Deuteronomy 4:5–31

⁵See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess. ⁶Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

⁷For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him? ⁸And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

⁹Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. ¹⁰The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb,^a the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.”

¹¹You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. ¹²And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow — the Ten Commandments^b that He wrote on two tablets of stone.

¹⁴At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

¹⁵So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful ¹⁶that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, ¹⁷of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below.

¹⁹When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars— all the host of heaven— do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.

²¹The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. ²²For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land.

²³Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you. ²⁴For the LORD your God is a consuming fire,^c a jealous God.

²⁵After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form— doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— ²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

²⁷Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. ²⁸And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

²⁹But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. ³¹For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.