Deuteronomy 10
New International Reader's Version
The New Stone Tablets
10 At that time the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Carve out two stone tablets, just like the first ones. Then come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you must put the tablets in the ark.”
3 So I made the ark out of acacia wood. I carved out two stone tablets that were just like the first ones. I went up the mountain. I carried the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord wrote on the tablets what he had written before. It was the Ten Commandments. He had announced them to you out of the fire on the mountain. It was on the day you had gathered together there. So the Lord gave the tablets to me. 5 Then I came back down the mountain. I put the tablets in the ark I had made, just as the Lord had commanded me. And that’s where they are now.
6 Remember how the Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. That’s where Aaron died. And his body was buried there. His son Eleazar became the next priest after him. 7 From Moserah the people traveled to Gudgodah. Then they went on to Jotbathah. That land has streams of water. 8 At that time the Lord set the tribe of Levi apart. He appointed them to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He wanted them to serve him. He told them to bless the people in his name. And they still do it today. 9 That’s why the Levites don’t have any part of the land the Lord gave the other tribes in Israel. They don’t have any share among them. The Lord himself is their share. That’s what the Lord your God told them.
10 I had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, just as I did the first time. The Lord listened to me that time also. He didn’t want to destroy you. 11 “Go,” the Lord said to me. “Lead the people on their way. Then they can enter the land and take it over. I have given my word. I promised I would give the land to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Honor the Lord
12 And now, Israel, what is the Lord your God asking you to do? Honor him. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 13 Obey the Lord’s commands and rules. I’m giving them to you today for your own good.
14 The heavens belong to the Lord your God. Even the highest heavens belong to him. He owns the earth and everything in it. 15 But the Lord loved your people of long ago very much. You are their children. And he chose you above all the other nations. His love and his promise remain with you to this very day. 16 So don’t be stubborn anymore. Obey the Lord. 17 The Lord your God is the greatest God of all. He is the greatest Lord of all. He is the great God. He is mighty and wonderful. He treats everyone the same. He doesn’t accept any money from those who want special favors. 18 He stands up for widows and for children whose fathers have died. He loves outsiders living among you. He gives them food and clothes. 19 So you also must love outsiders. Remember that you yourselves were outsiders in Egypt. 20 Honor the Lord your God. Serve him. Remain true to him. When you make promises, do so in his name. 21 He is the one you should praise. He’s your God. With your own eyes you saw the great and amazing things he did for you. 22 Long ago, your people went down into Egypt. The total number of them was 70. And now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky.
Deuteronomy 10
Living Bible
10 “At that time the Lord told me to cut two more stone tablets like the first ones, and to make a wooden Ark to keep them in, and to return to God on the mountain. 2 He said he would rewrite on the tablets the same commandments that were on the tablets I had smashed, and that I should place them in the Ark. 3 So I made an Ark of acacia wood and hewed out two stone tablets like the first two, and took the tablets up on the mountain to God. 4 He again wrote the Ten Commandments on them and gave them to me. (They were the same commandments he had given you from the heart of the fire on the mountain as you all watched below.) 5 Then I came down and placed the tablets in the Ark I had made, where they are to this day, just as the Lord commanded me.
6 “The people of Israel then journeyed from Beeroth of Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar became the next priest.
7 “Then they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbathah, a land of brooks and water. 8 It was there that Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark containing the Ten Commandments of Jehovah, and to stand before the Lord and to do his work and to bless his name, just as is done today. 9 (That is why the tribe of Levi does not have a portion of land reserved for it in the Promised Land, as their brother tribes do; for as the Lord told them, he himself is their inheritance.)
10 “As I said before, I stayed on the mountain before the Lord for forty days and nights the second time, just as I had the first, and the Lord again yielded to my pleas and didn’t destroy you.
11 “But he said to me, ‘Arise and lead the people to the land I promised their fathers. It is time to go in and possess it.’
12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to listen carefully to all he says to you, and to obey for your own good the commandments I am giving you today, and to love him, and to worship him with all your hearts and souls? 14 Earth and highest heaven belong to the Lord your God. 15 And yet he rejoiced in your fathers and loved them so much that he chose you, their children, to be above every other nation, as is evident today. 16 Therefore, cleanse your sinful hearts and stop your stubbornness.
17 “Jehovah your God is God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great and mighty God, the God of terror who shows no partiality and takes no bribes. 18 He gives justice to the fatherless and widows. He loves foreigners and gives them food and clothing. 19 (You too must love foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.) 20 You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him, and take oaths by his name alone. 21 He is your praise and he is your God, the one who has done mighty miracles you yourselves have seen. 22 When your ancestors went down into Egypt there were only seventy of them, but now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky!
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