²The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Horeb. ³He didn’t make it only with our parents. He also made it with us. In fact, he made it with all of us who are alive here today. ⁴The Lord spoke to you face to face. His voice came out of the fire on the mountain.

⁵At that time I stood between the Lord and you. I announced to you the Lord’s message. I did it because you were afraid of the fire. You didn’t go up the mountain.

The Lord said,

⁶“I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves.

⁷“Do not put any other gods in place of me.

⁸“Do not make statues of gods that look like anything in the sky or on the earth or in the waters. ⁹Do not bow down to them or worship them. I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God. I punish the children for the sin of their parents. I judge the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who hate me. ¹⁰But for all time to come I show love to all those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹“Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will find guilty anyone who misuses his name.

¹²“Observe the Sabbath day. Keep it holy, just as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³Do all of your work in six days. ¹⁴But the seventh day is a Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God. Do not do any work on that day. The same command applies to your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen, your donkeys and your other animals. It also applies to any outsiders who live in your cities. I want your male and female servants to rest, just as you do. ¹⁵Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. The Lord your God reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm and brought you out of there. So he has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

¹⁶“Honor your father and mother, just as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long time in the land he is giving you. And things will go well with you there.

¹⁷“Do not commit murder.

¹⁸“Do not commit adultery.

¹⁹“Do not steal.

²⁰“Do not give false witness against your neighbor.

²¹“Do not long for your neighbor’s wife. Do not long to have anything that belongs to your neighbor. Do not long to have your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey.”

²²Those are the commandments the Lord announced in a loud voice to your whole community. He gave them to you there on the mountain. He spoke out of the fire, cloud and deep darkness. He didn’t add anything else. Then he wrote the commandments on two stone tablets. And he gave them to me.

²³The mountain was blazing with fire. You heard the voice coming out of the darkness. So your elders and all of the leaders of your tribes came to me.

²⁴You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and majesty. We have heard his voice coming out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can still stay alive even if God speaks with him. ²⁵But why should we die? This great fire will burn us up. We’ll die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God again.

²⁶“We have heard the voice of the living God. We’ve heard him speaking out of the fire. Has any other human being ever heard him speak like that and stayed alive? ²⁷Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then tell us what he tells you. We will listen and obey.”

²⁸The Lord heard you when you spoke to me. He said to me, “I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they said was good. ²⁹But I wish they would always have respect for me in their hearts. I wish they would always obey all of my commands. Then things would go well with them and their children forever.

³⁰“Go and tell them to return to their tents. ³¹But you stay here with me. Then I will give you all of my commands, rules and laws. You must teach the people to follow them in the land I am giving them as their very own.”

³²So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you. Don’t turn away from his commands to the right or the left. ³³Live exactly as the Lord your God has commanded you to live. Then you will enjoy life in the land you will soon own. Things will go well with you there. You will live there for a long time.

Love the Lord Your God

6The Lord your God has directed me to teach you his commands, rules and laws. Obey them in the land you will take over when you go across the Jordan River. ²Then you, your children and their children after them will have respect for the Lord your God as long as you live. Keep all of his rules and commands I’m giving you. If you do, you will enjoy long life.

³Israel, listen to me. Make sure you obey me. Then things will go well with you. Your numbers will increase greatly in a land that has plenty of milk and honey. That’s what the Lord, the God of your parents, promised you.

⁴Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God. ⁵Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength.

⁶The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts. ⁷Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. ⁸Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. ⁹Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.

¹⁰The Lord your God will bring you into the land of Canaan. He took an oath. He promised he would give the land to your fathers. He promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The land has large, wealthy cities you didn’t build. ¹¹It has houses that are filled with all kinds of good things you didn’t provide. It has wells you didn’t dig. And it has vineyards and groves of olive trees you didn’t plant. You will have plenty to eat.

¹²But be careful that you don’t forget the Lord. Remember that he brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.

¹³Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve. When you make promises, take your oaths in his name. ¹⁴Don’t follow other gods. Don’t worship the gods of the nations that are around you.

¹⁵The Lord your God is among you. He is a jealous God. If you worship other gods, his anger will burn against you. And he will destroy you from the face of the land. ¹⁶Don’t put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.

¹⁷Be sure to obey the Lord’s commands. Follow the terms and rules he has given you. ¹⁸Do what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes. Then things will go well with you. You will go in and take over the land. It’s the good land the Lord promised with an oath to your people long ago. ¹⁹You will drive out all of your enemies to make room for you. That’s what the Lord said would happen.

²⁰Later on, your son might ask you, “What is the meaning of the terms, rules and laws the Lord our God has commanded you to obey?”

²¹If he does, tell him, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the Lord used his mighty hand to bring us out of Egypt. ²²With our own eyes we saw the Lord send miraculous signs and wonders. They were great and terrible. He sent them on Egypt and Pharaoh and everyone in his house.

²³“But the Lord brought us out of Egypt. He planned to bring us into the land of Canaan and give it to us. It’s the land he promised with an oath to our people long ago.

²⁴“The Lord our God commanded us to obey all of his rules. He commanded us to have respect for him. If we do, we will always succeed and be kept alive. That’s what is happening today. ²⁵We must make sure we obey the whole law in the sight of the Lord our God. That’s what he has commanded us to do. If we obey his law, we’ll be doing what he requires of us.”

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