World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Deuteronomy 5
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called to all Israel, and said to them, "Hear, Israel, the and the which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them." our made a with us in . didn't make this with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today. spoke with you to on the mountain out of the middle of the , (I stood between and you at that time, to show you word; for you were afraid because of the , and didn't go up onto the mountain) saying, "I am your , who brought you out of the land of , out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make a for yourself—any of what is in above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor them, for I, your , am , visiting the of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me and showing to thousands of those who love me and keep my . "You shall not misuse the name of your ; for will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. "Observe the , to keep it , as your commanded you. You shall labor six days, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a to your , in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your who is within your ; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of , and your brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore your commanded you to keep the . " your and your mother, as your commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which your gives you. "You shall not . "You shall not . "You shall not steal. "You shall not give false against your neighbor. "You shall not your neighbor's wife. Neither shall you your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." spoke these words to all your on the mountain out of the middle of the , of the cloud, and of the thick , with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. When you heard the voice out of the middle of , while the mountain was burning with , you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your ; and you said, "Behold, our has shown us his and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the . We have seen today that does speak with man, and he lives. Now therefore, why should we ? For this great will consume us. If we hear our voice any more, then we shall . For who is there of who has heard the voice of the living speaking out of the middle of the , as we have, and lived? Go near, and hear all that our shall say, and tell us all that our tells you; and we will hear it, and do it." heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and said to me, "I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there were such a in them that they would fear me and keep all my always, that it might be well with them and with their children ! 30"Go tell them, 'Return to your tents.' But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all , and the , and the , which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess." You shall observe to do therefore as your has commanded you. You shall not turn away to or to the left. You shall walk in all which your has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.