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The 11th Chapter
Love the Lord thy God and keep
his observances, his ordinances, his laws and his commandments
always. And call to mind this day that which your children have
neither known nor seen: even the nurture of the Lord your God, his
greatness, his mighty hand and his stretched out arm: his miracles
and his acts which he did among the Egyptians, even unto Pharao the
king of Egypt and unto all his land: and what he did unto the host
of the Egyptians, unto their horses and chariots, how he brought the
water of the red sea upon them as they chased you, and how the Lord
hath brought them to nought unto this day: and what he did unto you
in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place: and what he did
unto Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the son of Ruben, how the
earth opened her mouth and swallowed them with their households and
their tents, and all their substance that was in their possession,
in the midst of Israel.
For your eyes have seen all the great deeds of the Lord which
he did. Keep therefore all the commandments which I command thee
this day that ye may be strong and go and conquer the land whither
ye go to possess it, and that ye may prolong your days in the land
which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to
their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. For the land
whither thou goest to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt whence
thou camest out, where thou sowed thy seed and watered it with thy
labour as a garden of herbs: but the land whither ye go over to
possess it, is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water of the
rain of heaven, and a land which the Lord thy God careth for. The
eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of
the year unto the latter end of the year.
If thou shalt hearken therefore unto my commandments which I
command you this day, that ye love the Lord your God and serve him
with all your hearts and with all your souls: then he will give rain
unto your land in due season, both the first rain and the latter,
and thou shalt gather in thy corn, thy wine and thine oil. And he
will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle: and thou shalt eat and
fill thyself. But beware that your hearts deceive you not that ye
turn aside and serve strange gods and worship them, and then the
wrath of the Lord wax hot upon you and shut up the heaven that there
be no rain and that your land yield not her fruit, and that ye
perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.
Put up therefore these my words in your hearts and in your
souls, and bind them for a sign unto your hands, and let them be as
papers of remembrance between your eyes, and teach them your
children: so that thou talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down
and when thou risest up: yea and write them upon the doorposts of
thine house and upon thy gates, that your days may be multiplied and
the days of your children upon the earth which the Lord sware unto
your fathers to give them, as long as the days of heaven last upon
the earth. For if ye shall keep all these commandments which I
command you, so that ye do them and love the Lord your God and walk
in all his ways and cleave unto him. Then will the Lord cast out all
these nations and ye shall conquer them which are both greater and
mightier than yourselves. All the places whereon the soles of your
feet shall tread, shall be yours: even from the wilderness and from
Libanon and from the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea
shall your coasts be. There shall no man be able to stand before
you: the Lord your God shall cast the fear and dread of you upon all
lands whither ye shall come, as he hath said unto you.
Behold, I set before you this day, a blessing and a curse: a
blessing: if ye hearken unto the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you this day: And a curse: if ye will not hearken
unto the commandments of the Lord your God: but turn out of the way
which I command you this day to go after strange gods which ye have
not known.
When the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the land whither
thou goest to possess it, then put the blessing upon mount Garizim
and the curse upon mount Ebal, which are on the other side Jordan on
the back side of the way toward the going down of the *son in the
land of the Cananites which dwell in the fields over against Galgal
beside the grove of Moreh. For ye shall go over to go and possess
the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and shall conquer it
and dwell therein. Take heed therefore that ye do all the
commandments and laws, which I set before you this day.
*exact spelling elsewhere in the text is sun spelled sunne, here was
spelled sonne as is son.
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The 12th Chapter
These are the ordinances and
laws which ye shall observe to do in the land which the Lord God of
thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, as long as ye live upon the
earth. See that ye destroy all places where the nations which ye
conquer serve their gods, upon high mountains and on high hills and
under every green tree. Overthrow their altars and break their
pillars and burn their groves with fire and hew down the images of
their gods, and bring the names of them to nought out of that place.
See ye do not so unto the Lord your God but ye shall enquire the
place which the Lord your God shall have chosen out of all your
tribes to put his name there and there to dwell. And thither thou
shalt come, and thither ye shall bring your burnt sacrifices and
your offerings, your tithes and heave offerings of your hands, your
vows and free will offerings and thy first born of your oxen and of
your sheep. And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye
shall rejoice in all that ye lay your hands on, both ye and your
households, because the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
Ye shall do after nothing that we do here this day, every man
what seemeth him good in his own eyes. For ye are not yet come to
rest nor unto the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you.
But ye shall go over Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord
your God giveth you to inherit, and he shall give you rest from all
your enemies round about: and ye shall dwell in safety.
Therefore when the Lord your God hath chosen a place to make
his name dwell there, thither ye shall bring all that I command you,
your burntsacrifices and your offerings, your tithes and the
heaveofferings of your hands and all your Godly vows which ye vow
unto the Lord. And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, both
ye, your sons and your daughters, your servants and your maids and
the Levite that is within your gates for he hath neither part nor
inheritance with you.
Take heed that thou offer not thy burntofferings in whatsoever
place thou seest: but in the place which the Lord shall have chosen
among one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings
and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. Notwithstanding
thou mayst kill and eat flesh in all thy cities, whatsoever thy soul
lusteth after according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he
hath given thee both the unclean and the clean mayst thou eat, even
as the roe and the hart: only eat not the blood, but pour it upon
the earth as water. Thou mayst not eat within thy gates the tithe of
thy corn, of thy wine and of thy oil, either the first born of thine
oxen or of thy sheep, neither any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor
thy freewillofferings or heave offerings of thine hands: but thou
must eat them before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord
thy God hath chosen: both thou thy son and thy daughter, thy servant
and thy maid and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt
rejoice before the Lord thy God, in all that thou puttest thine hand
to. And beware that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou
livest upon the earth. If (when the Lord thy God hath enlarged thy
coasts as he hath promised thee) thou say: I will eat flesh, because
thy soul longeth to eat flesh: then thou shalt eat flesh, whatsoever
thy soul lusteth. If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to
put his name there be too far from thee, then thou mayst kill of thy
oxen and of thy sheep which the Lord hath given thee as I have
commanded thee, and thou mayst eat in thine own city whatsoever thy
soul lusteth. Neverthelater, as the roe and the hart is eaten, even
so thou shalt eat it: the unclean and the clean indifferently thou
shalt eat. But be strong that thou eat not the blood. For the blood,
that is the life and thou mayst not eat the life with the flesh:
thou mayst not eat it: but must pour it upon the earth as water. See
thou eat it not therefore that it may go well with thee and with thy
children after thee, when thou shalt have done that which is right
in the sight of the Lord.
But thy holy things which thou hast and thy vows, thou shalt
take and go unto the place which the Lord hath chosen, and thou
shalt offer thy burnt offerings, both flesh and blood upon the altar
of the Lord thy God, and the blood of thine offerings thou shalt
pour out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and shalt eat the
flesh. Take heed and hear all these words which I command thee that
it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee for ever,
when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the
Lord thy God.
When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations before thee,
whither thou goest to conquer them, and when thou hast conquered
them, and dwelt in their lands: Beware that thou be not taken in a
snare after them, after that they be destroyed before thee, and that
thou ask not after their gods saying: how did these nations serve
their gods, that I may do so likewise? Nay, thou shalt not do so
unto the Lord thy God: for all abominations which the Lord hated did
they unto their gods. For they burnt both their sons and their
daughters with fire unto their gods. But whatsoever I command you
that take heed ye do: and put nought thereto, nor take ought
therefrom.
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The 13th Chapter
If there arise among you a
prophet or a dreamer of dreams and give thee a sign or a wonder, and
that sign or wonder which he hath said come to pass, and then say:
let us go after strange Gods which thou hast not known, and let us
serve them: hearken not unto the words of that prophet or dreamer of
dreams. For the Lord thy God tempteth you to *wete whether ye love
the Lord your God with all your hearts and with all your souls. For
ye must walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his
commandments and hearken unto his voice and serve him and cleave
unto him. And that prophet or dreamer of dreams shall die for it,
because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God which
brought you out of the land of Egypt and delivered you out of the
house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy
God commanded thee to walk in: and so thou shalt put evil away from
thee.
If thy brother the son of thy mother or thine own son or thy
daughter or the wife that lieth in thy bosom or thy friend which is
as thine own soul unto thee, entice thee secretly saying: let us go
and serve strange Gods which thou hast not known nor yet thy
fathers, of the Gods of the people which are round about thee,
whether they be nigh unto thee or far off from thee, from the one
end of the land unto the other. See thou consent not unto him nor
hearken unto him: no, let not thine eye pity him nor have compassion
on him, nor keep him secret, but cause him to be slain: Thine hand
shall be first upon him to kill him: and then the hands of all the
people. And thou shalt stone him with stones that he die, because he
hath gone about to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God which
brought thee out of Egypt the house of bondage. And all Israel shall
hear and fear and shall do no more and such wickedness as this is,
among them.
If thou shalt hear say of one of thy cities which the Lord thy
God hath given thee to dwell in, that certain being the children of
Belial are gone out from among you and have moved the inhabiters of
their city saying: let us go and serve strange Gods which ye have
not known. Then seek and make search and enquire diligently. If it
be true and the thing of a surety that such abomination is wrought
among you: then thou shalt smite the dwellers of that city with the
edge of the sword, and destroy it merciless and all that is therein,
and even the very cattle thereof with the edge of the sword. And
gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the streets thereof,
and burn with fire both the city and all the spoil thereof every
whit unto the Lord thy God. And it shall be an heap for ever and
shall not be built again. And see that there cleave nought of the
damned thing in thine hand, that the Lord may turn from his fierce
wrath and shew thee mercy and have compassion on thee and multiply
thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers: when thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments
which I command thee this day so that thou do that which is right in
the eyes of the Lord thy God.
*wete (to know sharply: might be like unto a "wet stone" which of
iron and steel is sharpened )
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The 14th Chapter
Ye are the children of the Lord
your God, cut not yourselves nor make you any baldness between the
eyes for any mans death. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord
thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a several people unto
himself, of all the nations that are upon the earth. Ye shall eat no
manner of abomination. These are the beasts which ye shall eat of:
oxen, sheep and goats, *hart, *roe and *bugle, wild goat, *unicorn,
*origen and *Camelion. And all beasts that cleave the hoof, and slit
it into two claws and chew the cud, them ye shall eat. Nevertheless,
these ye shall not eat of them that chew cud and of them that divide
and cleave the hoof: the camel, the hare and the coney. For they
chew cud, but divide not the hoof: and therefore are unclean unto
you: and also the swine, for though he divide the hoof, yet he
cheweth not cud, and therefore is unclean unto you: Ye shall not eat
of the flesh of them nor touch the dead carcasses of them.
These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: All that
have fins and scales. And whatsoever hath not fins and scales, of
that ye may not eat, for that is unclean unto you.
Of all clean birds ye shall eat, but these are they of which
ye may not eat: the eagle, the goshawk, the cormorant, the *ixion,
the vulture, the kite and her kind, and all kind of ravens, the
Ostrich, the nightcrow, the cuckoo, the sparrowhawk and all her
kind, the little owl, the great owl, the back, the bittern, the *pye,
the stork, the heron, the Jay in his kind, the lapwing, the swallow.
And all creeping fowls are unclean unto you and may not be eaten of:
but of all clean fowls ye may well eat.
Ye shall eat of nothing that dieth alone. But thou mayest
give it unto the stranger that is in thy city that he eat it, or
mayst sell it unto an Alien. For thou art an holy people unto the
Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milk.
Thou shalt tithe all the increase of thy seed that cometh out
of the field year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy
God in the place, which he hath chosen to make his name dwell there
the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine and of thine oil, and the first
born of thine oxen and of thy flock that thou mayst learn to fear
the Lord thy God always.
If the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to
carry it, because the place is too far from the which the Lord thy
God hath chosen to set his name there (for the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee) then make it in money and take the money in thine
hand, and go unto the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen, and
bestow that money on whatsoever thy soul lusteth after: on oxen,
sheep, wine and good drink, and on whatsoever thy soul desireth, and
eat there before the Lord thy God and be merry: both thou and thine
household and the Levite that is in thy city. See thou forsake not
the Levite, for he hath neither part nor inheritance with thee.
At the end of three years, thou shalt bring forth all the
tithes of thine increase the same year and lay it up within thine
own city, and the Levite shall come because he hath neither part nor
inheritance with thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the
widow which are within thy city and shall eat and fill themselves:
that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thine hand
which thou doest.
*hart: African antelopes deer *roe: roe buck, deer *bugle: steer
/buffalo *unicorn: apparently a very real animal mentioned else
where in the text, though it has been mystified by the imaginations
of men. *origen: perhaps an oryx; perhaps an African antelope *Camelion:
perhaps camel+lion,and identified with camelo-pard] A Camelopard or
Giraffe. * ixion: unknown /not found in sources *pye: perhaps magpie
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The 15th Chapter
At the end of seven years thou
shalt make a free year. And this is the manner of the free year,
whosoever lendeth ought with his hand unto his neighbor, may not ask
again that which he hath lent, of his neighbor or of his brother:
because it is called the Lords free year, yet of a stranger thou
mayst call it home again. But that which thou hast with thy brother
thine hand shall remit, and that in any wise, that there be no
beggar among you. For the Lord shall bless the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, an inheritance to possess it: so that thou
hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all
these commandments which I command you this day: yea and then the
Lord thy God shall bless thee as he hath promised thee, and thou
shalt lend unto many nations, and shalt borrow of no man, and shalt
reign over many nations, but none shall reign over thee.
When one of thy brethren among you is waxed poor in any of thy
cities within thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, see that
thou harden not thine heart nor shut to thine hand from thy poor
brother: But open thine hand unto him and lend him sufficient for
his need which he hath. And beware that there be not a point of
Belial in thine heart that thou wouldest say: The seventh year, the
year of freedom is at hand, and therefore it grieve thee to look on
thy poor brother and givest him nought and he then cry unto the Lord
against thee and it be sin unto thee: But give him, and let it not
grieve thine heart to give. Because that for that thing, the Lord
thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou
puttest thine hand to. For the land shall never be without poor.
Wherefore I command thee saying: open thine hand unto thy brother
that is needy and poor in thy land.
If thy brother an Hebrew sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess,
he shall serve thee six years and the seventh year thou shalt let
him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee,
thou shalt not let him go away empty: but shalt give him of thy
sheep and of thy corn and of thy wine, and give him of that
wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. And remember that thou
wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God delivered
thee thence: wherefore I command thee this thing today.
But and if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee,
because he loveth thee and thine house and is well at ease with
thee. Then take an awl and nail his ear to the door therewith and
let him be thy servant forever, and unto thy maidservant thou shalt
do likewise. And let it not grieve thine eyes to let him go out from
thee, for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in his
service six years. And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that
thou doest.
All the first born that come of thine oxen and of thy sheep
that are males, thou shalt hallow unto the Lord thy God. Thou shalt
do no service with the first born of thy sheep: but shalt eat them
before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord
hath chosen both thou and thine household. If there be any deformity
therein, whether it be lame or blind or whatsoever evil favorness it
hath, thou shalt not offer it unto the Lord thy God: But shalt eat
it in thine own city, the unclean and the clean indifferently, as
the roe and the hart. Only eat not the blood thereof, but pour it
upon the ground as water. |
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The 16th Chapter
Observe the month of Abib, and
offer passover unto the Lord thy God. For in the month of Abib, the
Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night: Thou shalt
therefore offer passover unto the Lord thy God, and sheep and oxen
in the place which the Lord shall choose to make his name dwell
there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread therewith: but shalt eat
therewith the bread of tribulation seven days long. For thou camest
out of the land of Egypt in haste, that thou mayst remember the day
when thou camest out of the land of Egypt, all days of thy life. And
see that there be no leavened bread seen in all thy coasts. Seven
days long, and that there remain nothing of the flesh which thou
hast offered the first day at evening, until the morning.
Thou mayst not offer passover in any of thy cities which the
Lord thy God giveth thee: But in the place which the Lord thy God
shall choose to make his name dwell in, there thou shalt offer
Passover at evening about the going down of the *son, even in the
season that thou camest out of Egypt. And thou shalt seethe and eat
it in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen, and depart on
the morrow and get thee unto thy tent. Six days thou shalt eat sweet
bread, and the seventh day is for the people to come together to the
Lord thy God, that thou mayst do no work.
Then reckon the seven weeks, and begin to reckon the seven
weeks when the sickle beginneth in the corn, and keep the feast of
weeks unto the Lord thy God, that thou give a freewilloffering of
thine hand unto the Lord thy God according as the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee. And rejoice before the Lord thy God both thou, thy
son, thy daughter, thy servant and thy maid, and the Levite that is
within thy gates, and the stranger, the fatherless and the widow
that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen
to make his name dwell there. And remember that thou was a servant
in Egypt, that thou observe and do these ordinances.
Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days long,
after that thou has gathered in thy corn and thy wine. And thou
shalt rejoice in that thy feast, both thou and thy son, thy
daughter, thy servant, thy maid, the Levite, the stranger, the
fatherless and the widow that are in thy cities. Seven days thou
shalt keep holy day unto the Lord thy God, in the place which the
Lord shall choose: for the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy
fruits and in all the works of thine hands, and therefore shalt thou
be glad. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before
the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose: In the feast of
sweet bread, in the feast of weeks and in the feast of the
tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the Lord empty: but
every man with the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of
the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.
Judges and officers thou shalt make thee in all thy gates
which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes: And let
them judge the people righteously. Wrest not the law nor know any
person neither take any reward: for gifts blind the wise and pervert
the words of the righteous. But in all things follow righteousness,
that thou mayst live and enjoy the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee.
Thou shalt plant no grove of whatsoever trees it be, nigh unto
the altar of the Lord thy God which thou shalt make thee. Thou shalt
set thee up no pillar, which the Lord thy God hateth.
*son: again, this is recorded as son as in the original text it is
written sonne;elsewhere is sun recorded sunne in the old -middle
English.
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Chapters 1-4
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5-10 |
11-16 |
17-23 |
24-28 |
29-34 |
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