Deuteronomy 4:5-31

5“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

6Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’

7For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him?

8And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?

9“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

10Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’

11“You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness.

12And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.

13He proclaimed his covenant—the Ten Commandments—which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets.

14It was at that time that the Lord commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

15“But be very careful! You did not see the Lord’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.

16So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman,

17an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky,

18a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea.

19And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.

20Remember that the Lord rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.

21“But the Lord was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.

22You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river.

23So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this.

24The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.

25“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and will arouse his anger.

26“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.

27For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.

28There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

29But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

30“In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you.

31For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.