And you made answer and said to me, It is good for us to do as you say.

Joshua, the son of Nun, your servant, he will go into the land: say to him that he is to be strong, for he will be Israel's guide into their heritage.

And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Do not go up to the attack; for I am not among you, and you will be overcome by those who are against you.

But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not give ear to my prayer; and the Lord said to me, Let it be enough, say no more about this thing.

So keep these laws and do them; for so will your wisdom and good sense be clear in the eyes of the peoples, who hearing all these laws will say, Truly, this great nation is a wise and far-seeing people.

Do you go near: and after hearing everything which the Lord our God has to say, give us an account of all he has said to you, and we will give ear, and do it.

Now say to them, Go back to your tents.

Keep these words, which I say to you this day, deep in your hearts;

And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for these rules and laws and decisions which the Lord our God has given you?

Then you will say to your son, We were servants under Pharaoh's yoke in Egypt; and the Lord took us out of Egypt with a strong hand:

If you say in your hearts, These nations are greater in number than we are: how are we to take their land from them?

Say not then, in your hearts, My power and the strength of my hands have got me this wealth.

And after the Lord has sent them in flight from before you, say not in your heart, Because of my righteousness the Lord has given me this land; when it is because of their evil-doing that the Lord is driving these nations out before you.

When the Lord your God makes wide the limit of your land, as he has said, and you say, I will take flesh for my food, because you have a desire for it; then you may take whatever flesh you have a desire for.

And the sign or the wonder takes place, and he says to you, Let us go after other gods, which are strange to you, and give them worship;

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers;

And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, The seventh year, the year of forgiveness is near; and so looking coldly on your poor countryman you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you.

But if he says to you, I have no desire to go away from you; because you and your family are dear to him and he is happy with you;

And you are to be guided by the decision they give in the place named by the Lord, and do whatever they say:

I will give them a prophet from among themselves, like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will say to them whatever I give him orders to say.

And whoever does not give ear to my words which he will say in my name, will be responsible to me.

But the prophet who takes it on himself to say words in my name which I have not given him orders to say, or who says anything in the name of other gods, will come to his death.

And if you say in your hearts, How are we to be certain that the word does not come from the Lord?

When a prophet makes a statement in the name of the Lord, if what he says does not take place and his words do not come true, then his word is not the word of the Lord: the words of the prophet were said in the pride of his heart, and you are to have no fear of him.

And when you are on the point of attacking, let the priest come forward and say to the people,

And let the overseers say to the people, If there is any man who has made for himself a new house and has not gone into it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not take his house for himself.

And let the overseers go on to say to the people, If there is any man whose heart is feeble with fear, let him go back to his house before he makes the hearts of his countrymen feeble.

Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it.

And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.

And says evil things about her and gives her a bad name, saying, I took this woman, and when I had connection with her it was clear to me that she was not a virgin:

And let the girl's father say to the responsible men, I gave my daughter to this man for his wife, but he has no love for her;

But if the man says he will not take his brother's wife, then let the wife go to the responsible men of the town, and say, My husband's brother will not keep his brother's name living in Israel; he will not do what it is right for a husband's brother to do.

Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her;

Then his brother's wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother's name.

And you are to come to him who is priest at that time, and say to him, I give witness today before the Lord your God, that I have come into the land which the Lord made an oath to our fathers to give us.

And these are the words which you will say before the Lord your God: My father was a wandering Aramaean, and he went down with a small number of people into Egypt; there he became a great and strong nation:

And say before the Lord your God, I have taken all the holy things out of my house and have given them to the Levite, and the man from a strange land, and him who has no father, and the widow, as you have given me orders: I have kept in mind all your orders, in nothing have I gone against them:

Then the Levites are to say in a loud voice to all the men of Israel,

Cursed is the man who makes any image of wood or stone or metal, disgusting to the Lord, the work of man's hands, and puts it up in secret. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who does not give honour to his father or mother. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's landmark from its place. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he by whom the blind are turned out of the way. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who gives a wrong decision in the cause of a man from a strange land, or of one without a father, or of a widow. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with his father's wife, for he has put shame on his father. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with any sort of beast. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with his mother-in-law. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's life secretly. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who for a reward puts to death one who has done no wrong. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who does not take this law to heart to do it. And let all the people say, So be it.

In the morning you will say, If only it was evening! And at evening you will say, If only morning would come! Because of the fear in your hearts and the things which your eyes will see.

And future generations, your children coming after you, and travellers from far countries, will say, when they see the punishments of that land and the diseases which the Lord has sent on it;

Truly all the nations will say, Why has the Lord done so to this land? what is the reason for this great and burning wrath?

Then men will say, Because they gave up the agreement of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he took them out of the land of Egypt:

They are not in heaven, for you to say, Who will go up to heaven for us and give us knowledge of them so that we may do them?

And they are not across the sea, for you to say, Who will go over the sea for us and give us news of them so that we may do them?

In that day my wrath will be moved against them, and I will be turned away from them, veiling my face from them, and destruction will overtake them, and unnumbered evils and troubles will come on them; so that in that day they will say, Have not these evils come on us because our God is not with us?

Get together before me all those who are in authority in your tribes, and your overseers, so that I may say these things in their hearing, and make heaven and earth my witnesses against them.

But for the fear that their haters, uplifted in their pride, might say, Our hand is strong, the Lord has not done all this.

And he will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they put their faith?

For lifting up my hand to heaven I say, By my unending life,