die. You shall banish evil from Israel. °13 So all the people upon knowing this shall fear and
not make decisions without the right to do so. § The kings°14 When you come to the land which Yahweh, your God,
gives you, when you have conquered it and live in it, you shall perhaps say:
“I would like to have a king like all the neighboring nations.” °15 Then you have to appoint a king chosen by Yahweh
from among your brothers. You shall not appoint a foreign king who is not a
brother Israelite. °16 Ensure that your king does not acquire many horses,
lest he again send his people to Egypt to get more horses. For Yahweh
commanded you never to go back that way. °17 Neither shall he have many women lest they pervert
his heart. And neither let him pile up gold and silver. °18 When he ascends the throne, let him copy for his use
this Law from the book of the Levite priests. °19 He shall
bring it with him and read it every day of his life, that he may learn to
fear Yahweh, keeping all the sayings of the Law and putting his precepts into
practice. °20 So let him not become conceited nor look down on his
brothers, nor turn aside from this commandment either to the right or to the
left, so that he and his children may lengthen the days of their reign in the
midst of Israel. § The priests of the tribe of Levi¤18 °1 The
Levite priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no share or inheritance as
the rest of the children of Israel have, but they shall live on the burnt
offerings in honor of Yahweh, and on what is consecrated to him. °2 The Levite shall have no share in the inheritance
received by his brother because Yahweh is his inheritance as he has promised. °3 This will be the right of the priests from what is
offered, whether ox or sheep: to the priest shall be given the shoulder, the
jaws and the stomach. °4 You shall also give him the firstfruits of
your wheat, your wine and your oil, as well as the first wool from the
shearing of your sheep, °5 for Yahweh chose him from among all the
tribes to be the servant of his Name, he and his children forever. °6 If a Levite comes from one of the cities of the
territory of Israel where he resides, and he wishes to enter into the place
chosen by Yahweh, °7 he shall officiate in the Name of Yahweh,
his God, like all his Levite brothers who stand there with him in the
presence of Yahweh.
°8 He shall eat the same portion, regardless
of what he has obtained from the sale of his family goods. § Prophets and “the” Prophet°9 When you have entered into the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you, do not imitate the evil deeds of those people. °10 You must not have in your midst anyone who makes his child pass through the fire, or one who practices divination, or anyone who consults the stars, who is a sorcerer, °11 or one who practices enchantments or who consults the spirits, no diviner or one who asks questions of the dead. °12 For Yahweh abhors those who do these things, and it is precisely for this reason that he drives them away before you. °13 You must be blameless for Yahweh, your God. °14 Those people that you are to drive away listened to sorcerers and diviners, but Yahweh, your God, has provided you with something different. °15 He will raise up for you a prophet like myself from among the people, from your brothers, to whom you shall listen. °16 Remember that in Horeb, on the day of the Assembly, you said: “I am afraid to die and I do not want to hear the voice of Yahweh again or see again that great fire.” °17 So Yahweh said to me: “They have spoken well. °18 I shall raise up a prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you. I will put my words into his mouth and he will tell them all that I command. °19 If someone does not listen to my words when the prophet speaks on my behalf, I myself will call him to account for it. °20 But any prophet who says in my name anything that I did not command, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.” °21 You will perhaps ask: “How are we going to know that a word does not come from Yahweh?” °22 If any prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh and if that which he says does not happen, you shall know that the word does not come from Yahweh. The prophet has spoken to boast and you shall not pay any attention to him. § Cities of refuge¤19 °1 When
Yahweh, your God, has destroyed the nations whose land he will give you, when
you have driven them away and you occupy their houses, °2 you shall set aside three cities in the midst of the
land which Yahweh, your God, gives you in possession. °3 Open a way to them and divide in three parts the
territory that Yahweh, your God, gives you in possession: so that anyone who
has killed someone may find refuge in those cities. °4 But who may find refuge there to save himself? The
person who caused the death of his neighbor with whom he had had no quarrel
before. °5 For example, if someone goes to the
forest with a companion to cut firewood and as he wields the axe to cut a
tree, the blade comes off its handle, mortally wounding his companion, he can
flee into one of those cities and so save himself. °6 The
avenger of blood must not be allowed, in his rage, to hunt the killer and
catch up with him because the distance is great, and kill him in turn, when
in reality the latter is not guilty of murder, since he had had no previous
quarrel with his companion. °7 For this reason, I command you to set aside these three
cities. °8 But perhaps Yahweh will extend your frontiers as he
has sworn to your fathers, and give you all the land that he promised to your
fathers, °9 on condition that you keep his
commandments and do what I tell you today, that is, that you love Yahweh,
your God, and follow his ways at all times. Then you shall add three more to
these three cities. °10 In that way, innocent blood shall not be shed in the
midst of the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you as your inheritance, and
you will not be guilty of such shedding of blood. °11 But if a man, because of a feud with his neighbor,
ambushes him and falls on him and wounds him fatally, and if afterwards the
aggressor flees into one of these cities, °12 the
heads of this city shall order that he be arrested there in the place of
asylum. And he shall be put in the hands of the relatives of the victim that
they may kill him. °13 Do not show pity to him for you must
remove from Israel the shedding of innocent blood, so that you may have
prosperity. °14 In the inheritance you receive in the land which
Yahweh, your God, will give as your possession, do not move the boundaries of
your neighbor set by your ancestors. °15 A sole witness is not enough to condemn anyone,
whatever be the crime or offense of which the person is accused. Only by the
testimony of two or three witnesses can a case be resolved. °16 If only one witness rises against a person and
accuses him of an offense, °17 both parties involved shall appear before
Yahweh in the presence of the priests and judges then in office, who may deal
with it. °18 The judges will examine the case in detail, and if
it turns out that the witness had lied in falsely accusing his brother, °19 they shall impose on him the punishment which the
lying witness tried to impose on his brother. So shall you uproot evil from
your midst, °20 because others, upon knowing it, shall
fear and not do the same. °21 Do not feel sorry for him: life for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. § War¤20 °1 When
you go to war against your enemies and you see horses, chariots and an army
more numerous than yours, then have no fear because Yahweh, your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, is with you. °2 When the hour of battle draws near, the priest shall
advance to the head of the army and shall speak to the people saying: °3 “Listen, Israel, today you are to enter into battle
against your enemies. Do not let your heart be discouraged, or afraid or
troubled, and do not tremble before them, °4 for
Yahweh, your God, is with you, to fight in your favor against your enemies
and save you.” °5 So the secretaries shall say to the
people: “Is there anyone of you who has just built a new house and has not
dedicated it? Let him go home; lest he die in battle and another dedicate it.
°6 Is there anyone among you who has planted a new
vineyard and has not yet enjoyed its fruits? Let him go home, lest he die in
the war and another enjoy its fruit. °7 Is
there anyone who has made a promise to marry and has not yet been married?
Let him go back to his home at once, lest he die in combat and another take
the woman as his wife.” °8 They shall also say: “Is there anyone who is afraid
or weakhearted? Let him go home immediately, lest his fear discourage
others.” °9 When they have finished speaking,
commanders shall be put at the head of the people. °10 When you draw near to a city to lay siege to it, you
shall first offer it peace. °11 If it accepts your proposal and opens the
gates to you, all the people found in it shall become your slaves and serve
you. °12 If they do not accept the peace that you offer them
and declare war against you, you shall lay siege to the city. °13 And when Yahweh, your God, gives it into your hands,
you shall kill by the sword all the men, °14 but
the women and children, the livestock and all the other things which you find
there shall be your booty, and you shall eat from the plunder of your enemies
which Yahweh has given over to you. °15 This you shall do to all the cities which are very
far from you and which are not in the country which you will possess. °16 But in the cities which Yahweh gives you as an
inheritance, you shall not leave anything that lives. °17 You must destroy them all according to the law of
anathema – the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and
Jebusites – as Yahweh, your God, has commanded you, °18 that they may not teach you all those evil things
which they have done to honor their gods, for by imitating them you shall sin
against Yahweh, your God. °19 If, on attacking a city, you have to lay siege to it
for a long time before capturing it, you shall not destroy the fruit trees
around it nor cut them with your axe, that you may eat their fruit. Do not
cut them, then. Are the trees of the field men that they should also be
stricken? °20 If there are trees in the field which are
not fruit-bearing, but are for other uses, cut them down and make ladders and
instruments out of them with which you may seize the city that offers you
resistance. § Laws and rights¤21
°1 If the corpse of a slain man is found in
the land which Yahweh, your God, will give you, and it is not known who
killed him, °2 your judges and leaders shall go out to
measure the distance between the victim and the surrounding cities to °3 determine which city is nearest to the dead man. And
the leaders of that city shall take a calf that has never been used for work
or borne a yoke. °4 And they shall bring it down to an
overflowing brook, to a place which has never been plowed or sown, and there
they shall break its neck. °5 The priests, descendants of Levi, shall
be present for they were chosen by Yahweh to minister and give the blessings
in his name, and they are those who decide on all lawsuits or criminal cases. °6 Then all the elders of the city nearest to the man
found dead shall wash their hands in the brook over the calf whose neck was
broken. °7 And they shall pronounce these words,
“Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see it. °8 Forgive, O Yahweh, your people of Israel whom you
rescued, and do not charge them with this shedding of innocent blood.” °9 So they shall be absolved from this blood; you shall
have removed from your midst the guilt of innocent blood and have done what
is right in the eyes of Yahweh. °10 When you go to war against your enemies, and Yahweh,
your God, delivers them over to you, °11 if you
see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you fall in love with her and
desire to have her as your wife, °12
you shall bring her to
your house. First, she shall shave her head and clip her nails. °13 She shall take off the dress of a captive and stay
in your house. And she will mourn for her father and mother for a month,
after which you may have relations with her. So you shall be her husband and
she your wife. °14 If in time she does not please you
anymore, you shall set her free. You shall not sell her for money, nor make
her your slave, since you have taken her by force. °15 When a man has two wives and prefers one to the
other, supposing that both of them bear him children, and the firstborn is
the son of the wife he loves less, °16 then
on the day he divides the inheritance among his children, he cannot give the
right of the firstborn to the son of the woman he prefers, at the expense of
the true firstborn who is the son of the woman he loves less. °17 On the contrary, he should recognize the child of
the woman he loves less as the firstborn and give him a double share of all
his property. He is his firstborn, and to him belongs the right of the
firstborn. °18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious child who
does not pay attention to what his father or mother commands, and does not
listen to them when they call him,
°19 his parents shall seize him and bring him
before the leaders of the city, to the gate of judgment, °20 and shall say to them: “This son of ours is stubborn
and rebellious, he does not pay any attention to us; he is spoiled and a
drunkard.” °21 Then all the men of this town shall stone
him to death. In this way shall you banish evil from your midst, and all
Israel upon knowing this shall fear. °22 If a man, guilty of any crime that deserves death,
has been put to death by hanging him on a tree, °23 his body
must not remain hanging there through the night. But you shall bury him on
the same day because the hanged man is a curse of God. So you shall not
defile the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you as an inheritance. § Give back what you find¤22 °1 If you find the lost ox or sheep of your brother, do not pretend that you did not see it, but bring it back to its owner. °2 If your brother does not live near you, or you do not know to whom the animal belongs, you shall keep it in your house until its owner comes looking for it. Then you shall return it to him. °3 Do the same with his ass, his clothes, or with anything lost by your brother that you happen to find. Do not pretend not to notice them. °4 If you see the ass of your brother or his ox fall down by the way, do not pretend not to notice it, but help your brother lift the animal up. °5 A woman must not wear a man’s clothing, nor a man
the clothing of a woman, because whoever does such a thing deserves the
reprobation of Yahweh. °6 If you find along your way a bird’s nest in a tree
or on the ground, and the mother-bird is sitting upon the birdlings or upon
the eggs, you shall not bring with you the mother-bird together with the
young, °7 but you shall let the mother go and take only the
young. Then you shall prosper and live long. °8 When you build a new house, you shall construct a
small wall around the roof, lest someone should fall from it, and your house
become stained with blood. °9 Do not sow any other seed in your vineyard because
when you do this, you can neither eat from the produce of the grapes nor from
the produce of the other plants. °10 Do not plow with an ox and an ass together. °11 Do not wear a garment woven from wool and linen
together. °12 Make for yourself tassels on the four corners of
your cloak with which you cover yourself. °13 It may happen that a man takes a wife and afterwards
does not like her, °14 so he reproaches her for her behavior,
and defames her by saying: “I married this woman, but when I went to bed with
her, I found out that she was not a virgin.” °15 In
this case, the father and mother of the young woman shall take the sheet of
the wedding night which proves that she was a virgin, and will show this to
the judges of the city. °16 The father of the young woman shall then
say to the judges: “I have given my daughter as wife to this man, but now
that he no longer likes her, °17 he pretends that when he married her she
was not a virgin. And yet, see, here is the proof of my daughter’s
virginity.” °18 They shall spread the sheet before the
judges of the city. If the man is guilty, the judges shall arrest him and
have him whipped. °19 They shall also fine him a hundred silver coins
which they shall give to the father of the young woman because the man
publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. The husband shall have her as his wife
and cannot repudiate her as long as he lives. °20 But if what the man says is true, and the proof of
her virginity is not found, °21 then you shall bring her to the door of
her father’s house and the people shall stone her to death for having
committed an evil deed in Israel – becoming a prostitute while still in her
father’s house. So shall you banish evil from your midst. °22 If a man is caught lying with a married woman, the two
shall die: the adulterer and the adulteress. So shall you banish evil from
Israel. °23 If a young woman has been promised in marriage to a
man, and another man meets her in the city and lies with her, °24 they shall bring the two and stone them to death:
the young woman because she did not cry for help when she was in the city,
and the man because he dishonored the future wife of his neighbor. So shall
you banish evil from your midst. °25 But if in the fields, a man meets a young woman
promised in marriage, and violates her by force, then only the man shall die.
°26 The young woman shall not suffer
punishment. She does not deserve death, for this case is similar to a
highwayman who falls upon a man and murders him; in the same manner, the
young woman was assaulted. °27 She was alone in the fields, she cried
but no one came to help her. °28 If a man meets a young virgin who is not promised in
marriage to another man, and that man violates her by force, and they are
caught by surprise, °29 the man who lay with her shall give to
the father of the young woman fifty pieces of silver, and take her as his
wife, because he has dishonored her, and he cannot send her away all his
life. § Act worthily as a consecrated people¤23
°1 No man shall take the wife of his father;
let him not dishonor his father. °2 The man whose testicles are crushed and whose penis
is cut shall not be admitted into the assembly of Yahweh. °3 Nor shall the half-breed be admitted into the
assembly of Yahweh, even to the tenth generation. °4 The
Ammonite or Moabite shall never be admitted into the assembly of Yahweh even
after the tenth generation, °5 because when you came forth from Egypt,
they did not go out to meet you with bread and water, but instead they hired
Balaam, the son of Beor, from the Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. °6 But Yahweh, your God, did not listen to Balaam and
turned the curse into a blessing because Yahweh loves you. °7 You shall never share your prosperity or happiness
with these peoples. °8 You shall not regard the Edomite as abominable, for
he is your brother, or the Egyptian, because you were a pilgrim in his land. °9 From the third generation, their descendants can be
admitted into the assembly of Yahweh. °10 When you set out against your enemies, you shall
keep yourselves from every evil act. °11 If
there is among you a man who is not clean by reason of nocturnal emission, he
shall go and stay outside the camp. °12 When
evening comes, he shall bathe himself and after sunset, he may enter the
camp. °13 You shall have a place outside the camp for your
natural necessities. °14 You shall bring a stick with your
equipment with which you may dig a hole, and then cover up the excrement with
the unearthed soil. °15 Because Yahweh, your God, walks in the
midst of the camp to protect you and give your enemy into your hands; your
camp must be sacred, that Yahweh may not see anything indecent in it;
otherwise, he will turn away from you. °16 You shall not turn over to his master the slave who
ran away from his house and sought refuge with you. °17 He shall stay with you among your household, in the
place that he chooses in one of your cities, where it seems best for him. You
shall not oppress him. °18 There shall not be among the daughters of Israel a
consecrated prostitute, or a consecrated homosexual among the sons of Israel. °19 You shall not bring into the house of Yahweh, your
God, a gift for prostitutes, or the wages of a dog, that is, a homosexual, to
pay for the vow that you have made, for both of these are abominable in the
eyes of Yahweh. °20 You shall not lend with interest to your
brothers, either in money or food, or in any other thing. °21 You can lend with interest to a foreigner, but not
to your brother, so that Yahweh, your God, may bless you in all your
undertakings in the land you are to possess. °22 If you make any vow to Yahweh, you shall
not be late in fulfilling it for Yahweh will surely require it of you and it
would be charged as sin against you. °23 If you
abstain from making vows, you do not commit any sin. °24 Fulfill your promises and, if you make any vow, you
shall offer what you have promised to Yahweh. °25 If you go through the vineyard of your neighbor, you
may eat as many grapes as you wish, but you may not bring any away. °26 If you pass through the wheat fields of your
neighbor, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a
sickle to your neighbor’s standing wheat. ¤24 °1 If a man marries a woman, and then dislikes her
because of some notable defect he discovers in her, he may write a
certificate of divorce, give it to the woman, and send her out of his house. °2 If afterwards she becomes the wife of another man °3 and he also dislikes her and sends her out with a
certificate of divorce; or, if this second man who took her to be his wife
dies, °4 the first husband who sent her away cannot take her
back as wife, since she has been defiled. It is an abomination in the eyes of
Yahweh for him to take her back. You shall not defile the land which Yahweh
will give you for an inheritance. § Solidarity in society°5 The newly married man shall not go to war or be given other public duties. He shall be exempt from everything throughout the year, that he may stay in his house and make his wife happy. °6 Mill and grindstone shall not be taken as a pledge. Can life be taken as a pledge? °7 If a man is caught kidnapping an Israelite, that is to say, one of his brothers, to sell him as a slave, the kidnapper must die. So shall you banish evil from the midst of your people. °8 Be careful of contagious leprosy. Obey and put into practice what the Levite priests tell you to do; fulfill what I commanded them. °9 Remember what Yahweh, your God, did to Miriam, when the people were on the way coming out of Egypt. °10 When you lend anything to your neighbor, you shall not go into his house to take anything as pledge. °11 Wait outside, and he shall come out of the house to give you the pledge. °12 If you have taken as pledge the cloak of a poor man, you shall not keep it overnight; °13 you shall return it to him when the sun goes down that he may sleep in his cloak. Then the poor shall bless you and you shall be righteous in the eyes of Yahweh, your God. °14 Do not exploit the lowly and the poor daily-wage earner, whether he be one of your brothers or a foreigner whom you find in your land in any of your cities. °15 Pay him daily before the sun goes down, because he is poor and he depends on his earnings. Then he will not cry to Yahweh against you, and you will have no sin. °16 Parents shall not be put to death for the sin of their children, nor the children for the sin of their parents. Everyone must pay for his own sin. °17 Do not violate the right of the foreigner, or of the orphan, or take as pledge the clothing of a widow. °18 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh, your God, rescued you. This is why I command you to do this. °19 When you harvest the wheat in your fields, if you drop a sheaf, do not return to pick it up, but let it be there for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. Yahweh will bless you for this in all your work. °20 When you harvest your olives, do not go back to beat the trees another time, what is left shall be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. °21 When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, do not return to look for what has been left. This will be the share of the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. °22 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt. This is why, I command you to do this. ¤25 °1 When
there is a dispute between two persons, let them go to the judges. These will
declare who is righteous and who is guilty. °2 If he
deserves flogging, the judge shall make him fall down on the ground in his
presence and shall have him flogged with the number of stripes in proportion
to his sin.
°3 You may give him forty stripes – not more
– otherwise, the punishment would be too much and your brother would be
dishonored in your eyes. °4 Do not muzzle an ox when it threshes the grain. °5 If two brothers live together and one of them dies
without any child, the wife of the dead man shall not marry anyone other than
the brother of her husband. He shall take her as his wife and shall give
offspring to his brother. °6 The first son she bears will perpetuate
the name and the family of the dead. In this way his name shall not be wiped
out of Israel. °7 If the brother-in-law refuses to take her for his
wife, she shall present herself at the city gates and say to the elders, “My
brother-in-law refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel. He does
not want to perform his duty as brother-in-law in my favor.” °8 Then the judges shall call this man and speak to
him. If he persists and says: “I do not want to take her for my wife,” °9 his sister-in-law shall go up to him and in the
presence of the judges remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face and
say these words, “So shall it be done to the man who does not perpetuate the
name of his brother.” °10 His family shall be called in Israel “the
house of the barefooted one.” °11 If two men fight with each other and the wife of one
draws near to save her husband from the blows of the other, extends her hand
and grasps him by the testicles, °12
you shall cut off the
woman’s hand without pity. °13 You shall not keep in your bag two weights, one
heavier and the other lighter, °14
nor shall you have in
your house a large measure and a small one. °15 You
shall have a full and exact weight, and an equally just and exact measure,
that you may lengthen your days in the land which Yahweh, your God, gives
you. °16 Because Yahweh hates him who does such
things and any kind of injustice. °17 Remember what Amalek did to you when you were on the
road, coming out of Egypt. °18 He went out to meet you on the way and
when you were weak and tired attacked all who were left behind. He had no
fear of God. °19 Therefore, when Yahweh, your God, after
subduing all your enemies around you, has given you rest in the land which he
gives you, you shall wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under the
heavens. Do not forget. § The Israelite proclaims his faith¤26 °1 When you come into the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you as an inheritance, when you possess it and dwell in it, °2 you shall take the firstfruits of all your harvests, place them in a large basket and bring it to the place chosen by Yahweh, your God, as the dwelling place for his Name. °3 Present these to the priest who is in office, and say to him, “On this day, I confess that Yahweh, my God, let me enter into the land he promised our fathers that he would give us.” °4 Then the priest shall take the large basket from your hands and place it before the altar of Yahweh, your God, °5 and you shall say these words before Yahweh, “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt to find refuge there, while still few in number; but in that country, he became a great and powerful nation. °6 The Egyptians maltreated us, oppressed us and subjected us to harsh slavery. °7 So we called to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, and Yahweh listened to us. He saw our humiliation, our hard labor and the oppression to which we were subjected. °8 He brought us out of Egypt with a firm hand, manifesting his power with signs and awesome wonders. °9 And he brought us here to give us this land flowing with milk and honey. °10 So now I bring and offer the firstfruits of the land which you, Yahweh, have given me.” °11 You shall place these before Yahweh, bow before him and worship Yahweh, your God. Afterwards, you and your household shall feast on all the good things Yahweh has given you and your family. The Levite and the foreigner who lives among you shall also feast with you. °12 On the third year, the year of tithing, when you
have finished separating the tithes from all your harvests and have given
them to the Levite, the foreigner, the widow and the orphan, that they may
eat within your very city until they are satisfied, °13 you shall say in the presence of Yahweh, “I
have brought out of my house the sacred share. I have given it to the Levite,
the foreigner, the orphan and the widow according to the commandments that
you have given me, without going against any of them or forgetting them. °14 Of that tithe I have not eaten anything in time of
mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean. I have offered nothing to
the dead. I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, my God, and have done as he has
commanded me. °15 From your sanctuary, from on high in the heavens, look
down and bless your people Israel, as you bless the land which you have given
us just as you had promised to our ancestors, the land flowing with milk and
honey.” °16 On this day, Yahweh, your God, commands you to
fulfill these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into
practice with all your heart and with all your soul. °17 Today Yahweh has declared to you that he will be
your God, and so you shall follow his ways, observing his norms, his
commandments and his laws, and listening to his voice. °18 Today Yahweh has declared that you will be his very
own people even as he had promised you, and you must obey all his
commandments. °19 He, for his part, will give you honor,
renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations he has made, and you
will become a nation consecrated to Yahweh, your God, as he has declared. § Renewal of the Covenant¤27 °1 Moses
and the elders of Israel gave this order to the people: “Observe all the
commandments that I give you today. °2 When
you cross the Jordan to go to the land which Yahweh, your God, will give you,
set up large stones and plaster them with lime. °3 Then
you shall write upon them all the words of this Law at the time that you
cross over, that you may enter the land which Yahweh, the God of your
ancestors, will give you as he has promised, a land flowing with milk and
honey. °4 When you have crossed the Jordan, set up these
stones on Mount Ebal as I command you today, and plaster them with lime.°5 Set up there an altar in honor of Yahweh, built with
unhewn stones. °6 Build the altar to Yahweh with uncut
stones and on this altar offer burnt offerings to Yahweh, your God. °7 There you shall also sacrifice peace offerings; you
shall eat and feast in the presence of Yahweh, your God. °8 Write plainly upon these stones all the words of
this Law.” °9 Then Moses and the priests from the tribe of Levi
said to the people of Israel: “Pay attention and listen, Israel. Today you
have become the people of Yahweh, your God: °10 Listen,
therefore, to his voice and put into practice the commandments and the norms
that I give you today.” °11 On that day, Moses gave this command to the people: °12 When you have crossed the Jordan River, the tribes
of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin shall stand on Mount
Gerizim to repeat the blessings over the people, °13 while
those of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali shall stand on Mount
Ebal to repeat the curses. °14 The Levites shall declare to all the Israelites with
a loud voice: °15 Cursed be the man who makes an idol covered with
metal, a thing hateful to Yahweh, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and
sets it up in a hidden place! All the people shall answer: Amen! °16 Cursed be he who despises his father or mother! And
the people shall respond: Amen! °17 Cursed be he who moves the boundaries of his
neighbor’s inheritance. All the people shall respond: Amen! °18 Cursed be he who leads the blind astray from the
way! All the people shall respond: Amen! °19 Cursed be anyone who does not respect the rights of
the foreigner, the orphan and the widow! All the people shall respond: Amen! °20 Cursed be he who lies with the wife of his father
and dishonors his father’s bed! All the people shall respond: Amen! °21 Cursed be anyone who sins with any kind of animal!
The people shall respond: Amen! °22 Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether the
daughter of his father or mother! All the people shall respond: Amen! °23 Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law! All
the people shall say: Amen! °24 Cursed be anyone who treacherously murders a
neighbor! All the people shall say: Amen! °25 Cursed be anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an
innocent person! All the people shall say: Amen! °26 Cursed be anyone who does not affirm the words of
this Law by putting them into practice! And all the people shall say: Amen! § Blessings and curses¤28 °1 Well
now, if you obey in truth the voice of Yahweh, your God, practicing and
observing all the commandments which I give you today, Yahweh, your God,
shall raise you high above all the nations of the earth. °2 Then all these blessings shall reach you and come
upon you for having obeyed the voice of Yahweh, your God: °3 Blessed shall you be in the city and in the field. °4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body and the
fruit of your land, the young of your asses, the offspring of your cattle and
sheep. °5 Blessed shall be your basket and your bowl of dough.
°6 Blessed shall you be when you begin and when you
finish. °7 Yahweh will bring down your enemies who rise against
you, and put them at your feet. By one way they shall come out against you
but by seven ways they shall flee from you. °8 Yahweh will order the blessing to be with you in
your granaries and in your activities. He shall bless you in the land which
Yahweh, your God, gives you. °9 Yahweh shall make you a holy people, as he has
sworn, if you keep his commandments and follow in his ways. °10 Then all the nations of the earth shall see that you
are under the protection of Yahweh and they will respect you. °11 Yahweh shall fill you with all kinds of good things,
increasing the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your livestock and the fruit
of your land which Yahweh promised on oath to your ancestors that he would
give you. °12 Yahweh shall open the heavens for you, his rich
treasury, to give rain in its season which your fields need, and he shall
bless all that you plan to do. You shall lend to many nations but it shall
not be necessary for you to borrow anything from them. °13 Yahweh will set you at the head of the nations and
not at the tail; you shall always be on top and never below, if you fulfill
the commandments of Yahweh, your God, which I command you today, °14 observing them and putting them into practice,
without turning aside either to the right or to the left to follow and
worship other gods. °15 But if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh, your
God, and do not take care to practice all his commandments and norms which I
command you today, all these curses shall come upon you: °16 Cursed shall you be in the city and in the field. °17 Cursed shall your granary be, and cursed shall your
storage houses be. °18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your body
and the fruit of your land, the offspring of your cattle and the young of
your sheep. °19 Cursed shall you be in everything you do,
from beginning to end. °20 Yahweh
will send misfortune, destruction and fear upon everything you do until you
are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil deeds you have done
in forsaking Yahweh. °21 He shall make pestilence cling to you
until you disappear from the land which you are entering today to make it
yours. °22 Yahweh will punish you with tuberculosis, fever,
inflammation, fiery heat, wheat-smug and mildew that shall pursue you until
you die. °23 The heavens above you shall be brass and the earth
under you shall be iron. °24 Instead of rain, Yahweh shall make ashes
and powder fall from heaven until you are destroyed. °25 Yahweh shall let you be defeated before your
enemies. By one way you shall go out to fight them but by seven ways you
shall flee from them. All the nations of the earth shall be horrified to see
you. °26 Your dead bodies shall serve as food for all the
birds of the air, and no one shall chase them away. °27 Yahweh shall strike you with the boils and plagues
of Egypt, with tumors, scurvy and itch, from which you cannot be healed. °28 Yahweh shall punish you with madness and blindness
and confusion of mind. °29 In the same way that the blind grope in
darkness, so shall you grope in broad daylight, and you shall not succeed.
You shall always be oppressed and robbed, with no one to defend you. °30 You shall be engaged to marry a woman, but another
man shall lie with her. You shall build a house but not live in it. You shall
plant a vineyard but not eat its grapes. °31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before you
but you shall not eat of it. Before your very eyes, you shall be robbed of
your ass, which will never be recovered. Your sheep shall be turned over to
your enemies, but no one shall come to defend you. °32 Your sons and daughters shall be handed over to
foreign nations and you shall yearn for them continually but you will be
unable to take action. °33 A people unknown to you shall eat the fruit of your
fields, the fruit of all your toil. And you shall never cease to be exploited
and oppressed all your life. °34 You shall be driven mad by what you see. °35 Yahweh will strike you with the most malignant boils
on the knees and legs, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your
foot to the crown of your head. °36 Yahweh will bring you and the king you have chosen
to a nation which neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you
shall serve other gods made of wood and stone. °37 All the nations to which Yahweh will bring you will
be astonished, and will make you a byword and the butt of jokes. °38 You shall sow many seeds in your fields but shall
harvest very little because the locusts shall devour them. °39 You shall plant and cultivate a vineyard but shall
not drink wine or eat grapes because the worms shall devour them. °40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your
territory, but they shall not give you even a drop of oil to anoint yourself,
for the olives shall drop off and rot. °41 You
shall have sons and daughters but they shall not be yours for they shall be
taken into captivity. °42 All your trees and all the produce of
your land shall be infested with insects. °43 The foreigner who lives with you shall prosper every
day at your expense as you become poorer. °44 He
shall lend to you and you shall have to borrow; he shall always be the head
and you the tail. °45 All these curses shall fall upon you, pursue you and
oppress you until all of you perish, for you did not listen to the voice of
Yahweh, your God, or obey the commandments and the norms which he gave you. °46 These shall be forever upon you and your descendants
as an awesome sign. °47 For having not served Yahweh, your God, with joy and
gladness of heart when you lacked nothing, °48 you
shall serve the enemies Yahweh will send against you, while you go hungry,
thirsty, naked and suffer all kinds of misery. They shall put a yoke of iron
upon your neck until they have destroyed you all. °49 Yahweh shall make a nation from afar come against
you, as swift as the eagle flies, °50
a nation whose
language you do not understand, a cruel nation that does not show respect to
the old or compassion to the young. °51 They
shall consume the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land so
that you perish, leaving you with no wheat or wine or oil or the young of
your cattle and sheep until they finish you off. °52 They shall besiege you in all your cities until the
highest and most fortified walls in which you placed your trust fall down
throughout your land. You shall remain besieged within your cities throughout
the land which Yahweh, your God, will give you. °53 You shall eat the fruit of your body, the flesh of
your sons and daughters which Yahweh has given you, in the siege and anguish
to which your enemy will reduce you. °54 The most refined among you shall look with distrust
at his brother, his wife and his children who are still alive °55 refusing to share with them the flesh of his
children that he is eating, because nothing is left to him during the siege
and the anguish to which your enemy shall reduce you in your cities. °56 The most tender and delicate woman among your
people, so delicate and tender that she will not dare go barefoot, shall look
with distrust at the husband of her heart, and also at her son and daughter. °57 She shall hide from them to eat the placenta from
her womb and the children to whom she gave birth, for lack of any other food,
when your enemy lays siege to your cities and reduces you to the most extreme
misery. °58 If you do not put into practice all the words of
this Law which are written in this book and do not fear that glorious and
terrible Name, Yahweh, your God,
°59 he will punish you, you and your
descendants, with fearful plagues, severe and lasting plagues, malignant
sicknesses and incurable diseases. °60 He will make all the plagues of Egypt fall upon you,
which you were afraid of, and these shall cling to you. °61 Even more, Yahweh shall order all the diseases and
plagues which are not recorded in this book of the Law to be with you until
you are wiped out.
°62 For not having obeyed the voice of
Yahweh, your God, only a few of you will remain, although before, you were as
numerous as the stars of the heaven. °63 So it shall happen, that in the same manner that it
pleased Yahweh to do you good and to multiply you, it shall also please him
to pursue and destroy you. You shall be plucked off the land you are entering
to conquer. °64 Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations, from
one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of
wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. °65 In those nations, you shall not have peace or rest
for the sole of your foot. There Yahweh shall give you a cowardly heart, swollen
eyes and anxious soul by day and by night. °66 Your
life shall be before you as a pendant that hangs on a thread, and you shall
be in dread night and day. °67 In the morning you shall say: “Would it
were evening!” but in the evening you shall say: “Would it were morning!”
because of the fear that makes your heart tremble when you behold what your
eyes see. °68 Yahweh shall bring you back to Egypt for your sin,
in spite of what he said to you: “You shall not see it again.” There you
shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as slaves, but no man will
buy you.” °69 These are the words of the Covenant which Yahweh
commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab,
besides the Covenant he made with them at Horeb. § Another conclusion¤29 °1 Moses
summoned all the people of Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that
Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to his servants
and to all his land, °2 the great plagues which you yourselves witnessed,
the signs and the marvels.
°3 But to this very day, Yahweh has not
given you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear. °4 Yahweh made you wander in the desert for forty
years, but your clothes did not wear out and neither did your sandals from so
much journeying. °5 You did not have bread to eat, or wine or
fermented liquor to drink, so that you might know that I, Yahweh, am your
God. °6 And when we came to this place, Sihon, the king of
Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, set out to fight against us, but we
defeated them °7 and seized their lands, which we then
gave as an inheritance and a possession to Reuben, Gad and to half of the
tribe of Manasseh. °8 So observe the conditions of this Covenant and put
them into practice, that you may succeed in whatever you do. °9 You are all here today in the presence of Yahweh,
your God: your leaders, your elders, your secretaries, all the people of
Israel, °10 with your sons and daughters, and with
your wives, together with the foreigner who lives in your field, who cuts the
firewood or fetches water for you. °11 You
are here in this place to celebrate a Covenant with Yahweh, your God. °12 Through this oath he makes you his people and he
becomes your God, as he said to you and promised to your ancestors, to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. °13 And not only with you do I make this covenant and
this oath today, °14 but I make it both with those who are
here with you today in the presence of Yahweh and with those who are not
here. °15 You know very well how we lived in the land of Egypt
and how we crossed through other lands. °16 You
have seen the abominations and the loathsome idols they kept: of stone, wood,
gold and silver. °17 So may there be no man or woman, family or tribe
among you whose heart turns away from Yahweh to go and serve the gods of
those nations. May no poisonous and bitter plants sprout among you. °18 If anyone does not heed the words of this sworn
Covenant, thinking, “I shall have peace though I do as I please, the just and
the sinner perish together,” °19 Yahweh shall not pardon him. His rage and
jealousy shall burn against that man, and all the curses written in this book
await him. Yahweh will wipe out his name from under the heavens, °20 and will separate him from the tribes of Israel to
his misfortune, according to all the curses of the Covenant expressed in this
book of the Law. °21 The future generations that will come after you and
the foreigners who come from distant countries shall see the plagues of this
land and the plagues Yahweh inflicted on it, and they shall say, °22 “A land of salt and sulfur is this one, burned and
unsown; not even grass can be seen. So it was with Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah
and Zeboiim, when Yahweh destroyed them and laid them waste in his anger and
rage.” °23 All the nations shall ask: “Why has Yahweh dealt so
with this nation? What does such anger mean?” °24 And
they shall answer: “This happened because they abandoned the Covenant which
Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out
of Egypt, °25 because they went to serve other gods and
worshiped them, gods that were not theirs and to whom Yahweh had not
entrusted them. °26 Therefore Yahweh was angry with that land, bringing
upon it all the curses written in this book. °27 Yahweh
has pulled them out of their land with anger, rage and great indignation, and
cast them into another land, as you can see today. °28 The secret things belong to Yahweh, our God, but
what he made known to us belongs to us and our children forever. So we have
to put into practice all the provisions of this Law! ¤30 °1 When these things come upon you according to this
blessing and this curse that I have set before you, you will recall them
among the nations where Yahweh, your God, has driven you. °2 Then you will return to him, you and your children;
you will listen to his voice with all your heart and with all your soul,
obeying all that I command you today. °3 So Yahweh, your God, will bring back the captives of
your people, he will have pity on you, and will gather you again from all the
nations where Yahweh has scattered you. °4 Though
you are driven out at the other end of the earth, °5 Yahweh
will gather you even from there, and will take you once again to the land
which your ancestors possessed so that it may also be yours. He will make you
happy and make you more numerous than your ancestors. § My commands are not beyond your reach°6 Yahweh, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants that you may love Yahweh with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. °7 So Yahweh, your God, will inflict all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you. °8 You shall again listen to Yahweh and put into practice all his commandments that I give you today. °9 Yahweh, your God, will make you succeed in everything you do. He will multiply for your good your children, the offspring of your livestock and the fruits of your land. For Yahweh will again be pleased to treat you well, as he did your ancestors. °10 For you shall turn to Yahweh, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and observe his commandments and norms, in a word, everything written in this book of the Law. °11 These commandments that I give you today are neither too high nor too far for you. °12 They are not in heaven that you should say: “Who will go up to heaven to get these commandments that we may hear them and put them into practice.” °13 Neither are they at the other side of the sea for you to say: “Who will cross to the other side and bring them to us, that we may hear them and put them into practice.” °14 On the contrary, my word is very near you; it is already in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can put it into practice. § Choose life°15 See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death. °16 I command you to love Yahweh, your God and follow his ways. Observe his commandments, his norms and his laws, and you will live and increase, and Yahweh will give you his blessing in the land you are going to possess. °17 But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them, °18 I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan. °19 Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live, °20 loving Yahweh, listening to his voice, and being one with him. In this is life for you and length of days in the land which Yahweh swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” § Joshua succeeds Moses¤31
°1 When Moses finished telling all Israel
these words, he said,
°2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old
and I can no longer deal with anything – Remember that Yahweh told me that I
shall not cross the Jordan River.
°3 Now Joshua shall be at your head, as
Yahweh has said. He, your God, will go before you to destroy these nations
before you, and you will drive them away. °4 Yahweh shall deal with these cities as he dealt with
Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and their land, which he destroyed. °5 So when he has given these nations over to you, you
shall do the same, according to what I have commanded you. °6 Be valiant and strong, do not fear or tremble before
them for Yahweh, your God, is with you; he will not leave you or abandon
you.” °7 After this, Moses called Joshua and said to him in
the presence of all Israel: “Be valiant and strong, you shall go with this
people into the land which Yahweh swore to their ancestors he would give them
and you shall give it to them as their possession. °8 Yahweh shall go before you. He shall be
with you; he shall not leave you or abandon you. Do not fear, then, or be
discouraged.” °9 Moses put this Law in writing and entrusted it to
the priests, descendants of Levi, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of
Yahweh, as well as to all the leaders of Israel, °10 giving
this order to them: “Every seven years, at the time fixed for the Year of
Pardon, on the Feast of the Tents,
°11 when all Israel assembles to present
themselves before Yahweh in the place chosen by him, you shall read this Law
in the hearing of all Israel. °12 Assemble the people – men, women and children, and
the foreigner who lives in your cities – that they may listen to it, learn to
fear Yahweh and take care to put into practice all the words of this Law. °13 Your children who do not know it yet shall hear it
and learn to fear Yahweh, your God, all the days that they live in the land
which you are going to conquer after crossing the Jordan.” °14 Yahweh said to Moses: “The day of your death is
already near. Call Joshua that the two of you may present yourselves to me in
the Tent of Meeting, that I may give him my orders.” So
Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. °15 Yahweh appeared to them in the Tent in a column of
cloud; the column was at the entrance of the Tent. °16 And
Yahweh said to Moses: “Now
you are going to rest with your ancestors. Then this people shall rebel and
prostitute themselves to strange gods, the gods of the land which they are
going to enter. They shall abandon me and break the Covenant I have made with
them. °17 On that day, I shall be angry with them,
I shall abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be devoured, and
many evils and adversities will come upon them so that they will say: “Have
not these evils come upon me because my God is not in our midst anymore?” °18 But on that day I shall hide my face from them
because of all the evil which they have done in going after other gods. °19 So, write this song and teach it to the children of
Israel and have them remember it, for this song shall be my witness against
the children of Israel. °20 For I shall bring them to the land which
I swore to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, but after
they have eaten and are satisfied and have grown fat, they shall turn to
other gods and pay homage to them while despising me and breaking my
Covenant. °21 And when these evils and calamities without number
come upon them, this song shall bear witness against them, since their descendants
will not forget it. I know very well the plans they are already making even
before they have entered the land which I promised them.” °22 On that day, Moses wrote this song and taught it to
the children of Israel.
°23 Then Moses told Joshua, son of Nun, “Be
valiant and strong, for you shall bring the children of Israel to the land
which Yahweh promised to them, and I shall be with you.” °24 When he finished writing in a book all the words of
this Law, °25 Moses gave this order to the Levites who
carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, °26 “Take
the book of this Law. Place it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant of
Yahweh, your God. There it shall remain as a witness against you, °27 because I know how rebellious and stubborn you are.
If today, as I live among you, you are rebellious against Yahweh, how much
more shall you be after my death? °28 Gather together around me all the leaders and
secretaries of all the tribes, I am going to say these words in their
hearing, and I shall ask heaven and earth to witness against you. °29 For I know that after my death, you shall do
perverse things and shall stray from the way that I have pointed out to you.
And misfortune shall come upon you in the future for doing what is evil in
the eyes of Yahweh, provoking his anger with the work of your hands.” °30 Then, before the whole assembly of Israel, Moses recited this song until the end. § Song of Moses¤32 °1 Listen, O heavens, as I speak; hear,
earth, the words of my mouth. °2 May my teaching be drenching as the rain, and
my words, permeate gently as the dew: like
abundant rain upon the grass, like
a gentle shower on the tender crops. °3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord
and declare the greatness of our God. °4 He is the Rock, and
perfect are all his works, just
are all his ways. A
faithful God he is, upright
and just and unerring. °5 Yet he has been treated perversely by
his degenerate children – a
deceitful and crooked generation. °6 Is this how you repay the Lord, you
foolish and senseless people? He
is your father, your creator, who
formed you and set you up. °7 Recall the days of old, think
of the years gone by; your
father will teach you about them, your
elders will enlighten you. °8 When the Most High divided humankind and
gave the nations their inheritance, he
set up boundaries for the peoples after
the number of the sons of God. °9 But the Lord keeps for himself his
portion Jacob,
his chosen one. °10 In the wilderness he found them, in
a barren, howling wasteland; he
shielded them and cared for them as
the apple of his eye. °11 Like an eagle watching its nest, hovering
over its young, supporting
them on its spread wings and
carrying them on its pinions, °12 the Lord alone led them, without
the aid of a foreign god. °13 He made them ride on the heights and
live on the produce of the earth. He
gave them honey to suck from the rock, olive
oil from the hard stony crag, °14 curds from the herd, milk from the flock, fattened
lambs and goats and Bashan bulls, the
finest wheat and the best grape wine. °15 Israel grew up well nourished – you
were fat, heavy and overfed. But
they abandoned God, their creator; they
rejected the rock, their savior. °16 They made him jealous with their strange
gods; they
angered him with their abominable deeds. °17 They sacrificed not to him but to the
demons, to gods they had not known, to
newly arrived gods they feared but
which their ancestors never revered. °18 They have disowned the Rock who fathered them; they
have forgotten the God who gave them birth. °19 The Lord saw this, and in his anger
rejected his sons and daughters. °20 He said, “I will hide my face from them and
see what will become of them. They
are so perverse, so unfaithful! °21 They made me jealous with their false
gods and
angered me with their idols. I
will, therefore, make them envious of a foolish people, I
will provoke them to anger with an empty-headed nation. °22 For my wrath has kindled a fire, burning
the world of death to its depths, devouring
the earth and its harvests, setting
ablaze the foundations of the mountains. °23 I will send them trouble upon trouble and
spend all my arrows upon them; °24 I will afflict them with famine, deadly
diseases and pestilence. I
will send them wild beasts and venomous snakes. °25 Their children will fall by the sword;
terror shall reign within, destroying
both young man and virgin, both
the nursing child and the old man. °26 I said I would scatter them afar and
blot out their memory among humankind, °27 but I feared the enemy’s boasting, lest
the adversary misunderstand and
say; ‘We have triumphed, the
Lord has not brought this about.’ °28 They are a senseless and undiscerning
nation. Had they wisdom, they would
have known °29 the meaning of this and the end awaiting
them. °30 For how could one or two men put to
flight a thousand or ten thousand, unless
their Rock had abandoned them, unless
their Lord had given them up? °31 Even our enemies understand this: their
rock indeed is not like our Rock: °32 They are an offshoot of Sodom’s
vinestock, an
outgrowth from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are poison,
their clusters bitter, °33 their wine contains venom from
the cruel fangs of deadly vipers. °34 I have kept this in reserve and
sealed up in my storehouse. °35 Vengeance and recompense is mine. Their
feet will slip in due time, their
day of calamity is at hand, and
swiftly their doom will come. °36 The Lord will give justice to his people and
have mercy on his servants, when
he sees their strength failing and
both slave and free disappearing. °37 He will say, “Where are their gods, the
rock they thought could be their refuge, °38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices and
drank the wine of their libations? Let
them rise up now and help you, let
them give you protection! °39 Learn this now – that I alone am He;
there is no god besides me. It
is I who give both death and life; it
is I who wound and heal as well and
out of my hand no one can deliver. °40 I raise my hand to heaven and swear: as
truly as I live forever, °41 when I sharpen my glittering sword and my
hand takes hold of judgment, I
will deal out vengeance upon my foes and retribution upon those
who hate me. °42 My arrows will drip with blood, my
sword will sink deep into the flesh – blood of the wounded and slain
captives, flesh
of beheaded enemy leaders. °43 Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he
will avenge his servants’ blood, take
vengeance on his adversaries, and
perform the rite of expiation for
his people and his land. °44 Moses recited the words of this song in the hearing
of the people, and Joshua, son of Nun, was with him. °45 When Moses had finished reciting these words to all
Israel, °46 he said to them, “Be attentive to all
these words which I declare to you today. Repeat them to your children so
that they may take care to put all these laws into practice. °47 It is no slight matter: on this depends your life,
and by this, you shall lengthen your days in the land you are going to
conquer after crossing the Jordan.” °48 Yahweh spoke to Moses on
that same day and he said: °49 “Go up to the mountains of Abarim
in the land of Moab and climb Mount Nebo facing Jericho. From there you shall
see the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel. °50 Then you shall die on Mount Nebo and join
your fathers as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and went to join them. °51 Remember that you did not trust me at the
waters of Meribah in the desert of Zion, when you did not proclaim me before
the Israelites. °52 Therefore
you shall not enter the Land, but shall only see it from afar.” § Blessings of Moses¤33
°1 This is the blessing that Moses gave to
the children of Israel before he died. He said: °2 “Yahweh has come from Sinai; he rises above the
horizon of Seir for his people. He has shone from Mount Paran; he has come to
Meribah of Kadesh for them; his midday radiance has reached Ashdot. °3 Yahweh loves these tribes and his hand protects his
holy ones; they bow before his feet, waiting for his teaching. °4–°5 He came to Israel as king, and made
himself the inheritance of the children of Israel when the leaders assembled
and the tribes of Israel gathered together. °6 Let Reuben live and not die, nor let his men be
few.” °7 This is the blessing for Judah: “Listen, Yahweh, to
the voice of Judah, and let him be with his people. His hands will fight for
him and will help him against his opponents.” °8 He said of Levi: “You have given, O Yahweh, your
Thummim and Urim to him who loves you, whom you tested at Massah and
reproached at Meribah. °9 He said to his parents ‘I do not know
you,’ and disowned his brothers and sisters and children. He has observed
your words and kept your Covenant. °10 They
teach Jacob your decrees, Israel your Law. They offer you incense and make
sacrifices on your altar. °11 Bless, O Yahweh, his courage and accept
his service. Strike the back of his foes, that his enemies may not rise
against him anymore.” °12 He said of Benjamin: “Beloved of Yahweh, you put
your trust in him who protects you, and you dwell in his hills.” °13 He said of Joseph: “Your land has received the
blessings of Yahweh, the dew from heaven and the waters that gush forth from
the deep, °14 the sun-ripened fruits and the liberal
produce of the months, °15 the best of the ancient mountains and the
everlasting hills, the generous land and all that is in it. °16 May the blessing of him who arose in the bush
descend upon the head of Joseph, for he is the chosen one among his brothers.
°17 Joseph is his firstling bull, glory to
him! His horns are those of a wild ox, with which he strikes all the people
at the same time. See the multitudes of Ephraim, and the thousands of
Manasseh!” °18 He said of Zebulun: “Rejoice, Zebulun, when you
journey. Rejoice, Issachar, in your tents. °19 They
call the peoples to the sacred mountain for the prescribed sacrifices. They
enjoy the riches of the sea and the hidden treasures of the sand.” °20 He said of Gad: “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad.
Like a lioness, he couches and tears the arm and head. °21 He chooses the best part, the part reserved for the leader.
He has led the people. He has fulfilled the justice of Yahweh and his
decisions in favor of Israel.” °22 He said of Dan: “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps
forth from Bashan.” °23 He said of Naphtali: “Naphtali is filled with
favors, filled with the blessing of Yahweh. May your land reach to the south
and to the sea!” °24 He said of Asher: “May Asher be blessed among the
sons. May he be preferred to his brothers and let him put his feet in oil. °25 May his fastening bars be iron and bronze. May you
be strong as long as you live. °26 There is none like our God, O Israel, who walks
above the heavens, riding above the clouds, and comes to help you in his
zeal. °27 The eternal God is a refuge; from eternity he frees
you with his arm. He drives your enemy away before you and says to you:
‘Destroy him.’ °28 Israel dwells in safety. The fountain of Jacob flows
in the land of wheat and wine, and dew comes from heaven. °29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people
saved by Yahweh? He is the shield that protects you, the sword that gives you
victory! Your enemies shall flee from you, but you, you are outstanding in
everything.” § Moses’ death¤34 °1 From the barren plain of Moab, Moses went up to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And Yahweh showed him all the Land: from Gilead to Dan, °2 the whole of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim, and of Manasseh, the whole land of Judah, as far as the Western Sea, °3 the Negeb, the Plains, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. °4 And Yahweh said to him: “This is the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, promising it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not enter it.” °5 Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the will of Yahweh. °6 They buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-Peor; but to this very day, no one knows where his tomb is. °7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. He did not lose his vigor and his eyes still saw clearly. °8 The children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab for thirty days. °9 But Joshua, son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him. The children of Israel obeyed him and did as Yahweh had commanded Moses. °10 No prophet like Moses has appeared again. Yahweh
conversed with him face to face. °11
What signs and
wonders he worked in Egypt against Pharaoh, against his people and all his
land! °12 What a powerful hand was his that worked
these terrible things in the sight of all Israel! The End. |