220|Deuteronomy 4:39
39 Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.
Cities of Refuge
(Numbers 35:9–34; Deuteronomy 19:1–14; Joshua 20:1–9)
41 Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east 42 to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice.
To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.
Introduction to the Law
44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt, 46 while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.
47 They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east— 48 extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon [1] (that is, Hermon), 49 including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah,[2] below the slopes of Pisgah.
The Covenant at Horeb
5 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:[3]
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.[4]
3 He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
The Ten Commandments
(Exodus 20:1–17)
5 At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. And He said: 6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 You shall have no other gods before Me.[5]
8 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations [6] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- ↑ 48 Or Sion; Syriac Sirion
- ↑ 49 That is, the Dead Sea
- ↑ 1 Note that Deuteronomy 5:1 through Deuteronomy 26:19 may be presented as a continuous section of unbroken speech by Moses. In place of multiple levels of nested quotes, this section has been set apart with a double space.
- ↑ 2 That is, Mount Sinai, or possibly a mountain in the range containing Mount Sinai
- ↑ 7 Or besides Me
- ↑ 10 Hebrew loving devotion to thousands; forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant.
