February 26

Deuteronomy 5:1 — 7:26

5 And Moses proceeded to call all Israel and to say to them: “Hear, O Israel, the regulations and the judicial decisions that I am speaking in YOUR ears today, and YOU must learn them and be careful to do them. 2 Jehovah our God concluded a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 It was not with our forefathers that Jehovah concluded this covenant, but with us, all those of us alive here today. 4 Face to face Jehovah spoke with YOU in the mountain out of the middle of the fire. 5 I was standing between Jehovah and YOU at that particular time to tell YOU the word of Jehovah, (for YOU were afraid because of the fire and did not go up into the mountain,) saying,

6 “‘I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. 7 You must never have any other gods against my face.

8 “‘You must not make for yourself a carved image, any form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. 9 You must not bow down to them or be led to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons and upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation, in the case of those who hate me; 10 but exercising loving-kindness toward the thousandth generation in the case of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “‘You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will not leave anyone unpunished who takes up his name in a worthless way.

12 “‘Keeping the sabbath day to hold it sacred, just as Jehovah your God commanded you, 13 you are to render service and you must do all your work six days. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You must not do any work, you nor your son nor your daughter nor your slave man nor your slave girl nor your bull nor your ass nor any domestic animal of yours nor your alien resident who is inside your gates, in order that your slave man and your slave girl may rest the same as you. 15 And you must remember that you became a slave in the land of Egypt and Jehovah your God proceeded to bring you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Jehovah your God commanded you to carry on the sabbath day.

16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, just as Jehovah your God has commanded you; in order that your days may prove long and it may go well with you on the ground that Jehovah your God is giving you.

 17 “‘You must not murder.
       18 “‘Neither must you commit adultery.
       19 “‘Neither must you steal.
       20 “‘Neither must you testify to a falsehood against your fellowman.
       21 “‘Neither must you desire your fellowman’s wife. Neither must you selfishly crave your fellowman’s house, his field or his slave man or his slave girl, his bull or his ass or anything that belongs to your fellowman.’

22 “These Words Jehovah spoke to all YOUR congregation in the mountain out of the middle of the fire, the cloud and the thick gloom, with a loud voice, and he added nothing; after which he wrote them upon two tablets of stone and gave me them.

23 “And it came about that as soon as YOU had heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, YOU proceeded to come near to me, all the heads of YOUR tribes and YOUR older men. 24 Then YOU said, ‘Here Jehovah our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. This day we have seen that God may speak with man and he may actually keep living. 25 And now why should we die, for this great fire may consume us? If we are again hearing the voice of Jehovah our God any further, we are also certain to die. 26 For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire as we did and yet goes on living? 27 You yourself go near and hear all that Jehovah our God will say; and you will be the one to speak to us all that Jehovah our God will speak to you, and we shall certainly listen and do.’

28 “So Jehovah heard the voice of YOUR words when YOU spoke to me, and Jehovah went on to say to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all they have spoken. 29 If only they would develop this heart of theirs to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, in order that it might go well with them and their sons to time indefinite! 30 Go say to them: “Return home to YOUR tents.” 31 And you stand here with me, and let me speak to you all the commandment and the regulations and the judicial decisions that you should teach to them and that they must do in the land that I am giving them to take possession of it.’ 32 And YOU people must take care to do just as Jehovah YOUR God has commanded YOU. YOU must not turn to the right or to the left. 33 In all the way that Jehovah YOUR God has commanded YOU, YOU should walk, in order that YOU may live and it may be well with YOU and YOU may indeed lengthen YOUR days in the land of which YOU will take possession.


6 “Now these are the commandment, the regulations and the judicial decisions that Jehovah YOUR God has commanded to teach YOU, so as to do them in the land to which YOU are passing over there to take possession of it; 2 in order that you may fear Jehovah your God so as to keep all his statutes and his commandments that I am commanding you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and in order that your days may prove long. 3 And you must listen, O Israel, and take care to do [them], that it may go well with you and that YOU may become very many, just as Jehovah the God of your forefathers has promised you, as respects the land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah. 5 And you must love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your vital force. 6 And these words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart; 7 and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 8 And you must tie them as a sign upon your hand, and they must serve as a frontlet band between your eyes; 9 and you must write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “And it must occur that when Jehovah your God will bring you into the land that he swore to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give you, great and good-looking cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things and that you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out that you did not hew out, vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant, and you shall have eaten and become satisfied, 12 watch out for yourself that you may not forget Jehovah, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. 13 Jehovah your God you should fear, and him you should serve, and by his name you should swear. 14 YOU must not walk after other gods, any gods of the peoples who are all around YOU, 15 (for Jehovah your God in your midst is a God exacting exclusive devotion,) for fear the anger of Jehovah your God may blaze against you and he must annihilate you from off the surface of the ground.

16 “YOU must not put Jehovah YOUR God to the test, the way YOU put him to the test at Massah. 17 YOU should by all means keep the commandments of Jehovah YOUR God and his testimonies and his regulations that he has commanded you. 18 And you must do what is right and good in Jehovah’s eyes, in order that it may go well with you and you may indeed enter and take possession of the good land about which Jehovah has sworn to your forefathers, 19 by pushing away all your enemies from before you, just as Jehovah has promised.

20 “In case your son should ask you in a future day, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the regulations and the judicial decisions mean that Jehovah our God has commanded YOU?’ 21 then you must say to your son, ‘We became slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but Jehovah proceeded to bring us out of Egypt with a strong hand. 22 So Jehovah kept putting signs and miracles, great and calamitous, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his household before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there in order that he might bring us here to give us the land about which he had sworn to our forefathers. 24 Hence Jehovah commanded us to carry out all these regulations, to fear Jehovah our God for our good always, that we might keep alive as at this day. 25 And it will mean righteousness for us, that we take care to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, just as he has commanded us.’

7 “When Jehovah your God at last brings you into the land to which you are going so as to take possession of it, he must also clear away populous nations from before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations more populous and mighty than you are. 2 And Jehovah your God will certainly abandon them to you, and you must defeat them. You should without fail devote them to destruction. You must conclude no covenant with them nor show them any favor. 3 And you must form no marriage alliance with them. Your daughter you must not give to his son, and his daughter you must not take for your son. 4 For he will turn your son from following me, and they will certainly serve other gods; and Jehovah’s anger will indeed blaze against YOU, and he will certainly annihilate you in a hurry.

5 “On the other hand, this is what YOU should do to them: Their altars YOU should pull down, and their sacred pillars YOU should break down, and their sacred poles YOU should cut down, and their graven images YOU should burn with fire. 6 For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God. It is you Jehovah your God has chosen to become his people, a special property, out of all the peoples that are on the surface of the ground.

7 “It was not because of YOUR being the most populous of all the peoples that Jehovah showed affection for YOU so that he chose YOU, for YOU were the least of all the peoples. 8 But it was because of Jehovah’s loving YOU, and because of his keeping the sworn statement that he had sworn to YOUR forefathers, that Jehovah brought YOU out with a strong hand, that he might redeem you from the house of slaves, from the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. 9 And you well know that Jehovah your God is the [true] God, the faithful God, keeping covenant and loving-kindness in the case of those who love him and those who keep his commandments to a thousand generations, 10 but repaying to his face the one who hates him by destroying him. He will not hesitate toward the one who hates him; he will repay him to his face. 11 And you must keep the commandment and the regulations and the judicial decisions that I am commanding you today by doing them.

12 “And it must occur that, because YOU continue listening to these judicial decisions and YOU do keep them and do carry them out, Jehovah your God must keep toward you the covenant and the loving-kindness about which he swore to your forefathers. 13 And he will certainly love you and bless you and multiply you and bless the fruit of your belly and the fruit of your soil, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the young of your cows and the progeny of your flock, on the soil that he swore to your forefathers to give to you. 14 The most blessed of all the peoples you will become. There will not prove to be in you a male or a female without offspring, nor among your domestic animals. 15 And Jehovah will certainly remove from you every sickness; and as for all the evil diseases of Egypt that you have known, he will not place them upon you, and he will indeed put them upon all those who hate you. 16 And you must consume all the peoples whom Jehovah your God is giving to you. Your eye must not feel sorry for them; and you must not serve their gods, because that will be a snare to you.

17 “In case you say in your heart, ‘These nations are too populous for me. How shall I be able to drive them away?’ 18 you must not be afraid of them. You should by all means remember what Jehovah your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 19 the great provings that your eyes saw, and the signs and the miracles and the strong hand and the outstretched arm with which Jehovah your God brought you out. That is the way Jehovah your God will do to all the peoples before whom you are afraid. 20 And Jehovah your God will also send the feeling of dejection upon them, until those perish who were let remain and who were concealing themselves from before you. 21 You must not suffer a shock because of them, for Jehovah your God is in your midst, a great and fear-inspiring God.

22 “And Jehovah your God will certainly push these nations away from before you little by little. You will not be allowed to finish them off quickly, for fear the wild beasts of the field may multiply against you. 23 And Jehovah your God will indeed abandon them to you and rout them with a great rout, until they are annihilated. 24 And he will certainly give their kings into your hand, and you must destroy their names from under the heavens. Nobody will take a firm stand against you, until you have exterminated them. 25 The graven images of their gods you should burn in the fire. You must not desire the silver and the gold upon them, nor indeed take it for yourself, for fear you may be ensnared by it; for it is a thing detestable to Jehovah your God. 26 And you must not bring a detestable thing into your house and actually become a thing devoted to destruction like it. You should thoroughly loathe it and absolutely detest it, because it is something devoted to destruction.