Deuteronomy 4:4–20

⁴But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.

⁵“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. ⁶Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is ^dyour wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

⁷“For ^ewhat great nation is there that has ^fGod ²so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? ⁸And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? ⁹Only take heed to yourself, and diligently ^gkeep yourself, lest you ^hforget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And ⁱteach them to your children and your grandchildren, ¹⁰especially concerning ^jthe day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’

¹¹“Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. ^12kAnd the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no ³form; ^lyou only heard a voice. ^13mSo He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, ⁿthe Ten Commandments; and ^oHe wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴And ^pthe Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might ⁴observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

Beware of Idolatry

^15q“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no ^rform when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶lest you ^sact corruptly and ^tmake for yourselves a carved image in the ⁵form of any figure: ^uthe likeness of male or female, ¹⁷the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. ¹⁹And take heed, lest you ^vlift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, ^wall the host of heaven, you feel driven to ^xworship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has ⁶given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. ²⁰But the Lord has taken you and ^ybrought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be ^zHis people, an inheritance, as you are this day.