The Living Bible (59 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Moses continued speaking to the people of Israel and said, “Listen carefully now to all these laws God has given you; learn them, and be sure to obey them!
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“The Lord our God made a contract with you at Mount Horeb—
not with your ancestors, but with you who are here alive today.
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He spoke with you face to face from the center of the fire, there at the mountain.
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I stood as an intermediary between you and Jehovah, for you were afraid of the fire and did not go up to him on the mountain. He spoke to me and I passed on his laws to you. This is what he said:
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“‘I am Jehovah your God who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
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“‘Never worship any god but me.
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“‘Never make idols; don’t worship images, whether of birds, animals, or fish.
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You shall not bow down to any images nor worship them in any way, for I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God, and I will bring the curse of a father’s sins upon even the third and fourth generation of the children of those who hate me; but I will show kindness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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“‘You must never use my name to make a vow you don’t intend to keep.
*
I will not overlook that.
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“‘Keep the Sabbath day holy. This is my command.
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Work the other six days,
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but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; no work shall be done that day by you or by any of your household—your sons, daughters, servants, oxen, donkeys, or cattle; even foreigners living among you must obey this law. Everybody must rest as you do.
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Why should you keep the Sabbath? It is because you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out with a great display of miracles.
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“‘Honor your father and mother (remember, this is a commandment of the Lord your God); if you do so, you shall have a long, prosperous life in the land he is giving you.
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“‘You must not murder.
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“‘You must not commit adultery.
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“‘You must not steal.
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“‘You must not tell lies.
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“‘You must not burn with desire for another man’s wife, nor envy him for his home, land, servants, oxen, donkeys, nor anything else he owns.’
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“The Lord has given these laws to each one of you from the heart of the fire, surrounded by the clouds and thick darkness that engulfed Mount Sinai. Those were the only commandments he gave you at that time,
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and he wrote them out on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
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But when you heard the loud voice from the darkness and saw the terrible fire at the top of the mountain, all your tribal leaders came to me
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and pleaded, ‘Today the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness; we have even heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Now we know that a man may speak to God and not die;
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but we will surely die if he speaks to us again. This awesome fire will consume us.
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What man can hear, as we have, the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, and live? You go and listen to all that God says, then come and tell us, and we will listen and obey.’
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“And the Lord agreed to your request and said to me, ‘I have heard what the people have said to you, and I agree.
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Oh, that they would always have such a heart for me, wanting to obey my commandments. Then all would go well with them in the future, and with their children throughout all generations!
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Go and tell them to return to their tents.
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Then you come back and stand here beside me, and I will give you all my commandments, and you shall teach them to the people; and they will obey them in the land I am giving to them.’”
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So Moses told the people, “You must obey all the commandments of the Lord your God, following his directions in every detail, going the whole way he has laid out for you;
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only then will you live long and prosperous lives in the land you are to enter and possess.
“The Lord your God told me to give you all these commandments which you are to obey in the land you will soon be entering, where you will live.
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The purpose of these laws is to cause you, your sons, and your grandsons to reverence the Lord your God by obeying all of his instructions as long as you live; if you do, you will have long, prosperous years ahead of you.
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Therefore, O Israel, listen closely to each command and be careful to obey it, so that all will go well with you, and so that you will have many children. If you obey these commands, you will become a great nation in a glorious land ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ even as the God of your fathers promised you.
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“O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone.
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You must love him with
all
your heart, soul, and might.
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And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today.
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You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning.
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Tie them on your finger, wear them on your forehead,
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and write them on the doorposts of your house!
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“When the Lord your God has brought you into the land he promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and when he has given you great cities full of good things—cities you didn’t build, wells you didn’t dig, and vineyards and olive trees you didn’t plant—and when you have eaten until you can hold no more, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the land of slavery.
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When you are full, don’t forget to be reverent to him and to serve him and to use
his
name alone to endorse your promises.
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“You must not worship the gods of the neighboring nations,
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for Jehovah your God who lives among you is a jealous God, and his anger may rise quickly against you, and wipe you off the face of the earth.
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You must not provoke him and try his patience as you did when you complained against him at Massah.
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You must actively obey him in everything he commands.
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Only then will you be doing what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes. If you obey him, all will go well for you, and you will be able to go in and possess the good land that the Lord promised your ancestors.
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You will also be able to throw out all the enemies living in your land, as the Lord agreed to help you do.
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“In the years to come when your son asks you, ‘What is the purpose of these laws which the Lord our God has given us?’
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you must tell him, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power
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and mighty miracles—with terrible blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. We saw it all with our own eyes.
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He brought us out of Egypt so that he could give us this land he had promised to our ancestors.
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And he has commanded us to obey all of these laws and to reverence him so that he can preserve us alive as he has until now.
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For it always goes well with us when we obey all the laws of the Lord our God.’
“When the Lord brings you into the Promised Land, as he soon will, he will destroy the following seven nations, all greater and mightier than you are: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites.
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“When the Lord your God delivers them over to you to be destroyed, do a complete job of it—don’t make any treaties or show them mercy; utterly wipe them out.
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Do not intermarry with them, nor let your sons and daughters marry their sons and daughters.
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That would surely result in your young people’s beginning to worship their gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be hot against you, and he would surely destroy you.
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“You must break down the heathen altars and shatter the obelisks and cut up the shameful images and burn the idols.
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“For you are a holy people, dedicated to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on the face of the whole earth to be his own chosen ones.
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He didn’t choose you and pour out his love upon you because you were a larger nation than any other, for you were the smallest of all!
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It was just because he loves you, and because he kept his promise to your ancestors. That is why he brought you out of slavery in Egypt with such amazing power and mighty miracles.
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“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is the faithful God who for a thousand generations keeps his promises and constantly loves those who love him and who obey his commands.
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But those who hate him shall be punished publicly and destroyed. He will deal with them personally.
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Therefore, obey all these commandments I am giving you today.
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Because of your obedience, the Lord your God will keep his part of the contract which, in his tender love, he made with your fathers.
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And he will love you and bless you and make you into a great nation. He will make you fertile and give fertility to your ground and to your animals, so that you will have large crops of grain, grapes, and olives, and great flocks of cattle, sheep, and goats when you arrive in the land he promised your fathers to give you.
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You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth; not one of you, whether male or female, shall be barren, not even your cattle.
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And the Lord will take away all your sickness and will not let you suffer any of the diseases of Egypt you remember so well; he will give them all to your enemies!
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“You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God delivers into your hands. Have no pity, and do not worship their gods; if you do, it will be a sad day for you.
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Perhaps you will think to yourself, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’
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But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt.
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Do you remember the terrors the Lord sent upon them—your parents saw it with their own eyes—and the mighty miracles and wonders, and the power and strength of Almighty God that he used to bring you out of Egypt? Well, the Lord your God will use this same might against the people you fear.
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Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets to drive out those who hide from you!
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“No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God.
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He will cast them out a little at a time; he will not do it all at once, for if he did, the wild animals would multiply too quickly and become dangerous.
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He will do it gradually, and you will move in against those nations and destroy them.
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He will deliver their kings into your hands, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you.
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“Burn their idols and do not touch the silver or gold they are made of. Do not take it or it will be a snare to you, for it is horrible to the Lord your God.
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Do not bring an idol into your home and worship it, for then your doom is sealed. Utterly detest it, for it is a cursed thing.