4 (46) Beyond the Yarden, in the valley over against Bet-pe῾or, in the land of Siĥon king of the Emori, who dwelt at Ḥeshbon, whom Moshe and the children of Yisra᾽el smote, after they were come forth out of Miżrayim:

(47) and they possessed his land, and the land of ῾Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Emori, which were beyond the Yarden toward the sun rising;

(48) from ῾Aro῾er, which is by the bank of the wadi of Arnon, to mount Si’on, which is Ḥermon,

(49) and all the ῾Arava beyond the Yarden eastward, even to the Sea of the ῾Arava, under the slopes of the Pisga.

5 (1) And Moshe called all Yisra᾽el, and said to them, Hear, O Yisra᾽el, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and keep, and do them.

(2) The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Ḥorev.

(3) The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

(4) The Lord talked with you face to face in the mountain out of the midst of the fire,

(5) (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord: for you were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up to the mountain;) saying,

(6) I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Miżrayim, from the house of bondage.

(7) Thou shalt have no other gods beside me.

(8) Thou shalt not make for thyself any carved idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:

(9) thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, punishing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

(10) and showing mercy to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

(11) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.

(12) Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God has commanded thee.

(13) Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

(14) but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: on it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

(15) And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Miżrayim, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out from there with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

(16) Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God has commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.

(17) Thou shalt not murder. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

(18) Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbour’s.

5 (19) These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a great voice which was not heard again. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone, and delivered them to me.

(20) And it came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

(21) and you said, Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God does talk with man, and he lives.

(22) Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.

(23) For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

(24) Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak to us all that the Lord our God shall speak to thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

(25) And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and the Lord said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.

(26) O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

(27) Go say to them, Return again to your tents.

(28) But as for thee, stand here by me, and I will speak to thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I gave them to possess it.

(29) You shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

(30) You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God 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.

6 (1) Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land into which you go to possess it:

(2) that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

(3) Hear therefore, O Yisra᾽el, and take care to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers has promised thee, in the land that flows with milk and honey.

6 (4) Hear, O Yisra᾽el: The Lord our God; the Lord is one.

(5) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

(6) And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart:

(7) and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

(8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy arm, and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes.

(9) And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thy house, and on thy gates.

(10) And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall bring thee to the land of which he swore to thy fathers, to Avraham, to Yiżĥaq, and to Ya῾aqov, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build,

(11) and houses full of all good things, which thou didst not fill, and hewn out wells, which thou didst not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which thou didst not plant; when thou shalt eat and be replete;

(12) beware lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee out of the land of Miżrayim, from the house of bondage.

(13) Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

(14) You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people who are round about you;

(15) (for the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be inflamed against thee, and he destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

(16) Do not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted him in Massa.

(17) You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded thee.

(18) And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayst go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to thy fathers,

(19) to cast out all thy enemies from before thee, as the Lord has spoken.

(20) When thy son asks thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded you?

(21) Then thou shalt say to thy son, We were the bondmen of Par῾o in Miżrayim; and the Lord brought us out of Miżrayim with a mighty hand:

(22) and the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Miżrayim, upon Par῾o, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

(23) and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.

(24) And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

(25) And it shall be accounted virtue in us, if we take care to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.

7 (1) When the Lord thy God shall bring thee to the land into which thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Ḥitti, and the Girgashi, and the Emori, and the Kena῾ani, and the Perizzi, and the Ḥivvi, and the Yevusi, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

(2) and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, and thou shalt smite them, then thou shalt devote them to utter destruction; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them:

(3) neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give to his son, nor shalt thou take his daughter to thy son.

(4) For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be inflamed against you, and he will destroy thee speedily.

(5) But thus shall you deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their asherim, and burn their carved idols with fire.

(6) For thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people to himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

(7) The Lord did not set his love upon you, or choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples:

(8) but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Par῾o king of Miżrayim.

(9) Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and troth with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

(10) and repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face.

(11) Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

40 (1) Comfort my people, comfort them, says your God. (2) Speak comfortably to Yerushalayim, and cry to her, that her war service is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. (3) A voice cries, Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (4) Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: (5) and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. (6) A voice says, Cry, and he said what should I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its grace is as the flower of the field: (7) the grass withers, the flower fades: when the breath of the Lord blows upon it: surely the people is like grass. (8) The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. (9) Thou that bringest good tidings to Żiyyon, get thee up into the high mountain; Thou that bringest good tidings to Yerushalayim, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Yehuda, Behold your God! (10) Behold, the Lord God will come with might, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his hire before him, (11) He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (12) Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (13) Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor has taught him? (14) With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? (15) Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles like fine dust. (16) And Levanon is not sufficient for fuel; nor are its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. (17) All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. (18) To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him? (19) As for the image, a craftsman casts it, and a refiner plates it with gold, he forges silver chains. (20) He that is too impoverished for such a gift, chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks to him a cunning workman to prepare a carved idol, that shall not be moved. (21) Do you not know? do you not hear? has it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? (22) It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in: (23) that brings princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity. (24) Scarcely are they planted; scarcely are they sown; scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth: he merely blows upon them and they wither; and the storm wind takes them away as stubble. (25) To whom then will you liken me, that I should be his equal, says the Holy One. (26) Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names; because of the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

1. The signs of negaim are two which, in fact, are four. The bright spot (baheret) is bright white like snow; secondary to it is the sign as white as the lime of the Temple. The rising (se'et) is as white of the skin of an egg; secondary to it is the like white wool, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: the rising (se'et) is white wool and secondary to it is like the white of the skin of an egg.

2. The variegation of the snow-like whiteness is like wine mixed with snow. The variegation of the lime-like whiteness is like blood mixed with milk, the words of Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says: the reddishness in either of them is like wine mixed with water, only that in the snow-like whiteness the color is bright while in that of lime-like whiteness it is duller.

3. These four colors combine with each other to declare free [from uncleanness], to certify or to shut up. "To shut up" one who is at the end of the first week; "To declare free [from uncleanness]", one who is at the end of the second week. "To certify", one in which a discoloration or white hair arose, by the end of the first week, by the end of the second week or after it had been declared free [from uncleanness]. "To certify", when a spreading arose in it by the end of the first week, by the end of the second week or after it had been declared free [from uncleanness]. "To certify", when all one's skin turned white after it had been declared free from uncleanness; "To declare free from uncleanness’, when all one's skin turned white after the sign had been certified unclean or after it had been shut up. These are the colors of signs of negaim upon which depend all decisions concerning negaim.

4. Rabbi Hanina, the vice-chief of priests, says: the colors of negaim are sixteen. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas says: the colors of negaim are thirty-six. Akaviah ben Mahalalel says: seventy-two. Rabbi Hanina the vice-chief of priests says: negaim may not be inspected for the first time at the end of Shabbat, since the end of that week will fall on Shabbat; Nor on a Monday, since the end of the second week will fall on Shabbat; Nor on a Tuesday, in the case of houses, since the end of the third week will fall on Shabbat. Rabbi Akiva says: they may be inspected at all times, and if the time for the second inspection falls on Shabbat it is postponed to after Shabbat; and this procedure leads sometimes to a leniency and sometimes to a stringency.

5. How does it lead to a leniency?If the nega had two white hairs and one white hair disappeared. If there were two white hairs and they turned black. If one hair was white and the other black and both turned black. If they were long and then they became short. If one was long and the other short and both became short. If a boil adjoined both hairs or one of them. If the boil surrounded both hairs or one of them. Or if they were separated from each other by a boil, the quick flesh of a boil, a burning, or the quick flesh of a burning, or a white scurf. If it had undiscolored flesh and this undiscolored flesh disappeared. If it was square and then became round or elongated. If it was encompassed and then moved to the side. If it was united and then it was dispersed. Or a boil appeared and made its way into it. If it was encompassed, parted or lessened by a boil, the quick flesh of a boil, a burning, the quick flesh of a burning, or a white scurf; If it had a spreading and then the spreading disappeared; Or the first sign itself disappeared or was so lessened that both are less than the size of a split bean; Or if a boil, the quick flesh of a boil, a burning, the quick flesh of a burning, or a white scurf, formed a division between the first sign and the spreading Behold these lead to a leniency in the law.

6. How does it lead to a stringency?If it had no white hairs and then white hairs appeared; If they were black and then turned white; If one hair was black and the other white and both turned white; If they were short and they became long; If one was short and the other long and both became long. If a boil adjoined both hairs or one of them, if a boil encompassed both hairs or one of them or if they were parted from one another by a boil, the quick flesh of a boil, a burn, or the quick flesh of a burn, or white scurf, and then [one of these things] disappeared. If it had no quick flesh and then quick flesh appeared. If it was round or long and then became four sided; If it was at the side and then it became encompassed. If it was dispersed and then it became united or a boil appeared and made its way into it. If it was encompassed, parted or lessened by a boil, the quick flesh of a boil, a burn, the quick flesh of a burn or white scurf, and then they disappeared; If it had no spreading and then a spreading appeared; If a boil, the quick flesh of a boil, a burn, the quick flesh of a burn, or white scurf formed a division between the first sign and the spreading and then they disappeared. Behold all of these lead to a stringency.

GEMARA: The Gemara raises a difficulty: Granted, one can understand why a woman who discharges a gestational sac full of blood or water is pure, as such an item is nothing, i.e., it is not an offspring. But if the gestational sac was full of different colors, let us be concerned that perhaps it was an offspring and it liquefied. Abaye says in response: How much undiluted wine, which can be harmful to an embryo, did the mother of this purported embryo drink, that her embryo was liquefied in her womb? In other words, there is no such concern.

Rava says that there is a different explanation: We learned in the mishna that the gestational sac was full of different colors, and if it is so, that there was an embryo in the sac that liquefied, the sac would have been lacking some of the mass of the liquified portion. Rav Adda bar Ahava says that there is yet another explanation: We learned in the mishna that the gestational sac is full of different colors, and if it is so, that there was an embryo there that liquefied, it would all be of one color.

With regard to the effect of drinking wine on a person’s body, it is taught in a baraita that Abba Shaul says: I used to be a gravedigger, and I would observe the bones of corpses. I discovered that the bones of one who drinks too much undiluted wine during his lifetime look burnt, the bones of one who drinks too much diluted wine are black, and the bones of one who drinks the appropriate amount of wine are fat, i.e., full of marrow. And furthermore, I discovered that the bones of anyone who drinks much more than he eats look burnt, the bones of one who eats much more than he drinks are black, and the bones of one who eats and drinks appropriate amounts are fat.

When getting dressed, a woman may tie the opening of her robe, even though it has two openings (and so the one might have been considered a permanent knot); the strings of her hairnet, even though it is loose on her head (and hence might also have been considered permanent); or the straps of a shoe or a sandal. [She may also tie] wine or oil jugs, even though it has two spouts; and [a garment over] a pot of meat, even though she can take the meat out without untying the knot. We may tie a pail with a cord or a belt and that which is similar to it, but not with a rope. We may tie [a rope across an entrance] before an animal or to its leg so that it will not go out, even though it has two ropes. And he can tie a cow to a trough with a rope that was tied to the cow, or tie the trough to the cow with a rope that was tied to the trough. But he may not bring a rope from his house and tie it to the cow and the trough. However if it was a weaver’s cord that is permitted to carry, he may surely bring it and tie it to the cow and the trough. [One may do all of this] because all of these knots are the work of an amateur and not permanent, but rather [something that] sometimes he ties and sometimes he unties. And therefore it is permissible to tie them at the outset. One may untie wrappers of dates and dried figs; and split, cut, take and eat [them].

When you pray, use those tunes that are pleasant and sweet in your eyes…which will draw your heart after what is spoken from your mouth. For supplication, use a tune that readies the heard. For praise, use a tune that gladdens the heart, so that your mouth be filled with a love and joy for the One Who Sees your heart.