不认识圣经，就是不认识基督，不认识基督，就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。
旧约·申命纪
共34章:
梅瑟第一篇演说(1-4:40)
第一章(46)
时期和地点
1:1 以下是梅瑟在约但河东岸，对全以色列所讲的话。──即在稣夫对面的阿辣巴旷野中，在帕兰与托费耳、拉班、哈则洛特和狄匝哈布之间。
1:2 从曷勒布经色依尔山，到卡德士巴尔乃亚，共有十一天的程路。──
1:3
在第四十年十一月一日，梅瑟将上主吩咐他的一切事，全训示了以色列子民。
1:4
当时他已击败住在赫市朋的阿摩黎王息红，和住在阿舍塔洛特和厄德勒的巴商王敖格。
1:5
梅瑟在约但河东岸摩阿布地方开始宣讲这法律说：
选立首领
1:6
「上主，我们的天主，在曷勒布曾训示我们说：你们在这山下住得够久了，
1:7
现在起身出发，到阿摩黎人的山地去，到那些住在阿辣巴荒野、山地、盆地、乃革布和沿海一带地方去，到客纳罕地，到黎巴嫩，直到大河，即幼发拉的河那一带地方去。
1:8
看，我已将此地摆在你们面前，你们应去占领上主誓许给你们的祖先亚巴郎、依撒格、雅各伯和他们后裔的地方。」
1:9
那时我对你们说过：我个人无法负担你们。
1:10
上主你们的天主使你们的人数增加，看，你们今天多得有如天上的繁星。
1:11
惟愿上主你们祖先的天主，再千百倍地增加你们的数目，照他所应许的，降福你们!
1:12
但我个人怎能承担起你们的烦务、重任和诉讼的事!
1:13
你们各支派应推举一些有智慧，有见识，有经验的人，我好立他们为你们的首领。
1:14
你们回答我说：「你建议的事很好。」
1:15
我遂选了你们各支派中有智慧有经验的首领，立为你们的首领：即千夫长、百夫长、五十夫长、十人长，并为各支派立了监督，
1:16
同时我也吩咐你们的判官说：你们要听断你们兄弟间的诉讼：无论是兄弟彼此诉讼，或与方外人诉讼，都应秉公审断。
1:17
审案时不可偏袒，无论贵贱，同样听断；任何人都不要怕，因为审判是天主的事。若遇有难断的案件，该呈报给我，我来听断。
1:18
同时，凡你们当做的事，我都吩咐了你们。
在卡德士背信
1:19
我们由曷勒布起程，经过了你们所见的这整个辽阔可怖的旷野：照上主我们的天主对我们的吩咐，我们向阿摩黎人山地进发，一直来到了卡德士巴尔乃亚。
1:20
那时我曾对你们说：你们已来到上主我们的天主即将赐给我们的阿摩黎人的山地。
1:21
看上主你的天主已将这地摆在你面前，你要照上主你祖先的天主对你所许下的，去占领这地；不要害怕，也不要胆怯。
1:22
你们众人便来到我跟前说：「让我们先派些人去，替我们侦探那地方，然后回报我们，我们当走那条路，当去那些城。」
1:23
我就由你们中挑选了十二人，每支派一人；
1:24
他们起身上了山地，一直到了厄市苛耳山谷，侦探了那地。
1:25
他们带回来那地方的一些果品，并回报我们说：「上主我们的天主即将赐给我们的地方实在好。」
1:26
但你们却不肯上去，竟违背了上主你们天主的命令，
1:27
在你们的帐幕内抱怨说：「上主因为恨我们，才将我们由埃及地领出来，将我们交在阿摩黎人手中，消灭我们。
1:28
我们上那里去呢﹖我们的兄弟又说了些使我们心灰意冷的话。他们说：我们在那里看见了一个比我们又大又高的民族，他们的城邑广大，城墙高耸摩天；我们在那里还看见了阿纳克人的子孙。」
1:29
我遂对你们说：「不要畏惧，不要害怕。
1:30
因为上主你们的天主，走在你们前面，他必为你们作战，正如他在埃及在你们眼前，为你们所做的一样；
1:31
并且在旷野里，你也看出上主你的天主在你所走的长途中，携带你们，如同人携带自己的儿子一样，直到你们来到这地方。
1:32
虽然如此，但你们仍不信赖上主你们的天主，
1:33
他一路原走在你们前面，替你们找安营的地方：夜间借着火，日间借着云彩，指示你们应走的道路。
1:34
上主一听见你们的怨声，就发怒起誓说：「
1:35
这个邪恶世代的人，一个也不得见我誓许要赐给你们祖先的乐土；
1:36
只有耶孚乃的儿子加肋布除外，他必见到此地，并且我要将他踏过的地，赐给他和他的子孙，因为他一心随从了上主。」
1:37
为了你们的缘故，上主也对我发怒说：「连你也不能进入那地。
1:38
那侍候你的农的儿子若苏厄，要进入那地；你应壮他的胆，因为他要使以色列占领那地作为产业。
1:39
此外，你们所说要成为战利品的幼童，至今尚不知好歹的子女，他们都要进入那地。我要将那地赐给他们作为产业。
1:40
至于你们应转向红海出发，往旷野里去。」
1:41
你们回答我说：「我们得罪了上主；现在我们愿全照上主我们的天主的吩咐上去交战。」你们各人遂都武装起来，轻率地上了山地。
1:42
但上主对我说：「你告诉他们说：你们不要上去，不要作战，因为我不在你们中间，免得被敌人击败。」
1:43
我立即告诉了你们，你们却不听，违背上主的命令，擅自上了山地。
1:44
住在山地的阿摩黎人蜂拥而出，攻击你们，追赶你们，由色依尔直杀到曷尔玛。
1:45
你们回来，在上主面前哭泣哀号，但上主未曾俯听你们的哭声，也未向你们侧耳；
1:46
你们只得长期地停留在卡德士，停留得这样长久。
第二章(37)
途经旷野
2:1 以后，我们照上主对我吩咐的，转向红海出发，往旷野进行，我们围着色依尔山地绕行了很久。
2:2
那时上主对我说：「
2:3
你们绕行这山地已够久了，如今该转向北方。
2:4
你吩咐人民说：你们要经过你们的兄弟厄撒乌子孙所住的色依尔地区；他们必畏惧你们，但你们却应小心，
2:5
不要与他们挑战，因为他们的地，连脚掌那么大的一块地，我也没有给你们，因为我已将色依尔山地给了厄撒乌作产业。
2:6
你们应用钱向他们买粮吃，用钱向他们买水喝。
2:7
的确，上主你的天主降福了你所作的一切，护卫你经过了这辽阔的旷野，这四十年来，上主你的天主常与你同在，使你什么也不曾缺少。」
2:8
于是我们绕过了我们的兄弟厄撒乌的子孙所住的色依尔，沿阿辣巴路到了厄拉特，和厄兹雍革贝尔，然后转向摩阿布旷野进发。
2:9
那时上主对我说：「不要扰乱摩阿布人，不要与他们挑战，他们的土地我一点也不会给你作产业，因为我已将阿尔给了罗特子孙作产业。
2:10
【原先住在那里的，是强大众多，身材魁伟象阿纳克人的厄明民族。
2:11
他们象阿纳克人一样,也算是勒法因人，但摩阿布人却称他们为厄明人。
2:12
同样，在色依尔原先住有曷黎人；但厄撒乌的子孙侵占了他们的产业，消灭了他们，住在他们境内，就如以色列人对上主赐给他们作产业的土地所做的一样。】
2:13
你们现在起身，过则勒得溪。」我们就过了则勒得溪。
2:14
从离开卡德士巴尔乃亚到我们过了则勒得溪所用的时间，共计三十八年，直到能作战的那一代，照上主对他们所起的誓，由营中完全消灭。
2:15
实在是上主的手攻击了他们，使他们由营中完全消灭。
2:16
所有的战士由民中死尽以后，
2:17
上主吩咐我说：
2:18
「你今天路过摩阿布的领土，即阿尔，
2:19
就要面临阿孟子民；但不要扰乱他们，不要与他们挑战，阿孟子民的土地我一点也不会给你作产业，因为我已将这地给了罗特子孙作产业。
2:20
【这地也算是勒法因人地，勒法因人先前住在那里，阿孟人称他们为「匝默组明」。
2:21
他们象阿纳克人一样，是强大众多，身材魁伟的民族；但上主却由阿孟人面前消灭了他们，使阿孟人占有他们的产业，住在他们境内，
2:22
正如上主为住在色依尔的厄撒乌子孙所做的一样：即由他们面前消灭了曷黎人，使厄撒乌的子孙占有他们的产业，住在他们的境内，直到今日。
2:23
同样，阿威人原先住在迦萨附近各村庄内，有加非托尔人由加非托尔来，将他们消灭，住在他们境内。】
2:24
你们起身出发，过阿尔农河。看，我已将阿摩黎人赫市朋王息红和他的土地交在你手中；进军占领，与他交战。
2:25
从今日起，我要使天下万民在你面前惊慌害怕，使他们一听见你的消息就战栗；一看见你的面目就发抖。」
征服息红王
2:26 我于是由刻德摩特旷野，派遣使者到赫市朋王息红那里，和平谈判说：
2:27
让我从你国内经过，我只走大道，不偏右也不偏左。
2:28
你按价钱卖给我粮吃，按价钱供给我水喝；只让我步行过去，──
2:29
如住在色依尔的厄撒乌子孙和住在阿尔的摩阿布人，对我所做的一样，──好使我过约但河，进入上主我们的天主赐给我们的地方。
2:30
但是赫市朋王息红，不肯让我们从他那里经过，因为上主你的天主使他顽固，使他心硬，好将他交在你手中，就如今日一样。
2:31
上主对我说：看，我已将息红和他的土地交给了你，你应进军占领他的土地。」
2:32
那时息红和他所有的民众出来攻击我们，在雅哈兹与我们交战；
2:33
但上主我们的天主将他交给了我们，我们击杀了他，他的儿子和他所有的人民。
2:34
同时我们也占领了他所有的城邑，照毁灭律将全城破坏，不论男女或幼童，全都杀死，没有留下一个，
2:35
只留下了牲畜和由占领的城邑中所夺的财物，作我们的战利品。
2:36
由阿尔农谷边的阿洛厄尔和谷中的城直到基肋阿得，没有一座城不被我们攻下的，上主我们的天主将这一切全交给了我们，
2:37
只有阿孟子孙的土地，即雅波克河一带和山地的城邑，你没有进攻，全照上主我们的天主所吩咐的。
第三章(29)
征服敖格王
3:1 然后我们转向巴商进发；巴商王敖格和他所有的民众出来攻击我们，在厄德勒与我们交战。
3:2
上主对我说：「你不要怕他，因为我已将他、他所有的民众和土地都交在你手中；你对待他，应如对待住在赫市朋的阿摩黎人王息红一样。」
3:3
上主我们的天主也将巴商王敖格，和他所有的民众交在我们的手中；我们击杀了他，一个也没有给他留下。
3:4
同时我们占领了他所有的城邑，没有一座城不为我们所占领；巴商王敖格的国土，阿尔哥布全地区共有六十座城邑，
3:5
都是些具有高阔的城墙，安门置闩，设防的城邑；此外尚有很多无围墙的村庄。
3:6
我们照毁灭律毁灭了这些城邑，有如对赫市朋王息红所做的一样，杀尽了各城中的男女和幼童，
3:7
只留下了牲畜和由占领的城中所夺的财物，作我们的战利品。
3:8
这样，我们在那时，由这两个阿摩黎人王的手中，夺得了约但河东岸的土地，自阿尔农河直到赫尔孟山。
3:9
【漆冬人称赫尔孟为息尔翁；阿摩黎人则称之为色尼尔。】
3:10
即夺得了高原上所有的城邑，全基肋阿得和全巴商，直到撒耳加和厄德勒：这都是巴商王敖格国土内的城邑。
3:11
【巴商王敖格是勒法因人遗族中仅存的人物；他的床是铁做的，以人肘为度，长九肘，宽四肘，尚存在阿孟子民的辣巴城里。】
3:12
我由我们那时所占领的土地中，将阿尔农河边的阿洛厄尔以北的地方，基肋阿得山地的一半和境内的城邑，给了勒乌本人和加得人；
3:13
基肋阿得其余的地方和全巴商，即敖格的国土给了默纳协半个支派。【人称阿尔哥布全地区，即全巴商，为「勒法因人地。」
3:14
默纳协的儿子雅依尔，占领了阿尔哥布全地区，直到革叔尔人和玛阿加人的边界，遂按自己的名字称那地为「哈沃特雅依尔，」直到今日。】
3:15
我又将基肋阿得给了玛基尔。
3:16
由基肋阿得到阿尔农河，以河中心为边界，直到雅波克河，即阿孟人的边界，我将那一带地方给了勒乌本人和加得人；
3:17
还有阿辣巴荒野，以约但河为界，从基乃辣特直到阿辣巴海，即直到东面靠近丕斯加山坡的盐海一带地方。
3:18
那时我吩咐你们说：「上主你们的天主，将这地赐给了你们作产业，但你们所有战士，应武装起来，走在你们兄弟以色列子民前面，
3:19
只有你们的妇孺和牲畜，──我知道你们有很多牲畜──可留在我给你们的城内，
3:20
直到上主使你们的兄弟如你们一样有了安身之处，等他们也占领了，上主你们的天主赐给他们的约但河西的地方，那时你们各人才可回到我给你们为产业的地方。
3:21
同时我也吩咐若苏厄说：你亲眼看见了，上主你们的天主对这两个国王所做的一切；上主必同样对待你要过河去攻击的一切王国。
3:22
不要怕他们，因为上主你们的天主要替你们作战。」
3:23
那时我哀求天主说：
3:24
「我主，上主!你已开始向你的仆人显示你的伟大和你有力的手臂，天上地下有那个神能作你所作的工作，行你所行的奇事﹖
3:25
求你让我过去，得见约但河西的肥美土地，那壮丽的山岭和黎巴嫩。」
3:26
但是上主为了你们的缘故对我发怒，没有俯听我，且对我说，「罢了!不要对我再提这事。
3:27
你上丕斯加山顶去，举目向东西南北，好好观看，因为你不能过这约但河。
3:28
你应训示若苏厄，坚固他，鼓励他，因为他要率领这百姓过去，给他们分配你所观看的地方。」
3:29
那时我们住在贝特培敖尔对面的山谷中。
第四章(49)
训民守法
4:1 以色列!现在你要听我教训你们的法令和规律，尽力遵行：这样你们才能生活，才能进入占领，上主你们祖先的天主赐给你们的地方。
4:2
我吩咐你们的话，你们不可增删，而应全守我向你们所训示的，上主你们天主的诫命。
4:3
你们亲眼见了上主在巴耳培敖尔所做的事：凡随从巴耳培敖尔的人，上主你们的天主都由你们中间消灭了；
4:4
你们依附上主你们的天主的人，今日都还活着。
4:5
看，我授与你们法令和规律，都是上主我的天主吩咐与我的，好叫你们在你们要去占领的土地内，依照遵行。
4:6
你们要谨守遵行，因为这样，在万民眼中，才能显出你们的智慧和见识；他们一听到这一切法令说：「这实在是一个有智慧，有见识的大民族!」
4:7
有那个大民族的神这样接近他们，如同上主我们的天主，在我们每次呼求他时，这样亲近我们呢﹖
4:8
又有那个大民族，有这样公正的法令和规律，如同我今天在你们面前，所颁布的这一切法律呢﹖
4:9
你应谨慎，加意留心，不要忘了你亲眼所见的奇事，终生日日不要让这些事远离你的心，并要将这一切传于你的子子孙孙。
4:10
当你在曷勒布，站在上主你的天主面前的那一天，上主曾对我说：「你给我召集民众，我要叫他们听清我的话，使他们在世有生之日，学习敬畏我，以此教训自己的子女。」
4:11
你们遂走上前来，站在山脚下，其时山上火焰冲天，且为黑暗和乌云笼罩着。
4:12
上主由火中对你们说话，你们听到说话的声音，却见不到什么形状，只有声音。
4:13
他将他的盟约，即那十条诫命，给你们宣布出来，吩咐你们遵守，又将这诫命写在两块石版上；
4:14
同时上主也吩咐我将法令和规律教训你们．叫你们在要去占领的土地内遵行。
禁拜偶象
4:15 你们应极其谨慎：因为上主你们的天主，在曷勒布由火中对你们说话的那天，你们既然没有见到什么形状，
4:16
那么，你们切不要堕落，为自己制造任何形状的神象，无论是男或者是女的形状，
4:17
或地上各种走兽的形状，或空中各类飞鸟的形状，
4:18
或地上任何爬虫的形状，或地下水里各种鱼类的形状。
4:19
当你举目望天，观看日月星辰，和天上的众星宿时，切不要为之勾引，而去敬拜事奉。那原是上主，你的天主分赐给普天下万民享用的；
4:20
至于你们，上主拣选了你们，将你们由铁炉中──埃及──领出来，作他特有的子民，就如今日一样。
4:21
可是，上主为了你们的缘故，对我发怒起誓，不让我过约但河，不许我进入，上主你的天主赐给你作产业的那肥美的土地；
4:22
我只有死在这地方，不得过约但河；你们都要过去，占领那肥美的土地为产业，
4:23
那么你们应谨慎，不要忘记上主你们的天主与你们所订立的盟约，不要制造任何形状的神象，有如上主你的天主所禁止的，
4:24
因为上主你的天主是吞噬的烈火，忌邪的天主。
警告未来
4:25 当你们生养了子孙，在那地住得久了，如果你们堕落下去，制造任何形状的偶象，行了上主你的天主眼中视为邪恶的事，惹他发怒，
4:26
我今天就指着上天下地对你们作证，你们必在过约但河后所占领的土地上迅速灭亡，决不会在那地长久生存，必全被消灭。
4:27
上主要将你们分散到万民之中，在上主领你们所到的外邦中，你们剩下的人，必为数不多。
4:28
在那里你们要事奉人手所制造的神，即各种看不见，听不见，不会吃，不能闻的木石神象。
4:29
你在那里必要寻求上主你的天主，只要你全心全灵寻求，你就可寻到他。
4:30
日后，当这些事都临于你，使你困恼时，你必回心归向上主你的天主，听从他的声音；
4:31
因为上主你的天主原是仁慈的天主，他不会舍弃你，不会毁灭你，也不会忘却他起誓与你祖先所立的盟约。
4:32
你且考察在你以前过去的世代，从天主在地上造了人以来，由天这边到天那边，是否有过象这样的大事，是否听过象这样的事﹖
4:33
是否有一民族，如同你一样，听到了天主由火中说话的声音，还仍然活着﹖
4:34
或者，是否有过一个神，以灾难、神迹、奇事、战争、强力的手、伸展的臂和可怕的威能，企图将某一民族由另一民族中领出来，如上主你们的天主在埃及于你们眼前，对你们所做的一切一样﹖
4:35
这一切只显示给你，是要你知道，只有上主是天主，除他以外再没有别的神。
4:36
他由天上使你听到他的声音，是为教训你；在地上使你见到他的烈火，叫你听到他由火中发出的言语。
4:37
他由于爱你的祖先，才拣选了他们的后裔，亲自以强力把你由埃及领出来，
4:38
由你面前赶走比你更大的民族，领你进入他们的国土，赐给你作为产业，就如今日一样。
4:39
所以今日你该知道，且要牢记在心：天上地下，只有上主是天主，再没有别的神。
4:40
你应遵守他的法令和诫命，就是我今日所训示与你的，好使你和你的后代子孙得享幸福，在上主你的天主永久赐给你的土地内，能以久住。」
梅瑟第二篇演说(4:41-26)
河东三避难城
4:41 那时梅瑟在约但河东，向日出之地，划定了三座城，
4:42
使那素无仇恨而又无心杀死同胞的人，可逃到那里去避难；凡逃入其中的一座，就可获救。
4:43
为勒乌本人指定了位于旷野高原的贝责尔；为加得人指定了基肋阿得的辣摩特；为默纳协人指定了巴商的哥蓝。
4:44
这是梅瑟在以色列子民面前宣布的法律，
4:45
就是梅瑟在以色列子民出埃及后，对他们所发表的劝告、法令和规则。
4:46
地点是在约但河东，贝特培敖尔对面的山谷中，即在位于赫市朋的阿摩黎王息红的国土内。息红已为梅瑟和以色列子民由埃及出来后所杀，
4:47
他的土地为他们所占领，并且也占了巴商王敖格的土地。──这两个阿摩黎人王，住在约但河东，向日出之地，
4:48
从阿尔农河岸的阿洛厄尔，直到息尔翁山，即赫尔孟山，
4:49
连约但河东的全阿辣巴荒野在内，直到位于丕斯加山坡下的阿辣巴海。
梅瑟第二篇演说(4:41-26)
第五章(33)
重申十诫
5:1 梅瑟召集了全以色列人，对他们说：「请听我今日向你们耳中所宣示的法令和规则，务要学习遵行。
5:2
上主我们的天主在曷勒布与我们立了约。
5:3
上主并不是与我们的祖先立了这约，而是与我们今日在这里尚生存的众人。
5:4
上主在山上，从火中面对面地与你们谈过话。
5:5
那时我站在上主和你们中间，给你们传达上主的话，因为你们一见火便害了怕，没有上到山上去。上主说：
5:6
「我是上主，你的天主，我曾领你离开埃及地，那为奴之家，
5:7
除我以外，你不可有别的神。
5:8
你不可为自己雕刻偶象，或制造任何上天下地，或地下水中所有各物的形象。
5:9
你不可叩拜，也不可事奉这样的偶象，因为我上主，你的天主是忌邪的天主。对于恨我的人，我必在子孙身上追罚他们祖先的罪恶，直到第三代，第四代；
5:10
对于爱我，守我诫命的人，我对他们施行仁慈，直到千代。
5:11
你不可妄呼上主，你天主的名，因为上主决不放过妄呼他名的人。
5:12
当照上主，你的天主吩咐的，遵守安息日，奉为圣日。
5:13
六天你当劳作，做你一切工作；
5:14
第七天是上主你天主的安息日，你和你的子女、仆婢、牛驴、你所有的牲畜，以及住在你城内的外方人，都不应做任何工作，好使你的仆婢能和你一样获得安息。
5:15
你应记得：你在埃及地也曾做过奴隶，上主你的天主以大能的手和伸展的臂，将你从那里领出来；为此，上主你的天主吩咐你守安息日。
5:16
应照上主你的天主吩咐你的，孝敬你的父母，好使你能享高寿，并在上主你的天主赐给你的土地内，获享幸福。
5:17
不可杀人。
5:18
不可奸淫。
5:19
不可偷盗。
5:20
不可作假见证害你的近人。
5:21
不可贪恋你近人的妻子；不可贪图你近人的房屋、田地、仆婢、牛驴，以及属于你近人的一切事物。」
5:22
这是上主在山上，由火中，由浓云黑暗里，大声对你们会众所说的话，再没有加添什么；并将这些话写在两块石版上，交给了我。
梅瑟作中保
5:23 当山上火焰四射，你们听到由黑暗中发出来的声音时，你们各支派的首领和长老，都来到我跟前，
5:24
说：「看，上主我们的天主，使我们看见了他的荣耀和伟大，我们也听见了他由火中发出的声音；今日我们见了天主与人说话，而人还能生存!
5:25
现在，我们为什么要冒死，为这大火所吞灭﹖如果我们继续听上主我们天主的声音，我们必死无疑。
5:26
因为凡有血肉的人，有谁如我们一样，听到永生的天主由火中说话的声音，而仍能生存呢﹖
5:27
请你近前去，聆听上主我们的天主所说的一切；然后你将上主我们的天主对你所说的话，转告给我们；我们必听从，也必遵行。」
5:28
你们对我所说的话，上主听见了；遂对我说：「我听见了这人民对你所说的话；他们所说的都对。
5:29
惟愿他们常存这样的心思，敬畏我，遵守我的一切诫命，好使他们和他们的子孙永享幸福。
5:30
你去对他们说：你们回到你们的帐幕内去。
5:31
但是，你应留在我这里，我要将一切诫命、法令和规则训示你，你再教训他们，好叫他们在我赐给他们作为产业的地上遵行。」
5:32
所以你们应完全遵照上主你们的天主所吩咐你们的行事，不可偏右偏左。
5:33
在一切事上，只应履行上主你们的天主给你们指定的道路，好使你们在你们要去占领的地方，得以生存、兴盛、长寿。
第六章(25)
爱主为法律之本
6:1 以下是上主你们的天主吩咐我教给你们的诫命、法令和规则，叫你们在过河后去占领的地内遵行，
6:2
好使你和你的子子孙孙，终生日日敬畏上主你的天主，遵守我吩咐你的一切法令和诫命，使你获享长寿。
6:3
以色列!你要听，且谨守遵行，好使你在流奶流蜜的地方，获得幸福，人数增多，如上主你祖先的天主所许给你的。
6:4
以色列!你要听：上主我们的天主，是唯一的上主。
6:5
你当全心、全灵、全力，爱上主你的天主。
6:6
我今天吩咐你的这些话，你应牢记在心，
6:7
并将这些话灌输给你的子女。不论你住在家里，或在路上行走，或卧或立，常应讲论这些话；
6:8
又该系在你的手上，当作标记；悬在额上，当作徽号；
6:9
刻在你住宅的门框上和门扇上。
6:10
上主你的天主，几时领你进入他向你的祖先亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯起誓，要赐给你的地方，那里有高大壮观的城邑，而不是你所建造的；
6:11
有充满各样宝物的住宅，而不是你装满的；有蓄水池，而不是你挖掘的；有葡萄园和橄榄树林，而不是你栽植的；──当你吃饱时，
6:12
你应留心，不要忘了领你由埃及地，为奴之家，出来的上主。
6:13
你要敬畏上主你的天主，只事奉他，只以他的名起誓。
6:14
不可追随别的神，即你们四周民族的神，
6:15
因为在你中间的上主你的天主，是忌邪的天主，免得上主你的天主发怒，将你由地上消灭。
6:16
你们不可试探上主你们的天主，如同在玛撒试探了他一样。
6:17
应谨慎遵守上主你们天主所吩咐你的诫命、教训和法令。
6:18
应做上主眼中视为正义和美善的事，使你能获得幸福，能去占领上主誓许与你祖先的那块肥美的土地，
6:19
能由你面前驱逐你的一切仇敌，如上主所应许的。
6:20
假使日后你的儿子问你说：「上主我们的天主吩咐你们的这些教训、法令和规则，究竟有什么意思﹖」
6:21
你应对你的儿子说：我们曾在埃及作过法郎的奴隶，上主却以大能的手将我们由埃及领了出来。
6:22
上主在我们的眼前，对埃及，对法郎和他全家，行了轰轰烈烈的神迹和奇事；
6:23
将我们从那里领出来，领我们进入他誓许给我们的祖先，要赐给我们的土地。
6:24
那时，上主吩咐我们遵行这一切法令，为敬畏上主我们的天主，为使我们时时得享幸福，得保生命，就如今日一样。
6:25
我们在上主我们的天主面前，照他所吩咐我们的，谨慎遵行这一切诫命，就是我们的义德。
第七章(26)
不可与外族同化
7:1 当上主你的天主领你进入你要去占领的地方，由你面前驱逐许多民族，即赫特人、基尔加士人、阿摩黎人、客纳罕人、培黎齐人、希威人和耶步斯人，那七个比你又多又强的民族时，
7:2
当上主你的天主将他们交给你，打败他们时，你应完全消灭他们，不可与他们立约，也不可恩待他们；
7:3
不可与他们通婚，不可将你的女儿嫁给他们的儿子，也不可为你的儿子娶他们的女儿；
7:4
因为他们必要使你们的子女远离我，而去事奉别的神，致使上主向你们大发忿怒，将你们迅速消灭。
7:5
你们应这样对待他们：拆毁他们的祭坛，打碎他们的石碣，砍倒他们的神柱，烧毁他们的雕象。
7:6
因为你是属于上主你天主的圣民，上主你的天主由地面上所有的民族中，拣选了你作自己特属的人民。
7:7
上主喜爱你们，拣选你们，并不是因为你们比其余的民族人数众多；其实你们在所有的民族中，是最少的一个；
7:8
而是由于上主对你们的爱，并为履行他向你们祖先所起的誓，上主才以大能的手解救你们，将你们由为奴之家，由埃及王法郎的手中救出来。
7:9
所以，你应知道，只有上主你的天主是天主，是对那爱他，遵守他诫命的人，守约施恩直到千代的忠信的天主；
7:10
但对那恨他的人，他必当面报复，将他消灭；对恨他的人，他决不迟延，必当面报复。
7:11
所以你要谨慎遵行我今天吩咐你的诫命、法令和规则。
守法的赏报
7:12 如果你们听从这些法令，谨守遵行，上主你的天主必照他向你祖先起的誓，对你守约施恩。
7:13
他必爱你，降福你，增加你的人数；在向你的祖先起誓许给你的地上，降福你身生的子女，你地内的出产、五谷、酒、油，以及牛羊的生产。
7:14
万民中你是最有福的；在你内没有不育的男女，牲畜中没有不生殖的雌雄。
7:15
上主必使一切疾病远离你；你所知道的埃及的各种恶疾，决不加在你身上，反而加在一切恨你的人身上。
7:16
凡上主你的天主交给你的民族，你都要消灭，不可怜视，也不可奉事他们的神，因为这是陷害你的罗网。
7:17
假如你心里想：这些民族比我人多，我怎能赶走他们﹖
7:18
你不要怕他们，只应记起上主你的天主对法郎和全埃及所做的事。
7:19
你亲眼见了上主你的天主为救你所用的大灾难、神迹、奇事、大能的手和伸展的臂；上主你的天主也必同样对待你所怕的一切民族。
7:20
此外，上主你的天主必打发黄蜂来攻击他们，直到那些残存和由你面前隐藏起来的人完全消灭为止。
7:21
在他们面前，你不应畏惧，因为在你中间有上主你的天主，大而可畏的天主。
7:22
上主你的天主必将这些民族由你面前渐渐驱逐；你不可将他们迅速消灭，免得野兽增多而于你不利。
7:23
上主你的天主必将他们交于你，使他们大起恐慌，直到他们全被消灭。
7:24
他必将他们的君王交在你手中，你必使他们的名由天下消灭；没有一人能对抗你，直到你将他们完全消灭。
7:25
你应将他们的神象，投在火中烧掉；不应贪图神象上的金银，而留为己有，免得陷于罗网，因为这于上主你的天主是可憎之物。
7:26
可憎之物，不可带进你屋内；免得你与那些东西一同毁灭；你应厌恶憎恨这一切，因为那是应毁灭之物。
第八章(20)
应常怀念上主
8:1 我今日吩咐你的一切诫命，你们应谨守遵行，好使你们生存，人数增多，能去占领上主向你们的祖先所誓许的地方。
8:2
你当记念上主你的天主使你这四十年在旷野中所走的路程，是为磨难你，试探你，愿知道你的心怀，是否愿遵守他的诫命。
8:3
他磨难了你，使你感到饥饿，却以你和你祖先所不认识的「玛纳，」养育了你，叫你知道人生活不但靠食物，而且也靠上主口中所发的一切言语生活。
8:4
这四十年来，你身上的衣服没有穿破，你的脚也没有肿。
8:5
为此，你要明了：上主你的天主管教你，如人管教自己的儿子一样；
8:6
所以你当谨守上主你天主的诫命，遵行他的道路，敬畏他。
8:7
因为上主你的天主快要领你进入肥美的土地，那里有溪流，有泉水，有深渊之水由谷中和山中流出；
8:8
那地出产小麦、大麦、葡萄、无花果和石榴；那地出产橄榄、油和蜂蜜；
8:9
在那地你决不缺粮吃，在那里你将一无所缺；那地方的石头是铁，由山中可以采铜。
8:10
几时你吃饱了，应感谢上主你的天主，因为是他赐给你这样肥美的土地。
8:11
你应小心，别忘记上主你的天主，而不遵守我今天吩咐你的诫命、规则和法令。
8:12
当你吃饱了，建造了华美房屋居住，
8:13
牛群羊群加多，金银增加，你所有的一切都增加了，
8:14
你要小心，不要心高气傲，以致忘记了由埃及地，由为奴之家，领你出来的上主你的天主，
8:15
是他领你经过了辽阔可怖，有火蛇蝎子的旷野，经过了干旱无水之地；是他使水由坚硬的盘石中为你流出，
8:16
是他在旷野内，以你祖先不认识的「玛纳」养育了你；他这样磨难你，试探你，终究是为使你获得幸福。
8:17
你心里不要想：「这是我的力量，我手臂的能力，给我造就了这样的财富。」
8:18
你应记得上主你的天主，因为是他赐给你得财富的能力，为实践他对你祖先起誓订立的盟约，就如今日一样。
8:19
如果你真忘记了上主你的天主，而随从别的神，奉事敬拜他们，我今日对你们作证：你们必要灭亡，
8:20
上主怎样由你们面前毁灭了那些民族，你们也要怎样遭受毁灭，因为你们没有听从上主你们天主的声音。
第九章(29)
胜利来自上主
9:1 以色列，请听!你今天就要过约但河，去征服比你强大的民族，广大的城邑和高可摩天的要塞。
9:2
那高大的民族，即阿纳克的子孙，是你所知道的，论到他们，你曾听说过：「谁能抵抗阿纳克的子孙﹖」
9:3
但你今天应该知道，上主你的天主要如吞灭的火，亲自走在你前面，是他要消灭他们，是他要他们在你面前屈服；这样你才能将他们驱逐，使他们迅速毁灭，一如上主对你所说的。
9:4
当上主你的天主将他们由你面前驱逐以后，你心中不要想：上主领我来占领这地方，是因了我的义德。其实是因这些民族的罪恶，上主才将他们由你面前赶走。
9:5
你能去占领他们的土地，并不是因了你的义德，也不是因了你心地正直，而实是因这些民族的罪恶，上主你的天主才将他们由你面前赶走；同时也是为实践上主向你祖先亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯起誓所许的诺言。
9:6
由此可知，上主你的天主，把这肥美的土地赐给你作产业，并不是因了你的义德，因为你原是一个执拗的民族。
历数以民背叛上主
9:7 你当记念不忘：你在旷野里怎样激怒了上主你的天主。自从你由埃及地出来的那天起，直到你们来到这地方，你们常是反抗上主。
9:8
你们在曷勒布激怒了上主，致使上主对你们发怒，几乎将你们消灭。
9:9
那时我上了山，要接受石版，就是上主与你们结约的石版，我在山上住了四十天四十夜，不吃不喝；
9:10
上主交给了我两块天主用手指写上字的石版。上面所写的，是上主于集会之日，在山上由火中对你们所说的一切话。
9:11
过了四十天四十夜，天主交给了我那两块石版、即约版，
9:12
然后对我说：「起来，赶快下去，因为你由埃及领出来的人民已败坏了，他们很快就离弃了我给他们指定的道路，为自己铸造了偶象。」
9:13
上主又对我说：「我看这民族，确是一个执拗的民族。
9:14
你且由着我罢!我要消灭他们，由天下抹去他们的名字；我要使你成为一个比他们更大更多的民族。」
9:15
我于是转身，从冒火的山上下来，手中拿着两块约版。
9:16
我一看见你们铸造了牛犊，犯罪背叛了上主你们的天主，迅速离弃了上主给你们指定的道路，
9:17
我就把那两块石版，由我手中扔下去，在你们眼前摔得粉碎。
9:18
为了你们所犯的一切罪过，作了上主眼中视为恶的事，使他恼怒，我就象上次一样，俯伏在上主面前，四十天四十夜不吃不喝。
9:19
因为上主对你们大发忿怒，要消灭你们，我实在恐惧不安；但上主这次又俯听了我。
9:20
同样，上主对亚郎也大发忿怒，要消灭他；那时我也为亚郎祈求过。
9:21
我把你们犯罪所铸造的牛犊，放在火里烧了；然后捣碎，磨成细末，将细末拋在由山上流下来的溪水内。
9:22
以后，你们在塔贝辣、玛撒、克贝洛特阿塔瓦又激怒了上主。
9:23
当上主命你们由卡德士巴尔乃亚起程，说：「你们上去占领我赐给你们的地方。」你们又违背了上主你们天主的命令，没有信赖他，也没有听他的命。
9:24
自从我认识你们那天起，你们常是背叛上主。
9:25
因为上主决意要消灭你们，我就四十天四十夜俯伏在上主面前，
9:26
哀求上主说：吾主上主!不要消灭你的百姓，你的产业，因为是你以大能救出来的，是你以强力的手由埃及领出来的，
9:27
求你记念你的仆人亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯，别看这民族的顽固、邪恶和罪过，
9:28
免得你领我们出来的那地方的人说：这是由于上主不能领他们进入所许给他们的地方，又由于恨他们才领他们出来，叫他们死在旷野。
9:29
他们毕竟是你的百姓，是你的产业，是你以大能和伸开的手臂领出来的。
第十章(22)
再颁约版
10:1 那时上主对我说：「你再凿两块石版，与先前的一样，然后上山到我跟前来；还要做一个木柜。
10:2
我要把你先前摔碎的那两块版上的话，写在这两块版上。你要将这两块石版放在柜里。」
10:3
我于是做了一个皂荚木柜，凿了两块与先前一样的石版，手里拿着这两块石版上山去了。
10:4
上主将先前所写的，即在集会之日，在山上由火中对你们所说的那十句话，写在这两块版上，交给了我。
10:5
我遂转身下山，照上主吩咐我的，将版放在我做的柜内，存在那里。
10:6
以色列子民由贝洛特贝乃雅干起程，到了摩色辣，亚郎在那里死了，也埋在那里；他的儿子厄肋阿匝尔继他做了大司祭。
10:7
又从那里起程，到了古德哥达，又从古德哥达到了多溪水之地约特巴达。
10:8
那时，上主选拔了肋未支派，叫他们抬上主的约柜，侍立在上主面前事奉他，并奉他的名降福，直到今日。
10:9
为此，肋未人同自己的兄弟没有分得产业，因为照上主你的天主对他们所说的：上主自己是他们的产业。
10:10
我如先前一样，在山上逗留了四十天四十夜；上主这一次又俯听了我，放弃了消灭你的意思。
10:11
上主且对我说：「起来，在人民前面领路，叫他们去占领我对他们祖先誓许要赐给他们的地方。」
心要受割损
10:12 以色列!现今上主你的天主向你要求什么﹖是要求你敬畏上主你的天主，履行他的一切道路，爱他，全心全灵事奉上主你的天主，
10:13
遵守我今天吩咐你的天主的诫命和法令，好使你能获得幸福。
10:14
看天与天上的天，地和地上的一切，都属于上主你的天主；
10:15
但上主只喜欢了你的祖先，钟爱他们，由万民中拣选了他们的后裔，就是你们，正如你们今日所见的一样。
10:16
为此，你们要心受割损，不要再执拗，
10:17
因为上主你们的天主是万神之神，万主之主，伟大、有力、可畏的天主，是不顾情面，不受贿赂，
10:18
为孤儿、寡妇主持正义，友爱外方人，供给他们食粮和衣服的天主。
10:19
为此，你们也应友爱外方人，因为你们在埃及也曾做过外方人。
10:20
你应敬畏上主你的天主，事奉依赖他，奉他的名起誓。
10:21
他是你的光荣，是你的天主，是他为你做了你亲眼所见的奇异可畏的事。
10:22
你的祖先下到埃及时，总共不过七十人，现在上主你的天主却使你多得有如天上的繁星。
第十一章(32)
以往的经验
11:1 你应爱上主你的天主，天天遵守他的训令、法律、规则和诫命。
11:2
今天你们应知道：你们的子孙并没有见过，也没有经历过上主你们天主的惩戒、伟大强力的手和伸展的臂，
11:3
以及他在埃及对埃及王法郎及其全国所行的神迹和奇事；
11:4
他如何对待了埃及的军队、战马和车辆；当他们追赶你们时，上主怎样使红海的水淹没了他们，将他们消灭，直到今日；
11:5
并且在旷野里给你们作了什么，直到你们来到此地；
11:6
他怎样对待了勒乌本的后裔厄里雅布的儿子达堂和阿彼兰，地怎样裂开了口，在全以色列中间吞没了他们同他们的眷属，帐棚以及属他们的一切；
11:7
而且你们亲眼见过上主所做的这一切伟大作为。
11:8
所以你们应该遵守我今日吩咐你们的一切诫命，好能有力量去占领你们过河要去占领的地方，
11:9
并在上主向你们祖先誓许要给他们和他们后裔的地方，即流奶流蜜的地方，得享长寿。
11:10
因为你要去占领的地方，不象你们出来的埃及地，在那里你撒了种，还要用脚灌溉，象灌溉菜园一样；
11:11
但你们过河去占领的地方，却是一个有山有谷，有天上的雨水所滋润的地方，
11:12
是上主你的天主自己照管的地方，是上主你的天主，自年首至年尾，时常注目眷视的地方。
降福与诅咒
11:13 如果你们真听从我今日吩咐你们的诫命，爱上主你们的天主，全心全灵事奉他，
11:14
他必按时给你们的土地降下时雨，秋雨和春雨；必使你丰收五谷、新酒和新油；
11:15
也必使田野给你的牲畜生出青草；如此你必能吃饱。
11:16
你们应谨慎，免得你们的心受迷惑，离弃正道，去事奉敬拜其它的神，
11:17
叫上主对你们发怒，使苍天封闭，雨不下降，地不生产，你们必由上主赐给你们的肥美土地上迅速灭亡。
11:18
你们应将我这些话铭刻在你们的心灵上，系在你们的手上，当作标记；悬在你们的额上，当作徽号。
11:19
应将这些话教给你们的子孙，不论住在家里，或在路上行走，或卧或立，不断地讲述；
11:20
还应刻在你房屋的门框和门扇上，
11:21
好使你们和你们子孙的岁月，在上主誓许给你们祖先的土地上，如天复地之久长。
11:22
如果你们谨慎遵守我吩咐你们遵行的这一切诫命，爱上主你们的天主，履行他的一切道路．一心依赖他，
11:23
上主必由你们面前将这一切民族驱逐，使你们能征服比你们更强大的民族。
11:24
凡你们的脚掌所踏之地，都必成为你们的；由旷野直到黎巴嫩，由大河，即幼发拉的河直到西海，是你们的疆界。
11:25
没有人能对抗你们，上主你们的天主必照他对你们所许的，将害怕和畏惧你们的心情，散布在你们所要踏进的地面。
11:26
你看，我今天将降福和诅咒，摆在你们面前：
11:27
如果你们听从上主你们天主的诫命，就是我今天吩咐你们的，你们必蒙降福；
11:28
如果你们不听从上主你们天主的诫命，离弃我今天吩咐你们的道路，去跟随你们素不相识的其它神祇，必遭诅咒。
11:29
几时上主你的天主领你进入你要去占领的地方，你应在革黎斤山上宣布降福，在厄巴耳山上宣布诅咒?ぉ?
30
这两座位于约但河西，日落之处，在居于阿辣巴荒野的客纳罕人的境内，与基耳加耳相对，靠近摩勒橡树。
11:31
你们就快要过约但河，去占领上主你们的天主赐给你们的土地。当你们占领了那地，居住在那里时，
11:32
你们应谨慎遵行我今天在你们面前所颁布的一切法令和规则。
重申法律
第十二章(31)
圣所唯一
12:1 这是你们在上主你祖先的天主赐给你作产业的地上，当遵守奉行的法令和规则；你们几时生活在那地，就应日日遵守。
12:2
凡你们去征服的民族供奉神祇的地方，无论在高山上，或在丘陵上，或在任何绿树下，都应加以破坏：
12:3
拆毁他们的祭坛，打碎他们的石碣，烧毁他们的神柱，砍倒他们神祇的雕象，将他们的名字由那地方完全消除。
12:4
你们不可象他们那样崇拜上主你们的天主。
12:5
上主你们的天主，将由你们各支派中选择一个地方，为立自己的名号，为做自己的住所，你们只可到那里去寻求他，
12:6
在那里奉献你们的全燔祭、祭献、什一之物、献仪、还愿祭、自愿祭，以及首生的牛羊；
12:7
在那里你们和你们的家属，应在上主你们的天主面前宴会欢乐，因为上主你们的天主降福了你们的一切事业。
12:8
你们不要照我们今日在这里所行的，各行其是，
12:9
因为你们至今还没有到安居之地，还没有到上主你的天主赐给你为业的地方。
12:10
但是，当你们过了约但河，住在上主你们的天主赐给你们为业的地方，脱免了四周的仇敌，安居乐业时，
12:11
你们应在上主你们的天主所选定为立自己名号的地方，奉献我所吩咐的一切：即你们的全燔祭、献祭、什一之物、献仪，以及一切向上主许愿应献的礼品；
12:12
你们和你们的儿女、仆婢，以及在你们城镇里的肋未人，都应在上主你们的天主面前一同欢乐，因为肋未人没有在你们中分得产业。
献祭的规律
12:13 你应小心，不可在你所见的任何地方奉献你的全燔祭；
12:14 只可在上主由你一支派中所选定的地方，奉献你的全燔祭，行我所规定的一切。
12:15 但是你可在各城镇内，依照上主你的天主所赐与你的降福，随意杀牲食肉；不洁和洁净的，人都可以吃，如吃羚羊和鹿肉一样；
12:16 只有血，你们不可以吃，你应将血和水一样泼在地上。
12:17 你所收的五谷、酒、油的十分之一，你的头胎牛羊，你许愿献的供物，或自愿献的供物以及你手中的献仪，都不可在你的城镇内吃，
12:18 只可在上主你的天主面前，在上主你的天主选定的地方，你和你的儿女、仆婢，以及在你城镇内的肋未人一起吃；在上主你的天主面前，为了你的一切事业而欢乐。
12:19 你要留意，在你的地域内，永不可忘记肋未人。
12:20 当上主你的天主，照他对你所许的，扩展了你的疆域时，你若说：「我想吃肉，」你既然想肉吃，你可以任意吃肉。
12:21 若上主你的天主选定建立自己名号的地方离你太远，你可照我吩咐你的，宰杀上主赐给你的牛羊，在你的城镇内任意吃，
12:22 全如吃羚羊和鹿肉一样；不洁和洁净的，人都可以一起吃。
12:23 但应记住：不可吃血，因为血是生命，你不可将生命与肉一起吃。
12:24 你不可吃血，应将血和水一样泼在地上。
12:25 你不要吃血，好使你和你的后代子孙能享幸福，因为你行了上主眼中视为正直的事。
12:26 至于你所献的圣物和许愿的祭品，应带到上主所拣选的地方去；
12:27 将你的全燔祭、肉和血全献在上主你的天主的祭坛上；至于其它的祭献，应将血倒在上主你的天主的祭坛上肉可以吃。
12:28 你应谨慎听从我吩咐你的这一切事，好使你和你的后代子孙永远享福，因为你行了上主你的天主眼中视为善良和正直的事。
禁行异民礼仪
12:29 当上主你的天主，将你所要进占之地的民族，由你面前铲除，而你占领了他们的地方，住在那里的时候，
12:30 你应小心，不要在他们由你面前消灭以后，你自己反受迷惑，去仿效他们；也不要探究他们的神说：「这些民族怎样事奉了他们的神，我也要怎样去做。」
12:31 对上主你的天主，你不可这样做，因为凡上主所憎恨的可恶之事，他们对自己的神都做了；甚至为自己的神，用火焚烧了自己的子女。
第十三章(19)
戒避敬拜邪神
13:1 凡我吩咐你们的事，你们应谨慎遵行；不可加添，也不可删除。
13:2 若你们中出现了一位先知或作梦的人，给你提供一种神迹或奇事，
13:3 而他所说的神迹和奇事实现了，以致向你说：「让我们去随从事奉其它的神罢!」而那神是你素不相识的；
13:4 你不要听从这先知或作梦者的话，因为上主你们的天主有意试探你们，愿意知道你们是否全心全灵真爱上主你们的天主。
13:5 你们只应跟随上主你们的天主，只应敬畏他，遵守他的诫命，听从他的话，事奉他。依靠他。
13:6 至于这先知或作梦的人，应处死刑，因为他出言背叛了领你出埃及地，由奴隶之家赎出你来的上主你们的天主，要你离弃上主你的天主命你当行的道路：如此你由你中间铲除了邪恶。
13:7 如果你的兄弟，你父亲或母亲的儿子，或你的儿女，或你的爱妻，或你视如性命的朋友，暗中引诱你说：「让我们去事奉其它的神罢!」而那神是你和你的祖先素不相识的，
13:8 是你四周，离你或近或远，由地极这边到地极那边的各民族所敬拜的神；
13:9 你不可对他表示同意，不可听从他，也不可怜视他，顾惜他，袒护他；
13:10 务要将他杀死，并且你应先动手，然后全体人民动手打死他。
13:11 你应用石头砸死他，因为他图谋使你离弃领你出埃及地，出奴隶之家的上主你的天主。
13:12 这样全以色列人听了必然害怕，在你中间不致做出这样邪恶的事。
13:13 如果你听说，在上主你的天主赐给你居住的一座城内，
13:14 由你中间出来了一些坏人，勾引本城的居民说：「让我们去事奉其它的神罢!」而那神是你们素不相识的；
13:15 你就该调查、探寻、仔细访问；如果真有其事，在你中间真发生了这样可恶的事，
13:16 你该用利剑杀尽这城的居民，完全破坏此城和城中所有的一切，连城中的牲畜也用剑杀尽，
13:17 并把由城中掠夺的一切财物堆积在广场上，将城和所掠夺的一切财物放火焚烧，全献给上主你的天主，使那城永远成为废墟，再不得重建。
13:18 凡应毁灭之物，一件也不可留在你手中，好使上主撤回他的盛怒，对你施恩，怜恤你，照他对你祖先所誓许的，使你繁昌，
13:19 只要你听从上主你的天主的话，遵守我今天所吩咐你的一切诫命，实行上主你的天主眼中视为正直的事。
第十四章(29)
关于丧仪和食物的规则
14:1 你们是上主你们天主的儿女。你们不应为死者割伤自己，不应将头顶剃光，
14:2 因为你是属于上主你天主的圣洁人民，上主由地上的万民中，特选了你做他自己的人民。
14:3 凡是可憎恶之物，你不可吃。
14:4 你们可吃的走兽如下：牛、绵羊、山羊、
14:5 鹿、羚羊、黈鹿、野山羊、臆羚、野牛和野羊。
14:6 走兽中，凡有偶蹄分趾而又反刍的走兽，你们都可以吃。
14:7 但是在反刍或有偶蹄分趾的走兽中，你们不可吃的：有骆驼、兔子和岩狸，因为它们虽反刍，蹄却不分趾，对你们仍是不洁的。
14:8 至于猪，虽有偶蹄，却不反刍，对你们也是不洁的；你们不可吃这些走兽的肉，也不可摸它们的尸体。
14:9 水族中你们可吃的如下：凡有鳍有鳞的，都可以吃；
14:10 凡无鳍无鳞的，都不可吃；这一切对你们都是不洁的。
14:11 凡是洁净的飞禽，都可以吃。
14:12 飞禽中不可吃的：有鹰、鹗、秃鹫、
14:13 鸢隼、鵰类，
14:14 凡乌鸦之类，
14:15 驼鸟、夜鹰、海鸥，凡苍鹰之类，
14:16 小枭、鸱枭、白鹭、
14:17 塘鹅、鸨、鸬鹚、
14:18 鹳鹭类、戴胜和蝙蝠。
14:19 凡有翅的昆虫，对你们都是不洁的，都不可吃。
14:20 凡洁净的飞禽，都可以吃。
14:21 凡自死的动物，你们不可吃，却可送给在你城内的外方人吃，或卖给外邦人，因为你是属于上主你天主的圣洁人民。不可煮羊羔在其母奶之中。
什一的献仪
14:22 你每年在田地内播种所得的出产，应缴纳十分之一。
14:23 你应在上主选定为立自己名号的地方，于上主你的天主面前，吃那五谷、酒、油的十分之一，及你的头胎牛羊，好使你能学习着常敬畏上主你的天主。
14:24 如果为你路途太远，你不能把十分之一之物运去，因为上主你的天主选定为立自己名号的地方离你太远，那么若上主你的天主降福了你，
14:25 你可以把物品换成银钱，手中带着银钱，往上主你的天主所选的地方去，
14:26 在那里可随意用银钱买牛羊、清酒和浓酒，以及你愿意要的，在上主你的天主面前吃喝，与你的家属一同欢乐；
14:27 但在你城内的肋未人，你不可忘记，因为他在你中间没有分得产业。
14:28 每过三年，你应取出全部出产的十分之一，储藏在你城镇内，
14:29 那没有与你分得产业的肋未人，和在你城镇内的外方人、孤儿、寡妇都可来吃喝，得享饱饫，好叫上主你的天主，在你所做的一切事业上降福你。
第十五章(23)
豁免年的规定
15:1 每过七年，应施行豁免。
15:2 豁免的方式是这样：债主应把借与近人的一切，全部豁免，不应再向近人或兄弟追还，因为已为光荣上主宣布了豁免。
15:3 向外邦人可以追还，但你兄弟欠你的应一概豁免。
15:4 其实，在你中间不会有穷人，因为在你的天主赐给你作为产业的地上，上主必丰厚地降福你，
15:5 只要你听从上主你天主的话，谨守遵行我今日吩咐你的这一切诫命。
15:6 因为你的天主必照他说的，降福你：你要借给许多民族，而你却不需要借贷；你要统治许多民族，但他们却不会统治你。
15:7 如果在上主你的天主赐给你的地内的一座城里，在你中间有了一个穷人，又是你的兄弟，对这穷苦的兄弟，你不可心硬，不可袖手旁观，
15:8 应向他伸手，凡他所需要的尽量借给他。
15:9 你应提防，不要心生恶念说：「第七年的豁免年快到了!」就冷眼对待你穷苦的兄弟，不借给他什么。如果他呼求上主反对你，你应负罪。
15:10 你应尽量供给他；供给他时，不应伤心，因为为了这事，上主你的天主必在你的一切工作，和你着手所作的一切事上降福你。
15:11 既然在这地上总少不了穷人，为此我吩咐你说：对你地区内困苦贫穷的兄弟，你应大方地伸出援助之手。
15:12 你的兄弟，无论是希伯来男人，或是希伯来女人，若卖身与你，只应服事你六年，在第七年上，你应使他自由。
15:13 使他自由时，不可让他空手离去；
15:14 应由你羊群中，打禾场上，榨酒池内，取一些厚厚地酬报他，照上主你的天主降福你的，分给他。
15:15 应记得你在埃及地也曾做过奴隶，上主你的天主将你赎回。为此我今日特将这事吩咐你。
15:16 倘若他对你说：「我不愿离开你，」因为他爱你和你的家庭，又喜欢同你在一起，
15:17 你就拿锥子在门上把他耳朵刺透，他便永远成了你的奴仆；对你的婢女也该这样做。
15:18 使他自由的时候，你不应感到不满，因为他六年给你服务，应得佣工的双倍工资，并且上主你的天主也必在你所做的事业上降福你。
头胎牲畜的处置法
15:19 你的牛羊中所生的，凡是头胎雄性的，都应祝圣与上主你的天主；你不可使头胎公牛耕作，也不可剪头胎公羊的毛。
15:20 你和你的家属，年年在上主所选的地方，在上主你的天主面前，吃这些首生的牲畜。
15:21 但如果这牲畜有残缺、或腿瘸、或瞎眼、或有任何缺点、你不可祭献给上主你的天主，
15:22 可在家里吃，不洁与洁净的，人都可以吃，如吃羚羊和鹿一样；
15:23 只不可吃它的血，应将血如水一样泼在地上。
第十六章(22)
周年三大节庆：逾越节
16:1 你应遵守「阿彼布」月，为上主你的天主举行逾越节，因为在「阿彼布」月的一个夜里，上主你的天主领你出了埃及。
16:2 你应在上主所选定立自己名号的地方，给上主你的天主祭杀牛羊，作为逾越节牺牲。
16:3 吃这祭肉时，不可吃发酵饼；七天之内，当吃无酵饼，即困苦饼，因为你曾仓猝地走出了埃及地。为此你一生应天天记念你出埃及的日子。
16:4 七天之久，在你全境内不许见到酵母；你前一天晚上祭献的牲肉，不可有剩下的，留到早晨。
16:5 你不可在上主你的天主赐给你的任何城镇内，祭杀逾越节牺牲；
16:6 只可在上主你的天主所选定立自己名号的地方，晚上太阳快落时，就是你出埃及的时刻，祭杀逾越节牺牲。
16:7 并应在上主你的天主所选定的地方，将祭牲煮熟分食；到了早晨，你可回到你的帐棚中去。
16:8 六天内应吃无酵饼，到第七天，应为上主你的天主召开盛会，任何劳工都不许做。
五旬节
16:9 你应数七个星期，从镰刀收割庄稼算起，数七个星期，
16:10 为上主你的天主举行七七节，照上主你的天主降福你的，献上你手中自愿献的祭品。
16:11 你和你的儿女、仆婢，以及在你城镇内的肋未人，在你中间的外方人、孤儿和寡妇，都应在上主你的天主所选定立自己名号的地方，于上主你的天主面前欢乐。
16:12 应记得你在埃及也曾做过奴隶，所以应谨守遵行这些法令。
帐棚节
16:13 你由禾场和榨酒池内收藏了出产以后，应七天举行帐棚节。
16:14 在这庆节内，你和你的儿女、仆婢，以及在你城镇内的肋未人、外方人、孤儿和寡妇都应欢乐。
16:15 你应在上主所选定的地方，为上主你的天主举行这庆节七天，因为上主你的天主，要在你的一切收获和你着手进行的一切事业上降福你，使你满心喜乐。
16:16 每年三次，即在无酵节、七七节和帐棚节，你所有的男子都应到上主所选的地方去，朝拜上主你的天主；但不要空手出现在上主面前，
16:17 每人应照上主你的天主赐与你的，依自己的财力，奉献礼品。
设立判官
16:18 在上主你的天主赐给你的各城镇内，要为各支派设立判官和书记，他们应按照公道审判人民，
16:19 不可违犯公平，不可徇情顾面，不可接受贿赂，因为贿赂令智慧人的眼目失明；
16:20 只应追求公道与正义，好叫你能生存，占有上主你的天主赐给你的土地。
禁拜邪神
16:21 在你为上主你的天主所建的祭坛旁，不许竖立任何木头的神柱；
16:22 也不可立置上主你的天主所憎恶的石碣。
第十七章(20)
17:1 有任何残缺或瑕疵的牛羊，不可祭献给上主你的天主，因为这为上主你的天主是可憎恶的事。
17:2 在你中间，即在上主你的天主赐给你的一座城内，若发见一个男人或女人，做了上主你的天主眼中视为恶的事，违犯了他的盟约，
17:3 去事奉敬拜其它的神，或太阳，或月亮，或任何天象，反对我所吩咐的事；
17:4 如果有人告诉了你，你一听说，就应详细调查。如果实有其事，真在以色列中做了这种可恶的事，
17:5 就将那做这种恶事的男人或女人，带到城门外，用石头砸死他们。
17:6 根据两个或三个见证的口供，即可将这该死的人处以死刑；根据一个见证的口供，却不可处以死刑。
17:7 见证人应先下手，然后众人才下手将他处死：如此由你中间铲除了这邪恶。
最高裁判
17:8 若在你城镇内发生了诉讼案件：或是杀人，或是争讼，或是殴伤，而又是你难以处决的案件，你应起来上到上主你的天主所选的地方，
17:9 去见肋未司祭和那在职的判官，询问他们，他们要指教你怎样判断这案件。
17:10 你应依照他们在上主所选的地方，有关那案件指教你的话去执行；凡他们教训你的，应完全遵行。
17:11 应全依照他们给你的指导，告诉你的判断去执行；对他们告诉你的定案，不可偏左偏右。
17:12 若有人擅自行事，不听从那侍立于上主你的天主前供职的司祭，或不听从判官，应把这人处死。如此你由以色列中铲除了这邪恶；
17:13 民众听见了，必都害怕，再不敢擅自行事。
选立君王
17:14 当你进入上主你的天主赐给你的土地，占据了那地，安住在那里以后，你如说：「我愿照我四周的各民族，设立一位君王统治我，」
17:15 你应将上主你的天主所拣选的人，立为你的君王。应由你兄弟中立一人，作你的君王，不可让不属你兄弟的外方人统治你。
17:16 但是，不可许他养许多马，免得他叫人民回到埃及去买马，因为上主曾对你们说过：「你们不可再回到那条路上去；」
17:17 也不可许他有许多妻妾，免得他的心迷于邪途；也不可许他过于积蓄金银。
17:18 几时他登上了王位，依照肋未司祭处所存的法律书，给他抄写一本，
17:19 叫他带在身边，一生天天阅读，好使他学习敬畏上主他的天主，谨守遵行这法律上的一切话和这些规则。
17:20 如此他可避免对自己的同胞心高气傲，偏离这些诫命，好使他和他的子孙在以色列中间久居王位。
第十八章(22)
肋未司祭
18:1 肋未人司祭即全肋未支派，在以色列中没有分子和产业，他们靠献与上主的火祭祭品，和他们应得的一分维持生活。
18:2 他在兄弟中间没有产业；照上主向他所说的，上主自己要作他们的产业。
18:3 这是司祭由人民应得的一份，就是宰杀牛羊作祭献的人，应将前腿、两腮和胃脏给司祭；
18:4 初收的五谷、酒、油和初剪的羊毛，亦应给他，
18:5 因为上主你的天主由各支派中拣选了他，叫他和他的子孙，时时以上主的名义服役供职。
18:6 如果一个住在以色列境内任何城镇的肋未人，离开了本地，一心一意地要到上主所选的地方去，
18:7 他可因上主的名义供职，如同在那里侍立于上主面前的肋未弟兄们一样，
18:8 分享同样的口粮，不必变卖祖产。
真假先知
18:9 几时你进入了上主你的天主赐给你的土地，不要仿效那些异民做可憎恶的事。
18:10 在你中间，不可容许人使自己的儿子或女儿经过火，也不可容许人占卜、算卦、行妖术或魔术；
18:11 或念咒、问鬼、算命和求问死者；
18:12 因为凡做这些事的人，都是上主所憎恶的；其实就是为了这些可憎恶的事，上主你的天主才把他们由你面前赶走。
18:13 你应一心一意属于上主你的天主。
18:14 你要赶走的这些民族，听信了算卦和占卜的人；但上主你的天主为你却不是这样安排；
18:15 上主你的天主，要由你中间，由你兄弟中，为你兴起一位象我一样的先知，你们应听信他。
18:16 正如你在曷勒布集会之日，求上主你的天主说：「惟愿我再不听见上主我的天主的声音，再不看见这烈火，免得我死亡。」
18:17 上主遂对我说：「他们说得有理，
18:18 我要由他们的兄弟中，给他们兴起一位象你一样的先知，我要将我的话放在他口中，他要向他们讲述我所吩咐他的一切。
18:19 若有人不听信他因我的名所说的话，我要亲自同他算账。
18:20 但是，若一位先知擅敢因我的名说我没有吩咐他说的话，或因其它神的名说话，这位先知应该处死。」
18:21 也许你心里想：「我们怎能知道上主未曾说过这话﹖」
18:22 几时一位先知因上主之名说话，若他的话不实现，不应验，这话就不是上主说的，是先知擅自说的，你不用怕他。
第十九章(21)
避难城
19:1 当上主你天主消灭了那些异民，上主你的天主将他们的土地赐给了你，而你占领了那地，住在他们的城镇和房屋里以后，
19:2 应在上主你的天主赐给你作产业的地方，划出三座城，
19:3 修好到那里去的道路，将上主你的天主给你作产业的地方，分为三个区域，这样使杀了人的，可逃到那里去。
19:4 杀人犯逃到那里得保全性命的案件应是这样：假使有人无意杀了邻人，彼此又素无仇怨：
19:5 比如他与邻人同去林中伐树，当他手挥斧子伐树时，斧头脱了柄，落在邻人身上，以致毙命，他就可逃到这些城中的一座城去，为保全性命，
19:6 以免报血仇者心中发火追赶杀人者，因路途遥远，而能赶上他，将他杀死；其实他与那人素无仇怨，罪不该死。
19:7 为此我吩咐你：应划出三座城。
19:8 当上主你的天主，照他向你的祖先誓许的，扩展了你的疆域，将许下要给你祖先的整个土地赐给你时，──
19:9 倘若你谨守遵行我今日吩咐你的这一切诫命，爱上主你的天主，日日履行他的道路，──你应在这三座城以外，另设三座城，
19:10 免得无罪者的血，流在上主你的天主赐给你作产业的土地上，血债归在你身上。
19:11 但是，如果有人怀恨自己的邻人，埋伏突击他，而将他杀死，然后逃到这些城中的一座，
19:12 他本城的长老应派人去，将他从那里逮回，交于报血仇者手中，将他处死；
19:13 你不可怜视他，而应由以色列中洗除无辜的血：如此你才能平安无事。
私有权
19:14 在上主你的天主赐给你作产业所分得的土地上，不可移动你邻人的地界，因为是先人所划定的。
作证法
19:15 人无论犯了什么不义，什么罪恶，或什么过错，只凭一个见证，罪名不得成立；须凭两个或三个见证的口供，才可定案。
19:16 若有人怀有恶意，起来作证控告某人犯法，
19:17 二人应一同站在上主面前，和值班的司祭及判官面前。
19:18 判官应仔细考问。若那作证的是一个假证人，诬告自己的兄弟，
19:19 你就应对付他，如同他想对付自己的兄弟一样：这样你便由你中间铲除了这邪恶，
19:20 其余的人听了，必然害怕，在你中间再不致有这样的恶事发生。
19:21 你不可发慈悲，要以命偿命，以眼还眼，以牙还牙，以手还手，以脚还脚。
第二十章(20)
备战出征
20:1 当你出征进攻你的仇敌，见到战马战车和比你更多的群众时，你不必害怕，因为领你出埃及地的上主你的天主与你在一起。
20:2 当你们快要交战时，司祭应上前来，对民众训话，
20:3 向他们说：「以色列，请听!你们今天就要上阵攻打你们的仇敌，你们不要灰心，不要害怕，不要恐慌，不要在他们面前战栗，
20:4 因为上主你们的天主与你们同去，帮助你们攻打你们的仇敌，使你们胜利。」
20:5 然后长官对民众说：「谁若盖了新房屋，还没有祝圣，他可回家去，免得他死在战场，别人来替他祝圣。
20:6 谁若栽种了葡萄园，还没有享用过，他可回家去，免得他死在战场，别人来替他收获。
20:7 谁若与女人订了婚，还没有迎娶，他可回家去，免得他死在战场，别人来娶她。」
20:8 长官再继续对民众致辞说：「谁若害怕灰心，他可回家去，免得他使兄弟的心，如他的一样沮丧。」
20:9 长官向民众训完话，就派定军官统率部队。
城池攻占的策略
20:10 当你临近一城要进攻时，应先向那城提议和平；
20:11 若那地给你和平的答复，给你开门，城内所有的人民就臣服于你，给你服役。
20:12 如不与你讲和，反愿与你作战，你就围攻。
20:13 几时上主你的天主将城交在你手中，你应用利刃杀尽所有的男人；
20:14 至于妇女、婴儿、牲畜和在城内所有的一切，算是你夺得的胜利品，你可享用你由仇人夺得的胜利品，因为是上主你的天主赐给你的。
20:15 这是你对于离你很远，且不属于这些民族的城市的作法。
20:16 但是在上主你的天主赐给你作产业的这些人民的城市内，你不可让任何生灵生活，
20:17 应将他们：即赫特人、阿摩黎人。客纳罕人、培黎齐人、希威人和耶步斯人，尽行毁灭，如上主你的天主吩咐你的，
20:18 免得他们教你学习他们对自己的神所行的一切可恶之事，使你们得罪上主你们的天主。
20:19 若你围攻一座城，需要多日才能攻取占领，你不可用斧头砍伐那里的树木；你可以吃树上的果子，却不可砍倒树；难道田间的树可当作你围攻的敌人看待﹖
20:20 只是那些你知道不结实的树木，你可毁坏砍伐，用来建筑围攻的设备，为进攻与你交战的城市，直到将城攻下。
第二十一章(23)
暗杀事件
21:1 如果上主你的天主赐给你作产业的地方，发现有人被杀，曝尸原野，却不知道是谁杀了他，
21:2 你的长老和官长应出来，从被杀者测量到四周各城，
21:3 看那一座城离被杀者最近；然后这城的长老应牵来一头尚未耕作，尚未负轭的母牛犊。
21:4 这城的长老应把母牛犊牵到尚未耕耘播种的地方，靠近常流的溪水旁，就在那溪水上砍断母牛犊的颈。
21:5 肋未的子孙司祭们应上前来，因为上主你的天主拣选了他们为事奉自己，因上主之名颁赐降福，所以一切争论殴打的事，都应凭他们的裁判来决断。
21:6 那离被杀者最近城市的长老，都应用溪水在被砍断颈项的母牛犊身上洗手，
21:7 同时声明说：「这血不是我们的手流的，我们的眼也没有看见。
21:8 上主!求你赦免你所救赎的以色列人民，不要让这流无辜血的罪债，留在你以色列人民中间。」这样他们算是赎了流血的罪。
21:9 你由你中间也除去了流无辜血的罪，因为你行了上主眼中视为正直的事。
娶女俘为妻
21:10 当你出征进攻你的敌人时，上主你的天主将他们交在你手中，你获得了一些俘虏；
21:11 你若在俘虏中看见了一个容貌美好的女人，对她爱恋不舍，愿娶她为妻，
21:12 你可带她到你家中，叫她剃去头发，剪短指甲，
21:13 脱去自己被掳时所穿的衣服，住在你家里，哀悼她的父母一个月；然后，你才能亲近她：你做她的丈夫，她做你的妻子。
21:14 以后如果你不喜欢她，应让她随意离去，决不能将她卖钱，也不能以她为奴，因为你曾玷污了她。
长子的权利
21:15 一人如有两妻，一为所爱，一为所恶，所爱所恶的，都给他生了儿子；但是长子却是他所恶的妻子生的，
21:16 在他将自己的产业分给他的儿子的那一天，不能将爱妻的儿子视作长子，而废弃所恶妻子所生的长子；
21:17 必须承认所恶妻子的儿子为长子，将所有的产业，多分给他一份，因为他是自己壮年时的首生子，应获得长子的权利。
逆子的处分
21:18 人若有一个忤逆不孝的儿子，不听从父母的劝告，责罚他以后仍不听从，
21:19 父母就该将他捉住，带到当地的城门前，见本城的长老，
21:20 对本城的长老说：「我们这个儿子忤逆不孝，不听我们的劝告，是个放荡的酒徒。」
21:21 本城的众人就应用石头将他砸死：这样，由你中间铲除了这邪恶，每个以色列人听了，必然害怕。
21:22 若人犯了该死的罪，处死以后，应将他悬在木杆上，
21:23 但不可让他的尸体在木杆上过夜，应在当天将他埋葬。因为凡被悬者，是天主所咒骂的；你不可玷污上主你的天主所赐给你作产业的土地。
第二十二章(29)
慈善为怀
22:1 你如果看见你兄弟的牛羊迷了路，你不可不顾，应牵回交给你的兄弟。
22:2 如果你的兄弟离你远，或者你不认识他，你该牵到你家中，留在你处，直到你的兄弟来寻找，你就还给他。
22:3 对他的驴你应这样做，对他的衣服也应这样做；对你兄弟所失，而由你找到的一切物件，都应这样做；决不可不管不顾。
22:4 你若看见你兄弟的驴牛在路上跌到了，你不可不顾，务要帮助他将驴牛扶起。
22:5 女人不可穿男人的服装，男人亦不可穿女人的衣服；上主你的天主厌恶做这种事的人。
22:6 你在路上，如果发现树上或地上有鸟窝，里面有雏或有蛋，母鸟在伏雏或孵卵，你不可连母鸟带幼雏一并拿去；
22:7 应让母鸟飞去，只拿去幼雏：好使你获得幸福，而享长寿。
22:8 当你建筑新屋时，应在屋顶上做上栏杆，免得有人由上跌下，而使流血的罪归于你家。
严禁混杂
22:9 在你的葡萄园内，不可撒上两样种子，免得你撒种子的收获和葡萄园的出产，都成了禁物。
22:10 不可使牛驴一同耕作；
22:11 不可穿羊毛和麻混合织成的布料。
22:12 你所披的外衣，四边应做上繸头。
婚姻纠纷的处置
22:13 若有人娶妻，与她结合后就憎恶她，
22:14 捏造可耻的事，败坏她的名誉说：「我娶了这个女人，当我与她结合时，我发现她不是处女。」
22:15 那少女的父母应把少女的处女证，带到城门，见本城长老。
22:16 少女的父亲应对长老说：「我将我的女儿嫁给这人为妻，他却憎恶她，
22:17 捏造可耻的事说：我发现你的女儿不是个处女。然而，请看我女儿的处女证!」然后就将被单铺在本城的长老前。
22:18 本城的长老应拿住这人，加以处罚，
22:19 并罚他一百银子，交给少女的父亲，因为他坏了一个以色列处女的名誉，这少女仍是他的妻子，他一生不能休她。
22:20 但这事若是真的，发现少女真不是处女，
22:21 就应将少女领到她父亲家门口，本城的人应用石头砸死她，因为她在以色列中做出了可耻的事，在她父家行了邪淫：这样你由你中间铲除了这邪恶。
22:22 若发现一人与一个有夫之妇同寝，与妇人同寝的男人和那妇人，二人都应处以死刑：这样你由以色列中铲除了这邪恶。
22:23 若一年轻处女已许配与人，有人在城中遇见她，而与她同寝；
22:24 你们应将他们二人领到当地城门口，用石头砸死他们：那少女该死，因为她虽在城里，却没有呼救；那男人该死，因为他强奸了人家的妻子：这样你由你中间铲除了邪恶。
22:25 但若有人在郊野遇见了一个许配与人的少女，强奸了她，与她同寝，只有这与她同寝的人该死，
22:26 对那少女，不可行刑，因为她并没有犯死罪，因为这件事就如一个人狙击自己的邻人，将他杀死一样；
22:27 因为那男人在郊野里遇见了她，纵使许配与人的少女呼救，也没有人来救她。
22:28 若有人遇见一个尚未许配与人的年轻处女，抓住她而与她同寝，并被人发见。
22:29 这与她同寝的人应给少女的父亲五十「协刻耳」银子外，还该娶她为妻，因为他强奸了她，一生不能休她。
第二十三章(26)
23:1 人不可娶父亲的妻子，也不可揭开父亲的衣襟。
不得加入集会的人
23:2 凡外肾受伤或被阉割的人，不得进入上主的集会。
23:3 私生子不得进入上主的集会；他的后代即便到了第十代，也不得进入上主的集会。
23:4 阿孟人和摩阿布人不得进入上主的集会；他们的后代，即便到第十代，也永不得进入上主的集会；
23:5 因为当你们出离埃及时，他们没有带食物和水，在路上前来迎接你们；又因他们从美索不达米亚的培托尔，雇了贝敖尔的儿子巴郎来咒骂你；
23:6 但是上主你的天主不但不愿听从巴郎，上主你的天主反而将咒骂变为你的降福，因为上主你的天主爱你。
23:7 你一生永远不要为他们谋安宁和幸福。
23:8 你不可憎恨厄东人，因为他是你的兄弟；也不可憎恨埃及人，因为你曾在他们国内做过侨民。
23:9 他们所生的子孙到了第三代，即能进入上主的集会。
营内应有的圣洁
23:10 几时你出征扎营，攻打你的仇敌，应避免一切恶事。
23:11 你中间如有人夜间梦遗，即成为不洁，应走出营外，不可进入营内；
23:12 傍晚时，应用水洗澡，日落时，才能进营。
23:13 在营外应有厕所，你应去那里便溺。
23:14 在你的武器中；应有一把铲；当你在外便溺时，用它来掘坑，然后用以铲土掩盖粪便。
23:15 因为上主你的天主在你营中往来，为救护你，将你的仇人交给你，所以你的营地应当圣洁，免得他在你那里见到讨厌的事，而离弃你。
仁心处世
23:16 凡由主人逃到你这里来的奴仆，你不应将他交给他的主人；
23:17 他应在你中间与你同住，住在他自己所选的地方，住在他喜欢的一座城内；你不可欺负他。
23:18 以色列妇女中不可有人当庙妓，以色列男人中亦不可有人作庙倡。
23:19 你不可将卖淫的酬金和卖狗的代价，带到上主你天主的殿内，还任何誓愿，因为这两样于上主你的天主都是可憎恶的。
23:20 借给你兄弟银钱、食物，或任何能生利之物，你不可取利。
23:21 对外方人你可取利，对你兄弟却不可取利，好使上主你的天主在你要去占领的地上，降福你进行的一切事业。
23:22 几时你向上主你的天主许愿，不要迟延还愿，因为上主你的天主必向你追讨，你就不免有罪了。
23:23 如果你不许愿，你就没有罪。
23:24 凡你口中说出来的，你应遵守；凡你亲口说出向上主你的天主所许的愿，你应执行。
23:25 几时你进入你邻人的葡萄园，你可随意摘食葡萄，可以吃饱，但不可装入你的器皿内。
23:26 几时你进入你邻人的麦田，可以伸手摘麦穗，但不可在你邻人的麦田内动镰刀。
第二十四章(22)
离婚案件
24:1 如果一人娶了妻，占有她之后，在她身上发现了什么难堪的事，因而不喜悦她，便给她写了休书，交在她手中，叫她离开他的家，
24:2 而这女子走出了他的家，又去嫁给了另一人为妻，
24:3 如果后夫又憎恶她给她写了休书，交在她手中，叫她离开他的家，或者娶她为妻的后夫死了，
24:4 那么，那休她的前夫，在她受了污辱之后，不能再娶她为妻，因为这在上主面前是可憎恶的事；你不可使上主你的天主赐给你作产业的土地陷于罪恶。
体恤人情
24:5 人娶了新妇，不应从军出征，也不可派他担任什么职务；他应在家享受一年自由，使他新娶的妻子快活。
24:6 不可拿人的磨，或上面的一块磨石作抵押，因为这无异是拿人的性命作抵押。
24:7 若发现一人拐带了以色列子民中的一个兄弟，叫他充当奴隶，或将他贩卖于人，这拐子应处死刑：这样你由你中间铲除了这邪恶。
24:8 遇有癞病的情形，应全照肋未司祭指教你们的，谨慎遵行。我怎样吩咐了他们，你们就怎样遵守执行。
24:9 你应记得你们出埃及后，在途中，上主你的天主对米黎盎所做的事。
24:10 几时你借给你近人什么，不可走进他家索取抵押；
24:11 应站在外面，等那借贷的人把抵押给你拿出来。
24:12 倘若他是个贫苦人，你不可带着他的抵押去睡觉。
24:13 反之，在日落时，务要将抵押还给他，好叫他睡在自己的外衣里降福你；这在上主你的天主面前，算是你的功德。
24:14 贫苦可怜的佣工，不论是你的一个兄弟，或是你城镇地区内的一个外方人，你不应欺压他，
24:15 应在当天，交给他工钱，不要等到日落；因为他贫苦，他急需工钱用，免得他对你不满而呼求上主，你就不免有罪了。
24:16 不可为儿子的罪处死父亲，亦不可为父亲的罪处死儿子：每人应为自己的罪被处死刑。
24:17 不可侵犯外方人或孤儿的权利，不可拿寡妇的衣服作抵押；
24:18 应记得你在埃及曾做过奴隶，上主你的天主曾将你由那里救出：为此我吩咐你应遵行这条命令。
24:19 当你在田间收割庄稼时，如在田中忘下了一捆，不要再回去拾取，要留下给外方人、孤儿和寡妇，好叫上主你的天主在你做的一切事上降福你。
24:20 当你打橄榄树时，不要再回去打树枝上所剩的，应留给外方人、孤儿和寡妇。
24:21 当你收获葡萄时，不要再摘取所剩下的，应留给外方人、孤儿和寡妇。
24:22 总应记得你在埃及地曾做过奴隶：为此我吩咐你应遵行这条命令。
第二十五章(19)
25:1 几时人与人之间发生争讼，而对簿公庭，定案时，正直的，应声明他正直；有罪的，应判定他有罪；
25:2 如有罪的应受鞭刑，判官应命他伏下，当面按他的罪照数鞭打；
25:3 只可打他四十下，不可再多；怕鞭打他超过这数目，你的兄弟在你眼前过于受辱。
25:4 牛在打场的时候，不可笼住它的嘴。
代兄弟立嗣
25:5 如果兄弟住在一起，其中一个没有留下儿子就死了；死者的妻子不可出嫁外人，丈夫的兄弟应走近她，以她为妻，对她履行兄弟的义务。
25:6 她所生的长子，应归亡兄名下，免得他的名由以色列中消灭。
25:7 若是那人不肯娶他兄弟的妻子，他兄弟的妻子应到城门去见长老说：「我丈夫的兄弟不愿在以色列中给自己的兄弟留名，不愿对我尽兄弟的义务。」
25:8 本城的长老应叫那人来，对他说明；如他仍坚持说：「我不愿娶她。」
25:9 他兄弟的妻子应当着长老的面，走到他跟前，从他脚上脱下他的鞋，向他脸上吐唾沫说：「那不愿给自己兄弟建立家室的人，应这样对待他。」
25:10 从此他的名字，在以色列中，将称为「脱鞋者的家。」
妇女应知检点
25:11 若两人彼此殴打，一人的妻子前来，救她的丈夫脱离那打他者的手，伸手抓住了那人的阴部；
25:12 你应砍去她的手，不应表示怜惜。
交易应公道
25:13 在你袋里不可有两样法码：一大一小；
25:14 在你家内也不可有两样升斗：一大一小。
25:15 你应有准确公正的法码，应有准确公正的升斗，好使你在上主你的天主赐给你的地上，得享长寿；
25:16 因为凡做这些事的，凡做事不公平的，于上主你的天主都是可憎恶的。
25:17 你应记得，当你由埃及出来时，阿玛肋克在路上怎样对待了你：
25:18 怎样在路上袭击了你，乘你困乏无力，攻击你后方所有疲惫的人，一点也不怕天主。
25:19 所以，当上主你的天主赐你摆脱你四周的一切仇敌，在上主你的天主赐给你作产业的地上，安享太平时，你应由天下抹去阿玛肋克的名字；不可忘记!
第二十六章(19)
初熟的献仪
26:1 当你进入上主你的天主赐给你作产业的土地，占领后住在那里时，
26:2 应由上主你的天主赐给你的土地上，将一切田产的初熟之物，取出一部分放在筐里，往上主你的天主选定立自己名号的地方去，
26:3 到当时供职的司祭前，对他说：「我今日向上主我的天主明认，我已来到了上主对我们的祖先誓许赐与我们的地方。」
26:4 司祭就由你手中接过筐子，放在上主你的天主的祭坛前；
26:5 然后你就在上主你的天主面前声明说：「我的祖先原是个飘泊的阿兰人，下到埃及，同少数的家人寄居在那里，竟成了一强大有力，人口众多的民族。
26:6 埃及虐待我们，压迫我们，勒令我们做苦工。
26:7 我们向上主我们祖先的天主呼号，上主俯听了我们的哀声，垂视了我们的苦痛、劳役和所受的压迫。
26:8 上主以强力的手，伸展的臂，巨大的恐吓，神迹奇事，领我们出了埃及，
26:9 来到这地方，将这流奶流蜜的土地赐给了我们。
26:10 上主，请看!我现今带来了你赐给我的田地里所出产的初熟之物。」遂将这初熟之物放在上主你的天主面前，俯伏朝拜上主你的天主。
26:11 然后你与肋未人，和住在你中间的外方人，欢乐享受上主你的天主赐与你和你家庭的一切福分。
什一之物的献仪
26:12 在第三年，即献什一之年，当你把你一切出产十分之一，完全取出，分给肋未人、外方人、孤儿和寡妇，并使他们在你的城镇中吃饱之后，
26:13 你应到上主你的天主面前说：「我由我家中完全交出了这祝圣的一份，分给了肋未人、外方人、孤儿和寡妇，全照你吩咐我的命令；我没有违犯你的命令，也没有忽略。
26:14 这些圣物，在我居丧时，我没有取食；在不洁中，我没有交出，更没有献给死人；我听从了上主我的天主的话，全照你吩咐我的一切履行了。
26:15 愿你由你神圣的住所，由天上俯视，降福你的人民以色列，和你赐给我们的土地，即你向我们祖先所誓许的那流奶流蜜的地方。」
第二篇演词的结论
26:16 上主你的天主今天吩咐你遵行这些法令和规则，你应全心全灵谨守遵行。
26:17 今天你明认上主是你的天主，愿履行他的道路，谨守他的法令、诫命和规则，听从他的话。
26:18 上主今天也照他对你所说的，明认你为他特属的人民，只要你谨守他的一切诫命，
26:19 并且他要使你在名誉、声望和光荣上，远超过他所造的一切民族，使你如他所说的，成为属于上主你的天主的圣洁人民。」
第二篇演词的结论
第二十七章(26)
命镌刻法律
27:1 梅瑟与以色列的长老吩咐人民说：「你们应遵守我今天吩咐你们的一切命令。
27:2 在你们过约但河，进入上主你的天主赐给你的土地的那一天，应竖立几块大石，涂上石灰；
27:3 在你过河进入上主你的天主赐给你的地方，即上主你祖先的天主许给你的流奶流蜜的地方之后，要立即将这法律的一切话刻在上面。
27:4 所以，你们一过了约但河，就该照我今日吩咐你们的，在厄巴耳山上竖立这些石头，涂上石灰；
27:5 并在那里给上主你的天主建筑一座祭坛，一座未用斧凿的石头修的祭坛；
27:6 应用未加入人工的石头建筑上主你的天主的祭坛，在上面给上主你的天主奉献全燔祭，
27:7 祭献和平祭，并在那里设宴，在上主你的天主面前欢乐。
27:8 在这些石头上，应清清楚楚刻上这法律的一切话。」
27:9 梅瑟和肋未司祭对全以色列人说：「以色列人!你们应静默细听：你今天既成了上主你的天主的人民，
27:10 就应听从上主你的天主的话，遵行我今日给你吩咐的上主的诫命和法令。」
应受咒骂的罪犯
27:11 梅瑟在那一天又吩咐人民说：「
27:12 你们过了约但河以后，应站在革黎斤山上降福人民的，是西默盎、肋未、犹大、依撒加尔、若瑟和本雅明；
27:13 站在厄巴耳山上宣布诅咒的，是勒乌本、加得、阿协尔、则步隆、丹和纳斐塔里。
27:14 肋未人应大声向所有的以色列人喊说：
27:15 那制造上主所憎恶的雕象或铸象，并将匠人的作品，放在暗处的人，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:16 蔑视父亲和母亲的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:17 移动邻人地界的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:18 领瞎子走错路的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:19 侵犯外方人、孤儿和寡妇权利的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:20 与父亲的妻子同寝的，是可咒骂的，因为他揭开了父亲的衣襟。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:21 与兽交合的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:22 与同父异母，或同母异父的姊妹同寝的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:23 与岳母同寝的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:24 暗杀邻人的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:25 接受贿赂去杀害无辜的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
27:26 不坚持这法律的话而执行的，是可咒骂的。全体人民应答说：阿们。
梅瑟第三篇演说(28-30)
第二十八章(69)
守法者必蒙降福
28:1 你若实在听从上主你的天主的话，谨守遵行我今天吩咐你的这一切诫命，上主你的天主必使你远超过地上所有的民族。
28:2 如果你听从上主你的天主的话，下面这些降福必临于你，来到你身上。
28:3 你在城内必蒙受降福，在乡下也必蒙受降福。
28:4 你身所生的，田地所产的，牲畜所出的，牛所生殖的，羊所产下的，都要蒙受降福。
28:5 你的筐篮，你的揉面盆，都要蒙受降福。
28:6 你进来，蒙受降福；你出去，也蒙受降福。
28:7 起来攻击你的仇敌，上主必使他们在你面前崩溃；他们由一路来攻击你，却分七路由你面前逃去。
28:8 上主决定对你的仓廪和在你着手进行的事上降福你；在上主你的天主赐给你的土地上，必要降福你。
28:9 只要你谨守上主你的天主的诫命，遵行他的道路，上主必要照他誓许于你的，立你为他自己的圣民；
28:10 普世万民一见你属于上主的名下，必都怕你。
28:11 在上主你的天主向你祖先起誓要赐给你的土地上，上主必使你满享幸福：儿女众多，牲畜繁殖，地产丰富。
28:12 上主必为你大开天上的宝库，给你的田地降下时雨，降福你手所做的一切；你要借给许多民族，而你却无须向人借贷。
28:13 上主必立你为首，而不做尾巴，你常是高高在上，而总不屈居在下，只要你听从我今天吩咐你的上主你天主的诫命，并谨守遵行，
28:14 不左右偏离我今天吩咐你们的一切话，去跟随事奉其它的神。
违法者被诅咒
28:15 但是，如果你不听从上主你天主的话，不谨守遵行我今天吩咐你的上主的一切诫命和法令，下面这些咒骂必要临于你，来到你身上。
28:16 你在城内必遭受咒骂，在乡下也必遭受咒骂。
28:17 你的筐篮，你的揉面盆，都要遭受咒骂。
28:18 你身所生的，田地所产的，牛所生殖的，羊所产下的，都要遭受咒骂。
28:19 你进来，必遭受咒骂；
28:20 你出去也必遭受咒骂。上主在你着手进行的一切事上，必使你遭受灾难、困扰和恐吓，直到你完全毁灭，迅速灭亡，因为你作恶，离弃了我。
28:21 上主必使你瘟疫缠身，直到将你由你要去占领的地上完全消灭。
28:22 上主必用痨病、热病、疟疾、炎热、干旱、热风和霉烂打击你；这些灾殃必追击你，直到你灭亡。
28:23 你头上的天将变为铜，你下面的地将变为铁。
28:24 上主必使雨变成灰沙降在你的田地里，由天上降在你身上，直到你完全毁灭。
28:25 上主必使你在仇敌面前崩溃；你由一路出击他们，却分七路由他们前逃去；你要成为普世万国惊骇的对象。
28:26 你的尸首必成为天空飞鸟，和地上走兽的食物；无人来将它们吓走。
28:27 上主必用埃及的脓疮、痔漏、癣疥和红疹打击你，使你无法医治。
28:28 上主必用癫狂、眼瞎和心乱打击你；
28:29 在正午时，你要摸索有如在黑暗中摸索的瞎子；你的所作所为决不会顺利；你必日日受人压迫剥削，而无人援助。
28:30 你与一女子订婚，别人却来与她同寝；你建筑一座房屋，却不得住在里面；你栽植葡萄园，却得不到享用。
28:31 你的牛在你眼前被杀，你却不能吃它的肉；你的驴由你眼前被人抢去，再不归还给你；你的羊群被交给你的敌人，却无人来援助你。
28:32 你的儿女被交给外方民族，你只有双眼张望，日日为他们焦虑，但你却无能为力。
28:33 你田地的出产和你劳力之所得，却为你不认识的一个民族吃尽；你只有时时被人压迫蹂躏；
28:34 你必要因你亲眼所见的事而变为疯狂。
28:35 上主必用恶疮打击你的膝和腿，由踵至顶，使你无法医治。
28:36 上主必将你和你所立的统治你的君王，送到你和你祖先不认识的一个民族那里去，在那里你要事奉别的神，即木石所制的神。
28:37 在上主要送你去的各民族中，你必成为惊骇、嘲笑和讽刺的对象。
28:38 你在田间撒的种子虽然很多，但收获的却很少，因为蝗虫要来吃尽。
28:39 你虽然栽种修剪葡萄园，却没有酒喝，没有收成，因为都要为虫子吃尽。
28:40 你虽然在全境栽有橄榄树，却没有油抹身，因为橄榄要遂结遂落。
28:41 你虽然生子养女，但他们却不属于你，因为他们要被掳去。
28:42 害虫要吃尽你所有的树木和土地的出产。
28:43 住在你中间的外方人不断发达兴旺，远在你以上，你反而日趋卑下。
28:44 他要借给你，你却不能借给他；他要为首，你却要做尾巴。
28:45 这一切咒骂必临于你，追击你，来到你身上，直到你全被消灭，因为你没有听从上主你天主的话，没有遵守他吩咐你的诫命和法令。
28:46 这些咒骂对你和你的子孙，永远是一个徽号和征兆。
28:47 因为在财物富裕时，你没有诚心悦意地去事奉上主你的天主，
28:48 你必在饥渴，赤身露体，一无所有中，服侍上主派来攻击你的仇敌；他必将铁轭放在你的颈上，直到将你消灭。
终必国破家亡
28:49 上主必由远方，由地极引来一个民族，象鹰一样扑袭你；这民族的语言，你不明了；
28:50 这民族又铁面无情，不敬老，不恤幼；
28:51 他必吞食你家畜的幼雏，和田地的产物，直到你被消灭；必不给你留下什么谷、米、酒、油、牛犊或羔羊，直到将你完全毁灭。
28:52 他必将你围困在所有的城镇内，直到你全国内所依恃的高大坚固的城墙都被攻陷；当你被围困在上主你天主赐给你的全境各城镇内时，
28:53 在你被仇敌围困的穷困中，你要吃你自身所生，即上主你天主赐给你子女的肉。
28:54 你中间最温柔娇嫩的男人，这时对自己的兄弟、怀中的妻子、尚存的子女，也必冷眼相看，
28:55 不愿将他所吃的子女的肉，分给他们任何人，因为在你的仇敌使你在各城镇中受围困陷于绝境时，已一无所剩。
28:56 你中间最温柔娇嫩的女人，先前娇嫩温柔得连脚都不踏在地上，这时对自己怀中的丈夫、自己的子女、也要冷眼相看，
28:57 暗中将她两腿间脱出的胞衣，和她所生的子女吃掉，因为在你的仇敌使你在各城镇中受围困，陷于穷困时，已一无所有。
28:58 如果你不谨守遵行这书上所记的法律的一切条文，敬畏这光荣可畏的名号：上主你的天主，
28:59 上主必使你和你的后裔遭受更奇特的灾害，大而且久的灾害，毒而且顽的疾病；
28:60 必使你所怕的各种埃及病灾发生在你身上，缠绕着你。
28:61 此外，在这法律书上所没有记载的一切疾病和灾害，上主也要引来降在你身上，直到将你完全消灭。
28:62 你们以前虽然多如天上的繁星，你们所留下的，却寥寥无几，因为你没有听从上主你天主的话。
28:63 有如上主先前怎样喜欢你们获得幸福，使你们人数众多，将来也要怎样喜欢你们衰落，使你们灭亡，使你们由你要去占领的地上尽被铲除。
28:64 上主要将你分散在大地两极间所有人民中，你要在那里事奉你和你祖先所不认识的外神，即木石之神；
28:65 而且在这些民族中，你总得不到安宁，也找不到一块歇脚的地方；上主在那里必使你心情烦乱，眼目憔悴，精神颓丧。
28:66 你未来的生活必提心吊胆，日夜惊惶；生命毫无保障。
28:67 因你心情恐慌，因你眼见的景象，早晨你要说：「巴不得现在是晚上!」到了晚上你又要说：「巴不得现在是早晨!」
28:68 上主要用船将你送回埃及，走我曾告诉你，你不会再见的那条路；在那里你们虽自愿将自己卖给你的仇敌为奴为婢，却无人肯买。
28:69 这是上主在曷勒布山与以色列子民订立的盟约以外，在摩阿布地方吩咐梅瑟同以色列子民订立盟约的言辞。
第二十九章(28)
回忆往事
29:1 梅瑟将所有的以色列人召来，对他们说：你们亲自看见了上主当着你们的面，在埃及地对法郎，对他的臣仆，对他全国所做的一切，
29:2 那些惊人的折磨、神迹和伟大的奇事，你们都亲眼看见过。
29:3 但是，直到今天，上主还没有给你们一颗能明了的心，能看见的眼，能听见的耳。
29:4 我在旷野四十年之久领导你们，你们身上的衣服没有穿坏，脚上的鞋也没有穿破；
29:5 当时你们没有吃粮食，也没有喝清酒醇酒，这是要你们知道，我上主是你们的天主。
29:6 你们一来到此地，赫市朋王息红和巴商王敖格出来与我们交战，我们击败了他们，
29:7 占领了他们的土地，分给了勒乌本人和加得人以及默纳协半个支派作产业。
29:8 所以你们应谨守遵行这盟约的话，好使你们在所做的一切事上，都能顺利。
劝勿违盟
29:9 今天你们全都站在上主你们的天主面前，──你们的首领、族长、长老、官长、和以色列所有的男子，
29:10 你们的幼小和妻子，以及在你营中的外方人，从为你砍柴到为你汲水的人，──
29:11 都来同上主你的天主缔结盟约。即上主你的天主今天与你所立的附有诅咒的誓约，
29:12 好叫他今天，有如他向你所许过的，有如他向你祖先亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯所誓许的：立你做他的人民，他做你的天主。
29:13 我不但与你们立这约和这誓，
29:14 而且也与那些今天与我们同站在上主我们的天主面前的人，和那些今天不与我们同在这里的人立约。
29:15 你们清楚知道，我们怎样在埃及地住过，怎样由一些民族中间走过；
29:16 你们也见过他们的丑恶之物和他们那里所有的木、石、金、银的偶象。
29:17 惟愿在你们中没有一个男人或女人，或家族，或支派，今日存心远离上主我们的天主，去奉事这些民族的神；惟愿在他们中没有一根生出毒草和苦艾的根子，
29:18 以致有人在听了这咒誓之后心中庆幸说：「我虽随心所欲地行事，仍平安无事。」这要使湿地与干地同归于尽。
29:19 上主决不肯宽恕他；上主的烈怒和愤恨必向这人发作，这书上载的一切诅咒都要降在他身上，上主必由天下抹去他的名字。
29:20 上主将把他由以色列各支派中分出，照这法律书上所载的一切诅咒，使他遭受灾祸。
29:21 未来的一代，即继你们而兴起的子孙，和远地来的外方人，见了这地的灾祸和上主所降的灾殃，
29:22 见了硫磺、盐卤和被焚毁的整个地区，不能耕种，没有出产，寸草不生，正如上主在忿怒和气愤中消灭的索多玛、哈摩辣、阿玛得和责波殷所受的破坏一样，
29:23 各民族要问说：「为什么上主这样对待了这地﹖这盛怒为何如此猛烈﹖」
29:24 人必回答说：「这是因为他们离弃了上主他们祖先的天主，领他们出埃及地时，与他们所缔结的盟约，
29:25 而去事奉了其它的神，叩拜了他们素不认识，没有给他们指定的神；
29:26 上主于是向这地大发忿怒，使这书上记载的一切诅咒都降在这地上。
29:27 上主遂在忿怒激忿和烈怒中，将他们由本地拔除，拋弃在异国，就象今天一样。」
29:28 隐密的事，属于上主我们的天主，已启示的事，却永远与我们和我们的子孙有关，为叫我们实行这法律上的一切话。
第三十章(20)
上主仁慈无限
30:1 几时这一切事，就是我在你面前提出的降福和诅咒，来到你身上，而你在上主你的天主驱逐你去的异族中，回心转意，
30:2 你和你的子孙全心全灵归向上主你的天主，全照我今天吩咐你的，听从他的话，
30:3 那么，上主你的天主必转变你的命运，怜悯你；上主你的天主必从分散你去的各民族中，再召集你回来；
30:4 即便被放逐的人远在天涯，上主你的天主也要从那里召回，将你从那里领回来。
30:5 上主你的天主必领你进入你祖先所占领的土地，叫你再占领；也必使你比你的祖先更幸福，更众多。
30:6 那时，上主你的天主必在你的心上，和你后裔的心上行割损，叫你全心全灵爱慕上主你的天主，使你得以生存。
30:7 上主你的天主必将这一切诅咒，加在迫害你的仇人和敌人身上。
30:8 从此，你必再听从上主的话，遵行我今天吩咐你的一切诫命。
30:9 上主你的天主必使你做的一切事，你身所生的、牲畜所出的、田地所产的，都顺利兴旺，因为上主要再喜欢你，使你享福，如他以前喜欢你的祖先一样，
30:10 只要你听从上主你天主的话，谨守这法律书上所记载的诫命和法令；只要你全心全灵回头，归向上主你的天主。
30:11 其实，我今天吩咐你的这诫命，为你并不太难，也不是达不到的。
30:12 这诫命不在天上，以致你能说：「谁能为我们上到天上，给我们取下，使我们听了好能遵行呢﹖」
30:13 也不在海外，以致你能说：「谁能为我们渡到海外，给我们取来，使我们听了好能遵行呢﹖」
30:14 其实，这话离你很近，就在你口里，就在你心里，使你遵行。
生死由人自决
30:15 你看，我今天将生命与幸福，死亡与灾祸，都摆在你面前，
30:16 如果你遵行我今天吩咐你的，上主你天主的诫命：爱慕上主你的天主，履行他的道路，谨守他的诫命、法令和规定，你必能生活繁荣，上主你的天主在你要去占领的地上，必要降福你。
30:17 但是，如果你心中叛离，不愿听从，被人引去敬拜事奉其它的神，
30:18 我今天警告你们：你们必要灭亡，在你渡过约但河去占领的土地上，决不能久存。
30:19 我今天指着天地向你们作证：我已将生命与死亡，祝福与诅咒，都摆在你面前；你要选择生命，为叫你和你的后裔得以生存；
30:20 你应爱慕上主你的天主，听从他的话，完全依赖他；因为这样你才能生活，才能久存，才能住在上主向你的祖先亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯誓许要给他们的土地上。
第三十一章(30)
委派若苏厄继任
31:1 梅瑟又继续用以下的话向全以色列人说：
31:2 「我今天已经一百二十岁，再不能出入；而且上主曾对我说：『你不能过这约但河。』
31:3 上主你的天主亲自要领你过去，亲自要由你面前将这些民族消灭，使你占领他们的土地；按上主所许过的，若苏厄将领你们过去。
31:4 上主对待那些民族，必象以前对待阿摩黎人王息红和敖格，以及他们的国一样，将他们完全消灭。
31:5 上主必将他们交于你们，你们应依照我吩咐你们的一切命令，对待他们。
31:6 你们应勇敢坚决，不要害怕，在他们面前也不要畏惧，因为上主你的天主亲自与你同行，决不拋弃你，也决不离开你。」
31:7 然后梅瑟召若苏厄来，当着全以色列的面对他说：「你要勇敢坚决，因为你应领这人民，进入上主向他们祖先誓许要赐予他们的土地；你应将那地分给他们作为基业。
31:8 上主必亲自领导你，与你同在，决不拋弃你，也决不离开你；你不要害怕，也不要胆怯。」
应依时宣读法律
31:9 梅瑟写好这法律，交给抬上主约柜的肋未子孙司祭，和以色列所有的长老；
31:10 然后梅瑟吩咐他们说：「每逢七年，即在豁免年间的帐棚节期内，
31:11 当全以色列人来到上主你的天主所选的地方朝拜上主时，你应在全以色列人前，大声宣读这法律。
31:12 你应召集人民，男女幼小，和你城镇中的外方人，叫他们都听到，好学习敬畏上主你们的天主，谨守遵行这法律上的一切话。
31:13 尚不认识这法律的子女，也应叫他们听到，好使他们在你们渡过约但河去占领的土地上生活的时候，日日学习敬畏上主你们的天主。」
上主最后训示梅瑟
31:14 上主对梅瑟说：「看，你的死期已近，你召若苏厄来，你们一起站在会幕那里，我好吩咐他。」梅瑟于是和若苏厄前去，一起站在会幕那里。
31:15 上主出现在会幕上，在云柱中，这云柱停在会幕门口上面。
31:16 上主对梅瑟说：「看，你快与你的祖先同眠；这人民要起来，在要去的地方内，同异邦之神行淫，而离弃我，破坏我与他们所订立的盟约。
31:17 那时，我必要对他们大发忿怒，拋弃他们，掩面不顾他们，让他们被人吞并，使他们遭遇许多灾祸和艰难；到那日他们必说：『我遭遇了这些灾祸，岂不是因为我的天主已不在我中间了么﹖』
31:18 因了他们归向其它的神所作的一切邪恶，那天我必掩面不顾他们。
31:19 所以，现在你应写下这篇诗歌，教给以色列子民，放在他们口中，使这诗歌成为我反对以色列子民的证据。
31:20 因我领他们进了我对他们的祖先所誓许的流奶流蜜的土地，他们吃饱了，吃肥了，却归向了其它的神，事奉他们，而蔑视我，破坏我的盟约。
31:21 当他们遭遇到许多灾祸和艰难时，这诗歌就成为反对他们的证据，因为这诗歌总不会由他们后裔的口中失传。的确，在我领他们进入我誓许的地方以前，我早已知道他们今天所怀的企图。」
31:22 梅瑟遂在那一天写下了这篇诗歌，教给了以色列子民。
31:23 此后，上主吩咐农的儿子若苏厄说：「你要勇敢坚决，因为你要领以色列子民进入我给他们誓许的土地，我必与你同在。」
置法律书于约柜旁
31:24 梅瑟将这法律的话在书上写完以后，
31:25 便吩咐抬上主约柜的肋未人说：
31:26 「你们将这法律书拿去，放在上主你们天主的约柜旁，留在那里作为反对你的证据。
31:27 因为我知道你是如何顽固执拗。看，我还同你们生活在一起的今天，你们就这样反抗了上主；何况在我死后!
31:28 你们给我将你们支派所有的长老和官员召来，我要将这些话说给他们听，指着天地对他们作证。
31:29 因为我知道在我死后，你们必定完全败坏，离弃我吩咐你们的道；最后，你们必要遭遇灾祸，因为作了上主视为邪恶的事，以你们的作为，使他发怒。」
31:30 梅瑟遂在以色列全体会众前，由头至尾，大声朗诵了这篇诗歌的话。
梅瑟歌
第三十二章(52)
请以色列人歌颂上主
32:1 苍天，倾听，我要发言；大地，聆听我口要说的话!
32:2 愿我的教训如雨下降，我的言语似露滴落，象降在绿茵上的细雨，象落在青草上的甘霖!
32:3 因为我要宣扬上主的名，请赞颂我们的天主!
上主的照顾
32:4 他是盘石，他的作为完美无比；他的行径公平正直，他是忠实无妄的天主，公义而又正直。
32:5 那不堪称为子女的，自趋堕落，背叛了他，实在是个邪恶败坏的世代!
32:6 愚昧无知的人民，你们就这样报答上主吗﹖他不是生育你，创造你，使你生存的大父吗﹖
32:7 你回想往古的时日，思念历代的岁月；问你的父亲，问你的长辈，他必给你讲述；
32:8 当至高者为民族分配产业时，分布人的子孙时，按照天使的数目，为万民划定了疆界；
32:9 但雅各伯是上主所保留的一分，以色列成为他特有的产业。
32:10 上主在旷野之地，在野兽咆哮的原野，发见了他，遂将他抱起，加以抚育，加以保护，有如自己的眼珠。
32:11 老鹰怎样守候自己的窝巢，飞翔在幼雏之上，上主也怎样伸展双翅，把他背在自己的翼上。
32:12 上主独自领导了他，他旁边并没有外邦的神祇。
32:13 上主使他驰骋于高原之上，以田间的出产养育他，使他享受岩穴间的蜜，坚石中的油，
32:14 牛酪和羊乳，肥美的羔羊和公羊，巴商的公牛与山羊，以及上等的麦面；并以葡萄美酒作你的饮品。
以色列人辜恩负义
32:15 雅各伯吃肥了，耶叔戎吃胖了，会踢人了?ぉさ娜罚闩至耍柿耍ヂ恕)ぉに鞉伷嗽焖奶熘鳎崾恿司人呐淌?
16
他们以邪神的敬礼激起他的妒火，以可憎恶的事物，惹他动怒；
32:17 他们所祭祀的是邪神，而非真神，是向来所不认识的神，是近来新兴，你们的祖先所不敬畏的神。
32:18 你忽略了那生你的盘石，忘记了那使你出世的天主。
32:19 上主一见，大为震怒，遂拋弃了自己的子女，
32:20 说我要掩面不顾他们，要看他们的结局如何；这实在是败坏的一代，毫无信实的子女。
32:21 他们以虚妄之神，激起我的怒火，以虚无之物，惹我动怒；我也要以那不成子民的人激起他们的妒火，以愚昧的民族惹他们发怒。
32:22 我的怒火一燃起，必烧到阴府的深底，吞灭大地及其出产，焚毁山岳的基础。
32:23 我要将灾祸不断加在他们身上，向他们射尽我的箭矢。
32:24 他们必因饥饿而衰弱，必为热症、毒疫所消灭；我还使尖牙的野兽和土中爬行的毒虫伤害他们。
32:25 外有刀剑，内有恐怖，使少男少女，乳儿白头，同归于尽。
32:26 我原想粉碎他们，将他们的记念由人间消灭；
32:27 但我怕仇人自夸，怕敌人误会说：「是我的手得胜了，而不是上主行了这一切。」
32:28 他们原是无谋的民族，没有一点见识。
32:29 如果他们有点智慧，定会明了此事，看清未来的局势。
32:30 「若不是他们的盘石出卖了他们，上主放弃了他们一人怎能追击一千，两人怎能打跑一万﹖」
32:31 连我们的仇人也承认，他们的盘石不如我们的盘石。
32:32 诚然，他们的葡萄秧，出自索多玛的葡萄园，来在哈摩辣的田园；他们的葡萄是毒葡萄，粒粒葡萄皆酸苦。
32:33 他们的酒是蛇的毒汁，是蝮蛇的猛烈毒液。
32:34 这事岂不是贮藏在我身旁，封闭在我府库里﹖
32:35 等到他们失足之时，我必复仇报复；他们灭亡的日子确已临近，给他们预定的命运就要来到。
32:36 因为上主要卫护自己的人民，怜恤自己的仆人。当他看见他们的能力已逝，奴隶与自由人已到绝境，
32:37 必问说：「他们的神祇在那里，他们投靠的盘石究在何处﹖
32:38 一向吃他们祭牲脂肪的，喝他们奠祭酒浆的，都在那里﹖让他们起来援助你们罢!让他们做你们的保障罢!
32:39 现在你们应认清，只有我是「那一位，」除我以外没有别神；我使人死，也使人活；我击伤人，也加以治疗；谁也不能由我手中救出。
32:40 我向天举手宣誓：我生活，至于永远!
32:41 我一磨亮我的刀剑，我一掌握裁判权，必向我的敌人雪恨，对恨我的人报复。
32:42 我要使我的箭矢醉饮鲜血，使我的刀剑吞食血肉：阵亡和俘虏的鲜血，仇敌将领的头颅。」
32:43 万国，你们应向他的百姓祝贺!因为上主必为自己的仆人报血仇，向仇敌报复，圣洁自己的土地和百姓。
劝百姓守法律
32:44 梅瑟和农的儿子若苏厄前来，将这篇诗歌的话朗诵给百姓听。
32:45 梅瑟向全以色列人一朗诵完了，
32:46 就对他们说：「你们应把我今日警告你们的一切话记在心内，好吩咐你们的子孙，谨守遵行这法律上的一切话。
32:47 因为这为你们不是空洞的话，而是关系你们的生命；由于遵守这话，你们才能在过约但河后所要占领的地上，长久居留。」
梅瑟死期的预告
32:48 上主就在当天对梅瑟说：「
32:49 你到摩阿布去，上这座阿巴陵山，即面对耶里哥的乃波山上去，观看我要给以色列子民作产业的客纳罕地。
32:50 你要死在你所上的山上，归到你本族那里，象你哥哥亚郎死在曷尔山，归到他本族那里一样。
32:51 因为你们在亲旷野，卡德士的默黎巴水边，在以色列子民中对我失信，没有在他们中尊我为圣；
32:52 为此，我赐给以色列子民的地方，你只可由对面眺望，却不能进去。」
第三十三章(29)
梅瑟的降福
33:1 这是天主的人梅瑟，死前赐予以色列子民的降福。
33:2 他说：「上主由西乃而来，从色依尔光照他的百姓，由帕兰山射出光辉，从卡德士的默黎巴前进，由他的右边有烈火发出。
33:3 你实在爱你的人民，众圣者都在你手中；他们俯伏在你脚前，领受你的教导。
33:4 梅瑟给我们立定法律，作为雅各伯会众的产业时，
33:5 人民的首领与以色列支派会合时，上主在耶叔戎中作了王。
33:6 愿勒乌本生存，不至灭亡!愿他的人数不再减少!」
33:7 他论及犹大这样说：「上主!愿你俯听犹大的声音，领他重归自己的民族；以你的手为他交战，协助他抵抗他的仇敌!」
33:8 论及肋未说：「愿你将你的「突明」赐给肋未，将你的「乌陵」，赐给对你虔诚的人，就是你在玛撒曾试探过，在默黎巴水旁曾考验过的人，
33:9 也就是那些论及自己的父母说：我没有顾及他们，对自己的兄弟不加重视，对自己的子女也漠不关心的人!他们只遵守你的话，持守你的盟约。
33:10 他们要将你的诫命教给雅各伯，将你的法律授给以色列；在你面前献上馨香，在祭坛上献上全燔祭。
33:11 上主!愿你降福他的勇力，悦纳他手中的作为；对反抗他的人，愿你打断他们的腰，使恼恨他的人，再也不得起立!」
33:12 论及本雅明说：「上主所钟爱的，他必安居乐业；至高者日日庇护他，住在他两肩之间。」
33:13 论及若瑟说：「愿他的地蒙受上主的降福!愿天上甘露，地下深藏的渊泉，
33:14 因太阳而出产的美果，靠月亮而出产的宝物，
33:15 太古山岳的珍品，永恒丘陵的美物，
33:16 地上的宝物及其富藏，以及住在荆棘丛中者的恩惠，都临到若瑟头上，降在兄弟中为首者的头顶上!
33:17 他的健壮有如头胎的公牛，他的双角象是野牛的双角，用以抵触万民，直到地极。这是厄弗辣因的万军，即是默纳协的劲旅。」
33:18 论及则步隆说：「则步隆!你要在旅途中喜乐；至于你、依撒加尔!你要在帐幕内欢乐。
33:19 他们要邀请人民上山，在那里奉献应献的祭祀，因为他们要吸收海洋的富饶，沙中潜藏的珠宝。」
33:20 论及加得说：「那使加得扩张的，应受赞美!他卧下仿佛一只母狮，撕裂了人的手臂和头颅。
33:21 他为自己选取了为首的一分，因为那原是为首领保留的一分。他走在人民之前，执行了上主的法令，和他对以色列的旨意。」
33:22 论及丹说：「丹好似由巴商跳出的幼狮。」
33:23 论及纳斐塔里说：「纳斐塔里，饱受恩爱，充满上主的降福，海和南部将是他的产业。」
33:24 论及阿协尔说：「众子中最受降福的是阿协尔；愿他获得兄弟的恩待，在油中洗脚!
33:25 愿你有铜铁的门闩；愿你一生获享安宁!」
33:26 没有一个象耶叔戎的天主的，他腾空驾云，在威严中来援助你。
33:27 亘古的天主是你的避难所，他永远的手臂是你的支柱；他由你面前驱走了敌人，是他向你下命说：毁灭罢!
33:28 因此，以色列能以安居乐业，雅各伯的后裔定居在产粮出酒之地，天也从上降下甘露。
33:29 以色列，你真是有福的；为上主所拯救的人民，有谁相似你﹖他是你护身的盾牌，是使你胜利的刀剑。你的仇敌必将奉承你，而你却要践踏他们的背脊。
第三十四章(12)
梅瑟逝世
34：1 梅瑟由摩阿布旷野上了乃波山，上到耶里哥对面的丕斯加峰，上主就将全地指给他看：即由基肋阿得直到丹，
34：2
纳斐塔里和厄弗辣因及默纳协全地，直达西海的犹大全境，
34：3
乃革布和棕榈城的耶里哥山谷盆地，直到左哈尔。
34：4
上主对他说：「这就是我对亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯誓许说我要给你後裔的土地。我让你亲眼看见，但你不能过去。」
34：5
上主的仆人梅瑟遂死在那 ，按上主所预定的，死在摩阿布地。
34：6
上主将他葬在摩阿布地，面对贝特培敖尔的一个山谷内；直到今日没有人知道埋葬他的地方。
34：7
梅瑟死时，已一百二十岁；他的眼睛未花，精力也未衰退。
34：8
以色列子民在摩阿布旷野哀悼了梅瑟叁十日。为梅瑟举哀的日期满了，
34：9
农的儿子若苏厄，因梅瑟曾按手在他身上，充满了智慧之神；为此，以色列子民都听从他，全照上主向梅瑟所吩咐的去行。
34：10
以後在以色列中，再没有兴起一位像梅瑟一样的先知，与上主面对面地来往；
34：11
至於上主派他在埃及地，向法郎，和他的一切臣仆，并向他全地所行的一切神迹和奇迹，
34：12
以及他在全以色列眼前所行的一切大能作为，和一切令人畏惧的大事，也没有人能与他相比。
BOOK ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 1
1. INTRODUCTORY
DISCOURSES
A. THE FIRST
DISCOURSE OF MOSES
Its time and place
1:1 These are the words spoken
beyond Jordan to the whole of Israel. (In the wilderness, in the Arabah facing
Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.
1:2 It is eleven day's march
from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.)[*a]
1:3 It was in the fortieth
year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses spoke to the sons of
Israel as Yahweh had ordered.
1:4 He had defeated Sihon king
of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived at
Ashtaroth and Edrei.
1:5 There, in the land of Moab
beyond the Jordan, Moses set himself to expound this Law. He said:
The final
Instructions at Horeb
1:6 'Yahweh our God said to us
at Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
1:7 Move or from here,
continue your journey, go to the highlands of the Amorites, to those who make
their home in the Arabah, in the highlands, in the lowlands, in the Negeb and
in the coastland; go into the land of Canaan and to Lebanon as far as the great
river Euphrates.
1:8 This is the land I have
made over to you; go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to give
to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to their descendants after
them."
1:9 'It was then that I told
you: I cannot carry the burden of you by myself.
1:10 Yahweh your God has
multiplied you, till now you are like the stars of heaven in number.
1:11 And Yahweh your God is
going to increase you a thousand times more, and bless you as he promised.
1:12 So how can I carry the
heavy burden of you and your bickerings, all by myself?
1:13 Bring me wise men, shrewd
and tested, out of each of your tribes, therefore, and I will make them your
leaders.
1:14 And you answered me,
"Your plan is a good one".
1:15 And so I selected tribal
leaders for you, wise[*b] men and tested, and appointed them to lead you:
captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens, and scribes for your tribes
too.
1:16 At that same time I told
your judges: You must give your brothers a fair hearing and see justice done
between a man and his brother or the stranger who lives with him.
1:17 You must be impartial in
judgement and give an equal hearing to small and great alike. Do not be afraid
of any man, for the judgement is God's. Should a case be too difficult, bring
it to me and I will hear it.
1:18 And I gave you directions
at that time for everything you were to do.
Kadesh: the
Israelites lose faith
1:19 'So we left Horeb and
came to the vast and terrible wilderness you have seen. We made for the
highlands of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God had ordered, and arrived at
Kadesh-barnea.
1:20 It was then that I said
to you: Now you have reached these Amorite highlands which Yahweh our God is
giving to us.
1:21 See, Yahweh your God has
made over this land to you. March in, take possession of it as Yahweh the God
of your fathers ordered you; do not be afraid or discouraged.
1:22 Then you all came to me
and said, "Let us send men ahead of us to explore the country; they will
report to us which way we must go and what towns we shall come to".
1:23 This seemed good advice
to me and I selected twelve of your men, one from each tribe.
1:24 These men made towards
the highlands and went up into them; they reached the Valley of Eshcol and
reconnoitred it.
1:25 They collected some of
the fruit of the country and brought it down to us; and they made us this
report, "It is a prosperous land that Yahweh our God has given us".
1:26 Yet you refused to go up
into it and you rebelled against the voice of Yahweh your God.
1:27 You grumbled in your
tents; "It is because he hates us" you said "that Yahweh brought
us out of the land of Egypt to put us under the power of the Amorites and so
destroy us.
1:28 What kind of place are we
making for? Our own brothers have made us lose heart: It is a people, they say,
bigger and stronger than we are; their cities are immense, with walls reaching
to the sky. And we saw Anakim there too."
1:29 'And I said to you: Do
not take fright, do not be afraid of them.
1:30 Yahweh your God goes in
front of you and will be fighting on your side as you saw him fight for you in
Egypt.
1:31 In the wilderness, too,
you saw him: how Yahweh carried you, as a man carries his child, all along the
road you travelled on the way to this place.
1:32 But for all this, you put
not faith in Yahweh your God,
1:33 who had gone in front of
you on the journey to find you a camping ground, by night in the fire to light
your path, by day in the cloud.
Yahweh's
instructions at Kadesh
1:34 'Yahweh heard this talk
of yours and, in his anger, took this oath,
1:35 "Not one of these
men, this perverse generation, shall see the rich land that I swore to give to
your fathers,
1:36 except Caleb son of
Jephunneh. He shall see it. To him and to his sons I will give the land he has
set foot on, for he has followed Yahweh in all things".
1:37 Yahweh was angry with me
too, on your account. "You shall not go in either" he said.
1:38 "Your servant Joshua
son of Nun, he shall be the one to enter. Give him encouragement, for it is he
who shall bring Israel to take possession of the land.
1:39 But your little ones who,
you said, would be seized as booty, these children of yours who do not yet know
good from evil, these shall go in there; I will give it to them and they shall
possess it.
1:40 As for you, turn round,
go back into the wilderness, in the direction of the Sea of Suph."
1:41 'You answered me then,
"We have sinned against Yahweh our God. We will go up and fight as Yahweh
our God has ordered us." And each one of you buckled on his arms and
blithely marched up into the highlands.
1:42 But Yahweh said to me,
"Tell them this: Do not go up and fight. I am not among you. You will be
defeated by your enemies."
1:43 And I did tell you, but
you would not listen, and you rebelled against the voice of Yahweh: you still
dared to go up into the highlands.
1:44 The Amorites, who live in
that country of hills, came swarming out against you like bees, pursued you and
struck you down in Seir and as far away as Hormah.
1:45 And when you returned you
shed tears in the presence of Yahweh, but he did not listen to your cries and
paid no heed to you.
1:46 For many a day you had to
stay at Kadesh, your full tally of days.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 2
Israel's relations
with Edom and Moab
2:1 'We turned round,
therefore, and made for the wilderness, in the direction of the Sea of Suph, as
Yahweh had ordered me. For many days we wandered about the highlands of Seir.
2:2 Yahweh then said to me,
2:3 "You have wandered
long enough in these highlands. Go north.
2:4 And give the people this
order: You are about to pass through the territory of your kinsmen, the sons of
Esau who live in Seir. They are frightened of you; but take care
2:5 not to provoke them. For I
will give you none of their land, no, not so much as a foot's length of it. I
have given the highlands of Seir to Esau as his domain.
2:6 Pay them in money for what
food you eat; and pay them in money for all the water you drink.
2:7 Yahweh your God has
blessed you in all you do; he has watched over your journeying through this
vast wilderness. Yahweh your God has been with you these forty years and you
have never been in want."
2:8 'So we passed beyond those
kinsmen of ours, the sons of Esau who live in Seir, by the Arabah and Elath and
Ezion-geber road; then, changing direction, we took the road towards the
wilderness of Moab.
2:9 And Yahweh said to me,
"Make no attack on Moab and do not provoke him to fight, for I will give
you
none of his land. I have given
Ar into the possession of the sons of Lot.'
2:10 (At one time the Emim
lived there, a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim;[*a]
2:11 and, like the Anakim,
they were accounted Rephaim, though the Moabites call them Emim.
2:12 The Horites,[*b] too,
lived in Seir at one time; these, however, were dispossessed and exterminated
by the sons of Esau who settled there in place of them, just as Israel did in
their own land, the heritage they received from Yahweh.)
2:13 'Forward, then! Cross the
wadi Zered!"
The arrival in
Transjordania
'And so we crossed the wadi
Zered.
2:14 Now from Kadesh-barnea to
the wadi Zered our wanderings had taken thirty-eight years, so that the whole
generation of men fit for war was lost to the camp, as Yahweh had sworn to
them.
2:15 The hand of Yahweh fell
upon them in the camp until they had perished entirely.
2:16 When all the men fit for
war had been carried off by death from among the people, down to the last man,
2:17 Yahweh said this to me,
2:18 "You are now about to
cross Ar, the land of Moab,
2:19 and to approach the
frontier of the sons of Ammon. Make no attack on them and do not provoke them,
for I will give you none of the land belonging to the sons of Ammon. I have
given it to the sons of Lot as their domain.'
2:20 (This also was accounted
a land of Rephaim; at one time the Rephaim lived there, though the Ammonites
call them Zamzummim,
2:21 a great and numerous
people, tall as the Anakim. Yahweh exterminated them before the advancing
Ammonites who dispossessed them and settled there in place of them,
2:22 just as he had
exterminated the Horites in front of the sons of Esau who live in Seir, so that
they dispossessed them and settled there in place of them and are still there
now.
2:23 It was the same with the
Avvites who had their encampments as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, coming from
Caphtor,[*c] exterminated them, settling there in place of them.)
2:24 'Break camp, set out and
cross the wadi Arnon. See, I am putting Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, at
your mercy, and his country too. Set about the conquest; engage him in battle.
2:25 Today and henceforth I
spread the terror and fear of you among the peoples under all heaven: all who
hear the sound of your coming will tremble and be in dread."
The conquest of
Sihon's kingdom
2:26 'So from the wilderness
of Kedemoth I sent envoys to Sihon king of Heshbon with this message of peace:
2:27 I mean to pass through
your land. I shall go my way, straying neither right nor left.
2:28 What food I eat, sell me
in return for money; and I will pay for all the water I drink. Only give me
leave to march through, just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir gave me
leave,
2:29 and the Moabites who live
in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to
us.
2:30 'But Sihon king of
Heshbon would not give us leave to pass through his land: Yahweh your God has
made his spirit obstinate and his heart stubborn, so as to leave him at your
mercy, as he still is.
2:31 And Yahweh said to me,
"You see, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Set
about the conquest; seize his land."
2:32 Sihon then, with all his
people, marched out against us to give battle at Jahaz.
2:33 And Yahweh our God
delivered him over to us: we defeated him, with his sons and all his people.
2:34 Then we captured all his
cities and laid whole towns under ban, men, women, children; we spared nothing
2:35 but the livestock which
we took as our spoil, as also the plunder from the towns we captured.
2:36 From Aroer on the height
above the wadi Arnon, and from the town at the bottom of the ravine, as far as
Gilead, not one town was beyond our reach; Yahweh our God delivered them all
over to us.
2:37 The country of the
Ammonites alone you did not go near, neither the region of wadi Jabbok nor the
towns of the hill country, nor anywhere forbidden us by Yahweh our God.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 3
The end of the stay
in Transjordania
3:1 'We then turned in the
direction of Bashan and went up there. And Og king of Bashan marched out
against us, he and all his people, to give battle at Edrei.
3:2 And Yahweh said to me,
"Do not be afraid of him, for I have put him at your mercy, with all his
people and his land. Deal with him as you dealt with Sihon the king of the
Amorites who lives in Heshbon."
3:3 So Yahweh our God put Og
king of Bashan at our mercy too, with all his people. We struck him down and
not a thing remained to him.
3:4 We captured all his towns
at that time; there was not a town of theirs we did not take: sixty towns, the
whole confederation of Argob, Og's capital in Bashan,
3:5 all strongholds enclosed
in high walls and fortified with gates and bars, not to mention the
Perizzite[*a] towns, which were very many.
3:6 We laid them under ban as
we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, laying the whole town, men, women,
children, under the ban;
3:7 but we seized the
livestock and the spoil from these towns as our plunder.
3:8 'So at that time we took
the land of the two Amorite kings beyond Jordan, from the wadi Arnon to Mount
Hermon
3:9 (the Sidonians call Hermon
Sirion and the Amorites call it Senir):
3:10 all the towns of the
tableland, all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, the capital
cities of Og in Bashan.
3:11 (Og king of Bashan was
the last survivor of the Rephaim; his bed was the bed of iron[*b] that can be
seen at Rabbah-of-the-Ammonites, nine cubits long and four wide, in the common
cubit.)
3:12 'At that time, therefore,
we occupied this land, onwards from Aroer on the wadi Arnon. To Reuben and Gad
I gave half the highlands of Gilead with its towns.
3:13 To the half-tribe of
Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and the whole of Bashan, Og's kingdom. (The
whole confederation of Argob and the whole of Bashan is called the country of
the Rephaim.
3:14 Since Jair son of
Manasseh occupied the whole confederation of Argob as far as the frontiers of
the Geshurites and Maacathites, he gave his name to those towns that are still
called the Encampments of Jair.)
3:15 To Machir I gave Gilead.
3:16 To the Reubenites and the
Gadites I gave the region from Gilead to the wadi Arnon, the middle of the
ravine marking the boundary, and up as far as the Jabbok, the wadi marking the
frontier of the Ammonites.
3:17 The Arabah and the Jordan
serve as frontiers from Chinnereth down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt
Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
The last
instructions of Moses
3:18 'Then I gave you this
command: Yahweh your God has given you this land for your own. All you fighting
men must take up arms and march at the head of your brothers, the sons of
Israel.
3:19 Only your wives, your
children and your flocks (you have many flocks, I know) shall stay behind in
the towns I have given you,
3:20 until such time as Yahweh
settles your brothers as he has settled you, and they too occupy the land that
Yahweh your God is giving them beyond the Jordan; then you shall return, each
to the domain I have given you.
3:21 I then gave Joshua this
order: You can see with your own eyes all that Yahweh has done to these two
kings; Yahweh will do the same to all the kingdoms through which you pass.
3:22 Do not be afraid of them:
Yahweh your God himself is fighting for you.
3:23 'And I pleaded then with
Yahweh.
3:24 My Lord Yahweh, I said,
you that have begun to reveal your greatness and your power to your servant,
you whose works and mighty deeds no one in heaven or on earth can rival,
3:25 may I not go across and
see this prosperous land beyond the Jordan, this prosperous country of hills,
and Lebanon?
3:26 But because of you,
Yahweh was angry with me and would take no notice of me. "Enough!" he
said "Speak to me no more of this.
3:27 Climb to the top of
Pisgah; let your eyes turn towards the west, the north, the south, the east.
Look well, for across this Jordan you shall not go.
3:28 Give Joshua your
instructions; encourage him, strengthen him; for it is he who shall go across
at the head of his people; it is he who shall put them in possession of the
land that you will see."
3:29 'So we stayed in the
valley close to Beth-peor
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 4
The apostasy at
Peor. Where true wisdom lies
4:1 'And now, Israel, take
notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe them, that
you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that Yahweh the
God of your fathers is giving you.
4:2 You must add nothing to
what I command you, and take nothing from it, but keep the commandments of
Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you.
4:3 You can see with your own
eyes what Yahweh has done at Baal-peor; all the followers of the Baal of Peor
have been wiped out from among you by Yahweh your God;
4:4 but all of you who stayed
faithful to Yahweh your God are still alive today.
4:5 See, as Yahweh my God has
commanded me, I teach you the laws and customs that you are to observe in the
land you are to enter and make your own.
4:6 Keep them, observe them,
and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and understanding. When
they come to know of all these laws they will exclaim, "No other people is
as wise and prudent as this great nation".
4:7 And indeed, what great
nation is there that has its gods so near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever
we call to him?
4:8 And what great nation is
there that has laws and customs to match this whole Law that I put before you
today?
The revelation at
Horeb; its demands
4:9 'But take care what you do
and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor let
them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather, tell them to your
children and to your children's children.
4:10 The day you stood at
Horeb in the presence of Yahweh your God, Yahweh said to me, "Call the
people round me that I may let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear
me all the days they live on earth, and teach this to their children".
4:11 So you came and stood at
the foot of the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a sky
darkened by cloud, murky and thunderous.
4:12 Then Yahweh spoke to you
from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words but saw no shape,
there was only a voice.
4:13 And Yahweh revealed his
covenant to you and commanded you to observe it, the Ten Sayings which he
inscribed on two tablets of stone.
4:14 He ordered me then to
teach you the laws and customs that you were to observe in the land towards
which you are going to make it your own.[*a]
4:15 'Take great care what you
do, therefore: since you saw no shape on that day at Horeb when Yahweh spoke to
you from the midst of the fire,
4:16 see that you do not act
perversely, making yourselves a carved image in the shape of anything at all:
whether it be in the likeness of man or of woman,
4:17 or of any beast on the
earth, or of any bird that flies in the heavens,
4:18 or of any reptile that
crawls on the ground, or of any fish in the waters under the earth.
4:19 When you raise your eyes
to heaven, when you see the sun, the moon, the stars, all the array of heaven,
do not be tempted to worship them and serve them. Yahweh your God has allotted
them to all the peoples under heaven,
4:20 but as for you, Yahweh
has taken you, and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be
a people all his own, as you still are today.
Of punishment to
come, and of conversion
4:21 'Yahweh has been angry
with me on your account; he has sworn that I shall not cross the Jordan or
enter the prosperous land which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.
4:22 Yes, I am to die in this
country; I shall not go across this Jordan; you will go over and take
possession of that rich land.
4:23 Take care therefore not
to forget the covenant which Yahweh your God has made with you, by making a
carved image of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden you;
4:24 for Yahweh your God is a
consuming fire, a jealous God.
4:25 'When you have begotten
children and grandchildren and you have lived long in the land, if you act
perversely, making a carved image in one shape or another, doing what
displeases Yahweh and angers him,
4:26 on that day I will call
heaven and earth to witness against you; and at once you will vanish from the
land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live there
long; you shall be utterly destroyed.
4:27 Yahweh will scatter you
among the peoples, and only a small number of you will remain among the nations
where Yahweh will have driven you.
4:28 There you will pay
service to gods that human hands have made, of wood and of stone, that cannot
see or hear, eat or smell.
4:29 'But you will seek Yahweh
your God from there, and if you seek him with all your heart and with all your
soul, you shall find him.
4:30 In your distress, all
that I have said will overtake you, but at the end of days[*b] you will return
to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice.
4:31 For Yahweh your God is a
merciful God and will not desert or destroy you or forget the covenant he made
on oath with your fathers.
The splendour of
the divine election
4:32 'Put this question, then,
to the ages that are past, that went before you, from the time God created man
on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the
other? Was anything ever heard?
4:33 Did ever a people hear
the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you heard
it, and remain alive?
4:34 Has any god ventured to
take to himself one nation from the midst of another by ordeals, signs,
wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors - all
this that Yahweh your God did for you before your eyes in Egypt?
4:35 This he showed you so
that you might know that Yahweh is God indeed and that there is no other.
4:36 He let you hear his voice
out of heaven for your instruction; on earth he let you see his great fire, and
from the heart of the fire you heard his word.
4:37 Because he loved your
fathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out from Egypt,
openly showing his presence and his great power,
4:38 driving out in front of
you nations greater and more powerful than yourself, and brought you into their
land to give it you for your heritage, as it is still today.
4:39 Understand this today,
therefore, and take it to heart: Yahweh is God indeed, in heaven above as on
earth beneath, he and no other.
4:40 Keep his laws and
commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children may
prosper and live long in the land that Yahweh your God gives you for ever.'
B. THE SECOND
DISCOURSE OF MOSES
Its time and place
4:41 Then Moses set apart
three cities to the east, beyond the Jordan,
4:42 where a man might find
refuge who had killed his fellow unwittingly and with no previous feud against
him: by taking flight to one of these cities he could save his life.
4:43 These were, for the
Reubenites, Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland; for the Gadites, Ramoth
in Gilead; for the Manassites, Golan in Bashan.
4:44 This is the Law which
Moses put before the sons of Israel.
4:45 These are the decrees and
laws and customs that Moses proclaimed to the sons of Israel when they came out
of Egypt,
4:46 beyond the Jordan in the
valley near Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the Amorite king who lived at
Heshbon. Moses and the sons of Israel had defeated him when they came out of
Egypt,
4:47 and had taken possession
of his land and of the land of Og king of Bashan - two kings of the Amorites to
the east beyond the Jordan,
4:48 from Aroer on the height
above the wadi Arnon as far as Mount Sirion (which is Hermon) -
4:49 and of all the Arabah
east of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes
of Pisgah.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 5
5:1 Moses called the whole of
Israel together and said to them:
The Ten
Commandments
'Listen, Israel, to the laws
and customs that I proclaim in your hearing today. Learn them and take care to
observe them.
5:2 'Yahweh our God made a
covenant with us at Horeb.
5:3 It was not with our
fathers that Yahweh made this covenant, but with us, with us who are here, all
living today.
5:4 On the mountain, from the
heart of the fire, Yahweh spoke to you face to face,
5:5 and I stood all the time
between Yahweh and yourselves to tell you of Yahweh's words, for you were
afraid of the fire and had not gone up the mountain. He said:
5:6 "I am Yahweh your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
5:7 "You shall have no
gods except me.
5:8 "You shall not make
yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth
beneath or in the waters under the earth;
5:9 you shall not bow down to
them or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish the
fathers' fault in the sons, the grandsons and the great-grandsons of those who
hate me;
5:10 but I show kindness to
thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.
5:11 "You shall not utter
the name of Yahweh your God to misuse it, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished
the man who utters his name to misuse it.
5:12 "Observe the Sabbath
day and keep it holy, as Yahweh your God has commanded you.
5:13 For six days you shall
labour and do all your work,
5:14 but the seventh day is a
Sabbath for Yahweh your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor
your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your ox nor
your donkey nor any of your animals, nor the stranger who lives with you. Thus
your servant, man or woman, shall rest as you do.
5:15 Remember that you were a
servant in the land of Egypt, and that Yahweh your God brought you out from
there with mighty hand and outstretched arm; because of this, Yahweh your God
has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
5:16 "Honour your father
and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that you may have
long life and may prosper in the land that Yahweh your God gives to you.
5:17 "You shall not kill.
5:18 "You shall not
commit adultery.
5:19 "You shall not
steal.
5:20 "You shall not bear
false witness against your neighbour.
5:21 "You shall not covet
your neighbour's wife, you shall not set your heart on his house, his field,
his servant - man or woman - his ox, his donkey or anything that is his."
5:22 'These are the words
Yahweh spoke to you when you were all assembled on the mountain. With a great
voice he spoke to you from the heart of the fire, in cloud and thick darkness.
He added nothing, but wrote them on two tablets of stone which he gave to me.
Moses the mediator
5:23 'Now when you had heard
this voice coming out of the darkness, while the mountain was all on fire, you
came to me, all of you, heads of tribes and elders,
5:24 and said, "See how
Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness and we have heard his
voice from the middle of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak with
man and man still live.
5:25 Why should we die now,
when this great fire is ready to devour us, and when we are sure to perish if
we hear the voice of Yahweh our God a second time?
5:26 For what creature of
flesh could possibly live after hearing, as we have heard, the voice of the
living God speaking from the heart of the fire?
5:27 You, then, go near and
hear everything Yahweh our God will say and tell us all that Yahweh our God
says to you; we will listen and observe it."
5:28 'Yahweh heard the words
you spoke to me, and he said to me, "I have heard this people's words. All
they have spoken is well said.
5:29 If only their heart were
always so, set on the fear of me and the keeping of my commandments, so that
they and their children might prosper for ever!
5:30 Go and say to them:
Return to your tents.
5:31 But you will stand here
by me and I shall tell you all the commandments, the laws and the customs that
you must teach them, which they must observe in the land I am giving them for
their possession."
To love Yahweh is
the essence of the Law
5:32 'Keep this, observe it.
This is what Yahweh our God has commanded you. Stray neither to right nor to
left.
5:33 Follow the whole way that
Yahweh has marked for you and you shall live, you shall prosper and shall live
long in the land you are to possess.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 6
6:1 These then are the
commandments, the laws and the customs[*a] which Yahweh your God has instructed
me to teach you that you may observe them in the land which you are going to
make your own.
6:2 Thus, if you fear Yahweh
your God all the days of your life and if you keep all his laws and
commandments which I lay on you, you will have a long life, you and your son
and your grandson.
6:3 Listen then, Israel, keep
and observe what will make you prosper and give you great increase, as Yahweh
the God of your fathers has promised you, giving you a land where milk and
honey flow.
6:4 'Listen, Israel: Yahweh
our God is the one Yahweh.
6:5 You shall love Yahweh your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.
6:6 Let these words I urge on
you today be written on your heart.
6:7 You shall repeat them to
your children and say them over to them whether at rest in your house or
walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising;
6:8 you shall fasten them on
your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a circlet;
6:9 you shall write them on
the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
6:10 'When Yahweh has brought
you into the land which he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that
he would give you, with great and prosperous cities not of your building,
6:11 houses full of good
things not furnished by you, wells you did not dig, vineyards and olives you
did not plant, when you have eaten these and had your fill,
6:12 then take care you do not
forget Yahweh who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery.
6:13 You must fear Yahweh your
God, you must serve him, by his name you must swear.
An appeal for
loyalty
6:14 'Do not follow other
gods, gods of the peoples round you,
6:15 for Yahweh your God who
dwells among you is a jealous God; his anger could blaze out against you and
wipe you from the face of the earth.
6:16 Do not put Yahweh your
God to the test as you tested him at Massah.
6:17 Keep the commandments of
Yahweh your God and his decrees and laws that he has laid down for you,
6:18 and do what is right and
good in the eyes of Yahweh so that you may prosper and take possession of the
rich land which Yahweh swore to give to your fathers,
6:19 driving out your enemies
before you; this was the promise of Yahweh.
6:20 'In times to come, when
your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the decrees and laws and
customs that Yahweh our God has laid down for you?"
6:21 you shall tell your son,
"Once we were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out of
Egypt by his mighty hand.
6:22 Before our eyes Yahweh
worked great and terrible signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and
all his House.
6:23 And he brought us out
from there to lead us into the land he swore to our fathers he would give to
us.
6:24 And Yahweh commanded us
to observe all these laws and to fear Yahweh our God, so as to be happy for
ever and to live, as he has granted us to do until now.
6:25 For us right living will
mean this: to keep and observe all these commandments before Yahweh our God as
he has directed us."
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 7
Israel a people
apart
7:1 'When Yahweh your God has
led you into the land you are entering to make your own, many nations will fall
before you: Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites
and Jebusites,[*a] seven nations greater and stronger than yourselves.
7:2 Yahweh your God will deliver
them over to you and you will conquer them. You must lay them under ban. You
must make no covenant with them nor show them any pity.
7:3 You must not marry with
them: you must not give a daughter of yours to a son of theirs, nor take a
daughter of theirs for a son of yours,
7:4 for this would turn away
your son from following me to serving other gods and the anger of Yahweh would
blaze out against you and soon destroy you.
7:5 Instead, deal with them
like this: tear down their altars, smash their standing-stones, cut down their
sacred poles and set fire to their idols.
7:6 For you are a people
consecrated to Yahweh your God; it is you that Yahweh our God has chosen to be
his very own people out of all the peoples on the earth.
God's election and
his favour
7:7 'If Yahweh set his heart
on you and chose you, it was not because you out-numbered other peoples: you
were the least of all peoples.
7:8 It was for love of you and
to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that Yahweh brought you out with his
mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the power of
Pharaoh king of Egypt.
7:9 Know then that Yahweh your
God is God indeed, the faithful God who is true to his covenant and his
graciousness for a thousand generations towards those who love him and keep his
commandments,
7:10 but who punishes in their
own persons those that hate him. He is not slow to destroy the man who hates
him; he makes him work out his punishment in person.
7:11 You are therefore to keep
and observe the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I lay down for
you today.
7:12 'Listen to these
ordinances, be true to them and observe them, and in return Yahweh your God
will be true to the covenant and the kindness he promised your fathers
solemnly.
7:13 He will love you and
bless you and increase your numbers; he will bless the fruit of your body and
the produce of your soil, your corn, your wine, your oil, the issue of your
cattle, the young of your flock, in the land he swore to your fathers he would
give you.
7:14 You will be more blessed
than all peoples. No man or woman among you shall be barren, no male or female
of your beasts infertile.
7:15 Yahweh will keep all
sickness far from you; he will not afflict you with those evil plagues of Egypt
which you have known, but will save them for all those who hate you.
7:16 'Devour, then, all these
peoples whom Yahweh your God delivers over to you, show them no pity, do not
serve their gods, for otherwise you would be ensnared.
The power of Yahweh
7:17 'You may say in your
heart, "These nations outnumber me; how shall I be able to dispossess
them?"
7:18 Do not be afraid of them:
remember how Yahweh your God dealt with Pharaoh and all Egypt,
7:19 the great ordeals your
own eyes have seen, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm
with which Yahweh your God has brought you out. So will Yahweh your God deal
with all the peoples whom you fear to face.
7:20 And what is more, Yahweh
your God will send hornets to destroy those who remain and hide from you.
7:21 'Do not be afraid of
them, for Yahweh your God is among you, a God who is great and terrible.
7:22 Little by little Yahweh
your God will destroy these nations before you; you will not be able to make an
end of them at once, or the wild beasts would grow too many for you.
7:23 But Yahweh your God will
deliver them over to you and will harass them until they are destroyed.
7:24 He will deliver their
kings into your hands and you will blot out their names from under heaven; none
shall withstand you, until you have destroyed them all.
7:25 'You must set fire to all
the carved images of their gods, not coveting the gold and silver that covers
them; take it and you will be caught in a snare: it is detestable to Yahweh
your God.
7:26 You must not bring any
detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will come under the ban too.
You must regard them as unclean and loathsome, for they are under the ban.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 8
The ordeal in the
wilderness
8:1 'All the commandments I
enjoin on you today you must keep and observe so that you may live and increase
in numbers and enter into the land that Yahweh promised on oath to your
fathers, and make it your own.
8:2 Remember how Yahweh your
God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and
know your inmost heart - whether you would keep his commandments or not.
8:3 He humbled you, he made
you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had
known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that
man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of Yahweh.
8:4 The clothes on your back
did not wear out and your feet were not swollen, all those forty years.
8:5 Learn from this that
Yahweh your God was training you as a man trains his child,
8:6 and keep the commandments
of Yahweh your God, and so follow his ways and reverence him.
The Promised Land
and its temptations
8:7 'But Yahweh your God is
bringing you into a prosperous land, a land of streams and springs, of waters
that well up from the deep in valleys and hills,
8:8 a land of wheat and
barley, of vines, of figs, of pomegranates, a land of olives, of oil, of honey,
8:9 a land where you will eat
bread without stint, where you will want nothing, a land where the stones are of
iron, where the hills may be quarried for copper.
8:10 You will eat and have all
you want and you will bless Yahweh your God in the rich land he has given you.
8:11 'Take care you do not
forget Yahweh your God, neglecting his commandments and customs and laws which
I lay on you today.
8:12 When you have eaten and
had all you want, when you have built fine houses to live in,
8:13 when you have seen your
flocks and herds increase, your silver and gold abound and all your possessions
grow great,
8:14 do not become proud of
heart. Do not then forget Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of slavery:
8:15 who guided you through
this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst;
who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock;
8:16 who in this wilderness
fed you with manna that your fathers had not known, to humble you and test you
and so make your future the happier.
8:17 Beware of saying in your
heart, "My own strength and the might of my own hand won this power for
me".
8:18 Remember Yahweh your God:
it was he who gave you this strength and won you this power, thus keeping the
covenant then, as today, that he swore to your fathers.
8:19 Be sure that if you
forget Yahweh your God, if you follow other gods, if you serve them and bow
down before them - I warn you today - you will most certainly perish.
8:20 Like the nations Yahweh
is to destroy before you, so you yourselves shall perish, for not having
listened to the voice of Yahweh your God.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 9
The victory comes
from Yahweh, not from Israel's merits
9:1 'Listen, Israel; today you
are about to cross the Jordan, to go and dispossess nations greater and
stronger than yourself, to capture great cities fortified to the sky.
9:2 A people great and tall,
these Anakim, as you know; you have heard the saying: Who can stand up to the
sons of Anak?
9:3 Be therefore sure today
that Yahweh your God himself will go in front of you, a devouring fire that
will destroy them, and he himself will subdue them for you; so you will
dispossess them and destroy them quickly as Yahweh has promised you.
9:4 Do not say in your heart,
when Yahweh your God has driven them before you, "It is for my own
goodness that Yahweh has brought me to possession of this land"; when it
is for their wickedness that Yahweh dispossesses these nations for you.
9:5 It is not for any goodness
or sincerity of yours that you are entering their land to possess it; no, it is
for the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh your God is dispossessing them
for you, and to keep the word that he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
9:6 Be in fact sure, then,
that it is not for any goodness of yours that Yahweh gives you this rich land
to possess, for you are a headstrong people.
Israel's conduct at
Horeb; Moses intercedes
9:7 'Remember; never forget
how you provoked Yahweh your God in the wilderness. From the day you came out
of the land of Egypt you have been rebels against Yahweh.
9:8 At Horeb you provoked
Yahweh, and Yahweh was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.
9:9 I had gone up the mountain
to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh was
making with you. I stayed forty days and forty nights on the mountain, eating
no bread, drinking no water.
9:10 Yahweh gave me the two
stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God, and all the words on them that
Yahweh had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day
of the Assembly.
9:11 At the end of the forty
days and forty nights, after he had given me the two tablets of stone, the
tablets of the covenant,
9:12 Yahweh said to me,
"Leave this place, go down quickly, for your people whom you brought out
of Egypt have broken faith. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out
for them; they have made themselves an idol of cast metal."
9:13 Then Yahweh said to me,
"I have seen this people, and what a headstrong people they are!
9:14 Let me destroy them, and
wipe out their name from under heaven, and make out of you a nation mightier
and greater than they."
9:15 'So I went down the
mountain again and it was blazing with fire, and in my hands were the two
tablets of the covenant.
9:16 And I looked and there
you were, you had been sinning against Yahweh your God. You had made yourself a
calf of cast metal; you had been quick to leave the way Yahweh marked out for
you.
9:17 I seized the two tablets
and with my two hands threw them down and broke them before your eyes.
9:18 Then I fell prostrate
before Yahweh; as before, I passed forty days and forty nights eating no bread
and drinking no water, for all the sin you had committed in doing what was
displeasing to Yahweh, thus arousing his anger.
9:19 For I was afraid of this
anger, of the fury which so roused Yahweh against you that he was ready to
destroy you. And once more Yahweh heard my prayer.
9:20 Yahweh was enraged with
Aaron too and was ready to destroy him, and I pleaded for Aaron also.
9:21 That work of sin, the
calf you had made, I took and burned and broke to pieces, and grinding it to
fine dust I threw its dust into the stream that comes down from the mountain.
Israel sins again.
A prayer of Moses
9:22 'At Taberah too and at
Massah and Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked Yahweh.
9:23 And when Yahweh wanted
you to leave Kadesh-barnea, saying, "Go up and take possession of the land
I have given you", you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God and
did not believe him or listen to his voice.
9:24 You have been rebels
against Yahweh from the day he first knew you.
9:25 'So I fell prostrate
before Yahweh and lay there these forty days and forty nights, for Yahweh had
said he would destroy you.
9:26 And I pleaded with
Yahweh. My Lord Yahweh, I said, do not destroy your people, your heritage whom
in your greatness you have redeemed, whom you have brought out of Egypt with
your mighty hand.
9:27 Remember your servants,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; take no notice of this people's stubbornness, their
wickedness, and their sin,
9:28 so that it may not be
said in the land from which you brought us, "Yahweh was not able to bring
them to the land he promised them. It was because he hated them that he brought
them out, to die in the wilderness."
9:29 But they are your people
and your heritage whom you brought out by your great power and your
outstretched arm.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 10
The ark of the
covenant; the choice of Levi
10:1 'Yahweh then said to me,
"Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me on the mountain.
Make an ark of wood;
10:2 on the tablets I shall
inscribe the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke, and you
will put them in the ark."
10:3 So I made an ark of
acacia wood, cut two stone tablets like the first and went up the mountain with
the two tablets in my hand.
10:4 And he inscribed the
tablets as he had inscribed them before with the Ten Sayings that Yahweh had
spoken to you on the mountain from the middle of the fire on the day of the
Assembly. Then Yahweh gave them to me.
10:5 I came down the mountain
again and put the tablets in the ark I had made, and there they stayed as
Yahweh had commanded me.
10:6 [*a]'The sons of Israel
left the wells of the Bene-jaakan for Moserah, where Aaron died; he was buried
there, and his son Eleazar succeeded him in the priesthood.
10:7 From there they set out
for Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah for Jotbathah, a land of water-streams.
10:8 Yahweh then set apart the
tribe of Levi to carry the ark of Yahweh's covenant, to stand in the presence
of Yahweh, to do him service and in his name to pronounce blessing as they
still do today.
10:9 Levi therefore has no
share or inheritance with his brothers: Yahweh is his inheritance, as Yahweh
your God told him.
10:10 'And I, as before,
stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. And again Yahweh heard my
prayer and agreed not to destroy you.
10:11 And Yahweh said to me,
"Now go on your way at the head of this people, that they may go and take
possession of the land I swore to their fathers I would give them".
Circumcision of the
heart
10:12 'And now, Israel, what
does Yahweh your God ask of you? Only this: to fear Yahweh your God, to follow
all his ways, to love him, to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and all
your soul,
10:13 to keep the commandments
and laws of Yahweh that for your good I lay down for you today.
10:14 'To Yahweh your God
belong indeed heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth and all it contains;
10:15 yet it was on your
fathers that Yahweh set his heart for love of them, and after them of all the
nations chose their descendants, you yourselves, up to the present day.
10:16 Circumcise your heart
then and be obstinate no longer;
10:17 for Yahweh your God is
God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, triumphant and terrible, never partial,
never to be bribed.
10:18 It is he who sees
justice done for the orphan and the widow, who loves the stranger and gives him
food and clothing.
10:19 Love the stranger then,
for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
10:20 It is Yahweh your God you
must fear and serve; you must cling to him; in his name take your oaths.
10:21 He it is you must
praise, he is your God: for you he has done these great and terrible things you
have seen with your own eyes;
10:22 and though your fathers
numbered only seventy when they went down to Egypt, Yahweh your God has made
you as many as the stars of heaven.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 11
Israel's lessons
11:1 'You must love Yahweh
your God and always keep his injunctions, his laws, his customs, his
commandments.
11:2 Mark, this day, how it
was you who received the instruction, not your sons. They have not known or
seen the lessons of Yahweh your God, his greatness, the might of his hand, the
strength of his arm,
11:3 the signs and the deeds
he performed in Egypt itself against Pharaoh and all his land;
11:4 what he did to the armies
of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, how he poured the waters of the
Sea of Reeds over them as they pursued you, leaving no trace of them to this
day;
11:5 what he did for you in the
wilderness before you reached this place;
11:6 what he did to Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, how, right in the midst of all Israel,
the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with their households, their
tents and all their retinue.
11:7 It is your eyes that have
seen all this great work that Yahweh has done.
Promises and
warnings
11:8 'You must keep all the
commandments I enjoin on you today, so that you may have the strength to
conquer the land into which you are to cross to make it your own,
11:9 and to live long in the
land which Yahweh swore to give to your fathers and their descendants, a land
where milk and honey flow.
11:10 'For the land which you
are to enter and make your own is not like the land of Egypt from which you
came, where you sowed your seed and watered it by tread[*a] like a vegetable
garden.
11:11 No, the land into which
you are to cross to make it your own is a land of hills and valleys watered by the
rain from heaven.
11:12 Yahweh your God takes
care of this land, the eyes of Yahweh your God are on it always, from the
year's beginning to its end.
11:13 And it is most sure that
if you faithfully obey the commandments I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh
your God and serving him with all your heart and all your soul,
11:14 "I will give your
land rain in season, autumn rain and spring, so that you may harvest your corn,
your wine, your oil;
11:15 I shall provide grass in
the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and have all you want".
11:16 Take care your heart is
not seduced, that you do not go astray, serving other gods and worshipping
them,
11:17 or the anger of Yahweh
will blaze out against you, he will shut up the heavens and there will be no
rain, the land will not yield its produce and you will quickly die in the
prosperous land that Yahweh is giving you.
Conclusion
11:18 'Let these words of mine
remain in your heart and in your soul; fasten them on your hand as a sign and
on your forehead as a circlet.
11:19 Teach them to your
children and say them over to them, whether at rest in your house or walking
abroad, at your lying down or at your rising.
11:20 Write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates,
11:21 so that you and your
children may live long in the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers he would
give them for as long as there is a sky above the earth.
11:22 For if you faithfully
keep and observe all these commandments that I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh
your God, following all his ways and clinging to him,
11:23 Yahweh will dispossess
all these nations for you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and more
powerful than yourselves.
11:24 Wherever the sole of
your foot treads shall be yours; your territory shall stretch from the
wilderness and from Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, to the
Western Sea.
11:25 No man will be able to
stand against you; Yahweh your God will make you feared and dreaded throughout
the land that you tread, just as he promised you.
11:26 'See, I set before you
today a blessing and a curse:
11:27 a blessing, if you obey
the commandments of Yahweh our God that I enjoin on you today;
11:28 a curse, if you disobey
the commandments of Yahweh your God and leave the way I have marked out for you
today, by going after other gods you have not known.
11:29 And when Yahweh your God
has brought you into the land which you are to enter and make your own, you
shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
11:30 These mountains, as you
know, are beyond the Jordan on the westward road, in the land of the Canaanites
who live in the Plain, opposite Gilgal, near the Oak of Moreh.
11:31 You shall indeed cross
the Jordan to enter and make the land your own that Yahweh your God is giving
you. You shall possess it and you shall live in it,
11:32 and you must keep and
observe all the laws and customs that I set before you today.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 12
II. THE
DEUTERONOMIC CODE
12:1 'Now these are the laws
and customs that you must keep and observe, in the land that Yahweh the God of
your fathers has granted you to possess, for as long as you live in that land.
A. RELIGIOUS
OBSERVANCES
The place of
worship
12:2 'You must destroy
completely all the places where the nations you dispossess have served their
gods, on high mountains, on hills, under any spreading tree;
12:3 you must tear down their
altars, smash their pillars, cut down their sacred poles, set fire to the
carved images of their gods and wipe out their name from that place.
12:4 'Not so are you to behave
towards Yahweh your God.
12:5 You must seek Yahweh your
God only in the place he himself will choose from among all your tribes, to set
his name there and give it a home.
12:6 There you shall bring
your holocausts and your sacrifices, your tithes, the offerings from your
hands, your votive offerings and your voluntary offerings, the first-born of
your herd and flock;
12:7 there you will eat in the
presence of Yahweh your God and be thankful for all that your hands have
presented, you and your households blessed by Yahweh your God.[*a]
12:8 'You must not act as we
do here today: every man does what seems right to him,
12:9 for as yet you have not
come to the resting place and the inheritance that Yahweh your God is giving
you.
12:10 You are about to cross
the Jordan and live in the land that Yahweh your God grants you to inherit; he
will give you relief from all the enemies that surround you, and you shall live
in security.
12:11 To the place chosen by
Yahweh your God as a home for his name, to that place you are to bring all that
I command you: your holocausts and your sacrifice, your tithes, the offerings
from your hands, and all the best of your possessions that you vow to Yahweh.
12:12 There you shall rejoice
in the presence of Yahweh your God, you and your sons and daughters, your
serving men and women, and the Levite who lives in your towns, since he has no
share or inheritance with you.
Regulations
concerning sacrifice
12:13 'Take care you do not
offer your holocausts in all the sacred places you see;
12:14 only in the place that
Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes may you offer your holocausts and do all I
command you.
12:15 'Still, whenever you
want you may slaughter and eat flesh in any of your towns, as much as the
blessing of Yahweh affords you. Clean or unclean may eat it, just as if it were
gazelle or deer.
12:16 Only you must not
consume the blood but pour it out like water on the ground.
12:17 'In your towns you may
not consume the tithes of your corn, your wine or your oil, or the first-born
of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings or voluntary offerings,
or anything your hands have presented.
12:18 You must eat these in
the presence of Yahweh your God in the place Yahweh your God chooses and there
alone, you and your son and daughter, your serving man or woman and the Levite
who lives in your towns. You shall rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God
over all that your hands have presented.
12:19 In your land take care
never to neglect the Levite.
12:20 'When Yahweh your God
enlarges your territory as he has promised you, and you say, "I should
like to eat meat", if you want to eat meat you may eat as much as you
like.
12:21 If the place in which
Yahweh your God chooses to set his name is too far away, you may slaughter any
of your herd or flock that Yahweh has given you in the way that I have laid
down for you; you may eat in your towns as much as you will.
12:22 But you must eat it as
you would gazelle or deer; clean or unclean alike may eat it.
12:23 Only take care not to
consume the blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life
with the flesh.
12:24 You must not consume it
but pour it out like water on the ground.
12:25 You must not consume it,
and then you and your sons after you will prosper, doing what is right in the
eyes of Yahweh.
12:26 But the holy things you
have and those you have vowed you must go and take to the place that Yahweh
chooses.
12:27 The holocaust of flesh
and blood you must offer on the altar of Yahweh your God; and, in your
sacrifices, the blood must be poured out on the altar of Yahweh your God; the
flesh you may eat yourselves.
12:28 Be faithful in keeping
all the instructions that I give you and obey them, so that you and your sons
after you may be happy for always, doing what is good and right in the eyes of
Yahweh your God.
Against Canaanite
cults
12:29 'When Yahweh your God
has annihilated in front of you the nations that you are to dispossess, and
when you have dispossessed them and made your home in their country,
12:30 be careful you are not
caught in a trap: do not imitate them once they have been destroyed in front of
you, or go enquiring after their gods, saying, "How did these nations
worship their gods? I will go and do the same."
12:31 This is not the way for
you to behave towards Yahweh your God. For Yahweh detests all this and hates
what they have done for their gods, even burning their sons and daughters in
the fire for their gods.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 13
13:1 <32 'All I command
you, you must keep and observe, adding nothing to it, taking nothing away.
Against the
enticements of idolatry
13:2 <1 'If a prophet or a
dreamer of dreams arises among you and offers to do a sign or a wonder for you,
13:3 <2 and the sign or
wonder comes about; and if he then says to you, "Come, then, let us follow
other gods (whom you have not known) and serve them",
13:4 <3 you are not to
listen to the words of that prophet or to the dreams of that dreamer. Yahweh
your God is testing you to know if you love Yahweh your God with all your heart
and all your soul.
13:5 <4 Yahweh your God you
shall follow, him you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice
you shall obey, him shall you serve, to him shall you cling.
13:6 <5 That prophet or
that dreamer of dreams must be put to death, for he has preached apostasy from
Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from
the house of slavery, and he would have made you turn aside from the way that
Yahweh your God marked out for you. You must banish this evil from among you.
13:7 <6 'If your brother,
the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife
you cherish, or the friend with whom you share your life, if one of these
secretly tries to entice you, saying. "Come, let us serve other
gods", whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
13:8 <7 gods from among
those of the peoples far or near surrounding you, from one end of the earth to
the other,
13:9 <8 you must not give
way to him, nor listen to him, you must show him no pity, you must not spare
him, you must not conceal his guilt.
13:10 <9 No, you must kill
him; your hand is to be the first raised against him in putting him to death,
the hand of all the people will come next.
13:11 <10 You must stone
him to death, for he has tried to lure you away from Yahweh your God who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
13:12 <11 All Israel shall
hear of it and be afraid and never again commit such wickedness among you.
13:13 <12 'If you hear that
in one of the towns which Yahweh your God has given you for a home,
13:14 <13 there are men,
scoundrels from your own stock, who have led fellow citizens astray, saying
"Come, let us serve other gods" whom you have not known,
13:15 <14 it is your duty
to look into the matter, examine it, and inquire most carefully. If it is
proved and confirmed that such a hateful thing has taken place among you,
13:16 <15 then you must
kill all the inhabitants of that town without giving any quarter; you must lay
it under ban, the town and all it contains.
13:17 <16 You must gather
all the wealth of it in the public square, and set fire to the town and all its
goods, offering it all to Yahweh your God. It shall be a ruin for all time,
never to be built again.
13:18 <17 From what is thus
banned you must keep nothing back, so that Yahweh may turn from the ferocity of
his anger and show you mercy, and have pity on you and increase your numbers as
he swore to your fathers;
13:19 <18 that is, provided
you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping all the commandments of his
that I enjoin on you today, and doing what is right in the eyes of Yahweh your
God.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 14
Against an
idolatrous practice
14:1 'You are sons of Yahweh
your God. You must not gash yourselves or shave your foreheads for one who is
dead.[*a]
14:2 For you are a people
consecrated to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be his very own
people out of all the peoples on the earth.
Clean and unclean
animals
14:3 'You must eat nothing
that is detestable.
14:4 These are the animals you
may eat: ox, sheep, goat,
14:5 deer, gazelle, roebuck,
ibex, antelope, oryx, mountain sheep.
14:6 You may eat any animal
that has a divided and cloven hoof and that is a ruminant.
14:7 Of those, however, that
are ruminant and those that have a divided and cloven hoof you may not eat the
following: the camel, the hare and the hyrax, which are ruminant but have no cloven
hoof; you must hold them unclean.
14:8 So also the pig, which
though it has a cloven hoof is not ruminant; you must hold it unclean. You must
not eat the meat of such animals nor touch their dead bodies.
14:9 'Of all that lives in
water you may eat the following: whatever has fins and scales may be eaten.
14:10 But you must not eat
anything that has not fins and scales: you must hold it unclean.
14:11 'You may eat all clean
birds,
14:12 but the following birds
you must not eat: the tawny vulture, the griffon, the osprey,
14:13 the kite and the several
kinds of buzzard,
14:14 all kinds of raven,
14:15 the ostrich, the screech
owl, the seagull, the several kinds of hawk,
14:16 owl, barn owl, ibis,
14:17 pelican, white vulture,
cormorant,
14:18 stork, the several kinds
of heron, hoopoe and bat.
14:19 You are to hold all
winged insects to be unclean and must not eat them.
14:20 You may eat anything
winged that is clean.
14:21 'You must not eat any
animal that has died a natural death. You may give it for food to the alien who
lives in your towns, or sell it to a foreigner. 'You are not to boil a kid in
its mother's milk.
The annual tithe
14:22 'Every year you must
take a tithe of all that your sowing yields on the land,
14:23 and in the presence of
Yahweh your God, in the place he chooses to give his name a home, you are to
eat the tithe of your corn, your wine and your oil and the first-born of your
herd and flock; so shall you learn to fear Yahweh your God always.
14:24 'If the road is too long
for you, if you cannot bring your tithe because the place in which Yahweh
chooses to make a home for his name is too far, when Yahweh your God has
blessed you,
14:25 you must turn your tithe
into money, and with the money clasped in your hand you must go to the place
chosen by Yahweh;
14:26 there you may spend the
money on whatever you like, oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, anything your
heart desires. You are to eat there in the presence of Yahweh your God and
rejoice, you and your household.
14:27 Do not neglect the
Levite who lives in your towns, since he has no share or inheritance with you.
The third-year
tithe
14:28 'At the end of every
three years you must take all the tithes of your harvests for that year and
deposit them at your doors.
14:29 Then the Levite (since
he has no share or inheritance with you), the stranger, the orphan and the
widow who live in your towns may come and eat and have all they want. So shall
Yahweh your God bless you in all the work that your hands undertake.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 15
The sabbatical year
15:1 'At the end of every
seven years you must grant a remission.
15:2 Now the nature of the
remission is this: every creditor who holds the person of his neighbour in
bond[*a] must grant him remission; he may not exact payment from his fellow or
his brother once the latter appeals to Yahweh for remission.
15:3 From a foreigner you may
exact payment, but you must remit whatever claim you have on your brother.
15:4 Let there be no poor
among you then. For Yahweh will bless you in the land Yahweh your God gives you
for your inheritance
15:5 only if you pay careful
attention to the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping and observing all these
commandments that I enjoin on you today.
15:6 If Yahweh your God
blesses you as he promised, you will be creditors to many nations and debtors
to none; you will rule over many nations and be ruled by none.
15:7 Is there a poor man among
you, one of your brothers, in any town of yours in the land that Yahweh your
God is giving you? Do not harden your heart or close your hand against that
poor brother of yours,
15:8 but be open-handed with
him and lend him enough for his needs.
15:9 Do not allow this mean
thought in your heart, "The seventh year, the year of remission is
near", and look coldly on your poor brother and give him nothing; he could
appeal against you to Yahweh and it would be a sin for you.
15:10 When you give to him,
you must give with an open heart; for this Yahweh your God will bless you in
all you do and in all your giving.
15:11 Of course there will
never cease to be poor in the land; I command you therefore: Always be
open-handed with your brother, and with anyone in your country who is in need
and poor.
Slaves
15:12 'If your fellow Hebrew,
man or woman, is sold to you, he can serve you for six years. In the seventh
year you must set him free,
15:13 and in setting him free
you must not let him go empty-handed.
15:14 You must make him a
generous provision from your flock, your threshing-floor, your winepress; as Yahweh
your God has blessed you, so you must give to him.
15:15 Remember that you were a
slave in the land of Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you; that is why I
lay this charge on you today.
15:16 'But if he says to you,
"I do not want to leave you", if he loves you and your household and
is happy with you,
15:17 you are to take an awl
and drive it through his ear into the door and he shall be your servant for all
time. You are to do the same for your maidservant.
15:18 'Do not think it hard on
you to have to give him his freedom; he is worth twice the cost of a hired
servant and has served you for six years. So shall Yahweh your God bless you in
all you do.
The first-born
15:19 'You must consecrate
every first-born male from your herd and flock to Yahweh your God. You must not
put the first-born of your herd to work nor shear the first-born of your flock.
15:20 You are to eat it, you
and your household, each year, in the presence of Yahweh your God, in the place
Yahweh chooses.
15:21 If it has a blemish, if
it is lame or blind, or has any serious defect at all, you must not sacrifice
it to Yahweh your God.
15:22 You must eat it at home,
unclean and clean together, as you would gazelle or deer;
15:23 only you must not
consume the blood, but pour it out like water on the ground.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 16
The feasts:
Passover and Unleavened Bread
16:1 'Observe the month of
Abib and celebrate the Passover for Yahweh your God, because it was in the
month of Abib that Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
16:2 You must sacrifice a
Passover from your flock or herd for Yahweh your God in the place where Yahweh
chooses to give his name a home.
16:3 You must not eat leavened
bread with this; for seven days you must eat it with unleavened bread, the
bread of emergency, for it was in great haste that you came out of the land of
Egypt; so you will remember, all the days of your life, the day you came out of
the land of Egypt.
16:4 For seven days no leaven
must be found in any house throughout your territory, nor must any of the meat
that you sacrifice in the evening of the first day be kept overnight until
morning.
16:5 You may not sacrifice the
Passover in any of the towns that Yahweh your God gives you;
16:6 but only in the place
where Yahweh your God chooses to give his name a home, there you must sacrifice
the Passover, in the evening at sunset, at the hour at which you came out of
Egypt.
16:7 You must cook it and eat
it in the place Yahweh your God chooses, and in the morning you are to return
and go to your tents.
16:8 For six days you shall
eat unleavened bread; on the seventh day there shall be an assembly for Yahweh
your God; and you must do no work.
Other feasts
16:9 'You are to count seven
weeks, counting these seven weeks from the time you begin to put your sickle
into the standing corn.
16:10 You must then celebrate
the feast of weeks for Yahweh your God with the gift of a voluntary offering
from your hand in proportion to the way that Yahweh your God has blessed you.
16:11 You must rejoice in the
presence of Yahweh your God in the place where Yahweh your God chooses to give
his name a home, you and your son and daughter, your serving men and women, the
Levite who lives in your towns, the stranger, the orphan and the widow who live
among you.
16:12 Remember that you were a
slave in Egypt, and carefully observe these laws.
16:13 'You must celebrate the
feast of Tabernacles for seven days, at the time when you gather in the produce
of your threshing-floor and winepress.
16:14 You must rejoice at your
feast, you and your son and daughter, your serving men and women, the Levite,
the stranger, the orphan and the widow who live in your towns.
16:15 For seven days you are
to celebrate the feast for Yahweh your God in the place Yahweh chooses, for
Yahweh your God will bless you in all your harvest and all your handiwork, and
you will be filled with joy.
16:16 'Three times a year all
your menfolk are to appear before Yahweh your God in the place he chooses: at
the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, at the feast of
Tabernacles. No one must appear before Yahweh empty-handed,
16:17 but every man must give
what he can, in proportion to the blessing that Yahweh your God gives you.
Judges
16:18 'You are to appoint
judges and scribes in each of the towns that Yahweh is giving you, for all your
tribes; these must administer an impartial judgement to the people.
16:19 You must not pervert the
law; you must be impartial, you must take no bribes, for a bribe blinds wise
men's eyes and jeopardises the cause of the just.
16:20 Strict justice must be
your ideal, so that you may live in rightful possession of the land that Yahweh
your God is giving you.
Abuses in worship
16:21 'You must not plant a
sacred pole of any wood whatsoever beside the altar that you put up for Yahweh
your God;
16:22 nor must you set up a
standing-stone, a thing Yahweh your God would abhor.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 17
17:1 To Yahweh your God you
must sacrifice nothing from herd or flock that has any blemish or defect
whatsoever, for Yahweh your God holds this detestable.
17:2 'If there is anyone, man
or woman, among you in any of the towns Yahweh your God is giving you, who does
what is displeasing to Yahweh your God by violating his covenant,
17:3 who goes and serves other
gods and worships them, or the sun or the moon or any of heaven's array - a
thing I have forbidden -
17:4 and this person is
denounced to you; if after careful inquiry it is found true and confirmed that
this hateful thing has been done in Israel,
17:5 you must take the man or
woman guilty of this evil deed outside your city gates, and there you must
stone that man or woman to death.
17:6 A man may be put to death
only on the word of two witnesses or three; and no man may be put to death on
the word of one witness alone.
17:7 The witnesses shall be
the first to raise their hands against him in putting him to death, then all
the people shall follow. You must banish this evil from your midst.
Levitical judges
17:8 'If a case comes before
you which is too difficult for you, a case of murder, legal rights or assault,
or any dispute at all in your towns, you must make your way to the place Yahweh
your God chooses,
17:9 and approach the
levitical priests and the judge then in office. They will hold an inquiry and
give a decision for you.
17:10 You must abide by the
decision they pronounce for you in that place which Yahweh chooses, and you
must take care to carry out all their instructions.
17:11 You must abide by the
verdict they give you and by the decision they declare to you, swerving neither
right nor left of the sentence they have pronounced for you.
17:12 If anyone presumes to
disobey either the priest who is there in the service of Yahweh your God, or
the judge, that man must die. You must banish this evil from Israel.
17:13 And all the people shall
hear of it and be afraid and not act presumptuously a second time.
Kings
17:14 When you reach the land
that Yahweh your God gives you, and take possession of it and live there, if
you say to yourself, "I will appoint a king over me like all the
surrounding nations",
17:15 it must be a king of
Yahweh's choosing whom you appoint over you; it must be one from among your
brothers that is appointed king over you; you are not to give yourself a
foreign king who is no brother of yours.
17:16 'Ensure that he does not
increase the number of his horses, or make the people go back to Egypt to
increase his cavalry, for Yahweh said to you, "You must never go back that
way again".
17:17 Nor must he increase the
number of his wives, for that could lead his heart astray. Nor must he increase
his gold and silver excessively.
17:18 When he is seated on his
royal throne he must write a copy of this Law on a scroll for his own use at
the dictation of the Levitical priests.
17:19 It must never leave him
and he must read it every day of his life and learn to fear Yahweh his God by
keeping all the words of this Law and observing these laws.
17:20 So his heart will not
look down on his brothers and he will swerve neither right nor left from these
commandments. If he does this, he will have long days on his throne, he and his
sons, in Israel.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 18
The levitical
priesthood
18:1 'The levitical priests,
that is to say the whole of the tribe of Levi, shall have no share or
inheritance with Israel; they shall live on the foods offered to Yahweh and on
his dues.
18:2 This tribe is to have no
inheritance among their brothers; Yahweh will be their inheritance as he
promised them.
18:3 'These are the priests'
dues from the people, from those who offer an ox or a sheep in sacrifice: the
priest is to be given the shoulder, the cheeks and the stomach.
18:4 You must give him the
first-fruits of your corn, your wine, your oil, as well as the first of your
sheep's shearing.
18:5 For Yahweh your God has
chosen him out of all your tribes to stand before Yahweh your God, to do the
duties of the sacred ministry, and to bless in Yahweh's name, him and his sons
for all time.
18:6 'If the Levite living in
one of your towns anywhere in Israel decides to come to the place Yahweh
chooses,
18:7 he shall minister there
in the name of Yahweh his God like all his fellow Levites who stand ministering
there in the presence of Yahweh,
18:8 and shall eat equal
shares with them, no count being taken of the claims he has on the levitical
families for the goods he has sold.
Prophets
18:9 'When you come into the
land Yahweh your God gives you, you must not fall into the habit of imitating
the detestable practices of the natives.
18:10 There must never be
anyone among you who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, who practises
divination, who is soothsayer, augur or sorcerer,
18:11 who uses charms,
consults ghosts or spirits, or calls up the dead.
18:12 For the man who does
these things is detestable to Yahweh your God; it is because of these
detestable practices that Yahweh your God is driving these nations before you.
18:13 'You must be entirely
faithful to Yahweh your God.
18:14 For these nations whom
you are dispossessing may listen to soothsayers and diviners, but this is not
the gift that Yahweh your God gives to you:
18:15 Yahweh your God will
raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among yourselves, from your own
brothers; to him you must listen.
18:16 This is what you
yourselves asked of Yahweh your God at Horeb on the day of the Assembly.
"Do not let me hear again" you said "the voice of Yahweh my God,
nor look any longer on this great fire, or I shall die";
18:17 and Yahweh said to me,
"All they have spoken is well said.
18:18 I will raise up a
prophet like yourself for them from their own brothers; I will put my words
into his mouth and he shall tell them all I command him.
18:19 The man who does not
listen to my words that he speaks in my name, shall be held answerable to me
for it.
18:20 But the prophet who
presumes to say in my name a thing I have not commanded him to say, or who
speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die."
18:21 'You may say in your
heart, "How are we to know what word was not spoken by Yahweh?"
18:22 When a prophet speaks in
the name of Yahweh and the thing does not happen and the word is not fulfilled,
then it has not been spoken by Yahweh. The prophet has spoken with presumption.
You have nothing to fear from him.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 19
B. ON THE LAW OF
RETALIATION
Homicide and cities
of refuge
19:1 'When Yahweh your God has
annihilated the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you have
dispossessed them and you live in their towns and in their houses,
19:2 you are to set aside
three cities in the land Yahweh is giving you for your possession.
19:3 You must keep the
approaches to them in good order and divide into three parts the area of the
land Yahweh your God is giving into your possession, so that any homicide may
be able to find a refuge in them.
19:4 Here is the case of how a
man may save his life by taking refuge there. 'If anyone has struck his fellow
accidentally, not having any previous feud with him
19:5 (for example, he goes
with his fellow into the forest to cut wood; his arm swings the axe to fell a
tree; the head slips off the handle and strikes his companion dead), that man
may take refuge in one of these cities and save his life.
19:6 It must not be allowed
that the avenger of blood, in the heat of his anger, should pursue the killer
and that the length of the road should help him to overtake and fatally wound
him; for the man has not deserved to die, having had no previous feud with his
companion.
19:7 'I command you therefore:
You are to set aside three cities,
19:8 and if Yahweh your God
enlarges your territory, as he swore to your fathers he would, and gives you
the whole land he promised to give your fathers -
19:9 provided you keep and
observe all the commandments I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh your God and
always following his ways - then to those three cities you will add three more.
19:10 In this way, innocent
blood will not be shed in the land Yahweh your God gives for your inheritance;
otherwise there would be blood-guilt on you.
19:11 'But if it happens that
a man has a feud with his fellow and lies in wait for him and falls on him and
wounds him fatally and he dies, and the man takes refuge in one of these
cities,
19:12 the elders of his own
town shall send to have him seized and hand him over to the avenger of blood to
die.
19:13 You are to show him no
pity. You must banish the shedding of innocent blood from Israel, and then you
will prosper.
Boundaries
19:14 'You must not displace
your neighbour's boundary mark, set by your forbears, in the inheritance you
receive in the land Yahweh is giving into your possession.
Witnesses
19:15 'A single witness cannot
suffice to convict a man of a crime or offence of any kind; whatever the
misdemeanour, the evidence of two witnesses or three is required to sustain the
charge.
19:16 'If a malicious witness
appears against a man to accuse him of rebellion,
19:17 both parties to this
dispute before Yahweh must be brought before the priests and judges then in
office.
19:18 The judges must make a
careful inquiry, and if it turns out that the witness who accused his brother
is a lying witness,
19:19 you must deal with him
as he would have dealt with his brother. You must banish this evil from your
midst.
19:20 Others will hear of it
and be afraid and never again do such an evil thing among you.
19:21 You are to show no pity.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 20
The 'lex talionis'
'Life for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
War and combatants
20:1 'When you go to war
against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than your
own, you must not be afraid of them; Yahweh your God is with you, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt.
20:2 When you are about to
join battle the priest is to come forward and address the people.
20:3 He is to say to them,
"Listen, Israel; now that you are about to join battle against your
enemies, do not be faint-hearted. Let there be no fear or trembling or alarm as
you face them.
20:4 Yahweh your God goes with
you to fight for you against your enemies and to save you."
20:5 Then the scribes are to
address the people in words like these: "Is there any man here who has
built a new house and not yet dedicated it? Let him go home lest he die in
battle and another perform the dedication.
20:6 "Is there any man
here who has planted a vineyard and not yet enjoyed its fruit? Let him go home
lest he die in battle and another enjoy its fruit.
20:7 Is there any man here who
has betrothed a wife and not yet taken her? Let him go home lest he die in
battle and another take her."
20:8 'The scribes shall also
address the people like this: "Is there any man here who is fearful and
faint of heart? Let him go home lest he make his fellows lose heart too."
20:9 'And when the scribes
have finished speaking to the people, commanders will be appointed to lead
them.
Captured towns
20:10 When you advance to the
attack on any town, first offer it terms of peace.
20:11 If it accepts these and
opens its gates to you, all the people to be found in it shall do forced labour
for you and be subject to you.
20:12 But if it refuses peace
and offers resistance, you must lay siege to it.
20:13 Yahweh your God shall
deliver it into your power and you are to put all its menfolk to the sword.
20:14 But the women, the
children, the livestock and all that the town contains, all its spoil, you may
take for yourselves as booty. You will devour the spoil of your enemies which
Yahweh your God has delivered to you.
20:15 'That is how you will
treat the far-distant towns not belonging to the nations near you.
20:16 But as regards the towns
of those peoples which Yahweh your God gives you as your own inheritance, you
must not spare the life of any living thing.
20:17 Instead, you must lay
them under ban, the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and
Jebusites, as Yahweh your God commanded,
20:18 so that they may not
teach you to practise all the detestable practices they have in honour of their
gods and so cause you to sin against Yahweh your God.
20:19 'If, when attacking a
town, you have to besiege it for a long time before you capture it, you must
not destroy its trees by taking an axe to them: eat their fruit but do not cut
them down. Is the tree in the fields human that you should besiege it too?
20:20 Any trees, however,
which you know are not fruit trees, you may mutilate and cut down and use to
build siege-works against the hostile town until it falls.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 21
The unidentified
murderer
21:1 'In the land Yahweh is
giving you as your possession, if a murdered man is discovered lying in open
country and it is not known who killed him,
21:2 your elders and scribes
must go and measure the distance between the victim and
21:3 the surrounding towns,
and establish which town is nearest the victim. Then the elders of that town
are to take a heifer that has not yet been put to work or used as a draught
animal under the yoke.
21:4 And the elders of that
town must bring the heifer down to a watercourse that is never dry at a spot
that has been neither ploughed nor sown, and there by the watercourse they must
break the heifer's neck.
21:5 And the priests, the sons
of Levi, shall then come forward, for these are the men Yahweh your God has
chosen to do him service and to bless in the name of Yahweh, and it is their
business to settle all cases of dispute or of violence.
21:6 All the elders of the
town nearest the murdered man shall then wash their hands in the watercourse,
over the slaughtered heifer.
21:7 They are to pronounce
these words, "Our hands did not shed this blood and our eyes saw nothing.
21:8 Cover your people Israel
whom you have redeemed, Yahweh, and let no innocent blood be shed among your
people Israel." So they will be covered against blood-vengeance.
21:9 You must banish all
shedding of innocent blood from among you if you mean to do what is right in
the eyes of Yahweh.
C. ON MARRIAGE
Women taken in war
21:10 'When you go to war
against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your power and you
take prisoners,
21:11 if you see a beautiful
woman among the prisoners and find her desirable, you may make her your wife
21:12 and bring her to your
home. She is to shave her head and cut her nails
21:13 and take off her
prisoner's garb; she is to stay inside your house and must mourn her father and
mother for a full month. Then you may go to her and be a husband to her, and
she shall be your wife.
21:14 Should she cease to
please you, you will let her go where she wishes, not selling her for money:
you are not to make any profit out of her, since you have had the use of her.
Birthright
21:15 If a man has two wives,
one loved and the other unloved, and the loved one and the unloved both bear
him children, and if the first-born son is of the unloved wife,
21:16 then when the man comes
to bequeath his goods to his sons, he may not treat the son of the wife whom he
loves as the first-born at the expense of the son of the wife he does not love,
the true first-born.
21:17 He must acknowledge as
first-born the son of the wife he does not love and give to him a double share
of his estate, for this son is the first-fruit of his strength, and the right
of the first-born is his.
The rebellious son
21:18 If a man has a stubborn
and rebellious son who will not listen to the voice of his father or the voice
of his mother, and even when they punish him still will not pay attention to
them,
21:19 his father and mother
shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of the town at the gate
of that place.
21:20 And they shall say to
the elders of his town, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and
will not listen to us; he is a wastrel and a drunkard".
21:21 Then all his fellow
citizens shall stone him to death. You must banish this evil from your midst.
All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
Various Rulings
21:22 If a man guilty of a
capital offence is put to death and you hang him on a tree,
21:23 his body must not remain
on the tree overnight; you must bury him the same day, for one who has been
hanged is accursed of God, and you must not defile the land that Yahweh your
God gives you for an inheritance.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 22
22:1 'If you see your
brother's ox or one of his sheep straying there must be no evasion: you must
take them back to your brother.
22:2 And if he is not close at
hand or you do not know who he is, you must take them home with you and keep
them by you until your brother comes for them; you will then return them to
him.
22:3 'You are to do the same
with his donkey, the same with his cloak, the same with anything your brother
loses and that you find; there must be no evasion.
22:4 'You must not make off
when you see your brother's ox or donkey fall on the road, but must help your
brother to put it on its feet again.
22:5 'A woman must not wear
men's clothes nor a man put on women's dress; anyone who does this is
detestable to Yahweh your God.
22:6 'If, when out walking,
you come across a bird's nest, in a tree or on the ground, with chicks or eggs
and the mother bird sitting on the chicks or the eggs, you must not take the
mother who is brooding the chicks.
22:7 Let the mother go; the
young you may take for yourself. So shall you prosper and have a long life.
22:8 'When you build a new
house you are to give your roof a parapet; then your house will not incur
blood-vengeance through anyone falling from it.
22:9 'You must not sow any
other seed in your vineyard lest the whole of its produce become consecrated,
both the crop you have sown and the produce of your vineyard.
22:10 'You must not plough
with ox and donkey together.
22:11 'You must not wear
clothing woven part of wool, part of linen.
22:12 'You are to make tassels
for the four corners of the cloak in which you wrap yourself.
A young wife's
reputation
22:13 'If a man marries a
wife, and sleeps with her and then turns against her,
22:14 and taxes her with
misconduct and publicly defames her by saying, "I married this woman and
when I slept with her I did not find the evidence of her virginity",
22:15 the girl's father and
mother must take her and produce the evidence of her virginity before the
elders of the town at the gate.
22:16 The girl's father shall
then declare to the elders, "I gave this man my daughter for a wife and he
has turned against her,
22:17 and now he taxes her
with misconduct: I found no evidence of virginity in your daughter, he says.
But the evidence of my daughter's virginity is here". And they shall
spread the cloth out before the elders of the town.
22:18 Then the elders of the
town shall take the man and flog him
22:19 and fine him one hundred
silver shekels for publicly defaming a virgin of Israel, and give this money to
the girl's father. She shall remain his wife and as long as he lives he may not
repudiate her.
22:20 'But if the accusation
that the girl cannot show the evidence of virginity is substantiated,
22:21 they shall take her to
the door of her father's house and her fellow citizens shall stone her to death
for having committed an infamy in Israel by disgracing her father's House. You
must banish this evil from your midst.
Adultery and
fornication
22:22 'If a man is caught
sleeping with another man's wife, both must die, the man who has slept with her
and the woman herself. You must banish this evil from Israel.
22:23 'If a virgin is
betrothed and a man meets her in the city and sleeps with her,
22:24 you shall take them both
out to the gate of the town and stone them to death the girl, because she did
not cry for help in the town; the man, because he has violated the wife of his
fellow. You must banish this evil from your midst.
22:25 But if the man has met the
betrothed girl in the open country and has taken her by force and lain with
her, only the man who lay with her shall die;
22:26 you must do nothing to
the girl, for hers is no capital offence. The case is like that of a man who
attacks and kills his fellow;
22:27 for he came across her
in the open country and the betrothed girl could have cried out without anyone
coming to her rescue.
22:28 'If a man meets a virgin
who is not betrothed and seizes her and lies with her and is caught in the act,
22:29 the man who has lain
with her must give the girl's father fifty silver shekels; she shall be his
wife since he has violated her, and as long as he lives he may not repudiate
her.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 23
23:1 A man must not take his
fathers wife, and must not withdraw the skirt of his father's cloak from
her.[*a]
Some who are
excluded from public worship
23:2 A man whose testicles
have been crushed or whose male member has been cut off is not to be admitted
to the assembly of Yahweh.
23:3 No bastard[*b] is to be
admitted to the assembly of Yahweh.
23:4 No Ammonite or Moabite is
to be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh; not even their descendants to the
tenth generation may be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh, and this is for all
time;
23:5 because they did not come
to meet you with bread and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and
because they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram of the Two Rivers to
curse you.
23:6 But Yahweh your God
refused to listen to Balaam, and Yahweh your God turned the curse into a
blessing for you, because Yahweh your God loved you.
23:7 Never, as long as you
live, shall you seek their welfare or their prosperity.
23:8 'You are not to regard
the Edomite as detestable, for he is your brother; nor the Egyptian, because
you were a stranger in his land.
23:9 The third generation of
children born to these may be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh.
The camp and legal
purity
23:10 'When you are in camp,
at war with your enemies, you must keep clear of all evil.
23:11 If any man among you is
unclean by reason of a nocturnal emission, he must go out of the camp and not
come into it again;
23:12 towards evening he must
wash himself, and he may return to the camp at sunset.
23:13 'You are not to regard
the Edomite as detestable, for he is your brother;
23:14 nor must have a mattock
among your equipment, and with this mattock, when you go outside to ease
yourself, you must dig a hole and cover your excrement.
23:15 For Yahweh your God goes
about within your camp to guard you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your
camp must therefore be a holy place; Yahweh must not see anything improper
among you or he would turn away from you.
D. ON PROTECTING
THE WEAK
Protection of the
Israelite
23:16 'You must not allow a
master to imprison a slave who has escaped from him and come to you.
23:17 He shall live with you,
among you, wherever he pleases in any one of your towns he chooses; you are not
to molest him.
23:18 'There must be no sacred
prostitute among the daughters of Israel, and no sacred prostitute among the
sons of Israel.
23:19 You must not bring to
the house of Yahweh your God the wages of a prostitute or the earnings of a
dog,[*c] whatever vow you may have made, for both are detestable to Yahweh your
God.
23:20 'You must not lend on
interest to your brother, whether the loan be of money or food or anything else
that may earn interest.
23:21 You may demand interest
on a loan of a foreigner, but you must not demand interest from your brother;
so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your giving in the land you are to
enter and make your own.
23:22 'If you make a vow to
Yahweh your God, you must not be lazy in keeping it; be sure that Yahweh your
God requires it, and to withhold it would be a sin.
23:23 But if you had refrained
from making a vow, there would be no sin for you.
23:24 Whatever passes your
lips you must keep to, and the vow that you have freely made with your own
mouth to Yahweh your God must be fulfilled.
23:25 'If you go through your
neighbour's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but
you must not put any in your basket.
23:26 If you go through your
neighbour's standing corn, you may pick the ears with your hand, but you must
not put a sickle into your neighbour's corn.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 24
Divorce
24:1 'Supposing a man has
taken a wife and consummated the marriage; but she has not pleased him and he
has found some impropriety of which to accuse her; so he has made out a writ of
divorce for her and handed it to her and then dismissed her from his house;
24:2 she leaves his home and
goes away to become the wife of another man.
24:3 If this other man takes a
dislike to her and makes out a writ of divorce for her and hands it to her and
dismisses her from his house (or if this other man who took her as his wife
happens to die),
24:4 her first husband, who
has repudiated her, may not take her back as his wife now that she has been
defiled in this way. For that is detestable in the sight of Yahweh, and you
must not bring guilt on the land that Yahweh your God gives for your
inheritance.
More protective
measures
24:5 'If a man is newly
married, he shall not join the army nor is he to be pestered at home; he shall
be left at home free of all obligations for one year to bring joy to the wife
he has taken.
24:6 'No man may take a mill
or a millstone in pledge; that would be to take life itself in pledge.
24:7 'If anyone is found
kidnapping one of his brothers, one of the sons of Israel, whether he makes him
his slave or sells him, that thief must die. You must banish this evil from
your midst.
24:8 'In a case of leprosy,
take care you faithfully observe and follow exactly all that the levitical
priests direct you to do. You are to keep and observe all that I have commanded
them.
24:9 Remember what Yahweh your
God did to Miriam when you were on your way out of Egypt.
24:10 'If you are making your
fellow a loan on pledge, you are not to go into his house and seize the pledge,
whatever it may be.
24:11 You must stay outside,
and the man to whom you are making the loan shall bring the pledge out to you.
24:12 And if the man is poor,
you are not to go to bed with his pledge in your possession;
24:13 you must return it to
him at sunset so that he can sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be a
good action on your part in the sight of Yahweh your God.
24:14 You are not to exploit
the hired servant who is poor and destitute, whether he is one of your brothers
or a stranger who lives in your towns.
24:15 You must pay him his
wage each day, not allowing the sun to set before you do, for he is poor and is
anxious for it; otherwise he may appeal to Yahweh against you, and it would be
a sin for you.
24:16 'Fathers may not be put
to death for their sons, nor sons for fathers. Each is to be put to death for
his own
24:17 'You must not pervert
justice in dealing with a stranger or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in
pledge.
24:18 Remember that you were a
slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you from there. That is why I
lay this charge on you.
24:19 'When reaping the
harvest in your field, if you have overlooked a sheaf in that field, do not go
back for it. Leave it for the stranger, the orphan and the widow, so that Yahweh
your God may bless you in all your undertakings.
24:20 'When you beat your
olive trees you must not go over the branches twice. Let anything left be for
the stranger, the orphan and the widow.
24:21 'When you harvest your
vineyard you must not pick it over a second time. Let anything left be for the
stranger, the orphan and the widow.
24:22 'Remember that you were
a slave in the land of Egypt. That is why I lay this charge on you.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 25
25:1 'If men have any dispute
they must go to court for the judges to decide between them; these must declare
the one who is right to be in the right, the one who in the wrong to be in the
wrong.
25:2 If the one who is in the
wrong deserves a flogging, the judge shall make him lie down and have him
flogged in his presence
with the number of strokes
proportionate to his offence.
25:3 He may impose forty
strokes but no more, lest the flogging be too severe and your brother be
degraded in your eyes.
25:4 'You must not muzzle an
ox when it is treading out the corn.
The levirate law
25:5 'If brothers live
together and one of them dies childless, the dead man's wife must not marry a
stranger outside the family. Her husband's brother must come to her and,
exercising his levirate, make her his wife,
25:6 and the first son she
bears shall assume the dead brother's name; and so his name will not be blotted
out in Israel.
25:7 But if the man declines
to take his brother's wife, she must go to the elders at the gate and say,
"I have no levir willing to perpetuate the name of his brother in Israel;
he declines to exercise his levirate in my favour".
25:8 The elders of the town
shall summon the man and talk to him. If he appears before them, and shall say,
"I refuse to take her",
25:9 then she to whom he owes
levirate shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take the sandal off
his foot, spit in his face, and pronounce the following words, "This is
what we do to the man who does not restore his brother's house",
25:10 and the man shall be
surnamed in Israel, House-of-the-Unshod.
Modesty in brawls
25:11 When two men are
fighting together, if the wife of one intervenes to protect her husband from
the other's blows by putting out her hand and seizing the other by the private
parts,
25:12 you shall cut her hand
off and show no pity.
Appendices
25:13 'You are not to keep two
different weights in your bag, one heavy, one light.
25:14 You are not to keep two
different measures in your house, one large, one small.
25:15 You must keep one
weight, full and accurate, so that you may have a long life is in the land that
Yahweh your God is giving you.
25:16 For anyone who does
things of this kind and acts dishonestly is detestable to Yahweh your God.
25:17 'Remember how Amalek
treated you when you were on your way out of Egypt.
25:18 He met you on your way
and, after you had gone by, he fell on you from the rear and cut off the
stragglers; when you were faint and weary he had no fear of God.
25:19 When Yahweh your God has
granted you peace from all the enemies surrounding you in the land Yahweh your
God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you are to blot out the memory
of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 26
E. RITUAL
PRESCRIPTIONS
First-fruits
26:1 'When you come to the
land Yahweh your God is giving you for an inheritance, when you have taken
possession of it and are living in it,
26:2 you must set aside the
first-fruits of all the produce of the soil raised by you in the land Yahweh is
giving you. You must put them in a pannier and go to the place where Yahweh
your God chooses to give his name a home.
26:3 You must go to the priest
then in office and say to him, "Today I declare to Yahweh my God that I
have come to the land Yahweh swore to our fathers he would give us".
26:4 'The priest shall then
take the pannier from your hand and lay it before the altar of Yahweh your God.
26:5 Then, in the sight of
Yahweh your God, you must make this pronouncement: "My father was a
wandering Aramaean. He went down into Egypt to find refuge there, few in
numbers; but there he became a nation, great, mighty, and strong.
26:6 The Egyptians ill-treated
us, they gave us no peace and inflicted harsh slavery on us.
26:7 But we called on Yahweh
the God of our fathers. Yahweh heard our voice and saw our misery, our toil and
our oppression;
26:8 and Yahweh brought us out
of Egypt with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great terror, and with
signs and wonders.
26:9 He brought us here and
gave us this land, a land where milk and honey flow.
26:10 Here then I bring the
first-fruits of the produce of the soil that you, Yahweh, have given me".
'You must then lay them before Yahweh your God, and bow down in the sight of
Yahweh your God.
26:11 Then you are to feast on
all the good things Yahweh has given you, you and your household, and with you
the Levite and the stranger who lives among you.
The third-year
tithe
26:12 'In the third year, the
tithing year, when you have finished reckoning the tithe of all your produce
and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow, and
they have eaten it in your towns and had their fill,
26:13 you are to say in the
sight of Yahweh your God: "I have cleared my house of all that was
consecrated. Yes, I have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and
the widow, in accordance with all the commandments you laid on me, not going
beyond your commandments, not forgetting them.
26:14 I have not eaten any
bread of mourning; I have consumed nothing that was unclean; I have offered
nothing to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh my God and I have done
all as you commanded me.
26:15 Look down from the
dwelling place of your holiness, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and
the soil you have given us as you swore to our fathers, a land where milk and
honey flow".
III. CONCLUDING
DISCOURSE
A. END OF THE
SECOND DISCOURSE
Israel, the people
of Yahweh
26:16 'Yahweh your God today
commands you to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them
with all your heart and with all your soul.
26:17 'You have today made
this declaration about Yahweh; that he will be your God, but only if you follow
his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and listen to
his voice.
26:18 And Yahweh has today
made this declaration about you: that you will be his very own people as he
promised you, but only if you keep all his commandments;
26:19 then for praise and
renown and honour he will set you high above all the nations he has made, and
you will be a people consecrated to Yahweh, as he promised.'
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 27
The writing of the
Law
27:1 Moses and the elders gave
the people this command: "Keep all the commandments I enjoin on you today.
27:2 After you have crossed
the Jordan into the land Yahweh your God is giving you, you are to set up tall
stones and coat them with lime
27:3 and write on them all the
words of this Law, the moment you cross to enter the land Yahweh your God is
giving you, a land where milk and honey flow, as Yahweh the God of your fathers
promised you.
27:4 'And when you have
crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as today I
command you, and you are to coat them with lime.
27:5 There you must build
Yahweh your God an altar of stones that no iron tool has worked.
27:6 You must build the altar
to Yahweh your God of undressed stone, and on this altar you will offer
holocausts to Yahweh your God,
27:7 and immolate communion
sacrifices and eat them there, rejoicing in the sight of Yahweh your God.
27:8 On these stones you must
write all the words of this Law; cut them carefully.'
27:9 Then Moses and the
levitical priests said to all Israel: 'Be silent, Israel, and listen. Today you
have become a people for Yahweh your God.
27:10 You must listen to the
voice of Yahweh your God and observe the commandments and laws I enjoin on you
today.
27:11 And the same day Moses
gave the people this order:
27:12 'When you have crossed
the Jordan, the following tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the
people: Simeon and Levi, Judah and Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.
27:13 And the following tribes
shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad and Asher, Zebulun, Dan
and Naphtali.
27:14 The Levites shall then
speak and proclaim loudly to all the Israelites:
27:15 "A curse on the man
who carves or casts an idol, a thing detestable to Yahweh, the work of a
craftsman's hands, and sets it up in secret." And all the people shall
answer saying: Amen.
27:16 "A curse on him who
treats his father or mother dishonourably." And all the people shall say:
Amen.
27:17 "A curse on him who
displaces his neighbour's boundary mark." And all the people shall say:
Amen.
27:18 "A curse on him who
leads a blind man astray on the road." And all the people shall say: Amen.
27:19 "A curse on him who
tampers with the rights of the stranger, the orphan and the widow." And
all the people shall say: Amen.
27:20 "A curse on him who
sleeps with his father's wife and withdraws the skirt of his father's cloak
from her." And all the people shall say: Amen.
27:21 "A curse on him who
lies with any kind of animal." And all the people shall say: Amen.
27:22 "A curse on him who
sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother." And
all the people shall say: Amen.
27:23 "A curse on him who
sleeps with his mother-in-law." And all the people shall say: Amen.
27:24 "A curse on him who
strikes down his neighbour in secret." And all the people shall say: Amen.
27:25 "A curse on him who
accepts a bribe to take an innocent life." And all the people shall say:
Amen.
27:26 "A curse on him who
does not maintain the words of the Law by observing them." And all the
people shall say: Amen.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 28
Promised blessings
28:1 'But if you obey the
voice of Yahweh your God faithfully, keeping and observing all those
commandments of his that I enjoin on you today, Yahweh your God will set you
high above all the nations of the earth.
28:2 All the blessings that
follow shall come up with you and overtake you if only you obey the voice of
Yahweh your God.
28:3 'You will be blessed in
the town and blessed in the country.
28:4 Blessed will be the fruit
of your body, the produce of your soil, the issue of your livestock, the
increase of your cattle, the young of your flock.
28:5 Blessed will be your
pannier and your bread bin.
28:6 Blessed will you be
coming in, and blessed going out.
28:7 The enemies that rise
against you Yahweh will conquer for your sake; they will come at you by one way
and flee before you by seven.
28:8 Yahweh will summon a
blessing for you in your barns and in all your undertakings, and will bless you
in the land that Yahweh is giving you.
28:9 'Yahweh will make of you
a people consecrated to himself as he has sworn to you, if you keep the
commandments of Yahweh your God and follow his ways.
28:10 All the peoples of the
earth will see that you bear the name of Yahweh and will go in fear of you.
28:11 Yahweh will give you
great store of good things, the fruit of your body, the fruit of your cattle
and the produce of your soil, in the land he swore to your fathers he would
give you.
28:12 Yahweh will open the
heavens to you, his rich treasure house, to give you seasonable rain for your
land and to bless all the work of your hands. You will make many nations your
subjects, yet you will be subject to none.
28:13 Yahweh will put you at
the head, not at the tail; you will always be on top and never underneath, if
you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God that I enjoin on you today,
keeping and observing them,
28:14 not swerving to right or
left from any of the works I enjoin on you today by following any other gods
and serving them.
Curses
28:15 'But if you do not obey
the voice of Yahweh your God nor keep and observe all those commandments and
statutes of his that I enjoin on you today, then all the curses that follow
shall come up with you and overtake you.
28:16 'You will be accursed in
the town and accursed in the country.
28:17 Accursed will be your
pannier and your bread bin.
28:18 Accursed will be the
fruit of your body, the produce of your soil, the increase of your cattle, the
young of your flock.
28:19 Accursed will you be
coming in, and accursed going out.
28:20 'Yahweh will send on you
curses, frustration, imprecation in return for all your offerings, until you
are destroyed and speedily perish for your perverse behaviour, and for
deserting me.
28:21 Yahweh will infect you
with the plague until it has consumed you on the land which you are entering to
make your own.
28:22 Yahweh will strike you
down with consumption, fever, inflammation, burning fever, drought, blight,
mildew, and these will pursue you to your ruin.
28:23 The heavens above you
will be brass, the earth beneath you iron.
28:24 Yahweh will turn the
rain on your land to dust and sand; it will fall on you from the heavens until
you perish.
28:25 Yahweh will have you
defeated in front of your enemies; you will come at them by one way and flee
before them by seven; and you will become a thing of horror for all the
kingdoms of the earth.
28:26 Your carcase will be
carrion for all the birds of heaven and all the beasts of the earth, with no
one to scare them away.
28:27 'Yahweh will strike you
down with Egyptian boils, with swellings in the groin, with scurvy and the itch
for which you will find no cure.
28:28 Yahweh will strike you
down with madness, blindness, distraction of mind,
28:29 until you grope your way
at noontide like a blind man groping in the dark, and your steps will lead you
nowhere. 'You will never be anything but exploited and plundered continually,
and no one will come to your help.
28:30 Betroth a wife, another
man will have her; build a house, you will not live in it; plant a vineyard,
you will not gather its first-fruits.
28:31 Your ox will be killed
before your eyes and you will eat none of it; your donkey will be carried off
in your presence and not be restored to you; your sheep will be given to your
enemies, and no one will come to your help.
28:32 Your sons and daughters
will be handed over to another people, and every day you will wear your eyes
out watching eagerly for them, while your hands are powerless.
28:33 A nation you do not know
will eat the fruit of your soil and of your labour. You will never be anything
but exploited and crushed continually.
28:34 You will be driven mad
by the sights your eyes will see.
28:35 Yahweh will strike you
down with foul boils on knee and leg, for which you will find no cure, from the
sole of your foot to the top of your head.
28:36 'Yahweh will send you
and the king you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers
have known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and of stone.
28:37 You will become a thing
of horror, a proverb, and a byword to all the peoples among whom Yahweh takes
you.
28:38 'You will cast seed in
plenty on the fields but harvest little, for the locust will devour it.
28:39 You will plant and till
your vineyards but not drink wine or gather grapes, for the grub will eat them
up.
28:40 You will grow olive
trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with oil, for your
olive trees will be cut down.
28:41 You will father sons and
daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.
28:42 All your trees and all
the produce of your soil will become the prey of insects.
28:43 'The stranger living
among you will rise higher and higher at your expense, and you yourselves sink
lower and lower.
28:44 He will make you his
chattel, you will not make him yours; he it is who will be at the head, and you
at the tail.
28:45 All these curses will
come up with you, will pursue you and overtake you until you perish for not
obeying the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping those commandments and laws of
his that he enjoined on you.
28:46 They will be a sign and
a wonder over you and your descendants for ever.
Of war and exile to come
28:47 'For failing to serve
Yahweh your God in the joy and happiness that come from an abundance of all
things,
28:48 you will submit to the
enemies that Yahweh will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, utter
destitution. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until you perish.
28:49 'Yahweh will raise
against you a far-off nation from the ends of the earth, like an eagle taking
wing. This will be a nation whose language you do not understand,
28:50 a nation grim of face,
with neither respect for the old, nor pity for the young.
28:51 They will eat the
offspring of your cattle and the produce of your soil until you perish, leaving
you neither corn nor wine nor oil nor increase of your cattle nor young of your
flock, until they make an end of you.
28:52 They will besiege you in
all your towns until your loftiest and most strongly fortified walls collapse,
the walls on which you relied within your frontiers. They will besiege you in
all the towns that Yahweh gives you.
28:53 During the siege and in
the distress to which your enemies will reduce you, you will eat the fruit of
your body, the flesh of those sons and daughters of yours whom Yahweh has given
you.
28:54 The tenderest and most
fastidious among you will glower at his brother, even at the wife he cherishes
and at the children that are left to him,
28:55 grudging them a share in
the flesh of those children of his that he is eating, for during the siege and
in the distress to which your enemies will reduce you in all your towns, there
will be nothing left to him.
28:56 The tenderest and most
fastidious woman among you, so tender, so fastidious that she has never
ventured to set the sole of her foot to the ground, will glower at the husband
she cherishes, even at her son and her daughter,
28:57 and hide from them the
afterbirth of her womb and the child she bears to eat them, so utter will be
the destitution during the siege and in the distress to which your enemies will
reduce you in all your towns.
28:58 'If you do not keep and
observe all the words of this Law that are written in this book, in the fear of
this name of glory and awe: Yahweh your God,
28:59 Yahweh will strike you
down with monstrous plagues, you and your descendants: with plagues grievous
and lasting, diseases pernicious and enduring.
28:60 Once more he will bring
on you the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will infect you.
28:61 Further, Yahweh will
bring on you every sickness, every plague, not mentioned in the Book of this
Law, until you perish.
28:62 There will be only a
handful of you left, you who were as many as the stars of heaven. 'For not
obeying the voice of Yahweh your God,
28:63 just as Yahweh took
delight in giving you prosperity and increase, so now he will take delight in
bringing you ruin and destruction. You will be torn from the land which you are
entering to make your own.
28:64 Yahweh will scatter you
among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; there you will serve
other gods of wood and of stone that neither you nor your fathers have known.
28:65 Among these nations
there will be no repose for you, no rest for the sole of your foot; Yahweh will
give you a quaking heart, weary eyes, halting breath.
28:66 Your life from the
outset will be a burden to you; night and day you will go in fear, uncertain of
your life.
28:67 In the morning you will
say, "How I wish it were evening!", and in the evening, "How I
wish it were morning!", such terror will grip your heart, such sights your
eyes will see.
28:68 Yahweh will take you
back to Egypt by sea and by land, though I had promised you: You will not see
it again. And there you will want to sell yourselves to your enemies as serving
men and women, but no one will buy you.'
Conclusion
28:69 <1 These are the
words of the covenant which Yahweh ordered Moses to make with the sons of
Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them
at Horeb.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 29
B. THE THIRD AND
LAST DISCOURSE
The exodus and the
covenant recalled
29:1 <2 Moses called the
whole of Israel together 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 his
whole land,
29:2 <3 the great ordeals
your own eyes witnessed, the signs and those great wonders.
29:3 <4 But until today
Yahweh has given you no heart to understand, no eyes to see, no ears to hear.
29:4 <5 'For forty years I
led you in the wilderness; the clothes on your back did not wear out and your
sandals did not wear off your feet.
29:5 <6 You had no bread to
eat, you drank no wine, no strong drink, learning thus that I, Yahweh, am your
God.
29:6 <7 When you reached
this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to
do battle, but we defeated them.
29:7 <8 We conquered their
land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of
Manasseh.
29:8 <9 'Keep the words of
this covenant and observe them and you will thrive in all you do.
29:9 <10 All of you stand
here today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your heads of tribes, your
elders, your scribes, all the men of Israel,
29:10 <11 with your
children and your wives (and the stranger too who is in your camp, whether he
cuts wood or draws water for you),
29:11 <12 and you are about
to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, a covenant ratified with dire
sanctions, which he has made with you today,
29:12 <13 and by which,
today, he makes a nation of you and he himself becomes a God to you, as he has
promised and as he has sworn to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The covenant and
generations to come
29:13 <14 'Not with you
alone do I make this covenant today and pronounce these sanctions,
29:14 <15 but with him also
who is not here today, as well as with him who stands with us here in the
presence of Yahweh our God.
29:15 <16 'Yes, you know
those among whom we lived in Egypt, those through whose lands we journeyed, the
nations through whom we have passed.
29:16 <17 You have seen
their abominations and their idols, the wood, the stone, the silver and gold
they have in their countries.
29:17 <18 'Let there be no
man or woman among you, no clan or tribe, whose heart turns away from Yahweh
your God today to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there be no root
among you bearing fruit that is poisonous and bitter.
29:18 <19 If, after hearing
these sanctions, such a man should bless himself in his heart and say, "I
may follow the dictates of my own heart and still lack nothing; much water
drives away thirst",
29:19 <20 Yahweh will not
pardon him. The wrath and jealousy of Yahweh will blaze against such a man;
every curse written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his
name from under heaven.
29:20 <21 Yahweh will
single him out from all the tribes of Israel to his destruction, in accordance
with all the curses of the covenant written in the Book of this Law.
29:21 <22 'The future generation,
your children who are to come after you, as also the stranger from a distant
country, will see the plagues of that land and the diseases Yahweh will inflict
on it, and will exclaim,
29:22 <23 "Sulphur,
salt, scorched earth, the whole land through! No one will sow, nothing grow, no
grass spring ever again. Like this, Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, Admah
and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger and his wrath."
29:23 <24 And all the
nations will exclaim, "Why has Yahweh treated this land like this? Why
this great blaze of anger?"
29:24 <25 And people will
say, "Because they deserted the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their
fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of the land of
Egypt;
29:25 <26 because they went
and served other gods and worshipped them, gods they had not known, gods that
were no part of their heritage from him,
29:26 <27 for this the
anger of Yahweh has blazed against this land, bringing on it all the curses
written in this book.
29:27 <28 In anger, in
fury, in fierce wrath Yahweh has torn them from their country and flung them
into another land where they are today."
Return from exile
and repentance
29:28 <29 'Things hidden
belong to Yahweh our God but things revealed are ours and our children's for
all time, so that we may observe all the words of this Law.
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 30
30:1 And when all these words
come true for you, the blessing and the curse I have set before you, if you
meditate on them in your heart wherever among the nations Yahweh your God
drives you,
30:2 if you return to Yahweh
your God, if you obey his voice with all your heart and soul in everything I
enjoin on you today, you and your children,
30:3 then Yahweh your God will
bring back your captives, he will have pity on you and gather you once again
out of all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
30:4 Had you wandered to the
ends of the heavens, Yahweh your God would gather you even from there, would
come there to reclaim you
30:5 and bring you back to the
land your fathers possessed, that you in your turn might make it your own,
prospering there and increasing even more than your fathers.
30:6 'Yahweh your God will
circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, until you love Yahweh
your God with all your heart and soul, and so have life.
30:7 Yahweh your God will make
all these curses recoil on your foes and on your enemies who have persecuted
you.
30:8 And once again you will
obey the voice of Yahweh your God and keep all those commandments of his that I
enjoin on you today.
30:9 Yahweh your God will give
you great prosperity in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, the
fruit of your cattle and in the produce of your soil. For once again Yahweh
will take delight in your prosperity as he took delight in the prosperity of
your fathers,
30:10 if only you obey the
voice of Yahweh your God, keeping those commandments and laws of his that are
written in the Book of this Law, and if you return to Yahweh your God with all
your heart and soul.
30:11 'For this Law that I
enjoin on you today is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach.
30:12 It is not in heaven, so
that you need to wonder, "Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it
down to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?"
30:13 Nor is it beyond the
seas, so that you need to wonder, "Who will cross the seas for us and
bring it back to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?"
30:14 No, the Word is very
near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance.
The two ways
30:15 'See, today I set before
you life and prosperity, death and disaster.
30:16 If you obey the
commandments of Yahweh your God that I enjoin on you today, if you love Yahweh
your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws, his customs,
you will live and increase, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land
which you are entering to make your own.
30:17 But if your heart
strays, if you refuse to listen, if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping
other gods and serving them,
30:18 I tell you today, you
will most certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing
the Jordan to enter and possess.
30:19 I call heaven and earth
to witness against you today: I set before you life or death, blessing or
curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live,
30:20 in the love of Yahweh
your God, obeying his voice, clinging to him; for in this your life consists,
and on this depends your long stay in the land which Yahweh swore to your
fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob he would give them.'
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 31
IV. THE LAST DAYS
OF MOSES
Joshua and his
mission
31:1 Moses proceeded to
address these words to the whole of Israel,
31:2 'I am one hundred and
twenty years old now, and can no longer come and go as I will. Yahweh has said
to me, "You shall not cross this Jordan".
31:3 It is Yahweh your God who
will cross it at your head to destroy these nations facing you and dispossess
them; and Joshua too shall cross at your head, as Yahweh has said.
31:4 Yahweh will treat them as
he treated Sihon and Og the Amorite kings and their land, destroying them.
31:5 Yahweh will hand them
over to you, and you will deal with them in exact accordance with the
commandments I have enjoined on you.
31:6 Be strong, stand firm,
have no fear of them, no terror, for Yahweh your God is going with you; he will
not fail you or desert you.'
31:7 Then Moses summoned
Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, 'Be strong, stand firm;
you are going with this people into the land Yahweh swore to their fathers he
would give them; you are to give it into their possession.
31:8 Yahweh himself will lead
you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do
not be disheartened by anything.'
The ritual reading
of the Law
31:9 Moses committed this Law
to writing and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of
Yahweh's covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.
31:10 And Moses gave them this
command: 'At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the year of
remission, at the feast of Tabernacles,
31:11 when the whole of Israel
comes to look on the face of Yahweh your God in the place he chooses,
31:12 you must proclaim this
Law in the hearing of all Israel. 'Call the people together, men, women,
children, and the stranger who lives with you, for them to hear it and learn to
fear Yahweh your God and keep and observe all the words of this Law.
31:13 Their children, who as
yet do not know it, shall hear it and learn to fear Yahweh your God for as long
as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.'
Yahweh's
instructions
31:14 Yahweh said to Moses,
'And now the time draws near when you must die. Summon Joshua and take your
stand at the Tent of Meeting, that I may give him his orders.' And Moses and
Joshua came and took their stand at the Tent of Meeting.
31:15 And Yahweh showed
himself at the Tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the door
of the Tent.
31:16 Yahweh said to Moses,
'And now you will soon be sleeping with your fathers. This people will start
playing the harlot, following the alien gods of the land they are invading.
They will desert me and break this covenant of mine that I have made with them.
31:17 On that day my anger
shall blaze against them; I will forsake them and hide my face from them. A
host of disasters and misfortunes will overtake them to devour them, and when
that day comes they will say, "If such disasters overtake me, surely
Yahweh my God cannot be with me?"
31:18 Yes indeed, I shall hide
my face that day for all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.
The song of witness
31:19 'Now write down this
song which you must use; teach it to the sons of Israel, put it into their
mouths that it may be a witness on my behalf against the sons of Israel;
31:20 against Israel whom I am
bringing into the land I swore to his fathers I would give him, a land where
milk and honey flow; against Israel who will eat and take his fill and grow
fat, then turn to other gods to serve them, and despise me and break my
covenant.
31:21 When a host of disasters
and misfortunes overtake him, this song shall stand as Witness against him, for
his descendants must not forget it. Yes, even today, before I have brought him
to the land I promised on oath, I know what plans he has in mind.'
31:22 So on that same day,
Moses wrote out this song and taught it to the sons of Israel.
31:23 He gave Joshua son of
Nun this order: 'Be strong and stand firm, for you are to bring the sons of
Israel to the land I swore I would give them, and I myself will be with you.'
The Law placed
beside the ark
31:24 When Moses had finished
writing in a book the words of this Law to the very end,
31:25 he gave this command to
the Levites who carried the ark of Yahweh's covenant:
31:26 "Take this Book of
the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. Let it
lie there as a witness against you.
31:27 For I know how defiant
you are and how stubborn. If today while I am still alive and with you, you
defy Yahweh, how much more will you defy him after my death!
Israel assembles to
hear the song
31:28 'Gather round me all the
elders of your tribes, and your scribes, so that I may let them hear these
words and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
31:29 For I know that after my
death you are sure to act perversely; you will leave the way I have marked out
for you; in days to come disaster will fall on you for doing what is
displeasing to Yahweh, provoking him by your behaviour.'
31:30 Then in the hearing of
Israel's full assembly Moses spoke the words of this song to the very end:
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 32
A. THE SONG OF
MOSES
32:1 'Listen, heavens, while I
speak; earth, hear the words that I am saying.
32:2 May my teaching fall like
the rain, may my word drop down like the dew, like showers on fresh grass and
light rain on the turf.
32:3 For I proclaim the name
of Yahweh. Oh, tell the greatness of our God!
32:4 'He is the Rock, his work
is perfect, for all his ways are Equity. A God faithful, without unfairness,
Uprightness itself and Justice.
32:5 They have acted
perversely, those he begot without blemish, a deceitful and underhand brood.
32:6 Is this the return you
make to Yahweh? O foolish, unwise people! Is not this your father, who gave you
being, who made you, by whom you subsist?
32:7 Think back on the days of
old, think over the years, down the ages. Ask of your father, let him teach
you; of your elders, let them enlighten you.
32:8 When the Most High gave
the nations their inheritance, when he divided the sons of men, he fixed their
bounds according to the number of the sons of God;[*a]
32:9 but Yahweh's portion was
his people, Jacob his share of inheritance.
32:10 'In the waste lands he
adopts him, in the howling desert of the wilderness. He protects him, rears
him, guards him as the pupil of his eye.
32:11 Like an eagle watching
its nest, hovering over its young, he spreads out his wings to hold him, he
supports him on his pinions.
32:12 'Yahweh alone is his
guide, with him is no alien god.
32:13 He gives him the heights
of the land to ride, he feeds him on the yield of the mountains, he gives him
honey from the rock to taste, and oil from the flinty crag;
32:14 curds from the cattle,
milk from the flock, with rich food of the pastures, rams of Bashan's breed,
and goats, rich food of the wheat's ear, and blood of the fermenting grape for
drink.
32:15 'Jacob ate and had his
fill, Jeshurun grew fat, turned restive. (You grew fat, gross, bloated.) He
disowned the God who made him, dishonoured the Rock, his salvation.
32:16 They roused him to
jealousy with alien gods, with things detestable they angered him.
32:17 They sacrificed to
demons who are not God, to gods they did not know, newcomers of yesterday whom
their fathers had never feared.
32:18 (You forget the Rock who
begot you, unmindful now of the God who fathered you.)
32:19 Yahweh has seen this,
and in his anger cast off his sons and his daughters.
32:20 "1 shall hide my
face from them," he says "and see what becomes of them. For they are
a deceitful brood, children with no loyalty in them.
32:21 They have roused me to
jealousy with what is no god, they have angered me with their beings of
nothing; I, then, will rouse them to jealousy with what is no people, I will
anger them with an empty-headed nation.
32:22 Yes, a fire has blazed
from my anger, it will burn to the depths of Sheol; it will devour the earth
and all its produce, it will set fire to the foundations of the mountains.
32:23 I will hurl disasters on
them, and on them I will spend all my arrows.
32:24 For weapons I shall have
barns of famine, fever and consumption for poison. I will send the sharp teeth
of the wild beast, and the venom of creeping things against them.
32:25 Outside, the sword shall
carry off their children, and terror shall reign within. Youth and maid alike
shall perish, suckling and greybeard both together.
32:26 I should crush them to
dust, I said, I should wipe out their memory among men,
32:27 did I not fear the
boasting of the enemy. But let not their foes be mistaken! Let them not say:
Our own power wins the victory, Yahweh plays no part in this.
32:28 What a nation of short
sight it is; in them there is no understanding.
32:29 Were they wise, they
would succeed, they would be able to read their destiny.
32:30 How else could one man
rout a thousand, how could two put ten thousand to flight, were it not that
their Rock has sold them, that Yahweh has delivered them up?
32:31 "But their rock is
not like our Rock; our enemies are no intercessors.[*b]
32:32 For their stock springs
from the vinestock of Sodom and from the groves of Gomorrah: their grapes are
poisonous grapes, their clusters are envenomed;
32:33 their wine is the poison
of serpents, the vipers' cruel venom.
32:34 But he, is he not
something precious to me, sealed inside my treasury?
32:35 Vengeance is mine, and
requital, for the time when they make a false step. For it is close, the day of
their ruin; their doom comes at speed.
32:36 (For Yahweh will see his
people righted, he will take pity on his servants.) For he will see to it that
their power fails, that, serf or freeman, there is not one remaining.
32:37 Where are their gods? he
will ask then, the rock where they thought to take refuge,
32:38 who ate the fat of their
sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let these arise and help you,
let these be the shelter above you!
32:39 See now that I, I am He,
and beside me there is no other god. It is I who deal death and life; when I
have struck it is I who heal (and none can deliver from my hand).
32:40 "Yes, I lift up my
hand to heaven, and I say: As surely as I live for ever,
32:41 when I have whetted my
flashing sword I will take up the cause of Right, I will give my foes as good
again, I will repay those who hate me.
32:42 I will make my arrows
drunk with blood, and my sword shall feed on flesh: the blood of wounded and
captives, the skulls of the enemy leaders."
32:43 'Heavens, rejoice with
him, let the sons of God pay him homage! Nations, rejoice with his people, let
God's envoys tell of his power! For he will avenge the blood of his servants,
he will give his foes as good again, he will repay those who hate him and
purify the land of his people.'
32:44 Moses came with Joshua
son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the people's hearing.
The Law, the source
of life
32:45 When Moses had finished
reciting these words[*c] to all Israel,
32:46 he said to them, 'Take
all these words to heart; I call them to witness against you today. You must
order your children to keep and observe all the words of this Law.
32:47 It is no idle thing you
will be doing, for the Law is your life, and by its means you will live long in
the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.'
Moses' death
foretold
32:48 Yahweh spoke to Moses
that same day and said to him,
32:49 'Climb Mount Nebo, that
mountain of the Abarim range, in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view
the land of Canaan which I am giving the sons of Israel as their domain.
32:50 Die on the mountain you
have climbed, and be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron died on
Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
32:51 Because you broke faith
with me among the sons of Israel that time at Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness
of Zin, because you did not display my holiness among the sons of Israel,
32:52 you may see this land
only from afar; you cannot enter it, this land that I am giving to the sons of
Israel.'
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 33
33:1 This is the blessing that
Moses, the man of God, pronounced over the sons of Israel before he died.
33:2 He said: 'Yahweh came
from Sinai. For them, after Seir, he rose on the horizon, after Mount Paran he
shone forth. For them he came, after the mustering at Kadesh, from his zenith
as far as the foothills.
33:3 'You who have such love
for the forefathers, in your hand are all the holy ones. At your feet they
fell, under your guidance went swiftly on.
33:4 (Moses enjoined a law on
us.) The assembly of Jacob comes into its inheritance;
33:5 there was a king in
Jeshurun when the heads of the people foregathered and the tribes of Jacob were
all assembled.
33:6 'May Reuben live and not
die, live too, his small band of warriors!'
33:7 Of Judah he said this:
'Listen, Yahweh, to the voice of Judah and bring him back to his people. That
his hands may defend his rights, come to his help against his foes.'
33:8 Of Levi he said: 'Grant
to Levi[*a] your Urim, your Thummim to the one you favoured after you had
tested him at Massah and striven with him at the waters of Meribah.
33:9 He says of his father and
mother, "I have not seen them". His brothers he does not know, nor
does he know his children. Yes, they have kept your word, they hold firmly to
your covenant.
33:10 They teach your customs
to Jacob, your Law to Israel. They send incense rising to your nostrils, place
the holocaust on your altar.
33:11 Yahweh, bless his
worthiness, and accept the work of his hands. Crush the loins of his enemies
and of his foes, till they rise no more.'
33:12 Of Benjamin he said:
'Beloved of Yahweh, he rests in safety. The Most High[*b] protects him day
after day and dwells between his hillsides.'
33:13 Of Joseph he said: 'His
land is blessed by Yahweh. For him the best of heaven's dew and of the deep
that lies below,
33:14 the best of what the sun
makes grow, of what springs with every month,
33:15 the first-fruits of the
ancient mountains, the best from the hills of old,
33:16 the best of the land and
all it holds, the favour of him who dwells in the Bush. May the hair grow thick
on the head of Joseph, of the consecrated one among his brothers!
33:17 First-born of the bull,
his the glory. His horns are the wild ox's horns, with them he tosses the
peoples to the very ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, such
are the thousands of Manasseh.'
33:18 Of Zebulun he said:
'Prosper, Zebulun, in your voyages abroad, and you, Issachar, in your tents!
33:19 On the mountain where
the people come to pray they offer sacrifices for success, for they taste the
riches of the seas, and the treasures hidden in the sands.'
33:20 Of Gad he said: 'Blessed
be he who gives Gad space enough! He lies there like a lioness; he has savaged
arm and face and head.
33:21 Then he took the first
portion for himself; he saw that there a leader's share was kept for him. He
came as leader of the people, having executed the justice of Yahweh and his
sentences on Israel.'
33:22 Of Dan he said: 'Dan is
a lion cub leaping from Bashan. '
33:23 Of Naphtali he said:
'Naphtali, sated with favours, filled with the blessings of Yahweh: the Sea and
the South are his domain.'
33:24 Of Asher he said: 'Most
blessed of the sons may Asher be! Let him be privileged among his brothers and
bathe his feet in oil!
33:25 Be your bolts of iron
and of bronze
33:26 and your security as
lasting as your days! There is none like the God of Jeshurun: he rides the
heavens to your rescue,
33:27 rides the clouds in his
majesty. The God of old, he is your refuge. Here below, he is the age-old arm
driving the enemy before you;
33:28 it is he who cries,
"Destroy!" Israel rests in safety. The well spring of Jacob is chosen
out for a land of corn and wine;
33:29 there heaven itself
rains down dew. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a victorious people?
In Yahweh is the shield that protects you and the marching sword leading to
your triumph. Your enemies will try to corrupt you, but you yourself shall
trample on their backs.'
JB DEUTERONOMY
Chapter 34
The death of Moses
34:1 Then, leaving the plains
of Moab, Moses went up Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah opposite Jericho, and
Yahweh showed him the whole land; Gilead as far as Dan,
34:2 all Naphtali, the land of
Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,
34:3 the Negeb, and the
stretch of the Valley of Jericho, city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.[*a]
34:4 Yahweh said to him, 'This
is the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: I will give it
to your descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall
not cross into it.'
34:5 There in the land of
Moab, Moses the servant of Yahweh died as Yahweh decreed;
34:6 he buried him in the
valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but to this day no one has
ever found his grave.
34:7 Moses was a hundred and
twenty years old when he died, his eye undimmed, his vigour unimpaired.
34:8 The sons of Israel wept
for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days. The days of weeping for the
mourning rites of Moses came to an end.
34:9 Joshua son of Nun was
filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. It was
he that the sons of Israel obeyed, carrying out the order that Yahweh had given
to Moses.
34:10 Since then, never has
there been such a prophet in Israel as Moses, the man Yahweh knew face to face.
34:11 What signs and wonders
Yahweh caused him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his
servants and his whole land!
34:12 How mighty the hand and
great the fear that Moses wielded in the sight of all Israel!
END OF JB
DEUTERONOMY [34 Chapters].