Deuteronomy 4:1-24

Now, Israel, listen to the laws and commands I will teach you. Obey them so that you will live and so that you will go over and take the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving to you. Don’t add to these commands, and don’t leave anything out, but obey the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. You have seen for yourselves what the LORD did at Baal Peor, how the LORD your God destroyed everyone among you who followed Baal in Peor. But all of you who continued following the LORD your God are still alive today. Look, I have taught you the laws and rules the LORD my God commanded me. Now you can obey the laws in the land you are entering, in the land you will take. Obey these laws carefully, in order to show the other nations that you have wisdom and understanding. When they hear about these laws, they will say, “This great nation of Israel is wise and understanding.” No other nation is as great as we are. Their gods do not come near them, but the LORD our God comes near when we pray to him. And no other nation has such good teachings and commands as those I am giving to you today. But be careful! Watch out and don’t forget the things you have seen. Don’t forget them as long as you live, but teach them to your children and grandchildren. Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Sinai. He said to me, “Bring the people together so I can tell them what I have to say. Then they will respect me as long as they live in the land, and they will teach these things to their children.” When you came and stood at the bottom of the mountain, it blazed with fire that reached to the sky, and black clouds made it very dark. The LORD spoke to you from the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you did not see him; there was only a voice. The LORD told you about his Agreement, the Ten Commandments. He told you to obey them, and he wrote them on two stone tablets. Then the LORD commanded me to teach you the laws and rules that you must obey in the land you will take when you cross the Jordan River. Since the LORD spoke to you from the fire at Mount Sinai, but you did not see him, watch yourselves carefully! Don’t sin by making idols of any kind, and don’t make statues—of men or women, of animals on earth or birds that fly in the air, of anything that crawls on the ground, or of fish in the water below. When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, moon, and stars, and everything in the sky. But don’t bow down and worship them, because the LORD your God has made these things for all people everywhere. But the LORD brought you out of Egypt, which tested you like a furnace for melting iron, and he made you his very own people, as you are now. The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan River to go into the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your own. I will die here in this land and not cross the Jordan, but you will soon go across and take that good land. Be careful. Don’t forget the Agreement of the LORD your God that he made with you, and don’t make any idols for yourselves, as the LORD your God has commanded you not to do. The LORD your God is a jealous God, like a fire that burns things up.