And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, giveth you.
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you.
Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor; for all the men that followed Baal-peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee.
But ye that did cleave unto Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it.
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
For what great nation is there, that hath {Or, God}a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him?
And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children's children;
the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice.
And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten {Hebrew: words.}commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire;
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flieth in the heavens,
the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.
But Jehovah hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee.
For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger;
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you away.
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, {Or, if in the latter days thou return}in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice:
for Jehovah thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him.
Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he made thee to see his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;
to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as at this day.
Know therefore this day, and lay it to thy heart, that Jehovah he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.
And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days in the land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, for ever.
Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
that the manslayer might flee thither, that slayeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the {Or, table-land}plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,
beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt.
And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even unto mount Sion (the same is Hermon),
and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the Arabah, under the {Or, springs}slopes of Pisgah.
Querverweise zu 5. Mose 4,19 5Mo 4,19
and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.
And they forsook all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
Then spake Joshua to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel,Sun, {Hebrew: be silent.}stand thou still upon Gibeon;And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.
And he put down the {Hebrew: Chemarim. See Hosea 10:5, Zephaniah 1:4.}idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the {Or, twelve signs}planets, and to all the host of heaven.
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies.Is not this written in the book of {Or, The Upright}Jashar? And the sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
If I have beheld {Hebrew: the light.}the sun when it shined,Or the moon walking in brightness,
and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to Jehovah and swear by {Or, their king}Malcam;
The day is thine, the night also is thine:Thou hast prepared the {Hebrew: luminary.}light and the sun.
And my heart hath been secretly enticed,And {Hebrew: my hand hath kissed my mouth.}my mouth hath kissed my hand:
But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, {Amos 5:25 ff.}Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrificesForty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth:Thou hast made summer and winter.
and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed {Greek: unto the ages.}for ever. Amen.
To him that made great lights;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
The sun to rule by day;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
The moon and stars to rule by night;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.
Praise ye him, sun and moon:Praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens,And ye waters that are above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of Jehovah;For he commanded, and they were created.
Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and {Or, meal-offerings}offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who {Or, stilleth the sea, when &c. See Isaiah 51:15.}stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name:
Yea, ye {Or, shall take up…And I will cause &c.}have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night stand not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.