¹⁶Make sure you don’t commit a horrible sin. Don’t make for yourselves a statue of a god. Don’t make a god that looks like a man or woman or anything else. ¹⁷Don’t make one that looks like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the sky. ¹⁸Don’t make a statue that looks like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish that swims in the water.

¹⁹When you look up at the heavens, you will see the sun and moon. And you will see huge numbers of stars. Don’t let anyone tempt you to bow down to the sun, moon or stars. Don’t worship things the Lord your God has provided for all of the nations on earth.

²⁰Egypt was like a furnace that melts iron down and makes it pure. But the Lord took you and brought you out of Egypt. He wanted you to be his very own people. And that’s exactly what you are.

²¹The Lord was angry with me because of what you did. He took an oath that he would never let me go across the Jordan River. He promised that I would never enter that good land. It’s the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own. ²²I’ll die here in this land. I won’t go across the Jordan. But you are about to cross over it. And you are about to take that good land as your own.

²³Be careful. Don’t forget the covenant the Lord your God made with you. Don’t make for yourselves a statue of any god at all. He has told you not to. So don’t do it.

²⁴The Lord your God is like a fire that burns everything up. He’s a jealous God.

²⁵You will have children and grandchildren. And you will live in the land a long time.

But don’t commit a horrible sin. Don’t make a statue of a god. If you do, that will be an evil thing in the sight of the Lord your God. You will make him angry. ²⁶I’m calling out to heaven and earth to be witnesses against you this very day. If you do those things, you will quickly die in the land you are going across the Jordan River to take over. You won’t live there very long. You will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷The Lord will drive you out of your land. He will scatter you among the nations. Only a few of you will remain alive there. ²⁸There you will worship gods that men have made out of wood and stone. Those gods can’t see, hear, eat or smell.

²⁹Perhaps while you are there, you will look to the Lord your God. You will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

³⁰All of the things I’ve told you about might happen to you. And you will be in trouble. But later you will return to the Lord your God. You will obey him. ³¹The Lord your God is tender and loving. He won’t leave you or destroy you. He won’t forget the covenant he made with your people long ago. He took an oath when he made it.

The Lord Is God

³²Ask now about the days of long ago. Learn what happened long before your time. Ask about what has happened since the time God created man on the earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other. Has anything as great as this ever happened? Has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³You heard the voice of God speaking out of fire. And you lived! Has that happened to any other people?

³⁴Has any god ever tried to take one nation out of another to be his own? Has any god done it by putting his people to the test? Has any god done it with miraculous signs and wonders or with a war? Has any god reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm? Or has any god shown his people his great and wonderful acts?

The Lord your God did all of those things for you in Egypt. With your very own eyes you saw him do them.

³⁵The Lord showed you those things so that you might know he is God. There is no other God except him. ³⁶From heaven he made you hear his voice. He wanted to teach you. On earth he showed you his great fire. You heard his words coming out of the fire.

³⁷He loved your people long ago. He chose their children after them. So he brought you out of Egypt. He used his great strength to do it. ³⁸He drove out nations to make room for you. They were greater and stronger than you are. He will bring you into their land. He wants to give it to you as your very own. The whole land is as good as yours right now.

³⁹The Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Today you must agree with that and take it to heart. There is no other God.

⁴⁰I’m giving you his rules and commands today. Obey them. Then things will go well with you and your children after you. You will live a long time in the land. The Lord your God is giving you the land for all time to come.

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