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. 12 (A)And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no [a]form; (B)you only heard a voice. 13 (C)So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, (D)the Ten Commandments; and (E)He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And (F)the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might [b]observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

Beware of Idolatry

15 (G)“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no (H)form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 lest you (I)act corruptly and (J)make for yourselves a carved image in the [c]form of any figure: (K)the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you (L)lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, (M)all the host of heaven, you feel driven to (N)worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has [d]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 20 But the Lord has taken you and (O)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be (P)His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore (Q)the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that (R)I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 But (S)I must die in this land, (T)I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and [e]possess (U)that good land. 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, (V)and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For (W)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, (X)a jealous God.

25 “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and (Y)do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 (Z)I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not [f]prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord (AA)will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And (AB)there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, (AC)which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 (AD)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in [g]distress, and all these things come upon you in the (AE)latter days, when you (AF)turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor (AG)destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

32 “For (AH)ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask (AI)from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 (AJ)Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, (AK)by trials, (AL)by signs, by wonders, by war, (AM)by a mighty hand and (AN)an outstretched arm, (AO)and by great [h]terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; (AP)there is none other besides Him. 36 (AQ)Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because (AR)He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their [i]descendants after them; and (AS)He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 (AT)driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that (AU)the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 (AV)You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that [j]it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may [k]prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:12 similitude
  2. Deuteronomy 4:14 do or perform
  3. Deuteronomy 4:16 similitude
  4. Deuteronomy 4:19 divided
  5. Deuteronomy 4:22 take possession of
  6. Deuteronomy 4:26 live long on it
  7. Deuteronomy 4:30 tribulation
  8. Deuteronomy 4:34 calamities
  9. Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit. seed
  10. Deuteronomy 4:40 you may prosper
  11. Deuteronomy 4:40 live long

11 You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain, (A)and the mountain was burning with fire to the heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud, and thick gloom. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, (B)the Ten [a]Commandments; and (C)He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so that you would perform them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it.

15 “So (D)be very careful [b]yourselves, since you did not see any (E)form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not (F)act corruptly and (G)make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female, 17 a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of (H)any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19 And be careful not to raise your eyes to heaven and look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, (I)all the heavenly [c]lights, (J)and allow yourself to be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of (K)the iron furnace, from Egypt, to (L)be a people of His own possession, as today.

21 (M)Now the Lord was angry with me on your account, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For (N)I am going to die in this land; I am not crossing the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you will take possession of this (O)good land. 23 So be careful [d]yourselves, (P)that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and (Q)make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you. 24 For the Lord your God is a (R)consuming fire, a (S)jealous God.

25 “When you father children and have [e]grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you (T)act corruptly, and (U)make [f]an idol in the form of anything, and (V)do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I (W)call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will (X)certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not [g]live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will (Y)scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 (Z)There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, (AA)wood and stone, (AB)which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything. 29 (AC)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him (AD)with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you (AE)are in distress and all these things happen to you, (AF)in the latter days (AG)you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a (AH)compassionate God; (AI)He will not abandon you nor (AJ)destroy you, nor (AK)forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

32 “Indeed, (AL)ask now about the earlier days that were [h]before your time, since the (AM)day that God created [i]mankind on the earth, and inquire (AN)from one end of the heavens to the other. (AO)Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 (AP)Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34 (AQ)Or has a god ventured to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation (AR)by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, (AS)by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, [j]just as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord, He is God; (AT)there is no other besides Him. 36 (AU)Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice (AV)to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 (AW)Because He loved your fathers, He chose [k]their descendants after them. And He [l](AX)personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and (AY)to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Therefore know today, and take it to your heart, that (AZ)the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 (BA)So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am [m]giving you today, so that (BB)it may go well for you and for your children after you, and (BC)that you may [n]live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:13 Lit Words
  2. Deuteronomy 4:15 Or for your own lives
  3. Deuteronomy 4:19 Lit host
  4. Deuteronomy 4:23 Or for yourselves
  5. Deuteronomy 4:25 Lit children’s children
  6. Deuteronomy 4:25 Or a carved image
  7. Deuteronomy 4:26 Lit prolong your days
  8. Deuteronomy 4:32 Lit before you
  9. Deuteronomy 4:32 Or Adam
  10. Deuteronomy 4:34 Lit according to all that
  11. Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit his seed
  12. Deuteronomy 4:37 Lit with His presence
  13. Deuteronomy 4:40 Lit commanding
  14. Deuteronomy 4:40 Lit prolong your days