VERSE STUDY • KJV

Deuteronomy 4:12-19

¹² And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice. ¹³ And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, [even] ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. ¹⁴ And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. ¹⁵ Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that] the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: ¹⁶ Lest ye corrupt [yourselves], and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ The likeness of any beast that [is] on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, ¹⁸ The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that [is] in the waters beneath the earth: ¹⁹ 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, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹² And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice. ¹³ And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, [even] ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. ¹⁴ And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. ¹⁵ Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that] the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: ¹⁶ Lest ye corrupt [yourselves], and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ The likeness of any beast that [is] on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, ¹⁸ The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that [is] in the waters beneath the earth: ¹⁹ 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, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹² And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³ He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. ¹⁵ So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful ¹⁶ that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, ¹⁷ of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below. ¹⁹ When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

WEB World English Bible

¹² Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. ¹³ He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone. ¹⁴ Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. ¹⁵ Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. ¹⁶ Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; ¹⁹ and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

ASV American Standard Version

¹² 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. ¹³ And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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; ¹⁶ lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flieth in the heavens, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; ¹⁹ 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.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹² ‘And Jehovah speaketh unto you out of the midst of the fire; a voice of words ye are hearing and a similitude ye are not seeing, only a voice; ¹³ and He declareth to you His covenant, which He hath commanded you to do, the Ten Matters, and He writeth them upon two tables of stone. ¹⁴ ‘And me hath Jehovah commanded at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land whither ye are passing over to possess it; ¹⁵ and ye have been very watchful of your souls, for ye have not seen any similitude in the day of Jehovah’s speaking unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female— ¹⁷ a form of any beast which is in the earth—a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens— ¹⁸ a form of any creeping thing on the ground—a form of any fish which is in the waters under the earth; ¹⁹ ‘And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.

Surrounding context — Deuteronomy 4

9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

10 [Specially] the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and [that] they may teach their children.

11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice.

13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, [even] ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that] the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

16 Lest ye corrupt [yourselves], and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 The likeness of any beast that [is] on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that [is] in the waters beneath the earth:

19 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, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, [even] out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as [ye are] this day.

21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance:

22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

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