Second telling of the Law, chapter four. ... ... Mush! (Moshe’s Mosh Pit’s not too much!)

Now, Isra’ el, hear these decrees and laws
I am about to teach you. Follow them
so that you may live in this land of yours
by going in and taking possession,

since God, the Lord of your ancestors gives
to you, by his decree this gracious place.
Do not belittle these commands, he lives,
& guarantees all life, & time, & space.

Don't add to these commands & don't subtract,
but keep them as your life & health - not void!
You saw with your own eyes what happened back
at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed

all those among you who disposed of him
and followed Baal(the Lord of Peor)’s way.
But all you who held fast throughout (no whim),
to Yahweh God are still alive today.

Observe them care-full-ly, for this will show
what wisdom, understanding, looks like to
the nations round about, who'll hear and go
on to say, ‘Surely a great god’s with you…

- this nation’s great, with wise understandings.”
What other nation is so great as this?
- to have their gods near them the way he brings
the presence of the Lord our God (no less!)

quite near us ev’ry time we ever pray?
And speaking of the presents of the Lord,
what other nation is so great today
and has such good commandments as en-lawed

in this body of lore I’m giving yet?
So make sure you are careful, watch yourselves
quite closely so that you do not forget
the things your eyes have seen. Help your mind dwell

on, recollect, recall them - if you will.
Don’t let them fade from your heart, don’t un-friend
them living on this Earth. And teach your chil-
dren, and, teach them to teach theirs after them.

Recall the day you stood before the Lord
your God at Horeb, when he said to me,
‘Assemble all the people who have scored
the chance to hear my words, so they may re-

vere ME as long as THEY live in the land
and teach their kids.’ You then came near and stood
at foot of mountain - anything but bland!
while it blazed up with fi-ah (very good).

With fi-ah to the heavens, and black cloud
and deepest darkness (full of mystery).
And then the Lord spoke to you out aloud
-out of the fire. You heard, but saw not he...

You heard a voice, but didn’t see a form;
and he declared to you his covenant,
the Ten Commandments (which became the norm
of best practice), and wrote them as he bent

down to help out, those ten fing-ers of stone
-two handy tablets. And told me to teach
you these decrees and laws because you’re owned
- as you own land that you hope now to reach.

You saw (with me) no form of any kind -
when God spoke out at Horeb from the fire.
So watch yourselves with care, fully now bind
yourselves to truth, not ruled by your desire.

Don’t let the tug of pow-er make your hand
make little gods whom you could then control,
or else a GOD you see (and “understand”)
with power to cower, & yet to GET, not dole...

Don’t be enticed to bowing down to things,
or animals, or pow-ers that are made
to serve the Lord, who wants to spread his wings
as mother hen hides chickens in her shade.

For you are his own people, his own kids,
or lambs - who need him right throughout the day,
So don’t forget, and do not let closed lids
dream covenantal love right clean away!

Your God, the Lord, is a consuming fire,
a jealous God, who wants you for himself!
– if you become corrupt, he’ll call you “liar!”,
his anger, is consistent with his wealth

of love towards his body, people (they
are meant to be his body on this Earth,
but if they will not join in and obey,
and learn to be what they were made from birth,

to be, and do, and think, and show & tell
there’s not much use in hanging them around,
and God might even throw his arm to “hell”
(the rubbish dump), if it stays on the ground

instead of linking up with all the rest
of God’s body that’s loving, building strong,
he’ll snuff you out, drive you to Buddapest
& you will not survive there very long.

And more than that, you’ll go right off the track,
you’ll do the things you know are wrong to do.
Those god's you chose could never bring you back.
Both hea’en & earth bear witness against you.

But if from there you seek your God, the Lord,
you’ll find him if you seek with all your heart
and all your soul. Distressed and weak, forlorn,
in later days you will return, & start

obeying from the heart your God - Yahweh
de-Merciful, he won’t abandon you,
he won’t forget the covenant he made
with ancestors, my oath that’s what he’ll do!.

Acknowledge, take to heart this day, Yahweh
is God in heaven above and on the earth
below. There is no other. Keep his ways,
which I am giving you and children birthed

birthed from your bodies, so you all may live
long in the land the Lord your God gives you
until the end of time. Can you believe
his plans go further, better? Well it's true!

Deut. 4:1‭-‬20‭, ‬23‭-‬40 NIVUK
http://bible.com/113/deu.4.1-40.NIVUK

And further to this:
Ask now about the former days, before
your time, right from the day God created
humans on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.
Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.


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