Deuteronomy 4:15–40

Idolatry Forbidden

¹⁵You saw no form^w of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb^x out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,^{y 16}so that you do not become corrupt^z and make for yourselves an idol,^a an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, ¹⁷or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,^{b 18}or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. ¹⁹And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,^c the moon and the stars^d—all the heavenly array^e—do not be enticed^f into bowing down to them and worshiping^g things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,^h out of Egypt,ⁱ to be the people of his inheritance,^j as you now are.

²¹The Lord was angry with me^k because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. ²²I will die in this land;^l I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.^{m 23}Be careful not to forget the covenantⁿ of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol^o in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. ²⁴For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,^p a jealous God.^q

²⁵After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt^r and make any kind of idol,^s doing evil^t in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, ²⁶I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses^u against you^v this day that you will quickly perish^w from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷The Lord will scatter^x you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive^y among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. ²⁸There you will worship man-made gods^z of wood and stone,^a which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.^{b 29}But if from there you seek^c the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart^d and with all your soul.^{e 30}When you are in distress^f and all these things have happened to you, then in later days^g you will return^h to the Lord your God and obey him. ³¹For the Lord your God is a mercifulⁱ God; he will not abandon^j or destroy^k you or forget^l the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

³²Ask^m now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth;ⁿ ask from one end of the heavens to the other.^o Has anything so great^p as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³Has any other people heard the voice of God^a speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?^{q 34}Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation,^r by testings,^s by signs^t and wonders,^u by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,^v or by great and awesome deeds,^w like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.^{x 36}From heaven he made you hear his voice^y to discipline^z you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. ³⁷Because he loved^a your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,^{b 38}to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance,^c as it is today.

³⁹Acknowledge^d and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.^{e 40}Keep^f his decrees and commands,^g which I am giving you today, so that it may go well^h with you and your children after you and that you may live longⁱ in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.