¹² Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.^{(A) 13} He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments,^[a] and he wrote them on two stone tablets.^{(B) 14} And the Lord charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.

¹⁵ “Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, watch yourselves closely, ¹⁶ so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,^{(C) 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 when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven.^{(D) 20} But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now.^(E)

²¹ “The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I should not cross the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving for your possession.^{(F) 22} For I am going to die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you are going to cross over to take possession of that good land.^{(G) 23} So be careful, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you and make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.^{(H) 24} For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.^(I)

Moses and Joshua Receive God’s Charge

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Your time to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting,^{(A) 15} and the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.^(B)

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them.^{(C) 17} My anger will be kindled against them on that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?’^{(D) 18} On that day I will surely hide my face on account of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. ¹⁹ Now, therefore, write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. ²⁰ For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their ancestors, and they have eaten their fill and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant.^{(E) 21} And when many terrible troubles come upon them, this song will confront them as a witness because it will not be lost from the mouths of their descendants. For I know what they are inclined to do even now, before I have brought them into the land that I promised them on oath.”^{(F) 22} That very day Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites.^(G)

²³ Then the Lord^[a] commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and bold, for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them; I will be with you.”^(H)