Deuteronomy 8

Deuteronomy 8

Deuteronomy 8:1 “Carefully do every command I am commanding you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land Yahveh swore to your fathers.

Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that Yahveh, your God, led you on the entire journey these forty years in the open country so that he might discipline you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would watch his commands.

Deuteronomy 8:3 He disciplined you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known so that you might learn that a human does not stay alive on bread alone but stays alive on everything that comes from[1] the mouth of Yahveh.

Deuteronomy 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years.

Deuteronomy 8:5 Keep in mind that Yahveh, your God, has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

Deuteronomy 8:6 So watch the commands of Yahveh your God by walking in his ways and fearing him

Deuteronomy 8:7 because Yahveh your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills;

Deuteronomy 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;

Deuteronomy 8:9 a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.

Deuteronomy 8:10 When you eat and are full, you will celebrate Yahveh, your God, for the good land he has given you.

Deuteronomy 8:11 “Be careful or else you will forget Yahveh your God by failing to watch his commands, rules, and prescriptions that I am commanding you today.

Deuteronomy 8:12 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in,

Deuteronomy 8:13 and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases,

Deuteronomy 8:14 be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget Yahveh, your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Deuteronomy 8:15 He led you through the great and terrible open country with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you.

Deuteronomy 8:16 He fed you in the open country with manna, which your fathers had not known, in order to discipline and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper.

Deuteronomy 8:17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my ability have gained this wealth for me,’

Deuteronomy 8:18 but remember that Yahveh, your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 8:19 If you ever forget Yahveh, your God, and follow other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them, I testify against you today that you will be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 8:20 Like the nations Yahveh is about to destroy before you; you will be destroyed if you do not obey Yahveh, your God.


[1]מוֹצָא = what comes out (possible wordplay with מַצָּה)

Deuteronomy 8 quotes

“The desolation of the wilderness is in stark contrast to the richness of the promised land. God had led his people through the wilderness, however, for a particular purpose; the forty years were to be a time of testing and disciplining, to know what was in your heart,2 whether or not you would keep his commandments (v. 2). The wilderness tested and disciplined the people in various ways. On the one hand, the desolation of the wilderness removed the natural props and supports which man by nature depends on; it cast the people back on God, who alone could provide the strength to survive the wilderness. On the other hand, the severity of the wilderness period undermined the shallow bases of confidence of those who were not truly rooted and grounded in God. The wilderness makes or breaks a man; it provides strength of will and character. The strength provided by the wilderness, however, was not the strength of self-sufficiency, but the strength that comes from a knowledge of the living God.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 185.

“Why, we may ask, were Israel charged to “remember all the way” by which the Lord their God had k'(l them? Assuredl}’, to draw out their hearts in praise for the past, and to strengthen their confidence in God for the future.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. vol 3. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 37.

Deuteronomy 8 links:

a good land
a neglected promise
a promise to avoid
ACST 45- The Tempters
full of themselves
in retrospect- remember the whole way
Maranatha Daily Devotional – August 29, 2015
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, August 10, 2018
purpose for prosperity


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 7

Deuteronomy 7

Deuteronomy 7:1 “When Yahveh your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, and he drives out many nations before you — the Hethites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 7:2 and when Yahveh your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely eliminate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

Deuteronomy 7:3 You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

Deuteronomy 7:4 because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then Yahveh’s nose will burn at you, and he will rapidly exterminate you.

Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their standing stones,[1] cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their carved images.

Deuteronomy 7:6 You see, you are a sacred[2] people to Yahveh your God. Yahveh your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the land.

Deuteronomy 7:7 “Yahveh had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, because you were the fewest of all peoples.

Deuteronomy 7:8 But because Yahveh cared about you and kept the oath he swore to your fathers, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know that Yahveh, your God, is God, the faithful God who watches his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who care about him and keep his commands.

Deuteronomy 7:10 But he directly pays back and destroys those who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back directly the one who hates him.

Deuteronomy 7:11 So watch the commands—the prescriptions and rules—that I am commanding you to follow today.

Deuteronomy 7:12 “If you listen to and are careful to watch these rules, Yahveh your God will watch his covenant loyalty with you, as he swore to your fathers.

Deuteronomy 7:13 He will care about you, empower you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, and the produce of your land– your grain, new wine, and fresh oil– the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your fathers that he would give you.

Deuteronomy 7:14 You will be empowered above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock.

Deuteronomy 7:15 Yahveh will remove all sickness from you; he will not place on you all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 7:16 You must destroy all the peoples Yahveh your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods because that will be a snare to you.

Deuteronomy 7:17 “If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I take possession from them?’

Deuteronomy 7:18 do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what Yahveh, your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt:

Deuteronomy 7:19 the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which Yahveh your God brought you out. Yahveh, your God, will do the same to all the people you fear.

Deuteronomy 7:20 Yahveh, your God, will also send hornets against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed.

Deuteronomy 7:21 Don’t be terrified of them, because Yahveh your God, a great and awesome God, is among you.

Deuteronomy 7:22 Yahveh, your God, will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them rapidly; or else the wild animals will become too numerous for you.

Deuteronomy 7:23 Yahveh, your God, will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are exterminated.

Deuteronomy 7:24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will destroy their names under the sky. No one will be able to stand against you; you will exterminate them.

Deuteronomy 7:25 Burn up the carved images of their gods. Don’t crave the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is repulsive[3] to Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 7:26 Do not bring any repulsive thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to abhor and detest it utterly because it is set apart for destruction.


[1]מַצֵּבָה  = “an unhewn, upright stone for cult, burial-marking, or memorial purposes” (Holladay). Deut. 7:5; 12:3; 16:22.

[2] קָדוֹשׁ= sacred. Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2, 21; 23:14; 26:19; 28:9; 33:3.

[3]תּוֹעֵבָה = repulsive. Deut 7:25-26; 12:31; 13:14; 14:3; 17:1, 4; 18:9, 12; 20:18; 22:5; 23:18; 24:4; 25:16; 27:15; 32:16.

Deuteronomy 7 quotes:

“In summary, when the Israelites conquered their new land, they were to destroy the old inhabitants, refusing to enter into any kind of treaty with them, either political or marital. Any kind of treaty would be a compromise and would lead to disaster; therefore the Israelites were to destroy systematically the physical religious “furniture” of their enemies, indicating thereby their complete lack of recognition for the gods of their enemies.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 177.

“Some persons, allowing themselves to be influenced by a morbid feeling^ and false sentimentality, rather than by an enlightened judgment, find difficulty in the directions given to Israel in reference to the Canaanites, in the opening of our chapter. It seems to them inconsistent with a benevolent Being to command His people to smite their fellow-creatures, and to show them nO’ mercy. They cannot understand how a merciful God could commission His people to slay women and children with the edge of the sword.

It is very plain that such persons could not adopt the language of Revelation xv. 3, 4. They are not prepared to say, “Just and true are Thy ways. Thou King of nations.” They cannot justify- God in all His ways ; nay, they are actually sitting in judgment upon Him. They presume to measure the actings of divine government by the standard of their own shallow thoughts — to scan the infinite by the finite ; in short, they measure God by themselves.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy.Vo. 3. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 2.

Deuteronomy 7 links:

checkmate
cleansing Canaan
destined to be destroyed
he watches, so watch
in retrospect- a greater GOD
Kriptonite
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, June 2, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, May 31, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 9, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, June 2, 2021
partnering with paganism
set apart for destruction
your God will do the same
your offspring and produce


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy 6:1 “This is the command — the prescriptions and rules – Yahveh your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and take possession of.

Deuteronomy 6:2 Do this so that you may fear Yahveh your God all the days of your life by watching all his prescriptions[1] and commands. I am commanding you, your son, and your grandson so that you may have a long life.

Deuteronomy 6:3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Listen, Israel: Yahveh our God, Yahveh is one.

Deuteronomy 6:5 Care about Yahveh your God with all your heart, with all your throat, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:6 These words that I am commanding you today are to be in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you are lying down[2] and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy 6:8 Tie them as a sign onto your hand and let them be a symbol between your eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and your city gates.

Deuteronomy 6:10 “When Yahveh your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you – a land with large and good cities that you did not build,

Deuteronomy 6:11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant– and when you eat and are satisfied,

Deuteronomy 6:12 be careful or else you will forget Yahveh who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear Yahveh your God, worship him and take your oaths in his name.

Deuteronomy 6:14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,

Deuteronomy 6:15 because Yahveh your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, Yahveh, your God’s nose will burn[3] at you and exterminate you from the face of the land.

Deuteronomy 6:16 Do not test Yahveh your God like you tested him at Massah.

Deuteronomy 6:17 Carefully observe the commands of Yahveh your God, the reminders and prescriptions he has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 6:18 Do what is right and good in Yahveh’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and take possession of the good land Yahveh your God swore to give your fathers,

Deuteronomy 6:19 by pushing away[4] all your enemies before you, as Yahveh has said.

Deuteronomy 6:20 “When your son asks you in the future, and this is what they say: ‘What is the meaning of the reminders, prescriptions, and rules that Yahveh our God has commanded you? ‘

Deuteronomy 6:21 tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but Yahveh brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.

Deuteronomy 6:22 Before our eyes Yahveh inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household,

Deuteronomy 6:23 but he brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that he swore to our fathers.

Deuteronomy 6:24 Yahveh commanded us to follow all these prescriptions and to fear Yahveh our God for our good always and that we may stay alive, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 6:25 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands in the sight of Yahveh our God, like he has commanded us.’


[1] חֻקָּה= prescriptions. Deuteronomy 6:2; 8:11; 10:13; 11:1; 28:15, 45; 30:10, 16.

[2]שָׁכַב = lie down. Deut. 6:7; 11:19; 22:22-23, 25, 28-29; 24:12-13; 27:20-23; 31:16.

[3]חרה = burn (in anger). Deut. 6:15; 7:4; 11:17; 29:27; 31:17.

[4] הָדָף= push away. Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4.

Deuteronomy 6 quotes:

“The fundamental truth has to do with the nature of God as one (v. 4); the fundamental duty is the response of love which God requires of man (v. 5). Both themes are taken up in the teaching of Jesus.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 168.

“As the heart of Israel’s faith and confession, the Shema at 6:4–5 extends the first two commandments in particular (5:6–10), giving essential expression to Israel’s covenant faith. As such, the Shema can be understood as both a statement about Yahweh’s uniqueness (as an answer to the question, ‘Who is our “one and only” God?’ = Yahweh), and also Israel’s response to this uniqueness implied in the translation ‘alone’.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 6 links:

ACST 45- The Tempters
DECORATE YOUR DOORPOST
exterminate!
focusing on God alone
he drives out many nations
in retrospect- love and fear
Loving God
Loving Our Neighbours
Making Disciples
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, August 6, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, June 1, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, August 7, 2018
mission statement
redemption and left
the meaning of the rules
trusting, not testing
your God who is among you


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 5

Deuteronomy 5

Deuteronomy 5:1 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Israel, listen to the prescriptions and rules I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and watch them carefully.

Deuteronomy 5:2 Yahveh our God established a covenant with us at Horeb.

Deuteronomy 5:3 Yahveh did not establish this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

Deuteronomy 5:4 Yahveh spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain.

Deuteronomy 5:5 At that time, I was standing between Yahveh and you to report the word of Yahveh to you because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain. And this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 5:6 I am Yahveh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Deuteronomy 5:7 Do not have other gods besides me.

Deuteronomy 5:8 Do not make an idol for yourself in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the land below or in the water under the land.

Deuteronomy 5:9 Do not bow in worship to them and do not serve them, because I, Yahveh your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ violation[1] to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

Deuteronomy 5:10 but showing faithful care to a thousand generations of those who care about me and watch my commands.

Deuteronomy 5:11 Do not misuse the name of Yahveh your God, because Yahveh will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.

Deuteronomy 5:12 Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it sacred[2] like Yahveh, your God has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 5:13 You are to labor six days and do all your work,

Deuteronomy 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahveh your God. Do not do any work– you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the guest who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.

Deuteronomy 5:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahveh, your God, brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Yahveh, your God, has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honor your father and your mother, as Yahveh your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and so that you may prosper in the land Yahveh your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:17 You will not murder.

Deuteronomy 5:18 You will not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 5:19 You will not steal.

Deuteronomy 5:20 You will not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor.

Deuteronomy 5:21 You will not crave[3] your neighbor’s wife or your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Deuteronomy 5:22 “Yahveh spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire collected assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing to them. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

Deuteronomy 5:23 All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.

Deuteronomy 5:24 You said, ‘Notice,[4] Yahveh, our God, has shown us his impressive appearance[5] and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak with a human, and he stays alive.

Deuteronomy 5:25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of Yahveh, our God, any longer.

Deuteronomy 5:26 For who out of everyone in the flesh[6] has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and stayed alive?

Deuteronomy 5:27 Go near and listen to everything Yahveh our God says. Then you can tell us everything Yahveh our God tells you; we will listen and obey.’

Deuteronomy 5:28 “Yahveh heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.

Deuteronomy 5:29 If only they had such a heart to fear me and watch all my commands always, so that they and their children would permanently[7] prosper.

Deuteronomy 5:30 Go and tell them: Return to your tents.

Deuteronomy 5:31 But you stand here with me, and I will tell you every command – the prescriptions and rules – you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to take possession of.’

Deuteronomy 5:32 “Be careful to do as Yahveh your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left.

Deuteronomy 5:33 Follow the whole instruction Yahveh your God has commanded you, so that you may stay alive, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.


[1]עָוֹן = violation. Deuteronomy 5:9; 19:15.

[2]קָדַשׁ = sacred. Deuteronomy 5:12; 15:19; 22:9; 32:51.

[3]חמד = crave. Deuteronomy 5:21; 7:25.

[4] הֵן= notice. Deuteronomy 5:24; 10:14; 31:14, 27.

[5]כָּבוֹד = impressive appearance.

[6] בָּשָׂר= flesh, meat. Deuteronomy 5:26; 12:15, 20, 23, 27; 14:8; 16:4; 28:53, 55; 32:42.

[7] עוֹלָם= permanently, ancient, permanent. Deuteronomy 5:29; 12:28; 13:16; 15:17; 23:3, 6; 28:46; 29:29; 32:7, 40; 33:15, 27.

Deuteronomy 5 quotes:

“But in mediating the law, Moses applied it to the contemporary situation, and his repetition of the Decalog and laws in the verses and chapters that follow in Deuteronomy differs at a number of points from the initial presentation of the law in the book of Exodus.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 148.

“The laws of Deuteronomy are like a straight and well-marked ‘path’ or road, without any detours. Therefore, it was imperative for Israel to follow the Lord in all the way that he had commanded (repeated in vv. 32–33). Placed here, these verses are not seen as an intrusion on the assumption that the law had already been given, but may be perceived as anticipating the full complement of laws to follow.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 5 links:

an internal battle
fine print in the idolatry contract
fire and mission
God alone is Immortal
God is Different
he added nothing to them
helping those who are not yet strong
his name and his day
in retrospect- a covenant people
long lives
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, August 5, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, May 30, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, June 1, 2021
preying pagans
respecting life and family
the burden of prescience
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4:1 “Now, Israel, listen to the prescriptions[1] and rules I am teaching you to follow so that you may stay alive,[2] enter, and take possession of the land Yahveh, the God of your fathers is giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:2 You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it so that you may watch the commands of Yahveh, your God I am giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:3 Your eyes have seen what Yahveh did at Baal-Peor, for Yahveh your God exterminated every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.

Deuteronomy 4:4 But you who have remained faithful to Yahveh your God are all alive today.

Deuteronomy 4:5 Look, I have taught you prescriptions and rules as Yahveh my God has commanded me so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 4:6 Be careful and do them, because this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the people. When they hear about all these prescriptions, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

Deuteronomy 4:7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it like Yahveh our God is to us whenever we call to him?

Deuteronomy 4:8 And what great nation has righteous prescriptions and rules like this entire instruction I set before you today?

Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only be careful and diligently watch your throats,[3] or else[4] you will forget the things your eyes have seen and they will slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 4:10 The day you stood before Yahveh your God at Horeb, Yahveh said to me, ‘Collect[5] the people before me, and I will let them hear my words so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the land and may instruct their children.’

Deuteronomy 4:11 You came near and stood below the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heart[6] of the sky and enveloped in a totally black cloud.

Deuteronomy 4:12 Then Yahveh spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.

Deuteronomy 4:13 He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to do the Ten Words,[7] which he wrote on two stone tablets.

Deuteronomy 4:14 At that time, Yahveh commanded me to teach you prescriptions and rules for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and take possession of.

Deuteronomy 4:15 “Diligently watch your throats – because you did not see any form on the day Yahveh spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb –

Deuteronomy 4:16 or else you will act corruptly[8] and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of some figure: a male or female form,

Deuteronomy 4:17 or the form of some animal on the land, some winged creature that flies in the sky,

Deuteronomy 4:18 some creature that crawls on the ground, or some fish in the water under the land.

Deuteronomy 4:19 When you look to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars – all the stars in the sky – or else you might be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them. Yahveh your God has provided them for all people everywhere under the sky.

Deuteronomy 4:20 But Yahveh selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.

Deuteronomy 4:21 “Yahveh was angry with me because of your thing. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land Yahveh your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 4:22 I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.

Deuteronomy 4:23 Be careful, or else you will forget the covenant of Yahveh your God that he established[9] with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you

Deuteronomy 4:24 because Yahveh, your God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:25 “When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of Yahveh your God, angering him,

Deuteronomy 4:26 I call sky and land as witnesses against you today that you will rapidly[10] be destroyed[11] from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to take possession of. You will not live long there, but you will indeed be exterminated.

Deuteronomy 4:27 Yahveh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where Yahveh, your God, will drive you.

Deuteronomy 4:28 There you will worship human-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there, you will search for Yahveh, your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your throat.

Deuteronomy 4:30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future, you will return to Yahveh, your God, and obey him.

Deuteronomy 4:31 He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them by oath because Yahveh, your God, is a compassionate God.

Deuteronomy 4:32 “Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created humankind on the land and from one end of the sky to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of?

Deuteronomy 4:33 Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and stayed alive?

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as Yahveh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Deuteronomy 4:35 You were shown these things so that you would know that Yahveh is God; there is no other besides him.

Deuteronomy 4:36 He let you hear his voice from the sky to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on the land, and you listened to his words from the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:37 Because he cared about[12] your fathers, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,

Deuteronomy 4:38 to take possession from nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.

Deuteronomy 4:39 Today, recognize and keep in mind that Yahveh is God in the sky above and on the land below; there is no other.

Deuteronomy 4:40 Watch his prescriptions and commands, which I am giving you today so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land Yahveh your God is commanding you for all the days.”

Deuteronomy 4:41 Then Moses separated[13] three cities across the Jordan to the east.

Deuteronomy 4:42 Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could escape to one of these cities and stay alive:

Deuteronomy 4:43 Bezer in the open country on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.

Deuteronomy 4:44 This is the instruction Moses placed before the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 4:45 These are the reminders,[14] prescriptions, and rules Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,

Deuteronomy 4:46 across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-Peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 4:47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east,

Deuteronomy 4:48 from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon)

Deuteronomy 4:49 and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.


[1]חק = prescription. Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-6, 8, 14, 40, 45; 5:1, 31; 6:1, 17, 20, 24; 7:11; 11:32; 12:1; 16:12; 17:19; 26:16-17; 27:10.

[2]חָיָה = stay alive. Deuteronomy 4:1, 33, 42; 5:24, 26, 33; 6:24; 8:1, 3; 16:20; 19:4-5; 20:16; 30:16, 19; 32:39; 33:6.

[3]נֶפֶשׁ = throat. Deuteronomy 4:9, 15, 29; 6:5; 10:12, 22; 11:13, 18; 12:23; 13:3, 6; 14:26; 19:6, 21; 21:14; 24:6-7, 15; 26:16; 27:25; 28:65; 30:2, 6, 10.

[4]פֵּן = or else. Deuteronomy 4:9, 16; 6:15; 7:25; 8:12; 9:28; 15:9; 19:6; 20:5-7; 22:9; 25:3; 29:18.

[5]קהל = collect. Deuteronomy 4:10; 31:12, 28.

[6]לֵב = heart. Deuteronomy 4:11; 28:65; 29:4, 19.

[7]Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4.

[8]שָׁחַת = corruptly. Deuteronomy 4:16, 25, 31; 9:12, 26; 10:10; 20:19-20; 31:29; 32:5.

[9]כָּרַת = establish. Deuteronomy 4:23; 5:2-3; 7:2; 9:9; 12:29; 19:1, 5; 20:19-20; 23:1; 29:1, 12, 14, 25; 31:16.

[10]מהר = rapidly. Deuteronomy 4:26; 7:4, 22; 9:3, 12, 16; 28:20.

[11]אָבַד = be destroyed. Deuteronomy 4:26; 7:10, 20, 24; 8:19-20; 9:3; 11:4, 17; 12:2-3; 22:3; 26:5; 28:20, 22, 51, 63; 30:18; 32:28.

[12]אָהַב care about, care for. Deuteronomy 4:37; 5:10; 6:5; 7:8-9, 13; 10:12, 15, 18-19; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 15:16; 19:9; 21:15-16; 23:5; 30:6, 16, 20.

[13]בּדל = separate. Deuteronomy 4:41; 10:8; 19:2, 7; 29:21.

[14]עֵדוּת = reminder. Deuteronomy 4:45; 6:17, 20.

Deuteronomy 4 quotes:

“Deut. 4 is in essence a miniature sermon on the covenant and the law, in which historical recollection is employed in a more general didactic fashion. The “sermon” prepares the way for the presentation of the Decalog and the other laws which begins in ch. 5.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 129.

Deuteronomy 4 links:

a consuming fire, a jealous God
are we there yet?
consumed
God of the sky and the land
God’s mercy and the death-state
in retrospect- a great God and a great people
invaded
lesser and weaker
life or death quest
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, August 3, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, August 3, 2024
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, August 4, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 2, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 31, 2023
our responsibility to teach
protective clothing – immortal body
representing the invisible God
respect for life
RETURNING TO THE LORD
The broader scope of the mission
the earlier days
the purpose of obedience
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets
the transjordon possessions
what God has done for you


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.