Deuteronomy 4:4–20

⁴But you who have remained faithful^B to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. ⁶Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?^{p 8}And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?^q

⁹“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves,^r so that you don’t forget^s the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind^C as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.^{t 10}The day you stood before the Lord your God^u at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me^a all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’ ¹¹You came near and stood at the base of the mountain,^b a mountain blazing with fire^c into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud.^{d 12}Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire.^e You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.^{f 13}He declared his covenant^g to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments,^h which he wrote on two stone tablets.^{i 14}At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

WORSHIPING THE TRUE GOD

¹⁵“Diligently watch yourselves—because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb—¹⁶so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, ¹⁷or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, ¹⁸any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth. ¹⁹When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the stars in the sky—do not be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them.^j The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.^{k 20}But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace^l to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.