Deuteronomy 4:3-31
International Children’s Bible
3 You have seen for yourselves what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed everyone among you who followed Baal in Peor. 4 But you continued to follow the Lord your God. So you are still alive today.
5 Look, I have taught you the laws and rules the Lord my God commanded me. Now you can obey the laws in the land you are entering. It is the land you will own. 6 Obey these laws carefully. This will show the other nations that you have wisdom and understanding. They will hear about these laws. And they will say, “This great nation of Israel is wise and understanding.” 7 No other nation is as great as we are. Their gods do not come near them. But the Lord our God comes near when we pray to him. 8 And no other nation has such good teachings and commands. I am giving them to you today.
9 But be careful! Watch out. Don’t forget the things that you have seen. Don’t forget them as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai. He said to me, “Bring the people together to listen to what I say. Then they will respect me as long as they live in the land. And they will teach these things to their children.” 11 Then you came and stood at the bottom of the mountain. It blazed with fire that reached to the sky. Black clouds made it very dark. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the sound of words. But you did not see him. There was only a voice. 13 The Lord told you about his agreement. It was the Ten Commandments. And he told you to obey them. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 Then the Lord commanded me to teach you the laws and rules. You must obey them in the land you will own when you cross the Jordan River.
Laws About Idols
15 The Lord spoke to you from the fire at Mount Sinai. But you did not see him. So watch yourselves carefully! 16 Don’t sin by making idols of any kind. Don’t make statues of men or women. 17 Don’t make statues of animals on earth or birds that fly in the air. 18 Don’t make statues of anything that crawls on the ground. Don’t make statues of fish in the water below. 19 When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, moon and stars. You can see everything in the sky. But don’t bow down and worship them. The Lord your God has made these things for all people everywhere. 20 Egypt tested you like a furnace for melting iron. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. And he made you his very own people, as you are now.
21 The Lord was angry with me because of you. He made a strong promise that I would not cross the Jordan River. I could not go into the good land the Lord your God is giving you to own. 22 I will die here in this land. I will not cross the Jordan. But you will soon go across and take that good land. 23 Be careful. Don’t forget the agreement of the Lord your God that he made with you. Don’t make any idols for yourselves. The Lord your God has commanded you not to do that. 24 The Lord your God is a jealous God. He is like a fire that burns things up.
25 You will live in the land a long time. You will have children and grandchildren. Even after that, don’t do evil things. Don’t make any kind of idol. Don’t do what the Lord says is evil. That will make him angry. 26 I will ask heaven and earth to speak against you that day. Then you will quickly be removed from this land. You are crossing the Jordan River to take the land. But you will not live there long after that. You will be completely destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the other nations. Only a few of you will be left alive. And those few will be in other nations where the Lord will send you. 28 There you will worship gods made by men. They will be made of wood and stone. They cannot see, hear, eat or smell. 29 But even there you can look for the Lord your God. And you will find him if you look. But you must look for him with your whole being. 30 It will be hard when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God. You will obey him. 31 The Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you. He will not forget the agreement he made with your ancestors. He made that agreement sure with his strong promise.
Read full chapterThe Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
