Deuteronomy 4:9-24

English Standard Version

^9 (A)“Only take care, and ^(B)keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. ^(C)Make them known to your children and your children's children— ¹⁰ how on ^(D)the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ^(E)‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, ^(F)so that they may learn to fear ^(G)me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ ¹¹ And ^(H)you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while ^(I)the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. ¹² Then ^(J)the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, ^(K)but saw no form; ^(L)there was only a voice. ^13 (M)And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, ^(N)the Ten Commandments,^{[a] (O)}and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ And ^(P)the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

^15 (Q)“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since ^(R)you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ beware ^(S)lest you act corruptly ^(T)by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, ^(U)the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹ And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see ^(V)the sun and the moon and the stars, ^(W)all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. ²⁰ But the Lord has taken you and ^(X)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, ^(Y)to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. ²¹ Furthermore, ^(Z)the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. ²² For I must die in this land; ^(AA)I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of ^(AB)that good land. ^23 (AC)Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and ^(AD)make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴ For ^(AE)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, ^(AF)a jealous God.