Deuteronomy 4:1–14

Obedience Commanded

4Now, Israel, hear the decreesⁿ and laws I am about to teach^o you. Follow them so that you may live^p and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. ²Do not add^q to what I command you and do not subtract^r from it, but keep^s the commands^t of the Lord your God that I give you.

³You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor.^u The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, ⁴but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

⁵See, I have taught^v you decrees and laws^w as the Lord my God commanded^x me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering^y to take possession of it. ⁶Observe^z them carefully, for this will show your wisdom^a and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”^{b 7}What other nation is so great^c as to have their gods near^d them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? ⁸And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws^e as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

⁹Only be careful,^f and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach^g them to your children^h and to their children after them. ¹⁰Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,ⁱ when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn^j to revere^k me as long as they live in the land^l and may teach^m them to their children.” ¹¹You came near and stood at the foot of the mountainⁿ while it blazed with fire^o to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.^{p 12}Then the Lord spoke^q to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form;^r there was only a voice.^{s 13}He declared to you his covenant,^t the Ten Commandments,^u which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws^v you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.